Monday [14th May] is the feast of St MATTHIAS, the ‘late arrival’ among  the Apostles. He was chosen by lottery!  Such are the mysteries of God’s grace.

Next week we complete forty days since Easter with the feast of the ASCENSION OF THE LORD into heaven. The fifty days of Eastertide will be finished on PENTECOST SUNDAY.

The only OFFICIAL NOVENA of the Church begins on Thursday and ends  on Pentecost Sunday We pray for the Holy Spirit to renew the whole Church, starting with ourselves!

TASKS IN THE CHURCH AND AROUND THE PARISH

Many thanks to the many who help clean the church; arrange the flowers; assist in the sacristy; take up the collection; serve at Mass; distribute the chalice; proclaim the Word; prepare the music and hymns; welcome our visitors; visit the sick and housebound; support the parish; wash the altar linens; provide meals and domestic support in the presbytery, but most of all those who through their worship of God and their prayer make our parish and our church.

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY  The fourth Sunday of Eastertide is always kept as a day of prayer and encouragement for vocations to the priesthood in our diocese.
In Allen Hall, Redemptoris Mater and in Rome, we have more than forty students for Westminster Diocese.

After Mass today we have a collection for the PRIEST’S TRAINING FUND. Please give whatever you can afford. There are special envelopes available if wish to use GIFT AID to increase your contribution by claiming back some tax.

FEASTS THIS WEEK.  Tuesday, First of May, is the feast of  S JOSEPH THE WORKER. It opens  MARY’S MONTH.

On Thursday we celebrate the  APOSTLES, PHILIP  and  JAMES. Friday is the national feast of the  ENGLISH MARTYRS.

In every age the source of the divine call is to be found in the initiative of the infinite love of God, who reveals himself fully in Jesus Christ. As I wrote in my first Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, ‘God is indeed visible in a number of ways. In the love story recounted by the Bible, he comes towards us, he seeks to win our hearts, all the way to the last supper, to the piercing of his heart on the Cross, to his appearance o after the Resurrection and to the great deeds by which , through the activity of the apostles, he guided the nascent church along its path. Nor has the absent from subsequent Church history: he encounters us ever anew, in the men and women who reflect his presence, in his word, in the sacraments, and especially in the Eucharist.’

From Pope Benedict’s message for Vocations Sunday

The MARRIAGE COURSE begins on next Thursday, 3rd May, at 8PM. It lasts for six weeks. We welcome any couples planning to get married – there is no need to register beforehand.