Worth Abbey Retreat 2010

On the 16th to 18th of July, a group of fourteen parishioners ventured down to Worth Abbey near Crawley for the first Parish Retreat. The retreat was hosted by Worth Abbey’s Open Cloister programme in St Bruno’s retreat house.

Those attending the retreat participated in the prayer life of the abbey which revolves around the singing of the Divine Office and daily Mass. The theme of the retreat was “Deepening your Life of Prayer” and five talks were given in St Bruno’s

• Deacon Peter – “The Rhythm of Monastic Life” which covered the role that the Divine Office plays inthe life of the community and it’s history
• Deacon Peter – “Praying with Scripture” about the ancient meditative prayer Lectio Divina
• Br Anthony OSB – “Prayer in the Benedictine Way of Life” which covered the Rule of St Benendict and how it directs Benedictine prayer
• Canon Frank – “Reflections on a Liofe of Prayer” that described practical aspects of prayer
• Alan Watson – “Journeying into Prayer” which described the ACTS methodology of prayer

We were very well looked after by Fr Patrick OSB and Lesley from the Open Cloister team.

Worth Abbey is a place of great peace and spirituality only 30 minutes from Purley.

Another retreat is being planned for May 2011 and further details will be posted on this website.

The John Fisher School Chapel

Please note – During the School holidays, which started on Wednesday 21 July and end on Wednesday 1 September there will be no services in the Chapel during the week. There will, of course, be Mass in the Chapel each Sunday at 08.30. As soon as possible after the holidays begin, work will begin on major repairs to the lantern and flat roof above the sanctuary. This will entail the erection of scaffolding inside the Chapel on the sanctuary, as well as outside the Chapel. It is hoped that the scaffolding inside the Chapel will be dismantled by the end of the School holidays. During this time, a temporary altar will be placed in front of the steps for the 08.30 Masses on Sundays throughout the holiday period.

The Lord be with you… And with your spirit

There has been a lot in the Catholic press recently about the new translation of the Roman Missal; a number of articles have questioned why we will be adopting this translation in the next couple of years and why we need to change at all. It is worthwhile examining how the current English translation came about and how the new translation was developed.

This article is the first of a series on how this new translation has come about.

Vatican II and the Mass

When the Second Vatican Council was announced by Pope John XXIII in 1959, it was welcomed by those who were involved with the renewal of the liturgical life of the Church. This movement to renew the liturgical life of the Church can be traced back to the 19^th century and to the work of Abbot Prosper Gueranger of the Benedictine abbey at Solesmes. In 1903, Pope Pius X described sacred music and liturgy as not something belonging to a restricted circle of experts but belonging to all the people of God. In particular he encouraged “active participation in the sacred mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church”.

In 1955, Pope Pius XII reformed the rites of Holy Week and the Easter Vigil to underline the Paschal Mystery as the centre of all Christian life. At this time, the Mass was still essentially the same Mass formalised by the Council of Trent in the 16^th century; sometimes known as the Old Latin Mass, the Tridentine Mass, and since Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

One of the key documents of Vatican II was the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. This document addressed the desire of the bishops participating in the Council to reform the liturgy including the Mass.

“In order that the Christian people may more certainly derive an abundance of graces from the sacred liturgy, holy Mother Church desires to undertake with great care a general restoration of the liturgy itself. For the liturgy is made up of immutable elements divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change. These not only may but ought to be changed with the passage of time if they have suffered from the intrusion of anything out of harmony with the inner nature of the liturgy or have become unsuited to it.”

The document goes on to state what the revised Mass should be like

“The rites should be distinguished by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear, and unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the people’s powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation.”

The document also allowed particular parts to be spoken in the people’s “mother tongue” instead of Latin.

The revised Mass was not created during the Council but by a body known as the Consilium which was led by Fr Annibale Bugnini and consisted of an international body of experts known as “periti”. This body worked on a simplification of the Mass, often referring to very early texts of prayers and rites used in the early Church. The revised Mass was approved by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and a new Missal promulgated in 1970. The Missal of 1970 was in Latin and it acts as the master copy for all translations into other languages.

The new Mass is referred to as the Mass of Paul VI, the Novus Ordo or the Ordinary Form of the Mass. When Roman Catholics refer to the Mass, this is the Mass that they are referring to. This new Mass was simpler than the Mass that preceded it and fostered participation by the people in responses and by being able to hear most of the prayers of the priest. New Eucharistic Prayers were introduced to serve a variety of needs. The new Mass allowed for the celebration of the Mass by more than one priest. Accompanying the new Missal was a revised Lectionary that placed a much greater emphasis on the role of sacred scripture, especially the Old Testament in the life of the faithful.

This new Mass was eagerly awaited by all those who wanted to transform the life of the Church.

The next article in this series will be on how the current English translation of the 1970 Missal came about.

Hall Bookings

You are reminded that hall bookings are not dealt with by telephone. All communication must be via email to jezstevens.hom@btinternet.com If you do not have email, write to Liz at the Parish Office who will email on your behalf.

Altar Servers

Re-registering is now complete and new rotas which include the 17 servers who have just completed their training are ready in the box in the Sacristy.

All servers are asked to collect their copy – last time round some remained uncollected for several weeks.

UPDATE: Canon Jim’s Email

Canon Jim’s new email address is CanonJim@johnthebaptistpurley.org.uk

Please update your address books.

IMPORTANT: Canon Jim’s Email

Canon Jim’s email address jimpannett@hotmail.com has been hijacked by someone running a Nigerian 401 scam.

If you receive one of these emails, delete it immediately.

Do not send anything to jimpannett@hotmail.com and please add jimpannett@hotmail.com to your junk email filter.

Canon Jim will have a new email address shortly, but in the meantime, you can email Liz on office@johnthebaptistpurley.org.uk.

Youth Cafe

Youth Café
This Sunday after the 18.30 Mass and every Sunday evening until 8 February. All in Year 10 who hope to be Confirmed next November should be attending.
Fr Brendan

Plant an Olive Tree in Bethlehem

This Christmas our parish is supporting this aid program to plant olive trees near Bethlehem to aid our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine. Canon Jim has set us a target of 200 trees, and a field has been reserved for St John the Baptist Purley in Beth Sahur (Shepherds Fields). Please support this program.

We have identified over nine sites within the West Bank where sustainable Olive groves can be planted. Each site has been carefully selected and prepared to accept three year old Olive saplings with have been sourced locally and are certificated against disease. Irrigation has been secured for each site is fenced where necessary. Most importantly we have ensured that all OliveAid sites are positioned in non conflict areas ensuring the long term security of the Olives groves and their crop.

A local management infrastructure working in partnership with local farmers and the community monitors both the planting and the ongoing husbandry of the trees to ensure that they reach their fruiting maturity in seven years. OliveAid intend to plant 10,000 trees in the Apr 08 Mar 09 season with a further 20,000 trees next season.

We cannot accelerate the growth of the Olive tress but we can with your help maximise the number of trees planted this season so please give generously.

You can download the brochere here.

Holy Souls Envelopes

November is the traditional month for remembering the Dead. In this Parish we put the lists of the deceased members of our family on the altar and pray for them every Mass during the month. For this there are special envelopes available either in the Sacristy or at the back of the church. It is traditional to include a donation Holy Souls Masses with your family list.