MESSAGE ON THE 16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YR A)
Friday 17th July 2026
My dear people,
Our parish is going to experience one of our annual highlights from the end of next week when, during the Masses beginning Saturday 25th July, we will have First Holy Communion. We will start with the candidates from Christ the Priest Catholic Primary School and Saint Marianne Cope Catholic Primary School. We celebrate with these families as their children receive our Lord in Holy Communion for the first time. We continue to pray for the children themselves, and that as they receive Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time, they will certainly feel his presence with them and be convinced that he is the person to guide them along the paths of everlasting life. We are also mindful that things change a little at Masses for first Holy Communions with a few pews reserved for the children receiving Holy Communion for the first time and they receive Holy Communion first.
We have had to change itinerary of the parish pilgrimage in order to avoid flying through the Middle East owing to the uncertainty of that area at the moment. We are now traveling via Hong Kong. We will still enjoy the wonderful places that we mentioned. As a reminder, these are Rome, Rotondo (Padre Pio), Siena, (our patron saint, St Catherine of Siena) and Assisi (St Francis of Assisi, St Clare and St Carlo Acutis) among others. One of the highlights will be the three nights spent in Medjugorje where we will be able to meditate on the messages that Our Lady has for the world that she delivered there. I am in the process of organising a retreat for the pilgrims who will be able to come with us. This is therefore another very warm invitation for more people to join us on what promises to be a great time of spiritual renewing as all pilgrimages usually are.
On Friday 24th July, in the evening, we will continue the Vigil of Prayers for the reparation of all the harms caused by sin. As we know, the Church has had this custom for many years and it is indeed important to pray that the damage caused by sin be repaired. This year we pray particularly in response to the appeal made by Our Lady when she appeared in 1925 in Pontevedra to St Lucia who had preciously witnessed the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima. We will start with Mass at 7pm. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed from 7:30pm until Benediction at 11:50pm. The Sacrament of Confession will be available during the time of Exposition. There will also be prayers from 7:30pm until Benediction.
We continue turning to our patron saint and we ask for her intercession.
St Catherine of Siena, Pray for us.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr Richard Rosse PP