Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton - cliftondiocese.com

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1 Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton - cliftondiocese.com Clifton Catholic Diocesan Trustees Registered Charity No Church of the Holy Ghost, Yeovil Parish Address: 73 Higher Kingston, Yeovil, Somerset, BA21 4AR Also serving Church of St Michael, Lightgate Road, South Petherton, TA13 5AJ Chapel of Our Lady and St Augustine of Canterbury, HMS Heron Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, BA22 8HT Parish Website: Parish Office yeovil.holyghost@cliftondiocese.com Parish Telephone: Served by the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales (Fransalians - MSFS) Parish Clergy: Father Jean-Patrice Coulon MSFS; Father Jose Maliekal MSFS Priests resident in the Parish: Father David O Regan; Father Peter Clarke (Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) Parish Administrator: Sue Chant (Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings) Parish Safeguarding Officer: Danny Want ( ) ROSARY: before weekday Masses at Yeovil, and before Sunday Mass at South Petherton. All welcome. CONFESSIONS: Saturday am; 4.15pm 4.45pm ANOINTING OF THE SICK: On request. Please inform one of the clergy if you are going into hospital. If possible, please seek anointing beforehand. BAPTISMS: By appointment. Adults seeking to know more about the Catholic Faith should speak to the Parish Priest, and/or come to the Journey in Faith (RCIA) sessions. SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE: Six months notice for weddings. HOLY ORDERS: Any man considering a vocation to the Priesthood or Permanent Diaconate should speak to one of the clergy.

2 SECOND COLLECTION NEXT SUNDAY: as usual is for the Christmas Flowers. Many thanks as ever to our flower arrangers who work hard to make our churches beautiful for the Christmas Festival. CHRISTMAS OFFERING: The Collection taken at all Masses on Christmas Day goes as custom to the Priest of the Parish. As the Parish is served by the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales, it also goes toward helping the English Province fund the missions of our Congregation in different parts of the world, in particular India, Africa, Brazil and the Philippines. There are envelopes available at the back of both churches for parishioners who wish to contribute but who will not be here on Christmas Day. Many thanks in advance for your generosity. ADVENT CONFESSIONS: As a Season of Preparation, it is strongly encouraged to make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the Season of Advent. There will be an opportunity to go to a Visiting Priest: Father Peter Clarke will be available on Saturday 9th December and Saturday 16th December from 3.30pm to 4.30pm at the Holy Ghost. Father David O Regan will be available at St Michael s in South Petherton on Saturday 16th December and Saturday 23rd December from 11am to midday. Confessions are also available at the other usual times. YOUTH GROUP: The last Youth Group of the year is on Friday 15th December 2017 at 7.00pm until 9.00pm in the Marian Hall. All the usual features will be available (table tennis, snooker, PS3 and Nintendo WII). We will have a prayer tree again this year and St. Nicolas might have left a few treats for everyone that attends (assuming their names aren't in the Naughty Book!). We hope to see as many young people 9-18 years old as possible. My thanks to the dedication and support of our Youth Team in this our second successful year. Paul O'Hara Tel: FIRST HOLY COMMUNION 2018: There will be a meeting in the library of St Gildas Catholic Primary School on Wednesday 17 th January for parents of children who wish them to make their First Confession and Holy Communion next year. Children are welcome from any Primary School in the parish but must be in year 3 or above. Sessions take place from January to June every Wednesday from 3.30pm 4.30pm during term time. Father Jean-Patrice and Mrs Want look forward to meeting CLIFTON DIOCESAN 2018 LITURGICAL DIARIES AND DIRECTORIES: are now on sale at the back of both Churches. The Diary is 6 and the Directory is 5.

3 A FUTURE FULL OF HOPE - THE YEAR OF MISSION: Father Jean-Patrice writes: A good number of our parishioners joined other parishioners from around our Diocese to participate in the service of Evening Prayer led by our Bishop Declan Lang. This was the formal start of The Year of Mission, the first of three years in the Diocesan Vision A Future Full of Hope. Each Parish, School (including our own Parish Primary School), and other relevant Diocesan organization received a resource pack for this first Year. This Resource includes three study sessions which could be usefully studied during this Season of Advent, which acts as a time of spiritual preparation for the Coming of the Lord: both historically at Christmas, but also at the End of the World. We will therefore study the three sessions on three successive Thursdays: We have already started the first session last Thursday on Discipleship. The group decided to continue this for this coming Thursday 14ᵗ December, then starting the second session on Mission. There will be a further session before Christmas on the next Thursday 21 ᵗ December, and if time allows we will start the third session of Heart of the Gospel - Kerygma. All these sessions start after the Thursday 6:30pm Mass with a start time of 7:15pm continuing until 9:00pm. SAFEGUARD THE FUTURE OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION: The Rt Rev Declan Lang, Bishop of Clifton writes: In 2010 the Coalition Government placed a faith-based admissions cap on new free schools. In practice, this means that only 50% of oversubscribed places can be allocated on the basis of faith. This has precluded the opening of new Catholic schools as it would require Catholic schools to turn away Catholic pupils in favour of other applicants. The Government has acknowledged that this policy discriminates against Catholics and it is vital that the Catholic community makes its voice heard on this issue. The Church has been working with Parliament and the Government on this issue since The Prime Minister reiterated her belief that the cap should be removed in 2016, and the 2017 Conservative Party manifesto promised to do so. However, the Secretary of State for Education may be about to reverse this decision. If she does, it will rob parents of the right to give their children a Catholic education, and of their children to receive one. The Bishops of England and Wales are strongly encouraging parishioners to contact the Secretary of State for Education to make known their opposition to this admissions cap which effectively discriminates against Catholics, and to ask the Government to not make a u-turn on their earlier promise to abandon it. You may register your opposition by filling in the online form at

4 CATHOLIC BIBLE SUNDAY: Catholic Bible Sunday falls on 10th December 2017 and takes the theme 'Welcome the Word'. In partnership with Bible Society, we've created a resource pack to support scriptural engagement in the Catholic community. These Scripture-focused materials will help each of us to explore Advent, Christmas and beyond. We want to enable every man, woman and child to engage with the Bible in ways that are appropriate to them. We have a 'Welcome the Word' PDF, formatted A5, that can be downloaded here: It's designed to give you inspirational 'taster' resources to help you explore the Bible either individually or as part of a smaller group. The material is divided into three sections: 1) Advent 2) Bible Sunday 3) Christmas and beyond. The link to access these resources is available below: THE LORD S LARDER CHRISTMAS COLLECTION: If you were unable to donate items to this weekend s Bumper Collection, then donations of festive food such as Christmas puddings and cakes, yule logs, mince pies, Christmas biscuits, chocolates, sweets, sweet or savoury Christmas nibbles i.e. crisps and peanuts, tins of ham etc. can still be made at the back of both Churches and the Marian Hall. Donations of money can also be handed in after Mass or to John Marsden, South Petherton. 50/50 WINNERS FOR DECEMBER: 1 st - K. Brown; 2 nd - J. Deegan; 3 rd - C. O'Hara; Membership subscriptions are due from January 2018, please can you get them in early. If you joined during the year, then please pay on your joining month. The cost is per year payable by cheque to the Holy Ghost Parish 50/50 Club. Thanks to all of those who have taken part - and well done to all the 2017 winners. Rosemary Johnson BLYTHSWORTH CARE SHOEBOX APPEAL 2017: Peter and Ingrid write Dear Parishioners Thank you for your 40 boxes from the Holy Ghost 18 from St Michael s South Petherton. This is your boxes in cartons. Overall total 7.5k loaded by the service men from RNAS Yeovilton and now on route to Romania. Well done both Churches. Blessings from us both.

5 We remember in our prayers: The Parishes of St Catharine, Chipping Campden with Moreton-in-Marsh, and Our Lady and St Kenelm, Stow-onthe-Wold with Bourton-on-the-Water. The Holy Father s Prayer Intentions for December: The Elderly - That the elderly, sustained by families and Christian communities, may apply their wisdom and experience to spreading the faith and forming the new generations. We pray for the eight seminarians of our diocese. For Richard Elson, Stuart Ford, Thomas Lawes, Henry Balkwill, Stephen Corrigan, Paul Bright and Joseph Meigh, and particularly for Richard who was ordained at Priest on Saturday in the Cathedral. For the repose of the Souls of Loretta Clifford and Phyllis Ebsworth, the wife of our Parishioner Eric Ebsworth. Last Sunday s Offering: amounted to Many thanks for your generosity. Polish Mass: Every Sunday at 4.30pm. Ecumenical Prayer Group: Mondays at the Parish Centre at 7.30pm. Hire of Marian Hall: Please speak to Alan Cousins Telephone Mass at RNAS Yeovilton: Every First Thursday at 12.15pm. In December it will be on the Second Thursday of 14th December. In January it will be the Second Thursday of 11th January. Mass in the Syro-Malabar Rite: Every Second Sunday of the month at 2.30pm. Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite: Every Friday at 6pm, the First Saturday of every month at 12 midday, and the third Sunday of the month at 12.30pm. If you have any items for the Bulletin please send to Sue Chant by Tuesday evening at yeovil.holyghost@cliftondiocese.com. CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES 2017 Christmas Eve: Sun 24th December 4.30pm Polish Mass Yeovil 6.00pm Mass at Yeovil 6.00pm Mass at South Petherton Christmas Day: Mon 25th December 9.00am Mass at South Petherton 10.30am Mass at Yeovil 4.30pm Mass at Yeovil Father Jean-Patrice writes; Christmas Day falls this year on a Monday. Please remember that the Sunday Obligation to attend Mass still applies, meaning that Parishioners will be going to Mass perhaps even twice in one day. However, this also applies to the Priests!

6 TURNING TOWARDS THE LORD: Father Jean-Patrice writes: Some parishioners have asked me for further information regarding my comments two weeks ago about a future possible use of the High Altar, of which I then spoke further in my homily last week at all the Masses in Yeovil. I shared with them this article from the American publication Catholic World Report of an interview with Cardinal Robert Sarah, who was appointed by Pope Francis as the highest authority on the liturgy (other than himself). My initial comment was mentioned in a summary for parishioners about the meeting with the Historic Churches Committee and receiving their approval for our proposed changes. They highlighted two possible further works with the reredos (the stone carved backdrop on the back wall) and the altar. Our focus is not on achieving these works at this current time, as we must concentrate on the more pressing issue of the Parish Hall which will require a great deal of time and energy. I share this article to follow up on my homily last week in giving an explanation of the spirituality and the theology of the priest and the congregation facing the same way at the Mass of liturgical east (parishioners may well have noticed that our church at Yeovil does not face east, but this is due to the lack of availability of land at the time. It is symbolism, but not executed to the letter in the way that Muslims would seek to face Mecca. Ancient churches such as St John s - which was of course the original Catholic Church in Yeovil - do face east. Our church at South Petherton also faces east). Since the Second Vatican Council nowhere mandated that the priest and the people should face opposite directions, we can hear the words of Cardinal Sarah and ponder them for ourselves. CARDINAL SARAH: IN FACING LITURGICAL EAST, WE EXPERIENCE THE PRIMACY OF GOD AND OF ADORATION (by Carl E. Olson - May 30, 2016) In a recent interview with a French publication, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, explains how God can be put "back at the center" of the liturgy. The most recent edition (June 3) of the French publication Famille Chrétienne has a lengthy interview with Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, part of which is available online (in French only). While touching on several topics, the focus of the interview is liturgy and worship. As usual, Cardinal Sarah is both eloquent and direct, qualities that will be familiar to those who have read God or Nothing (Ignatius Press, 2015), the Cardinal s autobiographical interview with French journalist Nicholas Diat. Asked how we, as Catholics, can put God back at the center of the liturgy, Cardinal Sarah emphasizes that the liturgy is the door to our union with God. If Eucharistic celebrations turn into human self-celebrations, there is a great danger, because God

7 disappears. We have to start by placing God back at the center of the liturgy. If the man is the center, the church becomes a merely human society, a simple NGO, as Pope Francis said. What is the remedy? Cardinal Sarah first emphasizes the necessity of a true conversion of the heart. He then states: Vatican II insisted on a major point: in this area, the important thing is not what we do, but what God does. No human work will ever be able to accomplish what is found at the heart of the Mass: the sacrifice of the cross. The liturgy, the Prefect notes, allows us to go outside the walls of this world. Rediscovering the sacredness and beauty of the liturgy therefore requires a work of formation for the laity, the priests and the bishops. I am talking about an interior conversion. As he has done before, notably in a detailed reflection published earlier this year, Cardinal Sarah emphasizes the importance of silence: In order to put God back at the center of the liturgy, silence is necessary too: the ability to be quiet so as to listen to God and his word. I maintain that we only meet God in silence and by pondering his word in the depths of our heart. This insistence on conversion which is to turn toward God and contemplative silence leads to the recognition that our bodies must participate in this conversion. And the best way to realize this bodily participation is by facing liturgical East (ad orientem) in worship: The best way is certainly to celebrate with the priests and the faithful all turned in the same direction: towards the Lord who comes. It is not a matter of celebrating with one s back to the faithful or facing them, as you sometimes hear. That is not where the problem lies. It is about turning together towards the apse, which symbolizes the East, where the cross of the risen Lord is enthroned. By this way of celebrating, we will experience, even in our bodies, the primacy of God and of adoration. We will understand that the liturgy is first of all our participation in the perfect sacrifice of the cross. I have experienced it personally; by celebrating in this way, the assembly, headed by the priest, is as though drawn in by the mystery of the Cross at the moment of the elevation. Cardinal Sarah is asked if this way of celebrating is allowed. Yes, he responds, it is indeed lawful and in keeping with the letter and the spirit of the Council. He notes that in a June 2015 article that he wrote for L Osservatore Romano, I proposed that the priests and the faithful turn toward the East at least during the Penitential Rite, during the singing of the Gloria, the Prayers of the Faithful and the Eucharistic Prayer.

8 Naturally, Cardinal Sarah is asked about Vatican II and the change in orientation of the altar. He makes a point that has been made countless times but still seems to go unheard by many Catholics: More than fifty years after the close of Vatican II, it becomes urgent for us to read its documents! The Council never required celebrating Mass facing the people! This question was not even addressed by the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium In reading God or Nothing last fall, I was repeatedly struck by Cardinal Sarah s clear and penetrating insight into the nature and place of worship. Not surprisingly, this developed early in his life, as he recounts: When I was an altar boy, I observed very attentively the sensitivity and fervor with which the priests in my village celebrated their daily Masses. In this sense, it is not wrong to say that from a young age I was able to understand the need to offer spiritual worship that was holy and pleasing to God. At Mass we are present first and foremost to God. If we do not turn our attention radically toward God, our faith becomes lukewarm, distracted, and uncertain. At Ourous (in the Republic of Guinea, then French Guinea), as an altar boy, I gradually learned to enter into the eucharistic mystery and to understand that the Mass was a unique moment in the life of the priests and of the faithful. divine worship lifted us out of the ordinary. Seeing things with the eyes of a child, I had the feeling that the priest was literally absorbed by Christ at the moment when, facing East, he lifted the consecrated host toward heaven. (p 50) It was during that time, he says, that he realized that the liturgy was the most precious sacred moment in which the Church allows us to encounter God in a unique way. We must never forget to unite the liturgy with the tragic event of the death of Jesus on the Cross. Later, in reflecting on the massive and confusing liturgical changes that followed the Council, Cardinal Sarah told Diat: Pope Francis celebrates facing liturgical East at the altar of Pope St John Paul II in St Peter s Basilica Before all else, in the Church, there is adoration; and therefore God. This beginning, says Benedict XVI, corresponds to the first and chief concern of the rule of Saint Benedict: Nihil operi dei praeponatur (Nothing should be preferred to the work of God). Now, if there is one reality too often left out of consideration, it is certainly the consubstantial relation between the liturgy and God. The foundation of the liturgy must remain the search for God. We can only be dismayed by the

9 fact that this intention of Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, and of the Council Fathers as well, is often obscured and, worse yet, betrayed. And, finally, in a very pointed section, he explains how a loss of proper focus and purpose in the liturgy can lead to grotesque offenses that damage individual lives and the life of the Church: Pope Francis again celebrating facing the same direction as the people in St Peter s Basilica. At the consecration, the Celebrant elevates the Sacred Host above his head, so that the faithful may adore Our Lord now made truly present. Unfortunately, right after the Council, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy was understood, not in terms of the fundamental primacy of adoration, of the Church humbly kneeling before the greatness of God, but rather as a book of formulas. We have seen all sorts of creative liturgical planners who sought to find tricks to make the liturgy attractive, more communicative, by involving more and more people, but all the while forgetting that the liturgy is made for God. If you make God the Great Absent one, then all sorts of downward spirals are possible, from the most trivial to the most contemptible. Benedict XVI often recalled that the liturgy is not supposed to be a work of personal creativity. If we make the liturgy for ourselves, it moves away from the divine; it becomes a ridiculous, vulgar, boring theatrical game. We end up with liturgies that resemble variety shows, an amusing Sunday party at which to relax together after a week of work and cares of all sorts. Once that happens, the faithful go back home, after the celebration of the Eucharist, without having encountered God personally or having heard him in the inmost depths of their heart. What is missing is this silent, contemplative, face-to-face meeting with God that transforms us and restores our energies, which allows us to reveal him to a world that is increasingly indifferent to spiritual questions. I ve referred to Cardinal Sarah as Africa s Ratzinger, in part because his understanding of the liturgy is so much in keeping with the principles and priorities found in Ratzinger s The Spirit of the Liturgy (and other writings) and in Benedict XVI s pontificate. The emphasis on facing liturgical East, for instance, is something seen in Cardinal Ratzinger s Introduction to Fr. U. M. Lang s book Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (Ignatius Press), first published not long before Ratzinger was elected at the 2005 papal conclave. [Translation from the French by Michael J. Miller, who also translated God or Nothing.]

10 Mass and Service Times for the Week Ahead Saturday 9th December - First Mass of Sunday 5:00pm Holy Souls (November List) 12 Yeovil Sunday 10th December - Second Sunday of Advent (Year B) 9:00am Celebrant s Intention South Petherton 10:30am Margaret Foley RIP (Third Anniversary) Yeovil 6:30pm Pro Populo Yeovil Monday 11th December - Memorial of Saint Damasus I, Pope 10:00am Beatrice Ryan RIP Followed by Adoration until 10pm Yeovil Tuesday 12th December - Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe 8:00am Justin Emery RIP (Second Anniversary) Yeovil 10:00am Sister Philip RIP Followed by Adoration until 10pm, then restarting at 5am Yeovil Wednesday 13th December - Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr 10:00am June Burgess RIP (Anniversary) Followed by Adoration until 4pm Yeovil Thursday 14th December - Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church 8:00am No Mass Yeovil 10:00am Celebrant s Intention Followed by Holy Hour of Adoration South Petherton 12:15pm Intentions of the Personnel RNAS Yeovilton 6:30pm Holy Souls (November List) 13 Yeovil Friday 15th December - Weekday of Advent 10:00am Holy Souls (November List) 14 Followed by Adoration until 11:30am Yeovil 6:00pm Holy Souls (November List) Yeovil Saturday 16th December - Our Lady in Advent 10:00am Deceased Members of the Peterson Family Yeovil First Mass of Sunday 5:00pm Holy Souls (November List) 16 Yeovil Sunday 17th December - Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) 9:00am Holy Souls (November List) 17 South Petherton 10:30am In Thanksgiving (Miss Jenika Jayawardene) Yeovil 12:30pm Pro Populo Yeovil 6:30pm The Batchelder Family - Living and Deceased Yeovil