NEWSLETTER
Fourteenth Sunday on Ordinary Time Year B
Sunday 7th July, 2024
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Message from Canon Kristian
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Dear sisters and brothers
At the end of an eventful week for our country, it is important that we entrust all our newly-elected politicians to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that they may indeed have the gifts of wisdom, courage and understanding, and be people infused with those fruits of the Spirit such as kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and, above all, love.
After the unusual occurrence of the Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul last weekend, we return to the Sunday of Ordinary Time, being led through the teaching of the Gospel of St Matthew. This weekend we hear about the proverbial prophet who is never accepted amongst his or her own people. The Gospel writer is clearly applying this to Jesus above all and his rejection by those who knew his family background and ultimately by the religious authorities of his time. However, we are all anointed at baptism as prophets and have a prophetic role to play in the church and in the world around us. Speaking the truth to power, being faithful to the values of the Beatitudes, living with integrity the teachings of Jesus, standing up for Christian moral norms and proclaiming God’s option for the poor – in whatever form that poverty takes – will always be challenging to the accepted “ways of the world” (which can and do seep into the fabric of the Church) and provoke resistance and, more often than not, rejection. Rejection is one of the hardest things for us as human beings to face, since we all have the desire to belong and to be accepted. Only when we are firmly rooted in God’s abiding and loving presence within us and convinced of our individual God-given and inalienable dignity, often mediated through those around us who love and support us, can we allow ourselves to move out of the places of cosy security we build around ourselves into those places of prophetic discomfort to which God call us. Only in this way can we be effective agents of the Kingdom or Reign of God.
Very much connected with that need for a sense of belonging, next Sunday we are inviting our children who recently received their First Communion to come together with their families to the 10.00am Mass to celebrate this unique Sacrament through which we become one body, one spirit in Christ – we truly belong to God and to each other. Then, after Mass, there will be a party in the hall for these precious young people of our parish. So, I ask the parents and families of our First Holy Communion children to give this celebration its rightful priority and to make it a special occasions to the children.
Those who go to St Boniface for Mass this weekend will see that, though progress has been made on the repair of the floor at the side of the nave, further work still needs to be done before the new flooring can be laid. Please do everything you can to avoid walking on this area of the floor since the concrete still needs to set completely and there are a number of trip hazards. This means that the Sunday Mass will be rather cramped as last Sunday and the place for the singers/musicians will be out of bounds for one more week. Hopefully, the final part of the work can be done over the following week. Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation.
Along with the Newsletter this week, I attach the weekly guide to a prayerful reading of the Sunday Gospel from Monika Manser and the latest edition of Inspire from Deacon Peter.
Please remember our sick, particularly those in hospital at this time, and pray for the soul of Pat Kennedy, whose Requiem Mass we celebrate this coming Wednesday.
God bless
Canon Kristian
Canon Kristian Paver
Parish Priest
Parish of St Boniface and St James Mid Devon
40 Old Road Tiverton EX16 4HJ
POpe’s Prayer Intention for July
This month, Pope Francis invites us to join with him in praying for the pastoral care of the sick: “Let us pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick may grant the Lord’s strength to those who receive it and to their loved ones, and that it may become for everyone an ever more visible sign of compassion and hope.” To watch a short video of this prayer intention being introduced by the Holy Father himself, go to www.thepopevideo.org/.
Coffee Mornings
Please put the following Coffee Morning dates to raise funds for the internal fixtures of the rebuilt St James into your diaries:
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Wednesday 24 July, 10.00am-12noon, Monika and David, Holmelea, 7 Blundells Avenue, Tiverton, EX16 4DL.
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Saturday 10 August, 10.00am-12noon, Margaret and Sarah, Stylehurst, Ashley, Tiverton, EX16 5PA.
If you would like to host a Coffee Morning or other similar event (or to host another one, if you have already hosted one!), please have a word with either Margaret Found or Maggie Pulford.
Prayer Vigil in honour of St Cuthbert Mayne
A new icon of St Cuthbert Mayne has been commissioned for our Cathedral. One of the Sisters of Mary, Morning Star, has been working on it for the past year and it is now finished. The Sisters invite you to a prayer vigil in honour of St Cuthbert before the icon goes to Plymouth. The prayer vigil in the presence of the icon will take place at the Most Holy Saviour Church in Lynton this Monday 8 July from 7.30-9.00pm. The time of prayer will be animated with music and texts on the life of St Cuthbert and on the grace of martyrdom.
St John’s School Starmaker Production
St John’s Starmakers will be performing ‘The Jungle Book’ at the New Hall on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 July at 6.30pm. Tickets cost £6 and can be reserved by emailing cfitton@stjohnstiverton.co.uk for collection on the door. Please include in your email which night you would like to come to and how many tickets you require. Starmakers always put on a fabulous show so please go along and support the children if you can.
Parish Celebration for our First Holy Communion Children
To celebrate again our children who made their First Communion this year, there will be a party for them after 10.00am Mass next Sunday, 14 July, in the hall. The children are invited to come to Mass in their First Communion clothes and to stay behind afterwards with their families for the celebration.
Sea Sunday
Next Sunday is also Sea Sunday, the annual day of prayer for those who live and work on the seas, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances. There will be a retiring collection to support the work of the Port Chaplains and Ship Visitors of Stella Maris, formerly called the Apostleship of the Sea.
Adult Formation Day
The Parish Pastoral Council will be hosting an Adult Formation Day at St James on Saturday 20 July. Two speakers, Fr. Michael Barrow SJ and Revd Jane Frost, have been invited to talk around the theme of “Risk, Adventure, Vocation”. The day will begin at 10.30am and conclude by 4.00pm; tea and coffee will be available and there will be a shared lunch, so please bring a plate of food along with you to share.
Diocese of Plymouth Summer Camps 2024
Applications are now being taken for places at the Plymouth Diocese Catechetical Summer Camps at Grangehurst, Buckfast Abbey. Three: Junior Camp (Years 3-6, 4-8 August), Senior Camp (Years 7-10, 28 July-2 August) and St Petroc’s Camp (Years 11-12, 31 July-2 August). Summer Camps are a great opportunity to meet other young people in the Diocese and to get to know each other through games, quiz nights, treasure hunts, days out and much more! For further information, see the leaflet in church, contact summercamps@prcdtr.org.uk, or speak to Siobhan Gilroy or Canon Kristian.
CHAT AGM
You are invited to attend the 2024 AGM for Churches Housing Action Team (CHAT) on Thursday 25 July at St Paul’s Church, Tiverton, starting at 7.00pm. The AGM will spend some time looking back at the previous year, along with sharing plans for the future. It will also be a chance to thank the outgoing Chair of Trustees, Simon Friend, and to meet the new Chair, Clive Williams. There will be refreshments after the meeting so, if you are coming along, please email theoffice@chatmid.co.uk to help with the numbers for the catering.
Lay Dominican South West Regional Day
Any Catholics in our diocese who may be interested in joining the Lay Dominicans, or simply wish to find out who they are and what they are about, are very warmly invited to the Lay Dominican South West Regional Day which will be held on Saturday 20 July, 10.00am—5.00pm, at the Church of Our Lady and the Angels, Saltash. The day will include a talk from Fr Thomas-Thérèse Mannion OP, National Promoter of the Lay Dominicans. Registration is not strictly necessary, but it would help for organisational purposes. If you would like to register or receive further information, contact Geraldine on geraldinetaylor2016@hotmail.com. Light refreshments will be provided, and please bring a packed lunch. The event is free, but donations would be welcome.
Masses and Events this week
Sunday 7th July 2024– Fourteenth Sunday of the Year B
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Saturday 6 July – Weekday
- Friends of St James and St Boniface at 9.30am in the Hall
- Youth Club, 11.00am-12.30pm, in the Hall (St Boniface)
- Laudato Si’ Group at 4.00pm in the Hall
- Vigil Mass of Sunday at 6.00pm Pro Populo
Sunday 7 July – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
- Holy Mass John Newbery RIP (anniv)
- Holy Mass at 11.30am (at St Boniface)
Monday 8 July – Weekday
- Singing to Remember at 2.00pm in the Hall
Tuesday 9 July – Weekday
- Holy Mass at 10.00am
- Reception of the Body at 4.45pm
Wednesday 10 July – Weekday
- No Mass at St Boniface
- Requiem Mass for Pat Kennedy RIP at 1.00pm
- Parish Pastoral Council at 7.00pm in the Hall
Thursday 11 July – St Benedict, Abbot, Patron of Europe
- Holy Mass at 6.00pm
Friday 12 July – Weekday
- Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions at 11.30am
- Holy Mass at 12noon
- Prayer of the Holy Rosary at 12.30pm
- Sustainable Tiverton at 6.00pm in the Hall
- Vigil Mass of Sunday at 6.00pm
Sunday 14 July – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
- Holy Mass Pro Populo followed by First Holy Communion Celebration
- Holy Mass at 11.30am (at St Boniface)
