30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Look what love is doing 

John Foley tells  a story about his English literature lecturer . His mentor, The lecturer was fond of saying to his students:
If you want to know  what is happening in a work of literature. Look what love is doing .
 
John didn’t get it a first he was  young and pre –occupied  with how he looked , what he wore and looking  cool Or least acting cool.  He studied Shakespeare , Hopkins, Joyce, Keats and the rest. He slowly began to understand.

He began to notice that the  lives of the  characters he read about ,did seem to centre around something called love. its joy, pain, possession or loss .Try it yourself. Next time you read  a serious novel or short story. Which characters act out of real regard for each other and who does not? What happens as a result . What about you? have you discovered that love is more than just an idea or desire? Jesus in our Sunday Gospel, (Mt 22:43-40) says in no uncertain terms.

You shall Love the Lord Your God
with all your heart, soul and mind, and…
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
 
In his new encyclical letter Frattelli Tutti Pope Francis reminds us that in the oldest texts of the bible, our Sunday first reading ( Exodus 22:20-26) and in the teaching of Jesus  there is a constant  call  us to express a fraternal love for each other .  As the financial  journalists say, follow the money and ask, Look what love is doing?

Mgr Jim. ​

---

News Items:

​It is truly uplifting to see many of you attending Mass on Sundays and during the week . We understand that you  do so when you can and when you judge it to be safe.  As you know The Obligation to attend Sunday Mass has for the time being been removed.
Many of you still join us via the website and Live streaming.
 
From Sunday November 1st we will celebrate again our Sunday evening Mass at 6.30pm. At this time it is not possible to have congregational singing. Also there will be no choir at the Mass for the time being.
We will keep  the celebration of the Mass under review in light of the Covid pandemic and the demand for its provision.
 
Don’t forget the clock go back on Saturday night BST ends and GMT begins…
 
November dead list.  Envelopes are available  for your Mass offerings and your list of  names of deceased family, friends and those you wish to remember. The names are placed  near the Altar and Mass is offered daily for our dead in the Month of November. In addition Masses are offered  monthly through the year for the Holy souls .
 
Primary school applications :Catholic Certificate of Practice. If you are applying for Primary school and need a Certificate of Catholic Practice. Phone the parish office to arrange an appointment with Mgr Jim
 
Book tokens for the Children of Prisoners for Christmas 2020
 
Over years you have supported our annual drive, in collaboration with the Catholic charity,  Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT), to buy Christmas gifts for prisoners to give their children.  
 
This year, Covid19 restrictions mean that we can’t collect and prisons won’t be able to accept toys and board games. And those same restrictions have especially impacted prisoners’ families. There have been fewer prison visits and only one adult visitor allowed, which means children haven’t seen their imprisoned parent since the start of 2020. The pre-Christmas family visits at which they would have received their gifts have been cancelled.
 
The good news is that prisons will allow prisoners to receive and send book tokens to their children. So this year’s Operation Christmas Elf asks supporters to buy book tokens for £10 and post them to Pact’s very own Santa’s Grotto, from where they will be distributed to the prisons.
 
All the details, including where to buy and send these tokens are on the Pact website - https://www.prisonadvice.org.uk/news/operation-elf
 
Please note that this is a pre-Advent campaign, to give the Elves plenty of time to get the tokens to prisons, from where they will be sent out in good time for Christmas.