Where Two or Three Are Gathered…(Matthew 18:20)

Dear Parishioners,
After prayerful discernment and consultation with our Parish Pastoral Council, I have decided to suspend the celebration of Mass on Wednesday mornings in the parish, from the week beginning Monday, September 7ᵗʰ, 2026.

 
In deciding which weekday Mass to suspend, I have chosen Wednesday because the Wednesday morning Mass appears generally to be attended by fewer people than the other weekday Masses. Going forward, Mass intentions will not be taken for Wednesdays.

 
One of the principal reasons for this decision is the need to ensure that I have a genuine day off each week. Very often, my day off (previously a Thursday) would only begin at lunchtime that day. Indeed, there have been weeks when I have not been able to take a day off at all. This is no longer sustainable, especially given my current family commitments.

 
At the same time, I believe that this change presents us with an opportunity for our parish to grow in prayer, participation, and responsibility.

From Wednesday September 9ᵗʰ, instead of Mass on Wednesdays, there will be a Liturgy of the Word at 10.00am, led by trained lay members of the parish who are already Ministers of the Word. This will provide an opportunity for the parish community to continue to gather, to listen to the Word of God, to pray together and to support one another even when a priest is not present.
This is something which the Church encourages. The National Centre for Liturgy, in its publication It Is Good for Us to Be Here, reminds us:

 
“When a parish does not have the celebration of the Eucharist on weekdays, people who wish should continue to gather and encounter the Lord in his Word and in the assembly, prayer and witness of God’s people.”

It is an opportunity for us to recognize more fully the responsibility that belongs to all of us through our Baptism. Each of us is called to pray, to serve, to proclaim the Gospel and to play our part in building up the life of our parish community.

I am also conscious that some may wonder why Holy Communion will not form part of this Wednesday celebration. The Church does not encourage the distribution of Holy Communion during such Liturgies of the Word. The Eucharist is at the very heart of the Church’s life, and precisely because we hold the Eucharist in such reverence, we should not try to reproduce part of the Mass when the celebration of the Eucharist itself is not taking place. When the people gather for a Liturgy of the Word in the absence of Mass, we encounter Christ in the Scriptures proclaimed, in prayer and in our gathering together as his people.

 
When a Funeral Mass is arranged for a Wednesday, the Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 12 noon (as is current practice) and there will be no Liturgy of the Word or Mass that day at 10am.

Thank you, as always, for your understanding, your prayers and your continued support.

 
Yours in Christ and in His service,
Fr. Damien
Sunday August 23ʳᵈ, 2026, Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

“The Lord gathers and unites us together.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373), Festal Letter X