Pope's Visit: Photos from Hyde Park

Great excitement greets the Pope as he enters Hyde Park

The pilgrims wave to the Holy Father as he greets and blesses them.

The large screens allow the Faithful to follow the Mass

The Faithful see the Pope and the Mass in great detail.

Just a small section of the huge crowd, for many of whom it was a very long day, worth the wait for a Papal Mass.

Pope's Visit: Photo from Outside Westminster Cathedral

This great photo gives a taste of the crowds gathered outside the papal Mass at Westminster Cathedral.

many thanks to Finola for taking photos (more to follow!)

Burry Port Christian Forum Meetings

BURRY PORT CHRISTIAN FORUM:

The Burry Port Christian Forum has set up two exciting projects:

1. A meeting every Sunday evening from 8.00 p.m. in the Neptune Hotel, called “Hot Potato”. This is an opportunity to talk about life issues from a Christian perspective. All are welcome to attend and are requested to bring a friend who would not normally attend church. The launch is on 3rd October with a speaker and music group.
2. A Youth Café to be held on Thursday evenings, 7.00 – 9.00 p.m., at the Surf Bar Café. This begins on Thursday 14th October. This is in response to the lack of facilities for young people in the town, and will be an opportunity for young people to talk about Christianity. Please encourage your young people to come along.

Next Week's Mass Times

MASS TIMES at Our Lady, Star of the Sea, BURRY PORT
02.10.2010 Sat : 6.30pm : Sunday Vigil Mass
03.10.2010 Sun : 5 - 6pm : Quiet Personal Prayer and Vespers
04.10.2010 Mon : 9.00am : Mass: St. Francis of Assisi
05.10.2010 Tue : 6.30pm : Mass
06.10.2010 Wed : 9.00am : Mass : St. Bruno
: 6.30pm : Rosary & Benediction
07.10.2010 Thu : 6.30pm : Mass: Our Lady of Rosary
08.10.2010 Fri : 9.00am : Mass
09.10.2010 Sat : 6.30pm : Sunday Vigil Mass
10.10.2010 Sun : 5.00pm : Quiet Personal Prayer and Vespers


MASS TIME at Our Lady & St. Cadoc, KIDWELLY
03.10.2010 Sun : 10.30am : Sunday Mass : James Gerard Murphy-RIP
10.10.2010 Sun : 10.30am : Sunday Mass


Confession:
Burry Port : 6-6.25pm on Saturdays
Kidwelly : 10-10.25am on Sundays

SVP Christmas Appeal 2010

SVP TWINNAGE – Sudan Christmas Appeal 2010: Hundreds of children die of starvation in Sudan every day. The most charitable works towards feeding these children are carried out by SVP than any other charitable organisations. It costs £40 to feed a child for a year. It’s that time of the year when we think of buying memorable gifts to our family and friends. In most of the cases, a gift is associated with Christmas and it is commercialisation of Christmas indeed. This year for a change, please do think of a gift that is pure CHARITY. As a family or individual please do sponsor food for a baby. It is exactly the meaning of Christmas; God giving us generously.

CAFOD Fast day

CAFOD Fast Day: The CAFOD Fast Day is on October 1st, 2010. Please do pick up the envelope for the same and return it on the following weekend. Thank you.

SVP Mass of Anointing of the Sick

SVP Mass of Anointing of the Sick: The SVP is organising the Annual Mass and Anointing of the Sick at St. Illtyd’s Church, Danygraig, Swansea at 3.00pm, on October 10th, 2010. All are welcome.

Haverfordwest Conference

Exploring Ministry: A day for Ministers of Communion and Ministers of the Word will be held on Saturday October 23, at Church of St. David and St. Patrick, Haverfordwest. Fr. Tony Philpot, who was the Spiritual Director at English College, Rome, is the resource person. Please do contact the Parish Office for further details.

A Reflection on Cardinal Newman

Reflection: Cardinal Newman has a great prayer to his credit on “The Mission of Life”:

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some works to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission... I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place...”

That is the property entrusted to us as the Gospel says. It is entrusted to us for a mission. We are placed here for definite purpose, to make this world better, to bring love and mercy, to bring healing and compassion. Let’s remember that we’ll be asked to turn in a complete account of handling this property that is at our care..!

The Papal Mass & Catholicism in Scotland

I hope the faithful of the Parish will forgive me for a personal insight regarding the Papal Mass in Glasgow, and indulge me as I put a personal spin on it.

Archbishop Conti (a true guide to the faithful who has always spoken out on grave matters to reinforce Catholic doctrine) gave a wonderful speech on the Faith throughout these isles, and the role of the various wonderful saints who brought Catholicism to every part of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

Of course he mentioned St Ninian - whose feast day it is - and his ordination in Rome prior to bringing the Faith to the people of Scotland.

It is here that I remember a small journey made in Scotland.

Some years ago my family and I lived in that fair land and we were walking beside a river in Caithness, at the very northernmost part of Scotland, once a region ruled over by Norsemen.

A little into our walk we bumped into a local man in a field and as we spoke to him about the stone walls around the fields, he told us a wonderful story.

The walls were built with two outer 'skins' of rock, then the centre was filled-in, giving the walls a strength they surely needed to survive some of the winds that would batter them over the years.

A few years before, so the farmer told us, he was repairing a wall when he took out a broken stone with a strange symbol on it. He then found another stone, which fitted the first.

When the two stones were put together, it formed the Chi Rho - the ancient symbol of the early Christians, and the symbol that we now recognise as that of the Pope.

It was this symbol the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great saw in a vision which was then explained to him by Christ in a dream, which he adopted as the Imperial symbol that gave him victory in battle and led to Rome becoming officially Christian.

It was astonishing to think that this old Catholic symbol, perhaps broken after the Reformation, perhaps initially hidden as many holy and ancient objects were, was in this place in some quiet valley in rural Caithness.

It reminded me, and reminds me to this day, of the deep roots of the Catholic Faith throughout these islands, and as Archbishop Conti reminded us today, Christ used His saints to take that Faith to even far flung communities as apart as our parish of Burry Port & Kidwelly and the people of Caithness.

This is the Faith that His Holiness the Pope called on the people of Scotland to live through the love of Jesus Christ.

The Papal Visit 2010: Media Coverage

Media Coverage of Papal Visit-2010:

The forthcoming Papal Visit to the UK is being widely broadcast on various media outlets. Be sure to view the different events on: Online: www.thepapalvisit.org.uk,

TV: BBC, ITV and Sky Channel 589 (EWTN), Radio: www.heartgivesuntoheart.co.uk and the UK Christian Radio Channel Premier Radio and on Diocesan Website: www.dioceseofmenevia.org

This Week's Mass Times

MASS TIMES at Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Burry Port

11.09.2010 Sat : 6.30pm : Sunday Vigil Mass

: Ints: Jim Morgan RIP

12.09.2010 Sun : 5 - 6pm : Quiet Personal Prayer and Vespers

13.09.2010 Mon : 9.00am : Mass: St. John Chrysostom

14.09.2010 Tue : 6.30pm : Mass: Exaltation of the Holy Cross

15.09.2010 Wed : 9.00am : Mass: Our Lady of Sorrows

: 6.30pm : Rosary & Benediction

16.09.2010 Thu : 6.30pm : Mass: Sts. Cornelius & Cyprian

17.09.2010 Fri : 9.00am : Mass: St. Robert Bellarmine

18.09.2010 Sat : 6.30pm : Sunday Vigil Mass

19.09.2010 Sun : 5 - 6pm : Quiet Personal Prayer and Vespers

MASS TIME at Our Lady & St. Cadoc, KIDWELLY

12.09.2010 Sun : 10.30am : Sunday Mass

Confession:

Burry Port: 6-6.25pm on Saturdays

Kidwelly: 10-10.25am on Sundays

Papal Visit Handbook - £2

Handbook - Papal Visit: The Handbook for the Papal Visit will be available in all Parishes throughout England, Scotland and Wales over the coming weekends. For those attending a Papal Mass or the Hyde Park Vigil, please do make sure you take a copy as you leave Church. We would like to invite you to make a donation towards the Handbook if you are able. £2-00 per copy would help to cover the costs. The handbook can also be used to follow the event on Television or the Internet.

Home Mission Sunday 2010

Home Mission Sunday 2010: This year's Home Mission Sunday is on the 19th September. It falls within the historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom. During his visit, Pope Benedict will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman. Cardinal Newman was a pastor of souls, a university teacher, and a student of Christian theology and history. When we celebrate the two historic events of Papal Visit and Beatification, let us pray for even greater witnessing to the faith. Especially at this Home Mission Sunday and always, let us be inspired by the conviction of Cardinal Newman that "...all who are baptised are called to 'radiate the presence of Christ.”

Diocese Priest Training Fund: Collection this Weekend

Diocesan Collection: Priest Training Fund

The Diocese of Menevia has four prospective candidates to priesthood and a candidate, Jim Caddick, for the Permanent Diaconate. It is our generosity that helps the Diocese to meet the huge expense for the same. The second Diocesan Collection for the Priest Training Fund will be carried out on the weekend of 21st–22nd August. Please do take home the envelope. Please do Gift Aid it whenever applicable. Thanks You.

Diocese Priest Training Fund

Diocesan Collection: Priest Training Fund: The Diocese of Menevia has four prospective candidates to priesthood and a candidate, Jim Caddick, for the Permanent Diaconate. It is our generosity that helps the Diocese to meet the huge expense for the same. The second Diocesan Collection for the Priest Training Fund will be carried out on a Sunday in August. It shall be announced at a later date. Please do take home the envelope. Please do Gift Aid it whenever applicable. Thanks.

Our Lady of the Taper Shrine Mass, September 26th

Mass of Thanksgiving at Our Lady of the Taper Shrine, Cardigan: The Statue of Our Lady of the Taper will be taken up to Westminster during the Papal visit. The Holy Father will light the Taper candle in the hand our Blessed Mother. To recognise this historic and wonderful occasion, there will be a special Mass of Thanksgiving at the National Shrine, Cardigan on Sunday September 26th. It will be presided over by Bishop Thomas Burns. The Holy Rosary is at 2.30pm; the Holy Mass follows it. Please note the date for your participation.

This Week's Mass Times

Wednesday Aug 11th 9.00am Burry Port Holy Mass – Memorial: St. Clare, Virgin

Wednesday Aug 11th 6.30pm Burry Port Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary followed by Benediction

Thursday Aug 12th 6.30pm Burry Port Holy Mass – St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious

Friday Aug 13th 9.00am Burry Port Holy Mass – Ss Pontian, Pope and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs

Saturday Aug 14th 6.30pm Burry Port SOLEMNITY: THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Mass inten: Parishioner’s Birthday – Donor: Private

Sunday Aug. 15th 10.30am Kidwelly SOLEMNITY: THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Mass inten: Andy Duffy RIP (Birthday anniv.) - Donor: Ann and Family

Fr. Thomas's Father RIP

PLEASE PRAY for the repose of the soul of Thomas (Father Thomas’s father) who sadly passed away in the early hours of Friday 23rd July. Father Thomas thanks everyone for their prayers and condolences and asks the parish to please continue praying for his mother and family at this sad time.

Our New Parish Priest

FATHER PAUL JOSEPH – We welcome to our parish our new Priest Father Paul Joseph, cmf, and pray that he will be happy amongst us. We offer Father Paul our support and thank Our Lord for answering our prayers and providing us with a priest.