Here comes the sun

It was a warm morning this Sunday and really felt like Spring. Attendance at mass was a little lower than usual, probably because St Marie's Junior School had been singing at the St Marie's Saturday night mass and many families had gone along to support them.

Tonight, the Russian choir Blagovest will be performing at Sacred Heart in their annual visit to the parish. The choir sing a mixture of religious and folk songs and have been highly praised by those who have attended in the past. It should be a good night - and it's free!

The parish survey is now closed - more than 100 responses have been received (not bad for a parish of between 300 and 400 people!) These are now being carefully analysed and the results will be reported back to the parish on Trinity Sunday.

The first communion programme meets again this Monday night, and the UCM were selling tickets for their bingo night on Wednesday May 7th.

The parish walk will be on Sunday June 1st, and the summer barbecue night is scheduled for Friday June 13th at 7pm. So there are lots of social events to look forward to over the next few weeks.

And happy Easter to our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Church. Today is their Easter Sunday.

Joining the Guild of St Stephen

This photograph has just come up of the new members of the Guild of St Stephen who were enrolled last Sunday.

A surprise for Alfred

There was a surprise for veteran parishioner Alfred Canale-Parola this week when he was presented with a silver medal from the Guild of St Stephen. Alfred has been serving at weekday masses for an amazing 25 years. The award was presented by Father Ted and Deacon John.

Also in the news were four young parishioners - Sherwin, James, James and Caitlin - who received medals as members of the Guild of St Stephen. Congratulations to all of them.

The weather, however, was rather unforgiving. For the second day running, the skies were grey and miserable and rain was falling throughout the morning.

Brian was not with us, so Richard Potter took on the cantor duties. Our opening hymn, Join in the Dance, reminded us that Jesus the Saviour is risen from the grave. Father Ted's sermon today again touched on the idea of living in the present and trying not to worry about the future. Many of our worries are irrational and often based on an unlikely expectation of what bad things might happen. He said that the phrase 'Do not be afraid' appears 365 times in the bible.

A healing service takes place this afternoon at 3.30pm in the church for anyone who is unwell or has a need of anointing.

Get your eyes down for the parish bingo night. This is being organised by the UCM and takes place on Wednesday May 7th at 8pm. Admission is only £1.

A new website has been set up for St Marie's Infant School. Take a look at it by clicking here.
Click here.

Join the walk in the woods

The parish Woodland Walk will take place on Sunday June 1st at 3pm. We will leave from Sacred Heart and have a leisurely walk around Cawston Wood. The walk should take about an hour and will be followed by tea and cakes in the church hall. Everyone is invited to join the walk, or just to come along for the tea at about 4pm in the hall.

New CD released

Scamps, the performing arts group at St Marie's Junior School has just released a new worship CD called Heavenly Praise. It was launched at a cost last Saturday afternoon at the school. Quite a few Sacred Heart parishioners are involved in the project, including headteacher Michael Floyd, Jacob Palmer, Guido Blee and Greg Floyd.

Sunday of the Good Shepherd

For some reason - maybe because it is mid-term - the church was packed this morning. It was a rousing service (or seemed to be anyway!) with some good singing, on hymns such as Yahweh I know you are near, and the 1970s classic Colours of Day.

The Gospel reading was about the Good Shepherd and Father Ted preached about the idea of Jesus standing in for us and taking the blame and the punishment for our faults. He mentioned the Second World War saint Maximilian Kolbe who gave his life in the death camps in place of another prisoner.

Father Ted again mentioned the service of anointing which takes place next Sunday afternoon. This is something of a new departure for Sacred Heart. Anyone who is unwell or feels the need for healing is invited to come along at 3.30pm.

Don't forget to come along and see the Blagovest Russian choir on Sunday April 27th at 7pm. They have been several times before and have been stunning. The programme will mix sacred music and some Russian folk songs.

And for once, it wasn't raining during Mass, although it certainly hasn't felt like spring yet.

Old friends...former parishioner Ethne Sneddon was back in the parish for a visit this week.

Who wants to be parish chair?

The chair of the parish council is currently vacant - or rather it has an acting resident. Father Ted has kindly agreed to act as chair until a more permanent candidate can be found.

Richard Potter stepped down from his role as chair at the annual parish meeting, but no other candidates came forward. There is now time for others to come forward who might like to have a go. They will need to be formally nominated and seconded.

The role involves chairing about four meetings a year, and ensuring the parish's pastoral plan continues to move forward. Various sub-committees report in to the parish council.

If you would like to have a go, please contact Father Ted or any current member of the parish council.

By the way, what do you think about the job the parish council does? Leave a comment below.

The Supper at Emmaus

A fairly heavy snowfall greeted us as we pulled back the curtains this morning, the Third Sunday of Easter. Today's gospel was on the Supper at Emmaus, an incident dramatically re-enacted in the recent BBC series The Passion. This beautiful image captures the moment quite well.

Today, instead of a sermon, we had Mike Godwin from Cafod telling us how our donations had been spent helping people in the Third World.

St Marie's Junior School has brought out a new CD, Heavenly Praise, which will be out shortly. It is being launched at a concert next Saturday at the school at 3pm. Everyone is invited.

The Russian choir Blagovest will be singing at Sacred Heart on Sunday April 27th at 7pm. No ticket prices, just come along and make a donation.

Father Ted invited everyone to a service of anointing on Sunday April 20th at 3.30pm. This is for anyone who is feeling unwell and would like to be anointed with holy oil.

What did you think of The Passion?

Did you see The Passion on BBC1 at Easter? What did you think of the four-part series dramatising the last days of Jesus and the resurrection.

We would be interested to hear your views on this. Just post a comment with this story.

Take part in the parish survey

A survey has just been launched asking for parishioners' views. So far, 100 have been completed. Questions include: how would you like the parish to develop in the future? The parish council is hoping to draw up some ideas for the next few years.

The parish will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2009. What will it be like in another 50 years' time?

Add your comments on the end of this article if you have an ideas about how the parish should develop in the future? What needs should it meet?

The results of the survey will be published on the Sunday after Pentecost.

Welcome to Sacred Heart

Welcome to the new Sacred Heart blog. Sacred Heart Church is in Bilton, Rugby. We aim to update this blog regularly.

Find about more about the church by going to its official website.
http://www.sacredheartrugby.org/