All the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom.
Times and intentions for Holy Mass
Public Masses are indicated in bold print. (Evesham Masses in the Parish centre)
(E)= Evesham (B)= Broadway
Sat 12th 4.00pm(B) People of the Parish
Sun 13th 8.45am(E) Josie Byrne
10.00am(E) Carmelo Frascona
Mon 14th 10.00am(E) Josie Byrne
Tues 15th 10.00am(B) Josie Byrne
Wed 16th 10.00am(E) Graziella & Albino Zambon
Thur 17th 10.00am(B) Bette & Norman Frances
Fri 18th 10.00am(E) John & Bridget Walsh
Dedication of the Cathedral
Sat 19th 10.00am(E) Marjorie Shaw
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sat 19th 4.00pm(B) Ints Andrew Marlborough
Sun 20th 8.45am(E) Ints Anne Evans
10.00am(E) People of the parish
Confessions.
Confessions after Mass or please contact the presbytery
Volunteers
In order to have our Churches open for public Masses, it is essential that we have sufficient volunteers to act as stewards, cleaners and helpers. Those wishing to volunteer should. Contact Dominique in Broadway or in Evesham email your contact details to:
[email protected] We need as many volunteers as possible.
Private Prayer in Broadway:
Sunday Wednesday Friday 10;00-11.00am
Evesham Food Bank
Please phone 07721559387 in order to discover how and when to take any contributions
Catechism points and themes
Sunday 11 (numbers indicate paragraph number)
CCC 543-546: announcing the Kingdom of God
CCC 2653-2654, 2660, 2716: the Kingdom grows by hearing the Word
Please pray
For the sick and housebound of our parishes
Of your charity
Pray for, the repose of the souls of all who have died in recent days and Marcelle Edwards Ellen Harvey-James
Maired Walsh Megan Vernon Alexander Morgan Tony Lyon Marjorie Shaw Eric Edwards Michael Walsh George Twist Michael J. Fitzgerald Barbara Sheail whose anniversary of death falls at about this time.
From Fr Christopher
Parables! Jesus is often speaking to us in parables. Often we don’t spend enough time thinking about the parables, about the images that He gives us. We need to spend some time with the Lord, listening to His words, and wondering what the words mean. When we do this, we begin to understand Jesus and the Kingdom.
The first reading today is from the Prophet Ezekiel. We have many images in this reading. However, the message is clear: “All the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom.” The message is simple: God is God and we humans are not God and cannot control our world or anything in it. We have the appearance of control, but the world spins out of control when we no longer respect God nor respect the ways of God . This has happened over and over again in human history and humanity seems incapable of learning the lesson: follow the Lord and life is very good! Abandon the Lord and life becomes unbearable.
The second reading is from the Second Letter to the Corinthians. The small passage that we read today repeats the lesson from the Prophet Ezekiel: “We walk by faith, not by sight.” When we walk by faith, we listen to the Word of God and strive to form our lives by that Word. If we walk by sight, we no longer believe in the Lord because the present world tells us that God is not necessary, is only a foolish thought of human beings, and that life is much better without God.
Once again we are confronted with the truth: With God there is mercy! Without God, all becomes useless and without meaning. The only meaning without God is the human being. The human being is always fickle, always seeking its own good, always looking for pleasure and wealth and power. As our world continues to abandon God, we can expect worse things yet to happen.
Today’s Gospel is from Saint Mark and brings us back to parables and images. What is the Kingdom of God like, Jesus asks? It is something that we cannot control. It is like planting a field and not understanding why the plants grow. The Kingdom of God is all around us and is within us—but we have a choice to recognise it or to ignore it. Whether we recognise the Kingdom or ignore the Kingdom, the process of the Kingdom is still at work: time is given to us to give ourselves to God.
The Kingdom of God is very small and that is why so many cannot see it. Small yes! However the Kingdom is not small in size but small in its beginnings within us and within our communities. The Kingdom can grow and become so powerful. God never forces Himself upon us. We can always invite God to grow within us and within our communities.
When we see the grass grow or when we see a tree grow, we can think of the Kingdom of God! When we see birds fly in the air, we can think of the Kingdom of God. God is always at work and always loving us. May we open our eyes and our hearts to Him.
Going out into the future
When the refurbishment of the church is completed in Evesham and we are once again using the church it will of course be necessary to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the building together with the “life” of the parish. I would ask everyone to give some thought as to how they might be involved in this importance aspect pf parish life. Some though not all of the areas involved will have to do with cleaning, the care of silver and brass (candlesticks, thuribles lamps etc.) The washing and ironing of altar linen(large and small) the ongoing care of the sacristy and care of the Cassocks and Cottas for the altar servers With regard to the liturgy, we shall be needing to gather those who can sing to participate in the “Schola Cantorum”. We shall need to have more people who are willing to read at Holy Mass and to serve at the altar.Although there will be several different options concerning financial contributions to the parish we shall still need to maintain the traditional (offertory collection).
Need for Volunteers
Without our volunteers who have given of their time in this regard it would not have been possible to celebrate the Holy Mass with the participation of the people. Apart from the brief period of lockdown in Advent it has been possible to do so since July of 2020. We understand that this has required a great deal of commitment. It is particularly important that as many as possible make this commitment to our parishes, Please consider volunteering for this work. The more volunteers we have the easier it will be. Please give your name to James Doherty if you are willing to do this work. (Guiding parishioners to their seats and sanitising the building after
Archbishop Bernard We have a pastoral letter from the Archbishop today. Which outlines some of the areas with which we shall need to be concerned as we both learn from the experience of the present pandemic and emerge from the pasndemic. The Full text is available on the diocesan website. Pope Francis urged the entire Church “to embark on a new chapter of evangelism”. The Church must understand itself as a “community of missionary disciples”, who are “permanently in a state of mission”. He says that “’mere administration’ can no longer be enough.”
I have commissioned a number of groups who are looking at how we work in our parishes and in the Archdiocese to increase the opportunities that enable us to do God’s work and to fulfil the promises of our baptism.I want us to look at how we will individually respond to God’s call to be missionary disciples in the Church and in our local communities, working joyfully together to spread the Word and the work of God. In essence, how will we unfold God’s plan for our diocesan church?When I look ahead, I envisage a Catholic diocese which is:
Faithful to the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ Full of intentional disciples in vibrant communities of faith, joyful in their service of God and others Where many more lay people are engaged in the work of proclaiming the Good news .How can it happen and what will that look like given the challenges we face? There are four areas I am asking us all to focus on: Evangelisation, Formation,
Liturgy and Worship and
Social Outreach. In our work on the four themes it is important that young people and families are a particular area of focus for all that we do. The universal call to holiness finds its first expression within families and its first recruits among young people. I invite you to join me in looking with fresh eyes at our mission. We must take this opportunity to do all we can to make sure the Gospel is seen and heard through the example of our daily Christian live
Broadway Information Flower Rota Thanks to all who have supported this rota copies available after Mass
Families in need in Broadway.
This is a CTIB initiative which seeks to help those in great need as a result of the effects of the pandemic which are so often unseen (Job Loss, income loss etc) please see the leaflet and speak to Dominique.
The news on the Television and the Radio often refers to the plight of so many of the citizens of our country. This is an opportunity to help in Broadway.
Andrew Marlborough
Pleas pray for Andrew who will be ordained to the Diaconate on 19th June. Andrew was received into the Church here in Broadway and will be ordained for the Diocese of Plymouth. Please remember him in your prayers as he continues his journey to ordination as a priest.
Track and Trace Slip
(This may be used in Broadway and Evesham
Name:
Contact Number:
Size of Group
Date attended