THE MASS LINE: 029 2267 0924 It Is Now Possible at 10.00Am on a Sunday to Participate in Mass from St Alban's Church, from Your Landline Telephone Or Mobile Phone
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THE CARDIFF ORATORY PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN ON THE MOORS A Parish of the Archdiocese of Cardiff (a Registered Charity 1177272) Website: www.cardifforatory.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/CardiffOratory Contact: [email protected] Parish Priest: Fr. Sebastian M Jones Hospital Chaplain (Fr. Davies) 029 2074 3230; St Alban's Oratory House: 029 2046 3219. ~ To participate in the daily Masses /Benediction / daily Reflection at St Alban's go to St Alban's Parish Facebook site or to Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/cardifforatory AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: THE MASS LINE: 029 2267 0924 It is now possible at 10.00am on a Sunday to participate in Mass from St Alban's church, from your landline telephone or mobile phone. The St Alban's Mass Line is a dedicated phoneline which now connects Parishioners without internet access to Sunday Mass. At the launch of the new Mass Line Fr Sebastian said "It is not how I would wish the Faithful to participate at Mass, but needs must for the present. It grieves me that the Faithful cannot be here. He added. "Mass Line enables the Faithful to hear the familiar Mass prayers and hymns and join in raising their own voices in Worship of Almighty God. Mass Line will give some consolation to those who have felt so cut off since the pandemic lockdown." Mass Line was inaugurated with a Mass for the Pope and Bishops on the Feastday of Our Lady of Fatima. THE MASS LINE NUMBER IS: 029 2267 0924 (Mass Line is the cost of a local call) Sat 16th 8.00 Mass: Holy Souls 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Oratory Vespers 18.00 Mass: Guarno Sun 17th 5th Sunday of Easter 10:00 Mass: Tony Maunder, RIP 11:15 Mass: John & Norma Pathy, RIP First day for the Novena 12.00 Online: May Meditation for St Philip Neri 16.00 Vespers & Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament Mon 18th 7.30 Mass: Holy Souls 9.00 Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 9.30am Mass: Donor's In. 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Rosary and Benediction Tues 19th 7.30 Mass: Holy Souls 9.00 Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 9.30 Mass: For Priests 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Rosary and Benediction Wed 20th 7.30 Mass: Holy Souls 9.00 Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 9.30 Mass: C. Lewis 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Rosary and Benediction 7.30 Mass: Holy Souls ASCENSION THURSDAY 9.00 Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 9.30 Mass: 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Rosary and Benediction *19:00 Mass: M Pinnell Fri 22nd 7.30 Mass: Holy Souls 9.00 Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 9.30 Mass: A Van Woudenberg 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Rosary and Benediction Sat 23rd 8.00 Mass: Holy Souls 4.00 Rosary & Benediction 12.00 noon Online: May Meditation 17.00 Vespers Oratory Vespers 18.00 Mass: Phyllis Clarke, RIP (Casey) Sun 24th 6th Sunday of Easter 10:00 Mass: Colin Gristock, RIP 11:15 Mass: Holy Souls / John Haylett, RIP 12.00 Online: Meditation for May 16.00 Vespers & Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament A NOVENA TO PREPARE FOR PENTECOST THE DAILY PRAYER Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be Created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who By the liGht of the Holy Spirit, did instruCt the hearts of the faithful, Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen. Join in this Novena after daily Mass Fr Sebastian writes.... There has been much comment this week about the merit of churches being re-opened. In some parts of the world the Catholic Faithful have even initiated Court actions to overturn the decision of governments. For some the idea of churches being closed by the State is a violation of their freedom of conscience and freedom of worship. That individual silent prayer and meditation are presented as being more problematic than normalising large queues of people at supermarkets, Drive Thru fast food restaurants and garden centres is considered irrational. It is a question of numbers and proximity. The concerted dismissal by commentators via the social media sirens that the Church and thus attendance at a church is now an entirely private hobby and not more importance than that, has gone largely unchallenged by the governing elite. The exclusion of God as policy was of course enthusiastically voiced by Tony Blair's administration: "We don't do God!" We of course, as a Catholic People, and in fact the vast majority of human beings on the planet, to recycle the Blair expression: "Do God". Theists are vastly more numerous than atheists (even of the lazy, unthinking petulant variety) and so should certainly ensure that their voices are heard and their human right to freedom of worship is respected. While we know that we can pray, and should pray in our homes, when out and about, nevertheless, Christ established His Holy Catholic Church as a Sacramental Society. Divine Revelation is not a word search; a jigsaw puzzle or game of hide and seek. The Church, the life of the Christian is always one being drawn into that community which draws life in relation to the Most Holy Trinity. Our Lord Jesus Christ through the words and actions of His Priest gives Himself for the baptised who constitute the Mystical Body of Christ. Catholics are not just feeling the pangs of social exclusion, they are in a very real sense experiencing for the first time in their lifetimes the pangs of excommunication, despite the unceasing efforts of many priests to present the Liturgical life of the Church, from within locked churches accessible via the social media. The status quo is not the same. The Liturgy is not a performance or town hall meeting. The Mass is the Mass as long as a validly ordained Catholic priest fulfils his unique function in accordance with the discipline of the Church. When Catholics hear the expression "The Real Presence" they know Whom that refers to. The reality of the Real Presence is no less in a Catholic church if I am not physically in the church kneeling before the Most Blessed Sacrament. However, for the Christian the economy of grace that builds upon human awareness and speaks to us consciously and subconsciously is more profoundly effective when I am really and not virtually present at Mass or in silent prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament in church. The roots of our present problem is the impoverished understanding among those drafting public policy as to the importance of God in the life experience of believers. Perhaps bishops, priests and some Catholics and believers share in the blame for this miscomprehension for the secular legislator's disregard for Worship. Whilst we know that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the Worship of God by God, and we are drawn into this Perfect Worship. The culture and promotion of slip shod celebrations, asserting inclusivity and diversity or "being modern" as their rationale has coarsened Catholic aesthetic: the absence of reverence for the sacred is tangible in most parish churches. It's certainly audible before Mass! The institutionalised flippancy in speaking of Almighty God, the cosy compromises with personal sin and its institutions have brought us to where we are today. The sacred veil between the Holy of Holies and the market place hangs very thin in parts of the Church. It is time to reclaim and promote the sacred in the Church. The Secularists have mobilised the Pan-national organisations to their assertion of the primacy of the market and its deities. Beauty attracts; the beauty of holiness when encountered redeems. No priest, I am sure, would ever turn away one seeking Confession, nor refuse to attend a call to the bedside of the sick or dying. The Good shepherd mustn't just smell like his sheep, he is the one who lays down his life for his sheep. As a Catholic people we must make a very conscious decision that the Sacred is uniquely important as it is our culture and it draws our awareness to Almighty God who is Truly Present according to His promise. In an age when so many secular groups claim all sorts of rights and freedoms and have them legally recognised, we as a Catholic People must now build locally a better and more representative Society in which the Sacred character of life is represented and heard. Our recent indifference to our place has given carte blanche to the presumption and assertion of the primacy and liberty claimed by secularists. Secular culture, which is pagan, has made it abundantly clear, tanning parlours and reconstituted moulded meat products are now more important than a person's conscientiously held belief in the right to the ancient Worship of Almighty God and the Catholic culture that brought about Western Civilisation. In the words of another inhabitant of 10 Downing Street "It's a Funny old World..." Let us make the most of the days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost: Veni Sancte Spiritus! THIS WEEK'S SAINTS. (May 18) St. John I, Pope and Martyr. St. John is commemorated today in the Roman Calendar of St. Paul VI (and on May 27 in the calendar of St.