08.12.15 – the ExtraOrdinary Jubilee Year of Mercy – 20.11.16

Welcome to the Catholic Parish of Stamford

Saint Mary and Saint Augustine The Presbytery, 13 Broad Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1PG Telephone: (01780) 762010

Email: staugustines13@btinternet.com Website: www.staugustinescatholicchurchstamford.co.uk

Parish Priest: Father Simon Gillespie Mobile: 07760 372105 Email: simon@nottinghamcatholic.com

Parish Deacon (on sabbatical): Reverend Charles West-Sadler

Parish Primary School: Saint Augustine’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Stamford (01780) 762094

Catholic Secondary School: Saint John Fisher Catholic High School, Peterborough (01733) 343646

Part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham Diocesan Website: www.nottingham-diocese.org.uk

Nottingham Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees Company Number: 7151646 Charity Number: 1134449

20th and 21st August 2016 : Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Gospel today speaks of our salvation, and of the way in which we have to purify

ourselves and follow Christ in every aspect of our lives, difficult that that might be.

Fifty years ago the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council spoke to this theme, and

their words, even now, read with a freshness which inspires us:

We do not know the time when earth and humanity will

reach their completion, nor do we know the way in which

the universe will be transformed. The world as we see it,

disfigured by sin, is passing away. But we are sure that God

is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth. In this

new earth righteousness is to make its home, and happiness

will satisfy, and more than satisfy, all the yearnings for peace

that arise in human hearts. On that day, when death is

conquered, the sons of God will be raised up in Christ; what

was sown as something weak and perishable will be clothed

in incorruption. Love and the fruits of love will remain, and the whole of creation,

made by God for man, will be set free from the frustration that enslaves it.

We are warned indeed that a man gains nothing if he wins the whole world at the

cost of himself. Yet our hope in a new earth should not weaken, but

rather stimulate our concern for developing this earth, for on it there

is growing up the body of a new human family, a body even now able

to provide some foreshadowing of the new age. Hence, though earthly

progress is to be carefully distinguished from the growth of Christ’s

kingdom, yet in so far as it can help toward the better ordering of

human society it is of great importance to the kingdom of God.

The blessings of human dignity, brotherly communion and freedom – all the good

fruits on earth of man’s co-operation with nature in the Spirit of the Lord and

according to his command – will be found again in the world to come, but purified

of all stain, resplendent and transfigured, when Christ hands over to the Father an

eternal and everlasting kingdom: “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness

and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” On this earth the kingdom is already

present in sign; when the Lord comes it will reach its completion.

From the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes

on the Church in the modern world

Monday – Memorial of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven

Monday’s feast is a celebration of the fifth glorious mystery of the rosary, Mary,

crowned as Queen of Heaven, and indeed Queen of all creation. It is a beautiful feast

in our Church’s calendar, and yet one which is celebrated very simply. What does it

mean for Mary to be the Queen of Heaven? In the Old Testament monarchy the

Queen of the Davidic Kingdom was the Queen Mother. The Kings, for reasons of

state and human weakness, had many wives, none of whom fittingly could be called

Queen. That honour was reserved for the mother of the King, whose authority far

surpassed the many "queens" married to the King. We see this in the role Bathsheba

played with respect to King Solomon and the occasions when the Queen Mother

acted as regent on behalf of juvenile successors to the throne. The role of the Queen

Mother is a prophetic type of the Kingdom role of Mary, just as the role of the Davidic

King is a prophetic type of the Kingdom role of Jesus. Jesus inherited the Kingdom

promised to David, who was told that one of his descendants would rule forever.

We are invited to reflect on the Queenship of Mary and to recognise that, just as

with all the gifts we have, Mary’s Queen-ship stems from the grace of her Divine Son,

and not through her own merits. Mary has long been given honour under the title

of Queen of Heaven, and in the Litany of Loreto Mary is recognised as:

Queen of Angels : Queen of Patriarchs : Queen of Prophets

Queen of Apostles : Queen of Martyrs : Queen of Confessors

Queen of Virgins : Queen of all Saints : Queen conceived without original sin

Queen assumed into heaven : Queen of the most holy Rosary

Queen of the Family : Queen of Peace.

May Mary, our Queen, intercede for us in all that we do in our lives, and may we

make a special effort on Monday to pray to Mary in her role as Queen of Heaven,

that we might one day see her in heaven ourselves.

Events for the coming Week (and beyond)

Thirtieth Anniversary Rosary Rally on Sunday 21st August at Grace Dieu Manor,

Leicestershire, starting at 3pm. See the poster in the porch for further information.

Conquerors a national Catholic Young Adults Festival at Walsingham over the bank

holiday weekend, Thursday 25th – Monday 29th August. A poster is in the porch and

flyers are available at the back of church; speak to Father Simon if you’re interested.

An Organ Recital at Saint John’s church on Friday 26th August at 11am, given by our

own organist, David Lowell Brown.

The Medjugorje Apostolate of England and Wales’ Pilgrimage to Walsingham takes

place on Monday 29th August; further details are on the poster in the porch.

The next SVP Meeting will be held on Tuesday 30th August at 6pm in the presbytery

– come along to find out about the work of the SVP and their help in our parish.

A Song for Hope at 8.00pm on Tuesday 30th August at Saint George’s church;

supporting single mothers and their children in Tunisia.

Leicestershire Active Catholic Youth Working Group will be meeting at Saint Thomas

More, 75 Knighton Road, Leicester on Wednesday 31st August at 7.30pm. Anyone

interested in working with young people / adults is invited to this meeting, to share

thoughts and ideas for future events and hear about occasions already planned. A

great opportunity to share "Faith and Fun" with our young people. More information

from Pauline or Ian, paulinepayne@hotmail.com or iancardwell50@hotmail.com.

Many the Gifts Bishop Patrick McKinney will celebrate a Jubilee Mass at 11.00am in

St Barnabas Cathedral on Saturday 3rd September for chaplains, extraordinary

ministers of Holy Communion, catechists, readers, teachers, musicians,

administrators, florists and all others who exercise any form of lay ministry in the

Church throughout the Diocese. The Bishop looks forward to seeing you all there!

The National Mass for All Altar Servers will be celebrated on Saturday 17th

September in Westminster Cathedral at 2.30pm. All altar servers are invited!

SPANNED (Supporting people with additional needs in the Diocese of Nottingham)

Mass with Bishop Patrick on Saturday 17th September at 2.30pm in in Saint Peter’s

Church, Hinckley; information on 01455 634443 or hinckleypriory@gmail.com.

An Ecumenical Service of Evening Prayer at Fotheringhay Church will be celebrated

on Saturday 17th September at 3pm with a complete performance of the beautiful

Faure Requiem sung by the Saint Mary's Singers. Everyone is most welcome to join

this event, especially Roman Catholic friends in the area, and to remain afterwards

to share refreshments and fellowship.

The Pro-Life Pilgrimage to Walsingham for the Sanctity of Life will be led by Bishop

Alan Hopes on Sunday 18th September. Details are on the poster in the porch.

A national second collection for the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham will

be taken on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September. This money will be used for

the redevelopment of the Shrine and facilities which are being undertaken presently.

Kairos Prison Ministry Mission Meeting on Saturday 24th September at Elim City

Church, Peterborough, from 9.30am. If you’re interested in this please speak to

Father Simon, and see the poster in the porch for further details.

The Balm of Mercy musical will be performed in Saint Peter's Church, Hinckley at

7.30pm on Saturday 15th October; and in the Albert Hall, Nottingham at 7.30pm on

Sunday 16th October. Tickets are £5 and all the proceeds will be divided between six

charities involved in 'works of mercy' within the diocese.

The Release – a retreat for people aged 18-35 between Friday 28th – Sunday 30th

October. More details on the poster in the porch.

The rearranged Newark and Sherwood Concert Band Brass Band Concert will be held

on Saturday 12th November at 7.30pm. Put the date in your diaries now!

Father Simon’s Holiday

Father Simon will be on holiday – walking and climbing in the Trossachs National Park

– from Sunday afternoon, 28th August, until Saturday morning, 10th September.

During the weekend Father Simon is away we’re blessed to have Father John Garry

with us; Father John is a Saint Patrick’s Missioner, and his Society is making appeals

in the parishes of our diocese this year. Father John will be speaking at each Mass

about the missionary work of the Society, and a second collection will be taken.

Services of the Word and Holy Communion will be celebrated on Friday 2nd and

Friday 9th September and the church will be open each day as usual.

Urgent Request – from Stamford Foodbank

Dear brothers and sisters,

Stamford Foodbank is now in its fourth year of operation and last year fed over 800

people for a minimum period of 3 days each. We have come to recognise that when

people are in a time of crisis there is also a need to access essential household

equipment. We have also found in conjunction with our largest voucher issuer,

Stamford Citizens Advice Bureau, that there is a growing problem with homeless

families and individuals taking on empty houses that need to be decorated and

furnished. Similar projects exist in neighbouring towns but none of them serve the

Stamford area.

SHEP has been set up as a separate department of the Stamford foodbank charity to

meet this need. Opposite is information about how people can donate goods and

financial gifts, along with a current list of furniture required. The trustees of

Evergreen have agreed that their furniture project will now be part of SHEP as will

the former store operated by Christians Against Poverty (CAP). In the coming

months SHEP will be making presentations to Churches Together and any other

interested groups. This is an exciting project and since we started pulling this

together in early summer we have fully equipped homes for two families and

assisted 5 other individuals with a range of household items. In both of the family

situations SHEP’s assistance was crucial to keeping the families together and there is

ongoing contact with local churches and the families. Anyone needing support from

SHEP should contact myself in the first instance. Assistance will be given on a last

resort basis and engaging with the beneficiary as far as possible.

SHEP needs volunteers:

People who are able to help move around furniture

Anyone who has access to a van or other vehicle capable of moving furniture

People who can decorate and give an evening or half a day etc. whenever a

project comes up.

If you are interested please get in touch with me. This is an exciting new project and

we are open to ideas from the Christian community about how we might develop it

and or make it more effective.

Lawrence Davie, Associate Pastor, Saint George’s Church Office

15 Maiden Lane, Stamford

01780 481800 : 07769 169302

The Year of Mercy – Apostleship of the Sea

We have received a letter of thanks from the Apostleship of the Sea, thanking the

parish for our donation to them in July, after the second collection, and giving an

insight into the work that they carry out with seafarers when they come into port.

They highlight that loneliness can be a big factor for many of the crewmembers,

missing their wives and children, and that the support of their faith is often crucial in

helping them to cope with their long absences from home. As well as our prayers

and financial support, the Apostleship is asking if we might be able to make

donations of any unwanted or surplus devotional items, especially:

Rosary beads

Medals of saints / miraculous medals

Prayer cards

If anyone does have any such devotional items that they don’t want please give them

to Father Simon, or hand them into the presbytery (through the letterbox is fine) and

we can send off a donation to our local port chaplains at Immingham.

Intercare – Raising money through Recycling

We have been sent envelopes to help Intercare, who provide medicines etc for

people in impoverished situations, to raise money through recycling gold, silver,

costume jewellery and printer cartridges. If you have any of these see Father Simon.

Prayers are requested for

The people of Zimbabwe, who are going through a terrible time under the

dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. Bishop Patrick asks that we keep our brothers and

sisters in Zimbabwe especially in our prayers at his time.

Faith in Families

The time has come around for the Faith in Families (Children’s Society) collection

boxes to be emptied. Would you please bring in and leave in the Sacristy before the

end of August. If anyone would like me to collect from their home please let me

know. Also, please let me know if you would like to become a donor and would like

a collection box. Many thanks. Kevin Vinter, 01780 751735.

The sign outside our church – How have I been merciful today?

Saint Joseph’s Chapel - Renovations

Recently much work has been undertaken in Saint Joseph’s chapel, including:

the resizing of the altar to make it more suitable for the celebration of daily

Mass in the chapel, and to allow the sacred mysteries to be celebrated over

the altar stone, containing the martyrs’ relics;

the removal of the confessional to its original home near the Lady chapel;

the installation of newly carved panels behind the altar, to make good the plain

wall revealed when the altar was moved forward.

This work has been completed with the new panels, so do take a little time to admire

it. There is slightly more to do to colour match the panels, but already the new ones

are almost indistinguishable from the originals.

We can now consider three further possibilities in the chapel:

what to do in the space where the confessional used to be?

whether to reinstate the letter rack, and if so, where?

whether to lower the (very squeaky) upper step of the chapel sanctuary,

allowing the whole sanctuary to be on one level, and removing the squeak?

We have also been alerted to the presence of dry rot in the door frame of the newly-

revealed external door in the chapel; this of course will have to be attended to.

If you have any thoughts or comments about the work completed, or the work that

might be undertaken, or regarding Saint Joseph’s chapel at all, please speak with

Father Simon or Chris King. It would be good to hear as many voices from the parish

as possible before final decisions are made so that the chapel is a fitting place for all.

Church Renovations and Improvements

You may know that plans are in progress to enhance the restored church ceiling with

a new lighting system; also to replace the PA system with a new one, incorporating

a link to the parish hall, and a PA system in there, and also a visual system, so that

Mass could be broadcast into the parish hall should it be needed as an overflow (or

even a place where fractious children could be taken). The ideas that we have are

being presented to the diocese by the various experts we’re working with on

Thursday 1st September, and so more information will be available after that date.

We’re also considering how to make the presbytery safer, in light of the recent

burglaries, and how the space we have for the sacristies and meeting and office

spaces in the presbytery might be better utilised.

Many Thanks for your Generosity

Envelopes £311.10 Loose plate £305.79

Standing Order £274.00 Collection Total £890.89

Second Collections this year

We now have dates for the remaining second collections; this should be a complete

list – thank you for your continuing generosity in so many ways!

4th September Saint Patrick’s Missionary Appeal (with visiting appeal priet)

11th September Catholic Education Service (Day of Prayer for our schools)

18th September Home Mission Sunday

24th September National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham

9th October CAFOD Harvest Fast Day

16th October Sick and Retired Priests’ Fund (our final parish appeal)

23rd October Missio – World Mission Sunday

5th November Wajir Mission

11th December Poor and Needy Parishes in our diocese

Mass Intentions

There are spaces in the parish diary for Masses to be offered for your intentions: a

birthday, an anniversary, the repose of a loved one’s soul, or simply for the intentions

of someone you feel needs prayers in a special way. Envelopes for Masses are at the

back of church, do complete one and drop it in to the presbytery. The suggested

offering is £10, but any amount can be given.

Saint Augustine’s Primary School at Mass

We’re hoping that in the new school year our parish primary school will be helping

to animate the Mass with some of the school children proclaiming the readings and

prayer intentions, bringing up the gifts, and perhaps welcoming parishioners to Mass

and helping with the music, too. This will all help to strengthen the links between

our parish school and our Sunday parish community. Plans are still being worked out

and might mean that the monthly or half-termly Class Masses are at the 9am Sunday

morning Mass. In turn this could impact on our children’s liturgy, which might be

more easily accommodated at this Mass.

Readings at Mass this Week

Monday 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5.11-12; Psalm 95(96):1-5; Matthew 23:13-22

Tuesday 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.14-17; Psalm 95(96):10-13; Matthew 23:23-26

Wednesday Apocalypse 21:9-14; Psalm 144(145):10-13.17-18; John 1:45-51

Thursday 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Psalm 144(145):2-7; Matthew 24:42-51

Friday 1 Corinthians 1:17-25; Psalm 32(33):1-2.4-5.10-11; Matthew 25:1-13

Saturday 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Psalm 32(33):12-13.18-21; Matthew 25:14-30

Prayers For . . .

For those who have died recently, especially Maureen Fisher and Walter Fletcher.

May they rest in peace!

NB – it’s likely that Walter’s funeral will be in mid September.

All our sick and housebound parishioners and friends: Rosa Maria Santos, Kenneth

Court, Veronica Hosking, Deacon Brendan Campbell, Beth Coleman, Joan Middleton,

Pat Dancer, Shelley Doyle, Kevin Flynn, Augusta Deane, Irene Mulligan, Eileen Cox,

Connie Edgar, Father John Abbott, Gladys Brown, Nora Hunt, Vivien Faulconbridge,

Monica Holt, Valerie Pellier, Frank Caldwell, Kitty English, Fiona Ruddle, David Cooke,

Maeve Swann, Helen Allen, Jean Maker, Anna Orme, Lucy Court, Debbie Reed, Ken

Woods, Lilian Popple, Lorraine Watt, Ciaran McCarthy, Anne Woods, Father David

Bingham, Gill Clark, Daphne Wise, Deacon Bob Dawson and Father Peter Harvey.

Liturgy

This Week Next Week

Sunday Twenty-first Sunday Twenty-second Sunday

Psalter Week 1 Week 2

Mass Page 127 Page 130

Penitential Rite Rite A, page 8 Rite A, page 8

First Reading Isaiah 66:18-21 Ecclesiasticus 3:17-20.28-29

Psalm Psalm 116 Psalm 67

Second Reading Hebrews 12:5-7; 11-13 Hebrews 12:18-19.22-24

Gospel Luke 13:22-30 Luke 14:1.7-14

Preface Reconciliation 1, page 36 Reconciliation 2, page 39

Eucharistic Prayer Reconciliation 1, page 36 Reconciliation 2, page 39

Memorial Acclamation C (Save us, Saviour) C (Save us, Saviour)

Masses and Services this Week

Saturday 20th August Twenty-first Sunday of the Year

6.00pm Vigil Mass Áine O’Donoghue RIP

7.00pm Confessions

Sunday 21st August Twenty-first Sunday of the Year

9.00am Mass Thanksgiving for Annie and Jeremy Phipps,

silver wedding anniversary

Tea and coffee in the hall

11.00am Mass Pro Populo (people of the parish)

Tea and coffee in the hall

Monday 22nd August Memorial of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven

9.00am Mass Jacqueline and Charlotte Mooney – good health

Tuesday 23rd August Feria

9.00am Mass Maureen Fisher RIP

Wednesday 24th August Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

9.00am Mass Bernard and Jo Raffo’s intentions

Thursday 25th August Feria

7.00pm Mass Mary Aspill RIP

Friday 26th August Memorial of Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God

10.00am Mass Marie & Michael Hare, and Nina & Michael Duffy

Saturday 27th August Memorial of Saint Monica

9.00am Confessions

Twenty-second Sunday of the Year

6.00pm Vigil Mass Cecily Wise – 50th birthday

7.00pm Confessions

Sunday 28th August Twenty-second Sunday of the Year

9.00am Mass Czeslaw Syzymanski RIP

Tea and coffee in the hall

11.00am Mass Pro Populo (people of the parish)

Tea and coffee in the hall