St Simon Stock Catholic Church

Brookfield Road, South Ashford, Kent TN23 4EU

13th SEPTEMBER 2009
Tel: 01233 622399
Parish Priest: Fr John Boyle TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME
Saint Simon of England RC Primary School,
Noakes Meadow, Ashford, TN23 2RB. Tel: 01233 623199 YEAR B
Head teacher: Mrs Elizabeth Willis

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS TODAY’S MASS TEXTS

th
Sunday 13 Entrance Antiphon cf. Ecclesiasticus 36:18
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) Give peace, Lord, to those who wait for you, and your
10.00am Mass (Jim Gogarty) prophets will proclaim you as you deserve. Hear the
12.00 noon Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal. Fifteenth Sunday after prayers of your servant and of your people Israel.
Pentecost) First Reading Isaiah 50:5-9
6.00pm Mass (People of the parish) I offered my back to those who struck me.
th
Monday 14
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, feast Responsorial Psalm: Ps 114:1-6.8-9.R. v 9.
R: I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the
6.45pm Mass (Holy Souls)
Tuesday 15
th living.
Our Lady of Sorrows I love the Lord for he has heard
9.30am Mass (Peggie Fairess RIP) followed by Divine the cry of my appeal;
Mercy Chaplet & Exposition of the Blessed for he turned his ear to me
Sacrament until 10.30am in the day when I called him. (R)
th
Wednesday 16 They surrounded me, the snares of death,
SS Cornelius, pope and Cyprian, bishop, martyrs with the anguish of the tomb;
6.45pm Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal) (Holy Souls) they caught me, sorrow and distress.
th
Thursday 17 I called on the Lord‟s name.
St Robert Bellarmine, bishop and doctor of the Church O Lord my God, deliver me! (R)
9.30am Mass (Jimmy Moran RIP)
Friday 18
th How gracious is the Lord, and just;
our God has compassion.
St Edith of Kemsing
The Lord protects the simple heart;
9.30am Mass (Deceased members of Guiry and Stapleton
I was helpless so he saved me. (R)
families RIP)
th
Saturday 19 He has kept my soul from death,
St Theodore of Canterbury, bishop my eyes from tears
9.00am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and my feet from stumbling.
10.00am Mass (Fr. Peter – Mother‟s Group) I will walk in the presence of the Lord
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Sunday 20 in the land of the living. (R)
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) Second Reading: James 2:14-18
Home Mission Sunday If good works do not go with faith, it is quite dead.
10.00am Mass (Jeanette Bruder RIP)
Gospel Acclamation: John 14:5
6.00pm Mass (People of the parish)
Alleluia, alleluia! I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
CONFESSION TIMES the Lord; no one can come to the Father except through me.
Weekdays: before or after Mass upon request. Alleluia!
Saturday: 10.30am; Sundays: ½ hour before Mass Gospel: Mark 8:27-35
You are the Christ. The Son of Man is destined to suffer
CHURCH CLEANING
th th nd th th grievously.
18 Sheila; 25 Sue; October 2 Tara; 9 Bridie; 16 Sheila
Preface of Sunday 4, Eucharistic Prayer 3
COLLECTIONS LAST SUNDAY
Offertory: £357.44, (Gift Aid: £164.22, loose plate: £193.22) + Communion Antiphon: Ps 35:8
£94 approx by standing order. Second collection: Parish O God, how much we value your mercy! All mankind can
Maintenance & Development Fund: £114.68. Thank you. gather under your protection.
Second collection today: Parish Maintenance & Development
Fund, next Sunday: Catholic Agency for the Support of PRAYERS FOR THE SICK
Evangelisation – an agency of the Catholic Bishops‟ Please pray for all our sick parishioners, particularly Rita
Conference of England and Wales. Redman and Samuel Davey. Names of parishioners who need
HOME MISSION SUNDAY our prayers can be placed in the box in the church foyer.
Next week is Home Mission Sunday – a day of prayer for the SPUC MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
spread of the Gospel in England and Wales. This year‟s theme If anyone else would like to enquire about membership, please
is ‘They will know Him by the good works that you do’, chosen in see Anne-Marie Homberger.
prayerful response to the content of the Scripture readings for ND
the day and the current economic climate. Leaflets giving further PRO-LIFE PRAYER VIGIL MAIDSTONE 22 SEPTEMBER
details and gift aid envelopes for next week‟s second collection I will be leading this vigil by The Helpers of God‟s Precious
in aid of the Catholic Agency for the Support of Evangelisation Infants. If you wish to join, meet at St. Francis‟ Church, Week
are available on the table in the entrance. Street, Maidstone for 12.30pm Mass followed by a prayerful and
peaceful procession to the Marie Stopes abortion facility in
PARISH ADVISORY COUNCIL Brewer Street ending at 2.15pm. Refreshments afterwards at St.
Next meeting tomorrow at 7.30 pm. Please let Thereza Baker Francis Parish Centre. Fuller details on notice board. Fr. John
know if there is anything you think needs to be put on the
agenda, tel: parish office 622399; email: tbaker@stsimon.org.uk
Parish email: parish@stsimon.org.uk; Parish website: www.stsimon.org.uk; Diocesan website: www.rcsouthwark.co.uk
Fr John‟s blog: http://caritasveritas.blogspot.com/ Parish blog: http://st-simon-parish.blogspot.com/
 FR. PETER’S DESKTOP
“GENTLY GOODBYE”

So everything is back to normal again. Fr John has returned from his holiday, and I am happy, along with all of you, that he
came back in good health and condition. There is always a lot of work for a priest in a parish and I am sure that you will no t leave Fr
John alone. But please remember also that he is only a man and sometimes he needs to rest
This postcard is a joke of course, but I am really glad that Fr John is with you again and
don‟t worry about our fridge, it is full again.

******************************************************
“The sound of her footsteps was like a stream falling gently away downhill over cool
stones in the quiet of night” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings). So I should take this example
and go away quietly, telling you “Goodbye” very gently. But I can‟t. I would like to thank all the
good people I have met in this parish. During this time I have had many new experiences and I
have had an interesting time. I visited about 40 villages and towns, and have been to a lot of
places I have never seen before. I don‟t want to put here all names, but I carry these people in my
memory and heart. If there will be another opportunity, I hope we will see each other again
(maybe not in UK). Thank you and please remember me in your prayers.
Praised be Jesus Christ! Fr. Peter/ks. Piotr

REGULAR EVENTS –
COME ALONG!
DIVINE MERCY PRAYER GROUP
after the 9.30am Mass on Tuesdays. Prayers of
intercession for various needs and silent
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament till 10.30am.
CHOIR PRACTICE THURSDAYS 7.30PM
Newcomers always welcome
BIBLE STUDY WEDNESDAYS 7.30PM
Studying the Acts of the Apostles.
Newcomers always welcome.
YEAR OF PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
Come and pray the Rosary for our priests 20 minutes before the
morning Masses, Monday to Friday. All are welcome to join.
YEAR OF PRIESTHOOD
A special prayer calendar has been produced by the Southwark
diocesan Vocations Office to help us pray for all the priests of
our diocese. Please take one and say the prayer daily. Thank
you.
VISIT OF RELICS OF ST THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
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AYLESFORD 10 OCTOBER
The coach has been booked; price £8 per adult, £4 per child and
will leave the church at 9.00am. If you would like to go by coach
or can offer a lift in your car please sign up on the notice board
as soon as possible. Leaflets containing further information
about the visit are available in the church foyer.
HAVE WE FORGOTTEN WHAT IT IS TO BE CATHOLIC? (12)
(From Fit for Mission? Church by Bishop Patrick O‟Donoghue)
Those employers who exploit their workforce forget they are
Catholic.
ST
PARISH AUTUMN FAYRE 31 OCTOBER 2009
Raffle tickets for the Draw are now available in the church
entrance. Please take books to buy and to sell to you family or
friends. Please take a jar from the table in the entrance and fill it
with anything that you think would be suitable to sell at the fayre.
If you have any items that you think suitable for the fayre and
would like them collected please let Eileen Conn or Thereza
Baker know. Thank you.
DIVINE MERCY GROUP
Will meet for prayer and social at Teresa Davies‟, 16 Gravelly
Field, Singleton, tel: Ashford 625799 this coming Wednesday
th
16 from 10 am finishing at approximately 11.30. New members
are always welcome to come along.
GOOD TO BE BACK
I hope most people have had a chance to take a holiday and
enjoy a change of scene. I know that there will be those who
may have had to curtail their normal holiday plans or who have
not been able to take a holiday at all. I realise, therefore, how
fortunate I am that I was able to take just over three weeks for a
total change and break. I was able to spend a week with Fr Ben
Kiely, parish priest at Stowe, Vermont, whose mother Bernadette
sings in our choir. I was then joined by my priest-brother
Stephen. We spent 10 days staying with the Bishop of
Marquette, Michigan, the Most Rev. Alexander Sample, who was
a classmate of mine in Rome, followed by 6 days in New York.
While away I have not failed to remember all my parishioners
daily. One of the anchors for me when on holiday is daily prayer
and the daily celebration of Mass. Thank God I was able to
celebrate or concelebrate Mass every day in different chapels
and churches. As I had no particular intentions for most of those
Masses, they were offered for you, for all who support me with
their prayers, as well as for family and friends. Daily Mass when
on holiday, far from getting in the way of „having a good time‟,
gave each day its meaning and contributed to true rest. Each
day is, after all, a gift from God. We should therefore try to offer
some of that day back to Him. In the various parishes I visited in
the US, I was impressed by the number of people and families
„on vacation‟ as they say there, including some from the UK, who
had taken the trouble to find out the times of Masses and make
sure they attended. Another interesting point is that distances
are much greater. Father Sebastian‟s brother, for example, looks
after four parishes near Lake Huron and might travel over 40
miles from his home parish to get to one of his churches, one of
which is on an island which involves catching a ferry. One retired
gentleman, an ex American footballer, who lives on that island
would travel these distances daily to whichever church Mass was
being celebrated in on that particular day. If the priest could do it,
so could he! The devotion of parishioners of St Simon‟s to the
Mass is what gives strength to our parish.
Fr Peter leaves us this week. People tell me he has been an
excellent pastor and I know that he has looked after you all very
well. However, when I returned I found the emptiest fridge I have
ever seen! (Maybe Fr Peter hasn‟t needed to buy much food
because so many people have invited him for meals.) Anyway,
one of my first tasks on my return was a shopping spree. I would
like to thank Fr Peter for being with us once again and, on your
behalf, renew our invitation to him to come again next summer.
May God bless him and keep him faithful. May the Madonna of
Czestochowa protect him. Fr. John

To catch up on previous newsletters visit http://www.stsimon.org.uk/Newsletters/