Catholic Church of the Holy Angels in Exile
PARISH PRIEST: Fr John M.B. Smethurst, MA (Oxon)
Telephone 07757 937646
Masses etc during this week beginning 24th January 2021
Today: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
0930 Mass – David Beaumont RIP
Confessions after Mass if arranged with Fr John
1700 Mass – For the People of the Parish
Monday: CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL
(1000 Mass at home – Christian Unity)
Tuesday: Ss. Timothy and Titus, Bishops
(1000 Mass at home – Vocations)
Wednesday: Feria
Confessions 1730 – 1800 if arranged beforehand
1830 Mass – Dina and Apolinaria RIP
Thursday: Bishop’s Ordination Anniversary
(1000 Mass at home – Bishop Mark O’Toole)
Friday: Feria. Day of Abstinence
1000 Mass – The Holy Souls
Saturday: Feria
Next Sunday: FOURTH IN ORDINARY TIME
Masses at 0930 and 1700
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Social distancing & NHS Track & Trace remains in place. When attending Mass bring a mask with you to Church, do not attend if you are displaying any signs or symptoms of Coronavirus or awaiting a test result; you must not mingle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble before, during and after Mass.
Sanctuary Lamps: Jose Nobrega and Carmina Andrade RIP
To contact Fr John at home, ring 01803 402357 or 07757 937 646
MASS INTENTIONS AND SANCTUARY LAMPS: Please see Fr John or fill in a Mass envelope (available as you enter church) and leave in the sacristy after enclosing your offering.
SUNDAY READINGS: Repentance is one of the themes today. The first reading tells how the preaching of Jonah met with an immediate response from the pagan city of Nineveh. The story shows the possibility of a heathen city repenting and turning to God. It also shows the mercy and forgiveness of God. In the Gospel, Jesus begins His ministry by calling on people to repent and embrace the Good News (that is believe the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ). If the Ninevites responded so fully to the message of Jonah, how much more readily should we respond to the words of Jesus. The first disciples did promptly respond to Jesus’s call to follow Him. Although we might not share St. Paul’s belief of the imminence of the Second Coming of Jesus, he still has an important message for us – this world is not the be-all and end-all. We are destined for the Kingdom of God and this thought should profoundly guide the way we conduct ourselves in this world.
The Conversion of St. Paul commemorates that remarkable occasion on the road to Damascus, when Saul, persecutor of Christians. Was changed suddenly and became one of the greatest witnesses to and preachers of the Risen Jesus. The name change to Paul signifies this wonderful change. St. Timothy and St. Titus were two of the close associates of St. Paul in his missionary work. The New Testament contains two of the letters Paul wrote to Timothy and one letter to Titus. Thursday is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas the thirteenth century Dominican priest who became one of the Church’s greatest theologians and moral teachers. It is also the anniversary of Bishop Mark’s Episcopal ordination: our celebration of this reminds us of our communion with our bishop and through him of that unity with St. Peter’s successor in Rome – an essential part of being a catholic Christian.
Caritas Plymouth recently were addressed by Prof McManus, a member of the Faith Task Force, organised by Public Health England – the latest figures, from just before Christmas (prior to the discovery of the more transmittable strains of the virus), indicated that whereas the possibility of contracting the virus in a supermarket is as high as 18%, it is less than 0.01% in a Place of Worship. It is imagined this is part of the science which informed the Government to enable Places of Worship to remain open in this present period. It is no excuse for complacency and, of course, if information should change and show otherwise, then the diocese will comply with anything else the Government asks of us.