Catholic Community in Cheltenham
.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter Week 2
Page 146
26th October 2014
‘You must love the Lord your God and your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22:34-40)
“the only true riches are
those that make us rich
in virtue”
St Gregory the Great 10 St James Square, GL50 3PR 01242 523737
St Thomas More Princess Elizabeth Way, GL51 7RA 01242 573128
Parish Priest:
Canon Bosco MacDonald VF
Assistant Priest: Fr Frank Wainwright
Fr David McDonald
Deacon:
Rev. Robin Littlewood
Parish Websites:
www.stgregorys.org.uk, www.stthomasmorechurch.org.uk
Schools:
St Gregory’s RC Primary School, St James Square GL50 3QG
St Thomas More RC Primary School, Lewis Road, Hesters Way GL51 OHZ
All Saints’ Academy, Blaisdon Way, Cheltenham GL51 OWH
Sacred Hearts Moorend Road, Charlton Kings, GL53 9AU 01242 524932
Pope st Gregory the great
of Jesus and Mary
Parish Priest:
Fr Paul Brandon Parish Website:
Mass Times this Week
26th Sunday
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
5.00pm (Sat St Thomas More Fr Patrick Auger RIP
5.30pm (Sat) Sacred Hearts
James Towey RIP
8.15am
Sacred Hearts
People of the Parish
9.30am
St Gregory
Private Intention
10.30am
Sacred Hearts
Joan Mollereau RIP
11.15am
St Gregory
Fr Philip Thomas Intention
4.15pm
Sacred Hearts
Mass in Polish
6.00pm
St Gregory
People of the Parish
27th Monday
Weekday in Ordinary Time
9.30am
St Gregory
Ellen Smith RIP
9.30am
Sacred Hearts
Mose & Saveria Palo RIP
28th Tuesday
Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
10.00am
Sacred Hearts
Alastair Shaw RIP
7.00pm
St Gregory
Patrick & Mae Wallace RIP
29th Wednesday Weekday in Ordinary Time
9.30am
St Gregory
Teresa Gonzales RIP
10.00am
Sacred Hearts
Rosa Colangelo RIP
30th Thursday
Weekday in Ordinary Time
9.30am
St Gregory
David Badger RIP
7.00pm
Sacred Hearts
Kathleen Trapp RIP
31st Friday
Weekday in Ordinary Time
9.15am
Sacred Hearts
Rosa Colangelo RIP
9.30am
St Gregory
Kevin Heaney RIP
1st Saturday
Weekday in Ordinary Time
9.30am
St Gregory
Hugh McPartland RIP
10.00am
Sacred Hearts
Justice & Peace
Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Prayer before the
Blessed Sacrament at St Gregory’s: Saturday 10.00am-11.00am; Thursday
10.00am-3.00pm ending with Benediction; Sacred Hearts: 1st Friday of month,
9.15am-12.30pm.
Sacrament of Reconciliation: St Gregory’s Saturdays 10.00am; St Thomas
More 4.15-4.45pm. 1st Thursday at STM 5pm Confessions in Polish. Sacred
Hearts Thursdays 7.30pm and Saturdays 10.30am. Also by arrangement with
the priests.
RCIA Journey in Faith: Re-commenced 16th October 2014. 7-9pm every
Thursday, in the Presbytery.
Baptisms: By arrangement with the Parish Office.
Cheltenham Catholic Adults: 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month. Contact
Margaret 07515 805015 or Damian 07908 105787.
55 Club: After 9.30am Mass, in Old Priory (alternate Thursdays). Next meeting:
6th November. The sale of homemade jams and other produce for the Sue Ryder
Hospice.
Choir Practice: In Church, Thursdays at 7.00pm. New members welcome.
Contact John on: 07769 675323.
www.sacredhearts.org.uk
FALLING IN LOVE
WITH YOURSELF
It sounds as if it
ought not to be
true, but it is. The
fact is, you can't
love
your
neighbour
as
yourself
unless
you love yourself
first.
Jesus told his
hearers that they
must love their
neighbour
as
themselves. This
means that we are called to treat our
neighbours in exactly the same way that we
would wish to be treated. It's not just a negative
thing: I'll not rob my neighbour so that they
won't rob me. It's actually a positive thing: I love
myself so much that I'd like my neighbour to feel
like this. But do you love yourself? Not simply
in the sense that you pamper yourself or give in
to excesses of self-indulgence. Rather, do you
look at yourself with a sense of esteem, prizing
your
gifts,
talents,
appearance,
accomplishments etc? Or is your sense of selfworth so low that you constantly wish that you
were someone else, or spend your time
complaining about your lot in life?
The obvious thing is that if you do not love
yourself, then you will find it very hard to love
anyone else. Worse still, you'll find it impossible
to love God, since it is God who made you.
In reality we are able to love our neighbour only
when we can thank God for the wonder of our
own being. If we can recognize that all we are
and have comes from God, that God has
stamped a preciousness upon us that makes us
lovable, then we can return that love to God.
But if we fail to recognize this, then we can love
neither God nor our neighbour.
Finance
Last week’s offertory collection came to: £1141.62 (STG);
£295.29 (STM) Bingo £95.00 (STM); Jericho £88.61. The retiring
collection for Missio APF raised £459.62 (STG) and £52.51
(STM). Thank you for your support.
Baptisms
Congratulations and welcome to James Peter Joseph Blanch,
Lola Niamh Patricia Blanch, Evalynn Mary June Byrne, Arthur
Timothy Seamus Murphy, William St John Thornton-Norris,
Nicholas Ozga and Poppy Elizabeth Stephan who were baptised
last weekend at St Gregory’s. We welcome these children into
the family of the Church, and offer our love & prayers to them
and their families.
Bishop’s Visitation next Weekend
Bishop Declan will be coming to Cheltenham next weekend to
visit the parishes of St Thomas M|ore and St Gregory’s. He will
be celebrating all the Masses here and available to meet
parishioners after mass in an informal way. We also plan to hold
our Parish Pastoral Council annual meeting in the Old Priory at
St Gregory’s next Sunday at 3.00pm and this meeting is open to
all parishioners of both parishes. Do come along and meet
Bishop Declan and hear about the many and varied groups and
initiatives in your parish. Light refreshments will be available.
Mass of Remembrance
A Mass of Remembrance will be celebrated in St Benedict’s
Chapel, All Saints’ Academy on Wednesday 12th November at
7.00pm. This Mass will be offered for all deceased students,
parents, teachers, governors and staff of St Benedict’s School,
Christ College and All Saints’ Academy. The celebrant will be
Canon Bosco MacDonald. Refreshments will be served
afterwards.
For further details please contact All Saints’
Academy on 711234.
Polish Prayer Group
The Polish Prayer Group meets every Monday at St Thomas
More’s at 7pm. As well as the Prayer Group, there is a Polish
Holy Hour with Confessions followed by Polish Mass on the First
Thursday of the month at 5 pm (followed by Mass at 6pm).
Bethlehem Stall
Thank you to those who supported the Bethlehem stall on
Sunday last. I took £270. Hopefully the next sale will be on the
Sunday 23rd November.
St Thomas More Development
Thank you to everyone who helped to arrange and/or attended
the Fish & Chip Supper Evening on 17th October. It was a lively
and happy evening, and raised £402.00 for the Development
Fund.
Palestinian Lunch
I have been asked by several parishioners, when I am going to
do another lunch to fundraise for our Bethlehem Project! I am
hoping that I can get 6 or 8 volunteers to prepare 2 bowls of
Middle eastern / Arabic style salads each for the lunch on the
22nd November, at 12 midday. I will give you recipes, as
suggested by Yousef. I will need to know soon so I can confirm
the date and make tickets, which will be £10 each. Those who
make 2 bowls of salad will come free in return. Please phone me
on 243207 to discuss menus etc. Perhaps we could have a
meeting of the volunteers, to make sure it is a varied menu.?
Projectors
St Gregory’s School have recently upgraded their classroom
projectors. They have a number of older projectors available for
sale to parishioners for £30 each. If you are interested, please
contact Mrs Salcombe at school 01242 513659.
St Gregory’s Primary School Kids Club
We have a vacancy for a new staff member (either beginner level
or managerial level) at St Greg’s Kids Club. This is to help care
for the children of St Gregory’s School between 3-6pm each day
Monday-Friday. If you are interested in knowing more about this
post, please phone 515387 and speak with Denise or Caroline.
St Thomas More Breakfast Club
The Prayer breakfast Club will meet on the 2nd Sunday of
November (8th November) at St Thomas More Parish, from 9.3011.00am, The December meeting will take place on the 6th.
St Thomas More Christmas Fayre
Your Christmas Fayre will take place at St Thomas More on
Saturday, 29th November between 11am-1.00pm. We need
some good quality items for prizes and items to sell (bottles, toys,
chocolates, jewellery, bric-a-brac etc) and your help to man a
stall on the day. Items can be left at St Gregory’s and St Thomas
More’s Church and Presbytery. To volunteer, contact Philippe
Watine on 260966 or Marianna Thomas 528427. Help us to help
our Church: all together we are a community!
Newman Association
There will be a talk on Tuesday, 4th November at 7.45pm in the
lounge of Sacred Hearts Hall, Charlton Kings. Fr Michael
Thomas will speak on Adult Ongoing Formation for the Modern
Catholic. All welcome. Admission: £3; students & members free.
Enquires to Stephanie Jamison on 539810.
APF Red Boxes
Please return your box to the Presbytery/Sacristy at St
Gregory’s, or to Kit Holmes at St Thomas More by Sunday, 9th
November for last count in 2014.
Heart to Heart Curry Night
Join us for our Curry Night to raise funds for Help4Heroes and
Computers4Schools on Saturday, 8th November at 7pm in St
Gregory’s school hall. Tickets £10 or £30 for a family. Contact
Johannes: 07815496902/Steve: 07775576859 for tickets.
Heart 2 Heart Walk
Join Steve and Johannes, or walk the first mile with them on
Saturday, 1st November from Prestbury war memorial at 9.00am!
To sponsor, to join the walk or for more information please visit:
www.h2hwalk.org or contact Steve Johnston 07775 576859 or
Johannes on 07815 496902.
St Thomas More Catholic Primary School
We have two vacancies for foundation governors and are looking
for specific skills in finance/HR to chair the Finance and
Resources Committee and a knowledge and interest in Catholic
education to chair the Learning and Standards Committee. You
would be joining a very strategic and committed board of
governors as we take our school on the next part of the journey
with a newly appointed Head Teacher joining us in January 2015.
Please contact Chair of Governors, June Little on 07885 285 866
or [email protected] for more information,
who would be pleased to meet to discuss the roles further.
Music and Dance Night
An evening of music and dance is being held at STM church hall
on Saturday 15th November from 8pm. It will include live music
from our resident music maestro, Michael (Nobby) Clarke. Bring
your own drink & nibbles. Tickets £5 or pay on the door.
Caritas
Submissions are invited for the Advent edition by the 2nd
November to [email protected] or to 'The Editor',
c/o Parish Office. Caritas needs to add another proof reader to
the Editorial team. If you have a passion for correct English
Grammar and would usually be free to proof read the magazine
each quarter, please get in touch with Corinna:
[email protected] or 57 5197.
Our Prayers are asked for:
Sick: Liz Sawaf, Sue Ball, Claire Young, Sean Murphy, Helen
Stanbury, Virginia Hancliff, Grace Stevens, Olive Whelan, Bruce
Francis, Jenny Dabrowska, Teresa Patterson, Bernie Warner,
Deirdre Kelleher, Helen Dorothy Gorry, Denise Ellis, Kevin Dunn,
Peter Lucassi, Christopher & Clifford Brown, Margaret Ellis, Julia
& Danny Barr, Teresa & Paddy O’Kelly, Bridie & Terry Ruck,
Angela Savidge, Pauline Crosbie, Emily Cousins, June Edwards,
Rey Lluisma, Lilian Martin, Bridget Garvey, Geoffrey Garvey, Pat
Donovan, Maddie Read,
Dan Perry, Pete Thacker, Mary
Costello, Adrian Davis, Lisa Partridge, Norma Greener.
Deceased: John Pearce, Alice Johnson and Baby Gabriel
Olivera da Costa RIP.
Anniversaries: Martin Hawley, Marjorie Hall, Julie Martin, David
Badger, Kitty McManus, Patrick Earley.