PARISH OF ST. BONIFACE, SOUTHAMPTON
JULY 30th., 2017
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME [A]
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field”
Presbytery: St. Boniface House, 413 Shirley Road Southampton SO15 3JD Tel: 023 80771231
Parish Priest: Father David Sillince
Safeguarding Officer: Diana Agacy 023 80907128
Parish Secretary: Eileen B. Aylett Parish Office opening hours Monday Thursday and Friday 9.00am to 12.30pm
Newsletter deadline 9.00pm on Tuesday for inclusion on following Sunday, space permitting.
Parish Website: www.st-boniface.org.uk Parish Office e mail:
This Parish is within the Pastoral Area of Southampton Central & West. RC Diocese of Portsmouth Regd. Charity 246871
The Church is normally open on weekdays 8am-5pm, Saturdays 8am-7.45pm, Sundays 7.30am-5pm
CALENDAR FOR THE WEEK / We pray especially for:-(Divine Office week 1)
Saturday / July 29 / ] / 6.30pm / Mass / Romeo Mascarenhas, RIP
Sunday / July 30 / ] SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME [A] / 8.30am
10.30am / Mass
Mass / In thanksgiving [ER]
In thanksgiving [MC]
Monday / July 31 / St. Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits
(†Rome 1556) / 10.00am / Mass / Michael Sedotti, RIP
Tuesday / August 1 / St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori,
Founder of the Redemptorists, Bishop & Doctor
of the Church (†Pagani [Amalfi] 1787) / 10.00am / Mass / Francis McGinnity
Wednesday / August 2 / [St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop †371; St. Peter Julian
Eymard, Founder †La Mure [Grenoble] 1868] / 10.00am / Mass / Caff O’Connell, RIP
Thursday / August 3 / [St. Ethelwold, Bishop †Winchester 984] / 10.00am / Mass / Holy Souls
Friday / August 4 / St. John Vianney, Priest (†Ars-sur-Formans 1859) / 10.00am / Mass / Scariya family
Saturday / August 5 / [Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome]
6.30pm Mass is of The TRANSFIGURATION of the LORD / 10.00am / Mass / Deceased Benefactors of the Parish
Confessions Saturdays after 10am Mass and from 5.45pm to 6.15pm PARISH PRAYER GROUP: Fridays 11am-12noon in the Hall, all welcome.
REFRESHMENTS in the Hall every Sunday after 10.30am Mass [not in August], also Fridays after 10am Mass (for our Parish charity)
Please pray for those who are sick especially: Colette Morfett, Sheila White, Rosemary FitzGerald, Aileen Lynn, Geoffrey Milford, Edward Standley, Katie Smith, Mary King, Jenny O’Farrell, Veronica White, Gordon Lyons, Anne le Flohic, Adele Vella, Kenneth Angel, Ellen Ince, Mary Macintyre.
Please pray for the repose of the souls of those with anniversaries at this time: Raimondo Argenti, Michael Sedotti, Alice Daley, Olga McCoy
Diocesan PRAYER INTENTIONS:
S: Diocesan Council of Priests; M: Jesuits in the Diocese; T: Redemptorists in the Diocese; W: Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in the Diocese; Th: Retired or sick clergy; F: Bishop Philip (ordained priests 4.8.84); S: Don Bosco Summer Camp.
READERS: Please note that the readings next weekend are for the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6), not the 18th. Sunday in Ordinary Time.
MEMORARE
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone ever fled to thy protection,
implored thy help,
or sought thine intercession,
and was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins,
my mother; to thee do I come,
before thee I stand, a sorrowful sinner.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in thy mercy hear
and answer my prayer. Amen.
SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM: At the 10.30am Mass this Sunday Emily Eve Miller and Antony Brett Miller will be baptised.
May the Lord grant them long lives, and many days to enjoy prosperity.
SUNDAY AFTER-MASS COFFEE is not available today or in August; resumes September 4. Could you volunteer to be on the rota? Please notify Parish Office.
ALLELUIA 2: Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children.
COMMUNION 2: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy; blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
COLLECTION:
July 16: Loose £559.97, Envelopes £485.20. Apportionment: Bankers’ Orders £320.00, Gift Aid £180.00. Total £1545.17.
Sebeya Ethiopia, CAFOD project £67.27 (£54588.40).
Many thanks for these kind contributions.
This weekend: Building & Maintenance (July).
UCM 50th. ANNIVERSARY:
All parishioners are invited to join the St Boniface UCM at a Mass to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their foundation in 1967. Date and time: 16 September 2017 at 11am. The Mass celebrant will be Father Michael Cronin. [See also church and hall notice boards].
Children’s Liturgy at 10.30am Mass is now having its summer break; many thanks to all our volunteers. Resumes on September 10.
CATENIANS Rosaries for Prisoners. Can you help? The Catenians are currently collecting white plastic rosaries for distribution to Catholic prisoners. If you have any to offer, please send to: Michael Blackburn, 164 Green Park Road, Halifax HX3 0SP.
έγώ έίμι ό ποιμήν ό καλός
At Community Room, Park Life Café, St. James’ Park, eight Tuesdays 7.30-9pm from September 19, another opportunity to look at some famous New Testament passages in the Greek original (translations provided) to become familiar with the Greek alphabet and some key words and phrases, and also to cover some of the early history of the Church.. £48 for the course including teaching material and booklet Further information Georgia Condell .
Then you will be able to translate the title of this item ...
MISSION APPEAL: Our parishioner Elizabeth Wood – ‘Lizzie’ in informal mode – is going to serve in the next academic year as a missionary for NET (National Evangelisation Team) Ministries Ireland. Their aim is to “encourage young people to love Jesus and embrace the life of the Church”. To fund her time there, she needs to raise £5000. She will be organising a fundraising concert before Christmas and all suggestions for fundraising ideas or sources of funding would be much appreciated.
Any donation which you can make would be warmly received, and Lizzie has set up a Just Giving page on line:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/elizabeth-wood-NET
YOUTH CLUBS: Junior [‘Frogz’] for ages 8-12, SECOND & FOURTH Fridays of the month during termtime, 6-7.15pm. In the Hall, all welcome
Senior for ages 12-18 Fridays 7.15-9pm. Also in the Hall.
Both are having their summer break.
When we resumes, the senior group – which will be led by Sister Mary Catherine OP from the Dominican convent in Sway – will be called the ‘Frassati Society’. It takes its name from Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati (1901-1925), patron of our diocesan youth work. He was a native of Turin, the same Italian city as produced that other great inspiration of Christian youth, St. John Bosco.
SPIRIT LEAD ME ... A quiet Retreat Day, Wisdom Centre, Romsey SO51 8EL Saturday September 30, 9.30am to 4pm. “A space to step out into the unknown with God”. Morning coffee, lunch, tea and cake provided; £27. Bring a Bible, notebook and pen. Contact Patricia Yandell (Lay Missionary Verbum Dei Family) 07835 948435
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:
“Father, you really must be more careful with the collection; you never know what can happen on Shirley High Street”. My answer that nothing had happened in 13 years was met with the reply that there was always a first time.
I must say I had always been rather nonchalant about transferring the collection bags from the church to the house, on one occasion accompanying them with a bag of rubbish for the dustbin and nearly putting the collection in the bin by mistake. But the warnings got more and more insistent and eventually I said with a sigh: “Very well, I will obey”.
Which was met with the response: “Well, that’s a first!”
I had to chuckle, for indeed I am not a very obedient person by nature. It goes hand in hand with my being mischievous. I did think I was losing my mischief, but Bishop Philip assures me I am not.
But unfortunately for me obedience is a most essential Christian virtue.
Of course, there is ‘bad’ obedience, just as there are ‘bad’ commands. As children we chafed at having to obey, especially when if we asked why the answer was: “Because I say so!” As adults we resent the often piffling interventions of authorities, especially the lesser and more pompous ones. You will look in vain in a bookshop for a textbook on ‘improving one’s power of obedience’.
The word “obey” comes from a compound of the Latin verb audire meaning “to hear”. Hearing intently – not just having a sound going in one ear and out of the other – inclines one to obedience. That is what Jesus meant when he said so often: “Listen, anyone who has ears.” We all have ears stuck on the sides of our head, but how are we using them? Jesus means: “If you really absorb what I am saying, you will want to do it”.
A classic example of the use of “hear/obey” is the Rule of St. Benedict, not the first monastic Rule but certainly the most influential. A lecturer at the London School of Economics (not the most godly of places) put it at the head of his list of essential constitutional documents in the history of Europe.
The very first paragraph of the Rule reads: “Listen, my son, to the precepts of your master, and incline the ear of your heart; willingly receive and faithfully comply with the admonition of your loving father, that you may return by the labour of obedience to Him from whom you departed by the sloth of disobedience”.
Benedict lived in tumultuous times when the chaotic results of disobedience were there for all to see. He wrote his Rule for monastic communities, which would be oases of order in a fractured world.
In the world ‘out here’ we obey laws (mostly) because they contribute to the common good. That is why we stop if the traffic lights are red (unless we are cyclists, or are in Naples, where such things are merely suggestive). In a monastery, which is a closed community, the abbot – the father figure – chosen by the monks, exercises an authority of love, answerable to God for his decisions, and encouraging mutual obedience and a readiness to seek out God’s will together, without grumbling.
We all live under authorities whom we never see, and those of us who exercise authority cannot directly see its effects on everybody. But within a smaller circle (what we might call our ‘personal monastery’) we can practise the skill of listening with respect and so finding common ground where obedience becomes a delight rather than a drudge. Then we will be attuned to applying that ability more widely.
Now what did I do with that collection bag?
RETREAT DAY FOR THE DEAF: Wednesday August 9 at the Cathedral Centre, Portsmouth, led by Fr. Robin Ellwood. Begins 10.45am and includes Mass at 12,15pm. Fully sign-interpreted. Theme: St. Edith Stein, whose feast falls on that day. If interested contact:
PILGRIMAGE TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA: June 16-23, 2018. To secure the bargain price of £830, flights need to be booked by mid-August, deposit £200 per head. Itinerary: fly to Madrid, drive to Burgos, one day in Loyola at the shrine of St. Ignatius, then follow the pilgrim Way of St. James west to Santiago. There is the opportunity to walk some of the road, but a coach is also available; daily Mass. Details and booking forms from St. Edmund’s office (023) 8033 3589 or via Godfrey Doyle 07714 370529 or e-mail:
ROSARY GROUP meets in the Hall after 10am Mass next Saturday, August 5. All are welcome. August 5 commemorates the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, the first dedicated to Our Lady.