St Teresa's, Warsop

18/02/2021

Please see attached newsletter and reflection for Sunday 21st February from Srs Susan and Mary.

Just a reminder regarding The Sycamore Course. Different sessions relevant to Lent. Ann Neale will run these on the Mondays of Lent at 7pm online. If you are interested in The Sycamore course, please email Ann Neale at ann@perkeo.co.uk and Ann will send you a link to the sessions. The dates for the Sycamore course will be 21st and 28th February and 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th March.

13/02/2021

COVID-19 vaccination appointments available today for people aged 65 and over in Mansfield https://www.swiftqueue.co.uk/nottinghamc19vpatient.php

31/01/2021

St Brigid's Day customs and traditions

SAINT Brigid’s Day - Lá Fhéile Bríde - celebrates Ireland’s only female patron saint on February 1 and most people will be familiar with the popular tradition of making crosses in St Brigid’s honour.

What many people may not know is that the feast day of this 5th century saint was one of the most important days of the year for our rural ancestors.

With its origins in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, St Brigid’s Day was the festival of fertility and marked the beginning of spring in Ireland. It signalled an end to the darkness of winter and ushered in a new season of hope and growth.

As such, our rural ancestors celebrated the day with a festive meal and a host of customs, all aimed at securing St Brigid’s protection and promise of new life and abundance for the year ahead.

Dedicated to preserving and sharing the traditions of life in rural Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries, the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, has an exhibition of objects, archive photography and film footage depicting how this day was traditionally celebrated.

While the musem is temporarily closed to visitors in line with Covid-19 measures, you can still learn more about this day as Clodagh Doyle, Keeper of the Irish Folklife Division, takes us through 10 customs and traditions associated with St Brigid.

1. Marking the Quarter Day

St Brigid’s Day was one of the ‘quarter days’ celebrated by our ancestors. These days marked a transition from one season to the next. St Brigid’s Day (February 1) signalled the beginning of spring; Bealtaine (May 1) was the start of summer; Lúnasa (August 1) brought in the harvest season and Samhain (November 1) was the beginning of the dark season.

Irish festivals were always celebrated on the eve of the day itself because this was considered a very liminal time – a time when the otherworld was very close so appeals for protection and blessing were extra effective.

2. A festival of fertility

St Brigid’s Day has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc and it is the festival of new life and fertility. It was a time to look forward to brighter days, warmer weather, new growth on the land and the birth of farm animals. It was very important to seek protection and blessings for the family, home, crops and animals at this time.

3. The festive meal

No celebration would be complete without a festive meal. The traditional meal at St Brigid’s Day was a supper of potatoes and freshly churned butter. Often, Colcannon was made by adding chopped cabbage. Apple cakes or barm brack followed with tea. The family would eat this meal together and make their St Brigid’s crosses.

4. St Brigid’s Crosses

People believed St Brigid crossed through the land on the eve of her feast day and gave blessings and protection to homes and farms where crosses were hung in her honour.

There were many regional styles and variations throughout Ireland with different materials used. Families would recite prayers, bless the rushes or straw with holy water and then each make the crosses. They would hang them over the door and around the home to welcome St Brigid. Many households kept the cross each year in the under-thatch of the house and you could tell how old a house was or how long the family had lived there by the number of crosses in the roof!

You can learn how to make your own St Brigid’s Cross in a step-by-step video tutorial with Tom Doyle from the Museum’s Education Team.

5. Protecting crops and livestock

Leftover material from making crosses might be sprinkled on the land or incorporated into spancels and bedding for animals. Crops were often incorporated into the crosses themselves such as a potato or a sheaf of ripe corn. Last year’s dried crosses might also be crushed and sprinkled on the land. Crosses were hung in the byre as well as the home, so St Brigid would provide protection for animals as she passed.

6. A gift for newlyweds

It was common to give a St Brigid’s Cross as a gift to those with a new home, and to newlyweds, to offer protection and to wish the couple well in starting a family.

7. The Brat Bríde

Some households would leave out a small piece of cloth or a ribbon on the windowsill, called a Brat Bríde or Ribín Bríde. As St Brigid crossed through the country on the eve of her feast, she would touch the Brat Bríde, endowing it with special curative properties to ward off illness and pain in both humans and animals. It was kept safe throughout the year and used for healing or incorporated into clothing to offer protection to the wearer.

8. Biddy Boys

Bands of men or children dressed in straw would often go from house to house with ‘Biddy’, an effigy of St Brigid, collecting for a party in her honour while reciting a rhyme.

‘Here is Brigid dressed in white. Give here a penny for this dark night. She is deaf, she is dumb. For God’s sake, give her some.’

The Biddy Boys were especially popular in Kerry and elaborate processions also took place.

9. St Brigid’s Girdle

In the west of Ireland, the biddy boys would carry a large straw belt called a Crios Bríde or St Brigid’s Girdle. People would step through the girdle and pass it over their bodies while saying a prayer to St Brigid in the hope of gaining her protection from illness for the year ahead.

10. St Brigid’s Well

There are many holy wells throughout Ireland dedicated to St Brigid and people visited these well on the eve or on the feast day itself. Often they left a ribbon or a votive offering at the well so that their intention would be remembered. Water collected from a holy well at this time was believed to be particularly blessed.

Watch a video from the museum about St Brigid’s Day here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9phBIo3p7ng&feature=emb_logo

And learn how to make a St Brigid’s Cross here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi664GP7iIM

News Published: January 31, 2021, 09:00 St Brigid's Day customs and traditions SAINT Brigid’s Day - Lá Fhéile Bríde - celebrates Ireland’s only female patron saint on February 1 and most people will be familiar with the popular tradition of making crosses in St Brigid’s honour. What many pe...

22/10/2020

Good afternoon everyone

Please find attached a reflection from Srs Susan and Mary

Feast of Pope St John Paul II
Today we celebrate the Feast of Pope St John Paul II. He served as pope for 27 years with an extraordinary missionary zeal and became the most widely travelled pope. He saw the importance of being present to the world and prayed side by side with the world’s faith leaders.

No doubt many of us will recall his historic visit to the UK in 1982. Other memories that come to mind are his attempted assassination in 1981, when he was seriously shot and wounded during a weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square. The pope later met his assailant in jail and offered forgiveness to him. Who can forget the images from his funeral in 2005, the hundreds and thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square to pay their respects as well as the outpouring of love and respect from people all over the world.
Speaking at his funeral Cardinal Ratzinger (who became Pope Benedict XVI) spoke of St John Paul II, as a a "priest to the last who offered his life for God and his flock especially amid the sufferings of his final months."
Pope St John Paul II experienced much suffering and hardships throughout his life and bore it with extraordinary courage and faith. His most often used quote was “Do Not be afraid.”
Karol Wojtyla was born 100 years ago, in a small Polish town Wadowice, about 50 km from Krakow. He had endured the loss of most of his family by the early 1940’s. He studied in secret for the Priesthood during the N**i occupation of Poland and was ordained in Krakow in 1946. He was made appointed as a Bishop in 1958 and participated in the Second Vatican Council. He was made a cardinal in 1967 and elected as Pope in 1978.
During his long papacy, as well as his prolific number of visits, he wrote numerous documents and books. He organised various Gatherings including World Youth Day that was initiated in 1985 and the World Meeting of Families in 1994.
He was canonised by Pope Francis on 27 April 2013, together with Pope John XXIII.
There are many prayers and devotions associated with St John Paul II and we offer a prayer for strength and courage which is much needed at this time:
Every day I need you, Lord, but today especially,
I need some extra strength to face whatever is to come.
This day, more than any other day,
I need to feel you near me to strengthen my
Courage and to overcome any fear.
By myself I cannot meet the challenge of the hour.
We are frail human creatures and we need a Higher Power
to sustain us in all that life may bring.
And so, dear Lord, hold my trembling hand.
Be with me, Lord, this day and stretch out your powerful arm to help me.
May your love be upon me as I place all my hope in you. Amen.
Pope Saint John XXIII.
To learn more about the life of St John Paul II we invite you to watch about 'Karol - the man who became Pope' here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4bWX9zaFBI

16/10/2020

Good morning everyone
Please see attached reflection from Srs Susan and Mary.
In the Sacred Heart Chapel in St. Philip Neri Church – there is this painting….

It is of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic, who is greatly recognized for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Her feast-day is today - Friday, October 16th
Born in 1647 in France, she displayed an intense love for the Blessed Sacrament. She was confined to bed by rheumatic fever for four years. After making a vow to the Blessed Virgin Mary to consecrate herself to religious life, Margaret instantly returned to perfect health. She experienced visions of
Jesus Christ through most of her life. These visions led her to promote
the reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month,
Eucharistic adoration during a 'Holy hour' on Thursdays, the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

The Lord Jesus requested His love be made evident through her. His human heart was to be the symbol of His divine-human love. He revealed to her the wonders of His love and explained that he wished to make these wonders known to all the world through her.
Margaret Mary died at the age of 43, on October 17, 1690, while being anointed. She spoke the words, "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus." After her death, the devotion to the Sacred Heart was adopted by the Jesuits but remained controversial within the Church. The practice did not become officially recognized until 75 years later. Today, devotion to the Sacred Heart remains one of the most popular devotions in the Church to day as is evidenced by the number of people who light candles and pray in this little chapel.
Take some time today to pause and think of the love that God has for you and for everyone.
Several time during the day, pray -
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

15/10/2020

Please see attached reflection from Srs Susan and Mary.

St. Teresa of Ávila, (1515 – 1582) is one of the great mystics and religious women of the Church and author of spiritual classics including The Interior Castle or Castle of the Soul which contains the essence of her doctrine on prayer. She was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, the first woman to be so honoured.
St Teresa (Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada) was born in Avila, Spain on 28th March 1515. She was one of ten children and her parents were both pious Catholics. As a young child, Teresa showed signs of a deeply religious nature; she would often retreat into silence for prayer and would enjoy giving alms to the poor. She was very close to her mother, who provided a warm counterbalance to the strictness of her father. However, when she was fourteen, her mother died, leaving the young Teresa distraught at the void she felt. The young Teresa tells of her despair and how she turned instinctively to the Virgin Mary for comfort.

At the age of twenty, Teresa entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. Within two years her health collapsed, she was in a coma for a while and paralysed for three years, during which time she developed a love for mental prayer. After her recovery, however, she described her prayer as being lukewarm and lax, and she continued in this state for 15 years until, in 1555, she underwent a profound religious awakening that changed her life forever. By 1560 Teresa resolved to reform the Carmelite order that had moved away from its original ideals and austerity. By 1562 she had opened a new smaller Monastery in Avila where there was strict enclosure and this led to more Monasteries being founded.

Teresa was a woman of immense spirituality and focuses on four gifts in particular that she possessed, those being joy, prayer, fellowship and being in touch with the realities of her own time. She was not just a quiet, placid saint. She had an endearing, natural quality; her life energy attracted and inspired many.

There are many prayers, poems and saying of St Teresa. We offer the following and invite you to read them, reflect on them and allow the words to speak in and through you.

God alone is enough.
Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
Lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.

Christ has No Body
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

We also offer the following video reflection inspired by the words of St Teresa. Click on the web link below and scroll down until you see the video Dare to Dream – Teresa of Avila: http://seescapes.com/library/motherly-wisdom

09/10/2020

Good morning everyone
Please find attached a reflection from Srs Susan and Mary.

9th October: Feast Day of St. John Henry Newman (1801 -1890) John Henry Newman is the first English Saint since the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales were canonised in 1970. He was canonised in 2017.

Newman became a Catholic in 1845. He studied for
the priesthood in Rome and was ordained aged 46.
At the age of seventy-eight, he was made a cardinal.
He choose as his motto –
“Cor ad cor loquitur” (heart speaks to heart)

Father Francis Gavin, from the Birmingham Oratory reminds us that while “Newman is very well known in the Church as a theologian, a teacher and an educationalist, he was also a priest and a pastor. He visited the sick, the imprisoned, and those human qualities of care and friendship are as relevant now as they were in his own time."

Take time to reflect on the following words of St. John Henry Newman
“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: "Go down again - I dwell among the people.”

In whom did you meet God today/last week……what did God say to you……

One of the prayers written by him was this mission prayer- which you are invited to pray:
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about. Amen

27/08/2020

The Church of Saint Teresa, alongside St Philip Neri Mansfield, is temporarily one of two churches open for worship serving the combined communities of St Bernadette Bolsover, St Joseph Shirebrook, St Philip Neri Mansfield, and St Teresa Market Warsop.

Pew sizes at St Teresa:
1 individual - please book an individual place
2 or more people from the same household - please book a family pew
A ‘family pew’ at St Teresa’s will accommodate a household of up to 4 people, an ‘individual space’ will accommodate 1 individual.

https://massbooking.uk/

Churches can't currently pass round the collection plate. Please consider making a donation.

https://www.mygivinghub.com/detailed/donate?charity_id=1086607&type=2&hidden_amount=&amount=&reference=MW

Digital Giving to Your Charities & Causes

22/08/2020

In 1969 Pope Saint Paul VI placed the feast of the queenship of Mary on 22 August, the octave day after the celebration of her Assumption into Heaven. One of the titles that the Second Vatican Council address Our Lady under is the title of ‘Queen of all Creation’ in recognition that when she was assumed into heaven to sit at the right hand of her Son in glory, her lowliness on earth exalted in heaven as she assumes a royal throne in the Kingdom of Grace.

Now thrones are an important theme in the Scriptures, and to really understand Mary’s role in heaven we have to unpack a little bit the promises made about David’s royal line in the Bible. Through the Prophet Nathan God made a special covenant with David, God’s chosen king, concerning his throne. God promised David that, ‘I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom … and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever’ (2 Samual 7:12-13). Christians understand this as a prophecy about Jesus, who is the Christ descended of David’s line who’s kingdom is established eternally. At Jesus’ trial he speaks of how the throne of the Christ, the Son of David, is placed at the right of the Throne of God: the high priest asks ‘“Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power”’ (Mark 14:61-62).

So far so good. Jesus is the Messiah King of the line of David prophesied by Nathan who sits at the right hand of the Father in the Kingdom without End, Heaven. So how then is Mary Queen? Well we know that Jesus’ throne is the throne of David, so let’s look at how the Queen Mother was treated in the time of Solomon, David’s son seated on David’s throne. Bethsheba, King Solomon’s mother, comes to him with a request, ‘and the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you”’ (1 Kings 2:19-20). In the Davidic Kingdom, which is the image and precursor to Christ’s kingdom, it is the Queen Mother who sits on the right of the king and has a special role in bringing the requests of king's subjects to the king.

This image is brought to fulfilment with Mary’s Assumption. The throne of David, Jesus’s throne, stands at the right of the throne of the Father, and to the right again of Jesus’ throne is that of Mary, Mother of the King and Queen Mother. It is not Jesus’ spouse that is seated next to him in glory (that would be the church, and the church still awaits her glorification) but Jesus’ mother Mary, and seated on the right side of the king, himself seated on the right of the Power, she brings our supplications before her Son who says to her ‘Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you’ (1 Kings 2:20).

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy,
hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve:
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious Advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who made the Mother of your Son
to be our Mother and our Queen,
graciously grant that, sustained by her intercession,
we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom
the glory promised to your children.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

22/08/2020

Today we celebrate the memory of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Over the last few weeks we have been having trouble with the landline and internet at the presbytery. Multiple visits from engineers later and we have now been without phone or internet at all for the past 48 hours, I am using my mobile data to send out today’s bulletin. If you have tried to contact the parish we apologise if you have been unable to get through, and hope that we’ll get back to something resembling normal service as soon as possible.

Attached is the newsletter for this coming Sunday.

We are delighted to announce that St Teresa’s will be open for Sunday Mass at 10.00am each Sunday beginning Sunday 30 August. To book a pew for Mass at St Teresa please visit the diocesan booking website, www.massbooking.uk. Booking will go live this Monday coming. If you’re struggling contact the parish office and Catherine will be able to help you make your booking (assuming our phone and internet are working!).

http://www.stphilipmansfield.com/newsletter-21st-sunday-of-ordinary-time-2/

01/08/2020

Mass for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time is now uploaded and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/rMV-sKeI7sg

If you’re reading this message on your mobile device and want to watch the Mass on a larger screen you can find the Mass either on our website (www.stphilipmansfield.com) under the heading ‘Newsletter: 18th and 19th Sundays of Ordinary Time’ or by searching for ‘Catholic Mansfield’ on YouTube.

Mass for the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time from the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the Parish Church of Saint Philip Neri, Mansfield. Also serving the Pari...

01/08/2020

We look forward to seeing many of you for Mass this Sunday. To book for Mass please visit https://massbooking.uk - Masses become available to book one week in advance. For those who are nervous about returning to Mass, remember at the moment there is no obligation to attend on a Sunday so feel free to join us for a weekday celebration when the church is quieter. We look forward to seeing you all at Mass in the near future.

Face coverings. The government have announced changes to the rules regarding face coverings in places of worship. This weekend the government guidance is that face coverings in church are ‘strongly encouraged.’ As of Saturday 8 August inclusive that guidance changes, face coverings will be mandatory in places of worship. Please remember to bring a face covering with you to Mass.

As we re-open Churches after the Covid-19 restrictions, we're offering a booking service so that we can work with reduced numbers in church

01/08/2020

Today we keep the memory of St Alphonsus Liguori, bishop and doctor of the church.

This week we have a double newsletter for both this weekend and next weekend.

The resources for this Sunday can be viewed on our website: http://www.stphilipmansfield.com/newsletter-18th-19th-sundays-of-ordinary-time/

Visit the post for more.

30/07/2020

Today we keep the memory of St Peter Chrysologus, bishop and doctor of the church.

St Peter was born in Imola in the year 380AD, where he was baptised, educated and ordained deacon in service of the church there. He quickly gained a reputation for outstanding preaching, and merited the title ‘Chrysologus’ meaning ‘golden-worded.’ In 433AD Pope Sixtus III ordained him as bishop and appointed to the Diocese of Ravenna - a somewhat controversial decision as he was ordained instead of the candidate the church in Ravenna had elected to serve them, as was the custom at the time. Tradition holds that Pope Sixtus III made this bold move after having being visited by St Peter the Apostle and St Apollinarius of Ravenna, the first bishop of that diocese, in a vision. The two saints urged him to appoint Peter Chrysologus as bishop.

Despite the controversy St Peter went on to be a much loved bishop known for his works of mercy. One of St Peter’s hallmarks, by which he baffled his contemporaries and won much acclaim from his people, was his insistence that homilies be kept short! Sadly for a saint so renowned for his preaching not all of his works survive, however the homilies we do have show a great care to explain the scriptures, the creed, and the mysteries of the faith in simple, clear, and concise language. St Peter reposed to the Lord in 450AD during a visit to Imola, the town of his birth. He was declared saint by popular acclaim soon after his death and declared a doctor of the church in 1729AD.

'Now that we are reborn in the likeness of our Lord and have indeed been adopted by God as his children, let us put on the complete image of our Creator so as to be wholly like him, not in the glory that he alone possesses but in innocence, simplicity, gentleness, patience, humility, mercy, harmony, those qualities in which he chose to become and to be one with us.’

‘If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry.
If you hope for mercy, show mercy.
If you look for kindness, show kindness.
If you want to receive, give.’

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Peter Chrysologus
an outstanding preacher of your Incarnate Word,
grant, through his intercession,
that we may constantly ponder in our hearts
the mysteries of your salvation
and faithfully express them in what we do.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, pray for us!

29/07/2020

We keep the memory of a biblical Saint, Saint Martha, a friend of Jesus who offered him hospitality on his journeys. With grateful thanks to Srs Susan and Mary for preparing a reflection for us to mark the day:

Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus were evidently close friends of Jesus. He went to their home in Bethany- simply as a welcomed guest, a bolt-hole in a busy ministry.

Martha is usually remembered for complaining that her sister wasn’t helping her prepare the meal on an occasion when Jesus visited. Mary was sitting at the Master’s feet, listening to him. Yet it was Martha who expressed a simple and strong statement of faith in Jesus when he arrived after Lazarus had died and been buried - ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world’” (John 11:25-27). It was then she went to call her sister, Mary – who was “sitting in the house”. Martha said to Mary “The teacher is here and is asking for you,” She says the same to us.

Take some time to find somewhere quiet and sit with the Lord, since He has asked for you– and listen to what He wants to say to you.

Today, we remember especially St.Martha’s in Bethlehem. The project that we supported by giving almost £1,000.00 in February 2019. The Project currently helps to support 30 elderly, poor, vulnerable women. At present they are working from rented accommodation. The charity wants to buy a piece of land to build a residential centre for elderly women and men because often their families move away to build better lives elsewhere and so the elderly are often left with no support.

18/07/2020

Mass for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time is now uploaded and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/MobEpap1fcI

If you’re reading this message on your mobile device and want to watch the Mass on a larger screen you can find the Mass either on our website (www.stphilipmansfield.com) under the heading ‘Resources: 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time’ or by searching for ‘Catholic Mansfield’ on YouTube.

Have a blessed Sunday and we look forward to seeing some of you for socially distanced Mass over the weekend. Remember, to book for Mass please visit www.massbooking.uk - Masses become available to book one week in advance. We’ll be in touch again via WhatsApp and email on Tuesday.

Mass for the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time from the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the Parish Church of Saint Philip Neri, Mansfield. Also serving the Paris...

18/07/2020

Good afternoon

As usual on a Saturday the newsletter and liturgy for praying at home have been uploaded to the Resources section of the Parish website. Mass will be recorded and uploaded later on today. The resources for this Sunday, and later today the Mass, can be viewed on our website: http://www.stphilipmansfield.com/resources-16th-sunday-of-ordinary-time/

The newsletter is a full four pages this week, so please do give it a read. Contained within is information about socially distanced Mass, Baptism, Marriage & Confession, our various online ministries, parish finances, parish volunteering and more besides. We reproduce here one important message from Fr John contained within this week’s newsletter:

After two years of outstanding service in our parishes, Bishop Patrick has asked Fr Jonathan to take over the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Mickleover in mid-September and to become Chaplain to the University of Derby. I am delighted that the Bishop has recognised Fr Jonathan’s great talents, but I will be very sorry to see him leave Mansfield. He has been a valued colleague over the past two years, and I will always be grateful for his support when my mother died last year. I know we will all wish him well as he begins his new ministry in Derby.

The role of Assistant Parish Priest in Mansfield will then be undertaken by Fr Paul Smith who is presently serving at St Mary’s, Derby. Fr Paul is a native of Newcastle-on-Tyne and I have known Fr Paul for 12 years, as he was a parishioner of mine in Lincoln. Fr Paul was ordained for our Diocese in January 2019. I look forward to welcoming him to his new appointment in September. Fr John

As a reflection today I share an extract from a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great. It is a beautiful summary of our Christian faith, and I commend it to you:

The Son of God who was in the beginning with God, through whom all things were made, without whom nothing was made, became man to free man from eternal death. He stooped down to take up our lowliness without loss to his own glory. He remained what he was; he took up what he was not. He wanted to join the very nature of a servant to that nature in which he is equal to God the Father. He wanted to unite both natures in an alliance so wonderful that the glory of the greater would not annihilate the lesser, nor the taking up of the lower diminish the greatness of the higher.

What belongs to each nature is preserved intact and meets the other in one person: lowliness is taken up by greatness, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our human condition, a nature incapable of suffering is united to a nature capable of suffering, and true God and true man are forged into the unity that is the Lord. This was done to make possible the kind of remedy that fitted our human need: one and the same mediator between God and men able to die because of one nature, able to rise again because of the other. If he were not true God, he would not be able to bring us healing, if he were not true man, he would not be able to give us an example.

We look forward to seeing many of you for Mass over the weekend, and for those still not able to join us we are remembering you in prayer.

Visit the post for more.