Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Easter Sunday 4^th April          

I am writing to let you know that the weather forecast for Sunday looks good so the 9 o’clock Mass has been cancelled and the 10.30 Mass, with space for everyone, will take place outside on the lawn.

Good Friday

The Churches Together Walk of Witness cannot take place this year but there will be an on-line service reflecting the Walk of Witness. This will take place at 10am and can be accessed via the Parish Church website www.wadhurstparishchurch.org.

Weekly Masses from Saturday 10^th April

Saturday Vigil Mass                 6pm

Sunday Mass                           10.30am (outside weather permitting)

For services in the Church COVID regulations will need to be followed. These include 2m social distancing, sanitising hands on arrival and departure, providing details for Track & Trace purposes and the mandatory wearing of face coverings. 

For services inside and outside the Church you are reminded that no household mixing is allowed so please keep your distance from others on arrival and leave without lingering when Mass is over.

If you are unable to join us you can find information about the locations of live-streamed celebrations of Mass on the Diocesan Website at: https://abdiocese.org.uk/livestream.

At the time of writing government regulations allow places of worship to open for services. However, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel all Masses and close our Church until further notice.
This decision has been made in the light of rising COVID infections in our area and will protect our priest and our congregation from the risks associated with mixing with other households indoors. We understand that this will be a disappointment to many of you but know that you will appreciate our aim to keep everyone safe and well at this time.

Information about the locations of live-streamed celebrations of Mass is available on the Diocesan Website at: https://abdiocese.org.uk/livestream.

Father Martin will continue to say Mass privately and will be praying for you and your families. He is also happy for you to phone him if you would like prayer or a Mass for a specific intention.

The Parish Office will be closed to visitors until further notice. However, emails and phone messages will be dealt with on a regular basis, and if you need a priest urgently please contact Father Martin direct.

The Rosary group can pray for you and your concerns, and the Mother’s Prayers group is meeting by Zoom. Please contact Rosie on 01892 785464, Antonia on 782679 or Grainne on 07841 414689 if you would like prayer for a specific person or intention.

We are pleased to confirm that despite the current restrictions, Communal Worship can continue, so our Christmas Masses can go ahead.

However, if you live in a Tier Four area we ask you you to give serious consideration as to whether you should be attending Mass at our Church in Wadhurst, which is in Tier Two.

MassTimes

We have been very fortunate to celebrate Mass outside in the church grounds. This included Advent and our Christmas Day Mass, which although was very cold it was still well attended.

There will not be Mass on Thursday 31st December 2020 or Friday 1st January 2021.

Weekly Mass times are as follows:

Thursday​ 10am

Saturday ​6pm

Sunday​ 10.30am

Christmas Mass Times

There will be two  Masses on Christmas Eve at 4pm and 6pm. Christmas Day there will be Mass at 10.30am. There will be no Mass on  26th December. Sunday 27th December Mass will be at 10.30am.

You are reminded that the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday and Holy days of Obligation is currently suspended. If you, and your family, could attend just one Mass over this period, it would help to ensure that there is space for everyone.  

As space in the Church is limited due to social distancing we will be asking you to let us know in advance which Mass you would like to attend. Please contact the Parish Office on or after Monday 14th December letting us know your name, contact number, the number of people in your household and your preferred Mass time over the Christmas period. If you can give a second choice of Mass, that too would be very helpful.

You can email parishsecretary.sacredheart@gmail.com or telephone 01892 784311. All emails and phone messages will be dealt with in date/time order and we will let you know if space is available at your preferred time by Monday 21st December.  

We are putting on extra Masses to enable everyone to join us in celebrating our Saviour’s birth. However, we ask for your understanding if your first choice of Mass is not available.

NB. We plan to have Mass outside on Sunday & Christmas Day, weather permitting, so please come dressed warmly and with appropriate footwear.

Christmas Cards

Can we ask you please not to leave Christmas cards for parishioners in the Church or Annexe this year. We have to keep all surfaces clear as part of our infection control measures.

The Mayors Toy Appeal

Runs until Wednesday 16th December so there is still time if you would like to make a donation. Please see the website for details www.twmta.co.uk.  Or call Karen Collins on 07748 074811.

Missio Red Boxes

Catherine Heathcote is now our parish representative for Missio. Your donations for this year need to be counted so please bring your red boxes to Church next time you come to Mass or leave them in the porch of the Priest’s Cottage if that is more convenient.

Nourish Donations

Donations of food can be left at the collection point in Ticehurst Village Store or you can make a financial donation towards local families needing help this Christmas. Please see the website www.nourishcommunityfoodbank.org.uk or call the Parish Office for details.

Dear Parishioner,

We find ourselves once again approaching one of our most important celebrations with the overhang of some incredibly difficult circumstances. We continue to hope and pray that you and your families are keeping safe and well at this difficult time.

You may recall that Easter fell during the first National Lockdown and at that time, given the exceptional circumstances, the Parish Finance Committee (PFC), took the unusual step of communicating directly with the Parish, regarding collections at the Easter services. It is heartbreaking to think, that eight months later and we are still trying to contend with such challenging difficulties. While we will hopefully not be in the same position of a National Lockdown at Christmas, it is very likely that not everyone will be able or free to enjoy Christmas services, in the same manner as would normally be the case.

Therefore, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind parishioners, that the offertory collection, during the Christmas services, is held as our personal offering to Father Martin, to support him and thank him for everything he does on our behalf, throughout the year.

So, for those who will sadly be unable to join in the services this Christmas, due to current restrictions, we wanted to afford you the opportunity to show your support for Fr. Martin, via an alternative route, to that of the church collection plate.

If this is something that you would like to avail of, we would ask you to consider transferring your personal gift directly into the Parish bank account marked with the reference “Father Martin”. For convenience, the Parish account details, through which you can make your Christmas gift via electronic payment, are set out below.

Thank you for your ongoing and generous support.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year,

Greg O’Higgins
Chair of the Parish Finance Committee

Account details:  

Account Name: Sacred Heart Wadhurst
Account No: 11077198
Sort code: 400520
Payment Reference:  Father Martin

Note:

If required, the full account name is:

Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, Sacred Heart Wadhurst.

The Mayors Toy Appeal for 2020 runs from Monday 9 November to Wednesday 16 December

Please see the website for details of how to donate

|Tunbridge Wells Borough Council | Mayoral A\C | Sort code: 30-00-02 | Account Number: 01397910 | Ref: Toy Appeal |

This year’s Mayors Toy Appeal is going to be more difficult than most and as you have supported in the past I’d like to ask for your support again! This year, I’m afraid, it will be online donations only but if you would like to donate cash online or buy a gift please go to www.twmta.co.uk to find all the details.

However if you are happy to shop in Tunbridge Wells and buy a gift of £10 or more, you can be entered into a draw by showing your proof of purchase to the Town Hall reception staff and have a chance to win an amazing £500 worth of shopping vouchers. All details on the website or give me a call on 07748 074811.

Wish us luck and thank you

Karen

Missio Red Boxes

Yes. It’s that time of year again. Please bring your overflowing boxes to Church next time you come to Mass or leave them in the porch of the Priest’s Cottage if that is more convenient.

Look forward to seeing you all soon

Chrissie & Toni

Statement on Safeguarding Friday 20th November 2020
The account given in the IICSA Report of abuse known to be inflicted on children in the Catholic Church in England and Wales in the past 50 years is shocking and overwhelming. At our meeting this week, we Bishops have stood together in profound shame. We express our sorrow and contrition before God.
We have reflected on our need to reach out afresh to those who bear the wounds of permanent damage caused by this abuse. We commit ourselves to listen more intently to those who have been abused so as to learn from them and benefit from their wisdom. It is through learning from their testimony that hearts are changed.
We are grateful to those survivors who have come forward, not only to lay before us their experience of abuse, but to help us understand the depth of their pain. We invite anyone who has experienced abuse to come forward, no matter how long ago the abuse took place. We undertake to listen carefully to them with open heart and mind and support them on a journey of healing.
We have carefully considered the recommendations of the IICSA Report and formally accepted them. We have already begun work towards their implementation.
The IICSA’s generic hearings into the Church began last October. Around that time we commissioned an Independent Review of our Safeguarding Structures and Arrangements in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. This was carried out by Mr Ian Elliott, an experienced safeguarding professional who has worked across the world in this area.
This week, alongside the IICSA Report, we have also examined in depth the Final Report of the Elliott Review and fully accepted its recommendations. It is a searching analysis of our safeguarding work, in its weaknesses and strengths. It proposes a number of remedial and forward-looking recommendations, which accord with the IICSA Report’s own recommendations. The work of implementation will begin immediately. It will be carried out in close cooperation with the Religious Orders who play such an important part in the life of the Church.
In all our activities, our desire and resolve is to be a Church in which every child and vulnerable person is not only safe but nurtured into human flourishing. These recommendations present us with steps towards this goal. Key to them is a standards-based approach to safeguarding together with a specially commissioned national body with powers of effective audit and oversight of safeguarding in both Dioceses and Religious Orders. Everyone in the Church will

be required to work to clear, published standards of behaviour and action. Most significantly, the Elliott Report has been fashioned with the participation of survivors of abuse. Their insight and wisdom has been crucial. We thank them for their great courage and generosity in working with us and we look forward to continuing this growing collaboration.
The Elliott Report builds on all that has been achieved in our safeguarding ministry in the past 20 years, achievements also recognised in the IICSA Report. Therefore we thank profoundly all who contribute to the work of safeguarding in the Church today: the thousands of Parish Safeguarding Representatives, the professionals who work in our Safeguarding Offices in every Diocese, the Safeguarding Commissions who oversee this work and give objective and professional advice to guide our decisions, the staff of the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service and those who serve on the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. These, and many others, have contributed greatly to the current work of safeguarding in the Church.
Today, however, we acknowledge without hesitation, our failings, our mistakes, our lack of adequate cooperation. We express our deep sorrow and ask forgiveness, especially from victims and survivors. We affirm our resolve to effect the next step in our work of safeguarding and care for survivors. In prayer we turn to Christ the Good Shepherd, the fount of healing and compassion, asking that this moment of painful truth becomes a time of grace as we strive to fulfil the ministry entrusted to us as bishops in an unshakeable unity of purpose.

Dear Parishioner

The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it difficulties and losses for people across our diocesan church family. Bishop Richard is offering a live streamed Deanery Mass for those who have died during this difficult year. It will take place at Holy Cross, Heathfield on Friday 20th November at 7pm.

If you wish to provide the names  of those you would like remembered at this Mass, please send them to me by Wednesday so I can forward them to the Dean.

The links to the streaming camera at Holy Cross Priory are as follows:

http://www.ctkhcp.org/live-camera

http://www.ctkhcp.org/live-camera2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwWE1PjYbDs&feature=emb_err_woyt

The information we have is that any of them should work, but if you are struggling, you should try them all. The camera runs 24/7 but the sound only works when the church microphones are switched on.

BISHOP’S CATECHESIS FOR ADVENT

The bishop will be offering talks at the Cathedral on the Fridays preceding the Sundays of Advent.  These will begin at 7pm.  The dates and themes are as follows and information will be included on the diocesan website.  The first will be livestreamed only, on account of the lockdown, but it will be possible for people to attend the other three and bookings can be made through the Cathedral office.

• 27^th November: Advent – Waiting
• 4^th December: John the Baptist – Witness
• 11^th December: Gaudete – Rejoice
• 18^th December: Mary – Openness

A Message from Father Martin

Dear Parishioners

It’s good to be in touch with you again and I’m very glad to be able to see so many of you at the open air Mass on Sunday mornings. Thanks to all who help to make it possible. We hope to be able to continue to have Mass outside well into the autumn, so don’t forget to come prepared with your coats, brollies, rugs or blankets.