World Mission Sunday

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY: The World Mission Sunday is on October 23/24.

Pope's Visit: Report from a Welsh Pilgrim

His holiness Pope Benedict XVI state visit to the United Kingdom

London 17^th -18^th September 2010

By Justyn John James

After arriving in London on Friday night, we awoke early on Saturday morning in great excitement and anticipation for the day’s events. My Brother Stephen was privileged to attend the Papal Mass at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday morning. And so we quickly made our way down to the Cathedral.

A sizable crowd had gathered in the streets immediately surrounding Westminster Cathedral and were eagerly waiting for a glimpse of the Holy Father. Many people with banners, placards and flags watched and listened intently to the service on giant television monitors showing live footage from inside the Cathedral. We spoke to a lady from the Caribbean who had come with her granddaughter and a man in a wheelchair who movingly could not see what was happening but never the less wanted to be there to show his support. The Holy Father then emerged from the Cathedral for a moving greeting with young people who had formed outside in the small piazza and the excitement levels reached fever pitch, as the faithful serenaded Pope Benedict with shouts of “viva il papa”, He gave a brief talk and blessing to the many who were present and then left to continue his apostolic journey. After lunch in the nearby Albert pub, we too left and made our way back to the hotel.

On our way to the Hyde Park prayer vigil we were greeted with the most amazing and wonderful atmosphere, which was at once infectious; the streets of London were packed with pilgrims for all over the world, and all four corners of the country, Carrying banners and flags the throng was also making its way towards

Hyde Park, with many singing hymns on the way which reverberated through the bustling streets of London. This sight indeed was a joy to behold, and one of the memories which will stay with me forever, as central London was transformed into a vibrant if some what transient Catholic community for this momentous day.

Once inside the atmosphere was electric. Faithful members of the Church militant, suffering and triumphant were a joy to behold as all became one; Bishops, priests, nuns and laity alike. A large and seemingly never ending procession of people carrying and proudly displaying their parish banners made there way up to the podium, where they were warmly greeted by the bishops of England and Wales, including our own Bishop Tom Burns and Bishop Daniel Mullins. We were treated to a diverse series of performances, to many to mention, all beautifully preformed, one moment which was particularly touching was the parents of murdered catholic teenager Jimmy Mizen who spoke beautifully, one must applaud their courage, forgiveness and hope as an example of true Christian virtue!

As the Holy Father approached Hyde Park the excitement again began to build, with live images beamed onto giant screens increasing the tension and excitement as the popemobile made its way down the Mall and past the hundred of thousands of pilgrims who had come to see and support our pope. It had been a long wait but the wait was worth it. When Pope Benedict finally arrived and came through the crowd in his popemobile, a “wave of joy and happiness” greeted him. Many people around me were over come with emotion at this point, not least my own Mother and Auntie. I must say that I became quite emotional too seeing the Holy Father, what a truly humble and spiritual man he is, a true apostle of Christ, he is an inspiration to me and I am sure to all those who were present at this historic event, the light of Christ genuinely shines through him, illuminating all who see him. Every one of the faithful pilgrims in the vast crowd was so happy to be there and show their faith and support towards him. All thanks must be to God who continually gives us these moments of Grace and great joy.

The Liturgy began with psalm 119 and an account of the beatitudes from the Gospel of St Mathew. In his homily Pope Benedict spoke intimately on the teaching of Blessed Cardinal Newman. Then the crowds fell into a peaceful silence as adoration of the Blessed Sacrament began, with many kneeling for the Benediction. The Holy Father himself was kneeling with the faithful in contemplation and prayer. This again was a moving moment and a tremendous manifestation of the vitality of the faith in this country! The liturgy finished with hymns and prayers by Blessed Cardinal Newman and the Tantum ergo. At the end of the service a beautiful rendition of the Irish blessing was sung by a young boy named Liam McNally.

We came away with the rest of the faithful pilgrims, slowly seeping away into the night, resonating with a feeling of great joy and a smile on our faces as did all who were present, As his holiness Pope Benedict has said “Be witnesses to the beauty of holiness, the splendour of the truth and the joy and freedom born of a relationship with Christ’. Let us hope we can all deepen our relationship with Christ and unite with one another in holiness through, what was for those present, the unforgettable apex of this historic Papal Visit, and then we too, like the Holy Father and our blessed Mother may be called true witnesses of Christ.

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