BLESSING OF PETS SERVICE - SUNDAY 25TH OCTOBER;
Webmaster • October 18, 2026
TO MARK THE 800TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI
After our morning holy Mass on
Sunday 25th October, at about 11.45, I invite you to bring your pets into our Olde Forge Cafe. I will bless you and your friend with an individual blessing, asking the Lord to look after you both and to give you both many happy times together. God has made all creatures great and small to share our lives. They bring us such joy and companionship and only ask that we care for them and look after them. St Francis of Assisi, 800 years ago, taught us this. He is known to have preached to the birds and befriended even a wolf whom he called his brother. Do bring your pets to the Cafe on the 25th October, whatever be their size or shape or sound! All are most welcome. Last time we held this Service, we were joined not just by the most popular pets but also by wiggly worms! All are God’s creatures.
Thank you so much to all for your excellent work in the Evangelisation Café e. Please everyone, let’s double our efforts to fulfil what the Lord asks of each of us, by being involved in God’s work of bringing others to know the Lord Jesus in his Church. We can do this really well by inviting and accompanying members of our families, our friends and neighbours to our Evangelisation Cafe.
To everyone who came together last Friday evening to discuss the Archbishop’s response to the views of our parish on the Synod. It was so encouraging to hear your views and insights into how our parish and every parish in the Archdiocese must change and adopt new ways and structures to enable us to be missionary, to be better at offering the Good News of the Lord’s saving love to the people of our age.
3/4: 5pm Phil; 10.30am Margaret, Simone, Mary(H) 10/11: 5pm Paul Donovan; 10.30am Giannina, Regina, Gaberielle(H) 17/18: 5pm Patrick; 10.30am Paul Mould, Lorenza, Ross(H) 24/25: 5pm Lizzie; 10.30am Patricia, Maggie, Marian(H) 31: 5pm David 1st November 10.30am Angela, Margaret, Phil(H) Thank you to our wonderful Ministers of the Eucharist who have accepted the Lord’s invitation to this awesome, sacred ministry, by their willingness to give up their own plans and convenience in order to do God’s will rather than their own. Let us pray for them because they too fight the same personal weaknesses we all have to fight against and they too have to fight the same temptations we all have to fight. God be with them.
23rd OCTOBER at 5.00pm We will shortly begin our parish-based Parents and Children programme of preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. Dear Parents, please register your children for the Course of Preparation for these two great Sacraments which is shortly to begin. You will find a Registration list in the porch of the church. Please print your own name, address, contact phone number and your child’s name. The first meeting for parents and children will be on Friday evening, the 23rd of October, at 5.00pm in the Parish Room. At this meeting, I’ll explain the details of the Course to you and we will fix the dates for First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion in 2027. Please note that the children must be at least 7 years of age.
During October, we pray a decade of the prayer of the rosary, at the end of every holy Mass. To carry a string of rosary beads with you and to pray the rosary can be a beautiful way of prayer. Please bring your rosary with you, when you come to holy Mass. If you don’t yet have a rosary, please may I encourage you to get one.
OCTOBER 3/4: 5pm Claire; 10.30am Chinwe 10/11: 5pm Richard; 10.30am Marian 17/18: 5pm Phil; 10.30am Patricia 24/25: 5pm Collette; 10.30am Giannina 31: 5pm Mike 1st November: 10.30am Chris
Please note that our Evangelisation Cafe opens on Tuesdays immediately AFTER holy Mass, at about 10.15am so that our Hosts may be able to celebrate holy Mass before opening the Café. The Café will then be open until about 12.00midday. The Café is also open on Sundays immediately AFTER our final Sunday holy Masses until about 1.00pm The Olde Forge Evangelisation Café can only open thanks to the great generosity of our wonderful Hosts and Bakers/Providers. Thank you so much to them. If you are not yet an active member of our Parish Faith community, please offer your help as a Host or Baker/Provider. Presently it would mean that your help is needed only about once every month. The more Hosts we have the less often your good help is required. We will be very pleased to show you how the Coffee machine works and you will soon be able to be one of our very own ‘Baristas’!
If you are not a Catholic Christian but you are open to hearing a little bit about our Faith, please register your interest by printing your name and address and phone number on the sheet you will find in the porch of the church. Please talk to me in person or send me an Email, or call me on the phone, and we can get together for a chat. Shortly, we will be starting a small discussion group to explore our Catholic Faith but in a very relaxed, informal way. Our first meeting will be on Thursday 22nd October at 7.00pm in Parish Room.
If you are an adult or at least a teenager and haven’t yet received the great Sacrament of Confirmation for whatever reason, please register for our Course of Preparation for this Sacrament. We will welcome Bishop Gerard to our parish on Sunday 7th February 2027 when we will celebrate together the Sacrament of Confirmation, during our 10.30am holy Mass. We will begin our Course of Preparation for this Sacrament on Saturday 24th October at 11.00am in our Parish Room. Whatever be your age, whether you be at least a teenager or someone in later life, this Sacrament is for you so that your Faith will grow stronger. You will find a Registration list in the porch of the church. Please print your name, address and contact ‘phone number on the list.
