Tag: bible

The 20th Week in Ordinary Time

The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven

In some European countries, 15 August is celebrated as a religious festival, and to the surprise of tourists, many outlets will be closed. This year, because it occurs on a Saturday, the holy day is transferred to Sunday. Its solemn proclamation as a dogma (a solemn teaching) happened in my lifetime, by Pope Pius XII in 1950, and was reflected in Vatican II: “When the course of her earthly life was over, she was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven” — words reflected in the Preface of the Mass. Our Lady Assumed into Heaven is one of the patrons of the diocese.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 16 August, 10am – Solemnity of the Assumption
  • Monday, 17 August, 8.15am – Weekday Mass at St Mary’s House
  • Wednesday, 19 August, 9.30am – Weekday Mass
  • Friday, 21 August, 9.30am – Weekday Mass
  • Sunday, 23 August, 10am – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Bishop-Elect Stephen

He has a diary for the diocese, and various dates for the ordinations of deacons and other appointments are filling up. We are awaiting details of his ordination on 19 October and also of the Mass he will be celebrating at Worth Abbey on the following Saturday. Please keep him in your prayers.

Life, Loss and Coffee

Please read the poster in the entrance about a B&H Parish initiative for those struggling with loss.

Church Gas Boiler Service and Gas Safety Certificate

Last Tuesday, the annual service took place. The external temperature was so hot that one of the controls had to be overridden to operate the system. All is ready for the cold, frosty days ahead.

Did You Observe the Partial Eclipse of the Sun?

It made some people marvel at creation and, for a time, reflect on our wonderful world.

Till Death Do Us Part

Our prayers go to the D’Souza family, as Loretta died on Thursday in the RSCH. This means that the Requiem Mass on Tuesday, 25 August will be for both husband and wife. We offer our condolences to their son, daughter, and family members.

Into heaven is Mary received,

The angels with praises rejoice and bless the Lord.

Let us all rejoice and with a righteous heart be glad,

For today the Virgin Mary reigns with Christ.

16th Week in Ordinary Time

It is holiday time now that schools have broken up and many people are travelling to different parts of the country or the world. Others will be relaxing and simply enjoying a change of routine. Whatever you do, may it be a time of renewal and refreshment, and do make sure it is something different. Around 750 people from the Diocese will be on pilgrimage in Lourdes and will be praying for you all.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 19 July, 10am – Sunday Mass
  • Monday, 20 July, 8.15am – Mass at St Mary’s House
  • Tuesday, 21 July, 11am – Requiem Mass
  • Wednesday, 22 July, 9.30am – Feast of St Mary Magdalene
  • Friday, 24 July, 9.30am – Feast of St Sharbel Makhlouf
  • Saturday, 25 July, 8.30am – Mass at HMP Lewes
  • Sunday, 26 July, 10am – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass

The Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes

You can follow the pilgrimage by visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes website via our “Useful Websites” page. There, you can follow the daily events using the online prayer book. Please pray for the pilgrims, who carry so much with them.

The Assisted Dying Bill

Once again, we have been asked to contact our local MPs to voice our objections. You can read more and find guidance on how to do this by clicking here.

A Local Invitation

The Patcham Gardening Network will be showing a screening of a short film, The People’s Emergency Briefing dealing with the Climate and Nature crisis we face both nationally and globally, at our next meeting. This takes place on Wednesday the 29th of July, 6:30 to 9:00 pm,  at the Patcham Community centre, Ladies’ Mile Rd, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 8TA (This is the community centre attached to Patcham Library, adjacent to Patcham High School). 

Screenings of this powerful, timely film are being shown across the country, largely in community centres, church halls and small venues where people are invited not just to watch, but to reflect and discuss the issues that have been presented. 

We are reminded that as Christians our concern is underpinned not just by the threat to our own interests but by core Christian principles of caring for God’s creation, Jesus’ command to love one another and responding to human need. The film’s message and screenings are supported by a wide range of national and international Christian organisations, including the Laudato Si’ Movement and CAFOD, and has been endorsed by the lead Bishop for Environment for the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.  

Members of the Saint Thomas More congregation are warmly invited to attend. 

Please note there is a small charge – £5 – for non-Gardening Network members. 

Saint Sharbel Makhlouf

Born in Lebanon, Saint Sharbel entered monastic life and later lived in the hermitage of St Peter and St Paul. Revered as a saint of the Eastern Church, he died in 1898. Please keep the people of Lebanon in your prayers.

The seed is Christ’s

From birth to age, from age to death

Enfold us, Christ, within your arms.

Until the end, the great rebirth,

Christ be our joy in paradise.

– Hymn No. 670

The Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Sea Sunday Seeing pictures of ships trapped in the Straits of Hormuz has reminded us of the crews who have been unable to go ashore and have been in fear of violence. We have experienced a rise in the cost of fuel and increases in the cost of other goods. How easy it is to forget the human cost to the seafarers away from the relief of being in a port even for a short time. This Sunday we pray for them and their families, and support the pastoral ministry of Stella Maris – the Apostleship of the Sea – in a retiring collection.

Our Bishop-Elect Fr Stephen has been interviewed on his appointment in a number of places – Alison Ferns on BBC Radio Sussex, in The Tablet, and on YouTube. He has a lovely smile and speaks of looking forward to meeting us and visiting the schools. We pray for him as he prepares for his future ministry and ordination.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 12 July, 10am – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass
  • Monday, 13 July, 8.15am – St Mary’s House Mass
  • Tuesday, 14 July, 1.30pm – St Bernadette’s School Leavers Mass
  • Wednesday, 15 July, 9.30am – St Bonaventure Mass
  • Friday, 17 July, 9.30am – Weekday Mass
  • Sunday, 19 July, 10am – 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass

Patronal Feast Thank you to all who prepared and enjoyed the refreshments. It was also good to see and hear our future Bishop and to view the photographs of the opening by the Bishop of Southwark.

The July Word of Life This month’s leaflet helps our continuing prayerful reflection on today’s Gospel.

Rey D’ Souza RIP Please pray for the repose of the soul of Rey, who died on Friday, and keep his wife, son, daughter and other family members in your prayers. Only recently, he received an honour for his long-time membership of the Knights of St Columba.

To Christ the seed, to Christ the harvest
Into the barns of Christ, may we be brought.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Gift of a Shepherd

Our prayers have been answered. Pope Leo has appointed Fr Stephen Wang as the Sixth Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. He is currently the Rector of the Venerable English College in Rome and a priest of the Diocese of Westminster. When you read his CV, you can see he will bring much to the Diocese and lead us into the future.

He is now described as Bishop-Elect and will be ordained Bishop and take possession of the Diocese sometime in the autumn. We have to wait until then to include him in the Eucharistic Prayers, but we will be praying for him from now on.

He has spoken to us on video and has been welcomed by Archbishop Richard and Archbishop John Wilson of the Southwark Province.

For more details of Fr Stephen Wang’s appointment, please click here.

The Patronal Feast

9 July 1963 was the date the Bishop of Southwark blessed and opened the church of St Thomas More, serving the areas of Patcham, Westdene, and Hollingbury. It was the Parish Priest of St Mary’s, Fr Edward Fooks, who initiated its building for the growing area. Subsequently, it was erected as a parish with Fr Peter Rogers as its first Parish Priest.

St Thomas More—scholar, statesman, and saint—was executed on Tower Hill on 6 July.

The Mass of the Dedication of the Church can be found in the back part of your Sunday Missals. We will be celebrating with a celebratory drink after Mass.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 5 July, 10am – Patronal & Dedication Feast Mass
  • Monday, 6 July, 8.15am – St Maria Goretti Mass (at St Mary’s House)
  • Wednesday, 8 July, 9.30am – Weekday Mass
  • Friday, 10 July, 9.30am – Weekday Mass
  • Sunday, 12 July, 10am – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sea Sunday Mass)

The Word of Life

Copies for the month of July’s prayerful reflection are now available.

The Pallium

St Bernadette’s Governors

The governors will meet this Thursday afternoon.

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Psalm 122

Saints Peter & Paul

This Holy Day falls this year on a Sunday and gives us the opportunity to celebrate these two foundational members of the Church.

Their names bind them together and feature in a nursery rhyme you may remember:

Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall, One named Peter, one named Paul. Fly away Peter, fly away Paul. Come back Peter, come back Paul.

Don’t forget to do the hand gestures!

Then there is the saying “to rob Peter to pay Paul” — said to originate from the 13th century when money from the Abbey of St Peter (known now as Westminster Abbey) was used to pay for repairs of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The lives and martyrdom of the two will be recalled in our Sunday Liturgy.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 28 June, 10am – The Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul (Sunday Mass)
  • Monday, 29 June, 8.15am – Weekday Mass at St Mary’s House
  • Wednesday, 1 July, 9.30am – Mass for The Dedication of Arundel Cathedral
  • Friday, 3 July, 9.30am – Mass for St Thomas the Apostle
  • Sunday, 5 July, 10am – Patronal & Dedication Feast (Intention: For members of the community)

Peter’s Pence

The traditional gift all churches make to assist the Pope with his charitable responses. The card machine is set up to receive your gift.

The Pallium

Archbishop Richard Moth, now of Westminster, will be in Rome to receive from the Pope the Pallium given to Metropolitan Archbishops and worn over vestments within his jurisdiction.

The white woollen band is woven from the wool of lambs, blessed on the feast of St Agnes, 21 January each year. The bands are adorned with six black crosses and are traditionally kept at the tomb of St Peter in Rome. It symbolises the role of the Archbishop as shepherd of his flock and his unity and communion with the Pope. The ceremony will be on YouTube.

(His Suffragan Sees are Brentwood, East Anglia, Northampton, and Nottingham.)

St Thomas More’s Community, Patronal & Dedication Feast

Next Sunday at the 10am Mass with refreshments afterwards. Do join us.

Cardinal Newman Summer Festival

Friday, 3 July, 4pm–7pm. See poster for details.

St Peter holds the highest place, Yet Paul is not the least by grace. An equal faith was given to Paul, The chosen vessel of God’s call.

On such foundations Rome may claim The highest service of God’s name; His noble blood has dignified The city where this prophet died.

The Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Halfway through the year 2026, we have the longest day of the year, Father’s Day, and the Day for Life—and two days of heatwave ahead. We also have the last verses of Chapter 10 of St Matthew’s Gospel, containing the instruction of Jesus about undertaking his mission. Additionally, we wait patiently for a Bishop!

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 21 June, 10am – 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
  • Monday, 22 June, 8.15am – Ss. John Fisher & Thomas More (at St Mary’s House)
  • Wednesday, 24 June, 9.30am – The Birth of St John the Baptist (Intention: Hilda Searle RIP)
  • Friday, 26 June, 9.30am – Weekday Mass (Intention: Teresa & Patrick RIP [F.P])
  • Sunday, 28 June, 10am – Ss. Peter & Paul

Day for Life

Each year, there is a Day for Life celebrating the dignity of all human life. This year, the theme is “The Wonder of the Child in the Womb”.

The Bishops of the UK and Ireland have sent a message and Pope Leo has added his prayers. There is a retiring collection to assist bodies promoting protection.

The Assisted Dying Bill

As this Bill is due to return to Parliament, please read Archbishop Sherrington’s letter.

The Missions & Red Boxes

There are copies available of the Annual Report showing the results of your giving to assist the Church in developing territories. Do please read it. If you have a Red Box that needs emptying, please bring it along next Sunday. Thank you.

Our Patronal Feast

The martyred saints, Bishop John Fisher of Rochester and St Thomas More, share 22 June as a combined Feast in the National Calendar on Monday. The original Feast of St Thomas More was on 9 July, the day on which our church was opened by Bishop Cowderoy of Southwark. Each year as a community, we celebrate the nearest Sunday as our Patronal Feast.

This year, we will be doing so on Sunday, 5 July at the 10am Mass. Do come along.

Forward Looking

Events in the future are currently being advertised, including the Marriage Anniversaries Gathering, the Pilgrimage to Walsingham, and the Adoremus Day in London.

St Bernadette’s Summer Festival

Saturday, 27 June, 11am. All welcome.

On Tower Hill 22nd June 1535

"I am come here to die for Christ's Catholic Church, and I thank God."

Saint John Fisher, Cardinal Bishop of Rochester

The Eleventh Week In Ordinary Time

Green Sunday

We enter the time when we follow the Gospel of Matthew from Chapter 9 onwards, listening to the teaching and ministry of Jesus. There are just one or two Sundays when a particular feast takes precedence. It is a good time to have your Bible open at the New Testament to follow the Gospel and the context of the passages we hear, to help us take in their meaning. The green applies to the colour of the chasuble and relates, too, to the gradual development of the Gospel.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday, 14 June, 10am – 11th Sunday Mass | Intention: For the people of the Community
  • Monday, 15 June , 8.15am– St Mary’s House (St Anthony of Padua) | Intention: José Tomé Neches
  • Wednesday, 17 June, 9.30am – St Richard of Chichester Mass
  • Friday, 19 June, 9.30am– St Alban, Protomartyr of England | Intention: Ellen Margaret Mary Gordon
  • Sunday, 21 June, 10am – 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass | Day for Life

Corpus Christi

On Sunday 7 June 2026, the Feast of Corpus Christi, a procession was held through the streets of London with the Blessed Sacrament. Read more by clicking here.

Refugee Week

For those who have suffered or died and those seeking asylum. Find out more by clicking here.

The Word Of Life

The June leaflet is now available for your prayerful reflection during the month.

This Week’s Saints

St Richard of Chichester: One-time Chancellor of Oxford University, then Chancellor of the Diocese of Canterbury. He was selected as Bishop of the Diocese of Chichester, an exemplary pastoral Bishop, and Secondary Patron of our Diocese.

St Alban: A Roman soldier in the town now known as St Albans who converted to Christianity, becoming the first British Christian martyr. St Alban’s Abbey is built on the place of his martyrdom.

Our Works Of Art no.4

For this, you have to look up to discover a significant work of art: it is the dome roof. It is described as a geodesic dome, the invention of American architect Buckminster Fuller. It is able to cover a large space without internal supports, more than any other enclosure. It was constructed by four men over seven months. Each facet is six feet square. Children who visit are able to identify squares, triangles, diamonds, and crosses. Look up and wonder at the skills in designing and putting it together.

Next Sunday

The Day for Life, with a second collection.

St Richard’s Prayer

Thanks be to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ,  

For all the benefits which thou hast given us,  

For all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for us.  

O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,  

May we know thee more clearly,  

Love thee more dearly,  

And follow thee more nearly. Amen.

The Tenth Week In Ordinary Time

Sunday – The Feast Of The Body And Blood Of Christ

This Sunday is Farmers’ Sunday, when farms will be open for people to discover how our food is grown and produced. It is to educate us as to what happens to enable people to be fed and nourished. By chance, it coincides with the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ received by us in the Eucharist – one of the Latin phrases we may know as Corpus et Sanguinis Christi. In certain areas, such as London and Arundel, there are processions of the Blessed Sacrament in which people join to witness in faith in the gift that Christ gives of himself as we recognise his presence.
Can you remember when you first became a regular Communicant enjoying the presence of Christ in Holy Communion? The first time for me was the 6th June 1946.

Bishop Paul Mason Reflects On Corpus Christi

Pope Leo’s Apostolic Journey To Spain

Follow via our Useful Websites, Vatican News and the Holy See.
Madrid, Barcelona and the Canaries.

You can follow this link by clicking here.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday 7th June 10am The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ
  • Monday 8th June 8.15am St Mary’s House
  • Wednesday 10th June 9.30am Weekday (Int. Diana Wilkins RIP)
  • Friday 12th June 9.30am The Sacred Heart of Jesus (being a Solemnity, no abstinence today)
  • Saturday 13th June 8.30am HMP Lewes
  • Sunday 14th June 10am 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Clergy Conference

Monday and Tuesday

Parish Of Brighton and Hove Renewal Meeting

This Thursday 11th June 7:30pm St. Bernadette’s School.

Diocesan Pilgrimage To Lourdes – Help Needed

Our Lourdes Pilgrimage Director, Alex Manko, is appealing for help to prepare for this July’s Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Can you help the Pilgrimage by purchasing any items on the new Pilgrimage Wishlist?

Alex says: “We are incredibly grateful to our supporters for their generosity and encouragement. The pilgrimage is such a big group effort where every little counts. Whether it is PPE for use on the Jumbulance or in the Accueil Notre Dame, portable shower chairs, music stands, or prayer resources for the youth, people are again supporting each other to make their pilgrimage – thank you!” To find out more about our Pilgrimage to Lourdes, visit the diocesan website.

Our Works Of Art – Part 3

The painter and teacher, Guy Roddon, was born in London (1919–2006) and studied at Goldsmiths’ College of Art. He was on the staff of Brighton College of Art and during the war was a member of the Camouflage Corps along with other artists, first at Farnham, Surrey and then in Norwich. Portraiture was one of his interests, which included paintings of the novelist L.P. Hartley and the composer John Ireland. He was commissioned to paint the Stations of the Cross and Resurrection for St Thomas More’s, Patcham in 1963. Comments are made about the colour, the style of elongated features, the hands, and the atmosphere of suffering in the 15 stations.

Tantum Ergo Sacramentum

Come adore this wondrous presence
Bow to Christ the source of grace...

Trinity Sunday

TRINITY SUNDAY marks the beginning of a number of feasts or Solemnities, Corpus Christi or the Body & Blood of Christ, the Sacred Heart and Saints Peter and Paul, along with the Dedication of the Cathedral and our Patronal Feast of St Thomas More on Sunday July 5th.

Celebrating the unity and diversity of God as Trinity leads to many different images used to “explain” what is meant. Apart from the shamrock leaf, there is one I came across. It begins with the sun – “look down and see its reflection, feel the heat, and enjoy its shining” – threefold effects yet one.

When we pray, just think of the many ways in which we do so in a Trinitarian way.

Magnifica Humanitas

Pope Leo’s first Encyclical Letter ‘Magnifica Humanitas – On safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence’ was published on Monday. Did you notice in how many ways AI was the subject of the media this week, Question Time as an example? It is 53 pages long, so it will appear in a few weeks’ time.

More on Magnifica Humanitas can be found on our diocesan website here and on our national website here.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday 31st May 10am Trinity Sunday
  • Monday 1st June 8.15am St Mary’s House, St Justin
  • Wednesday 3rd June 9.30am St Charles Lwanga & Companions, Ugandan Martyrs
  • Friday 5th June 9.30am St Boniface
  • Sunday 7th June 10am The Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ

Corpus Christi In Arundel

On Wednesday & Thursday the Carpet of Flowers will be on view in preparation for the Mass and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Castle.

The Word Of Life For July

he leaflet for your prayerful use and reflection is now available. It has a commentary on a text from Matthew’s Gospel which should be used during the month of June. Keep it handy so that you can read a section of it, pray about it and put it into practice.

Praying For The Gift Of A Shepherd

Now that his Letter has been published, Pope Leo will be informing the Apostolic Nuncio to invite someone to be the Sixth Bishop of Arundel & Brighton.

Back To School

It was a sunny half-term. Raincoats on Monday.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
All thy works shall praise thy name
in earth, and sky and sea.
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty,
God in Three persons, Blessed Trinity.

Pentecost

The fifty days of Easter conclude with the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit, the Helper—advocate, consoler, and animator—expressed in the Creed as the Lord, the giver of life, proceeding from the Father and the Son. All the words we use are active, guiding and leading us. The Acts of the Apostles reveals an outpouring of energy, change, belonging, and unity. The Catechism describes the Holy Spirit as the life of the Church; that is why we celebrate the birthday of the Church and why our invitation is for the Holy Spirit to come anew.

Mass Schedule

  • Sunday 24th May 10am Pentecost
  • Monday 25th May 8:15am St Mary’s House Mary, Mother of The Church
  • Wednesday 27th May 9:30am (Intention Frank Power)
  • Thursday 28th May 12 Midday Arundel Cathedral Jubilarians’ Mass of Jesus Christ Eternal High Priest
  • Friday 29th May 9:30am for the gift of a Shepherd for the Church of Arundel and Brighton
  • Sunday 31st May 10am Trinity Sunday

Pope Leo XIV’s First Encyclical

On Monday morning, May 25, there will be a press conference introducing the Letter on the anniversary of the encyclical Rerum Novarum, a presentation of Catholic Social Teaching by Pope Leo XIII. The new Letter is entitled Magnifica Humanitas: “On Preserving the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” We will be able to read the text on the Vatican News site or through our website.

Half-Term

Our schools will be closed this week. Have a happy and safe time!

Our Works of Art

Moving into the church, in the far corner, we have the statue of the Madonna—Mary holding the Child Jesus. It was created by Antonio Pacitti (1924–2009). He was born in Cassino, Italy. In 1928, his father, who was in the trade union movement, was given 24 hours to leave by the local fascist movement. The family then experienced severe poverty in Glasgow.

Antonio gained a place at the Glasgow School of Art. When war broke out, he joined the Highland Light Infantry. After the war, his family moved to London, and he gained a diploma at the Slade School of Fine Art. He later became a Head of Department in Adult Education and a part-time teacher at Wormwood Scrubs. In 1964, he won a commission for the sculpture in the newly built church in Patcham. When you venerate Mary and perhaps light a candle, please do remember the artist.

Renew your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost.
Grant to your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary,
and following the lead of Peter,
she may advance the reign of our Divine Saviour:
The reign of truth and justice,
The reign of love and peace.

— Pope St. John XXIII