Mass times and notices

Summary of notices for reading software

Week beginning Sunday, 26th July, 2026.

Mass Times and Intentions

• Sunday 26th July (17th Sunday in Ordinary Time): 10.00 AM Holy Mass at Holy Rosary (Intention: Parishioners).

• Monday 27th July: 10.00 AM Holy Mass at Holy Rosary (Intention: Holy Souls).

• Tuesday 28th July: 10.00 AM Holy Mass at Holy Rosary (Intention: Intentions of Zygmunt Paczyński).

• Wednesday 29th July (Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus): Exposition and Evening Prayer at Holy Rosary at 6.15 PM, followed by 7.00 PM Holy Mass at Holy Rosary (Intention: Betty and Dick Wright).

• Thursday 30th July: 10.00 AM Holy Mass at Holy Rosary (Intention: Fr Leo Pyle).

• Friday 31st July (St Ignatius Loyola): 10.30 AM Holy Mass at St John’s (Intention: Margaret Corcoran).

• Saturday 1st August: 5.30 PM Vigil Mass of the 18th Sunday at St John’s (Intention: Harry and Winnie Rowden).

• Sunday 2nd August (18th Sunday in Ordinary Time): 10.00 AM Holy Mass at Holy Rosary (Intention: Parishioners).

Prayers

Sick

• Maureen Braithwaite, Carol Brownlee, Fr Gerard Burns, Ann Christeson, Dorothy Davis, Bill Devine, Frank Donnelly, Judy Houchen, Sheila Hunt, Brian Kane, Mary Langsdale, Sarah McAllister, Christine McGhee, Rev. Dan Mckie, Ziggy Paczyński, Christine Rooney, Bill Simpson, Fr John Skivington, Peter Smith, Anne Ward, Margaret Wilkie, Kate Williams.

Recently Died

• Catherine Foley, Joyce Wordsworth, Alex Wilson, Edmund Ross, Sheila Allen, John Connell, Jack McCabe, Carol Stoves, Kathleen Grainger, Edith Robinson, Ernie Nardone, Sheila Holmes, Tony Canty, Thomas Peters, Roy Peacock, Lillian Gelder, Bridget McGoldrick, Georgina McQuilling, Peter Horan, Stephen Allison, Chris Allison, Helen Webb, Robert Dalton.

Lately Deceased

Catherine Foley and Father Leo Pyle.

Key Notices

• The Medway, Building Works and Closure: The Medway is closed from Friday 17th July to Monday 24th August 2026 for refurbishment works. While it is closed, Tea, Coffee and a Chat on Thursdays is suspended, as is the Friendship Group meeting on Tuesday evening, 4th August. The SVP Food Hub will run in the church narthex, at the back of church, during these dates. Fr Adrian has thanked the Parish Finance Committee for securing a grant of £20,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund towards most of the cost, with particular thanks to Caroline Kelly for many hours liaising with the Diocese and outside bodies, and to Callum Walker for his work in securing the grant. With this project under way, the Finance Committee will now look at remedial works needed at St John’s church, focusing on the Sacristy and adjoining rooms. Please see the web notices for updates.

• Friendship Group Macmillan Coffee Morning: Coffee, tea and cakes on Thursday 24th September in the Medway, from 10.30 AM to 2.00 PM, to help raise funds. Prizes for the tombola would be gratefully received. Please leave them at the back of church.

• Baptism Preparation Meetings: The next meeting is on 3rd September, the first Thursday of the month, in the Medway at 6.30 PM. There is no meeting in August.

• Walsingham Pilgrimage: Please return completed Emergency and Medical Forms, available from the back of each church, to Callum Walker as soon as possible.

• Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: SPUC is asking parishioners to write to their MP. The society states that Kim Leadbeater MP’s Bill was condemned by experts across healthcare, disability rights and other fields, and that Lauren Edwards MP is now introducing the same Bill to Parliament. Parishioners are asked to write to their own MP requesting a vote against the Bill on 11th September. Visit www.spuc.org.uk, click on ‘Campaigns’, then ‘Fight the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’, and enter your postcode. It takes less than five minutes.

• All Our Yesterdays: Angela Gilhen has found a photograph from the 1980s of a trip to Holy Island with Fr Keoghan. If you went on that trip, or remember anything about it, please add your memories. A history of Holy Island is included alongside it. Vince Corcoran has also found photographs of children the parish once helped after Fr Damien appealed on their behalf. You gave, and they survived. They grew up, and are now adults contributing to their own communities. If you have any photos, videos or cherished memories of parish life, we would love you to share them with Fr Adrian.

• Light a Virtual Candle: Charles in the United States has asked for prayers for his wife. Please help. Visit the Prayer Wall on the parish website, a place to post your intentions and pray alongside the rest of the parish. Please support people who need your prayers.

• St John’s Meeting Room: While work proceeds on the Medway, the parish also hopes to refurbish the kitchen next to the meeting room. Ideas are needed for how this facility could be used. Please pass on any suggestions.

• Northern Cross: The July edition is on sale at the back of church. Take a look at some items about members of our parish family.

• Day for Life: On Sunday 21st June we marked the Day for Life under the theme ‘The Wonder of the Child in the Womb’, which also recognises the grief of losing a child before birth. The Bishops’ message, prayers and online donation options for the Day for Life Fund are on the website at www.dayforlife.org.

• Little Joe’s Babies and Toddlers Playgroup: The playgroup does not run during the summer holidays and will restart on Friday 11th September 2026, from 9.00 to 10.30 AM at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School. Families from our community are welcome. For more information, contact the school office on 01642 560056.

• Parish 400 Club: Results for May and June 2026. In May, the £100 prizes went to number 99, F. Hutchinson, and number 394, M. Gamesby. The £50 prizes went to number 251, F. Nugent, and number 290, K. Dineen. In June, the £100 prizes went to number 484, S. Weatherall, and number 384, A. Tough. The £50 prizes went to number 105, P. Keane, and number 25, L. Harris.

• Saint Ignatius of Loyola: His feast day falls on 31st July, the day of his death. Saint Ignatius, who lived from 1491 to 1556, was a Spanish Basque priest and theologian, and the main founder of the Society of Jesus, usually known as the Jesuits. Among his best known prayers is the ‘Suscipe’, from the Latin word for ‘Accept’. It reads: Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.

• Diocesan Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi (online notice): Led by Bishop Stephen, 22nd to 29th October 2027, at £1,725 per person. Places are limited to 50 pilgrims and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with payment of the deposit securing your place. The itinerary and booking details can be found on the diocesan website, www.diocesehn.org.uk, or from Fr Adrian.

• Bible in a Year (online notice): Fr Adrian recommends the Bible in a Year podcast, a fully approved free Catholic resource now available via the parish website. Often ranked as the number one podcast in the world across all categories, this 365-day journey is a way to deepen your daily prayer habit using your own Bible, including the New Catholic UK edition.

• Mass Schedule Updates (online notice): Sometimes circumstances change after the newsletter has been published, and a weekday Mass may have to be moved or cancelled. Where this happens it is unavoidable, and Fr Adrian hopes parishioners understand it is not done lightly or deliberately. To help let people know about late changes, it is proposed to set up a service that sends a message to your mobile phone. More information about how to join will follow soon.