This Is Our Parish

Get involved in the spiritual and community life of our parish.  We are always looking for people who are willing to share their time and talents with our community - musicians, singers, readers, lay eucharistic ministers, altar servers, sacristans, greeters, flower arrangers, cleaners, visitors to the sick, catechists, ushers, and others.  Just a few hours a month is all it takes - and the courage to step forward.  Contact Fr. Anil by phone, email, post or in person.

Please also join in the social life of our parish.  We offer periodic social events (picnics, dinners, raffles, an Autumn Fayre, etc.) and invite parishioners and guests from the whole area to join in and strengthen the bonds that hold our community together.

…our new Parish Priest who joins us from Our Lady and English Martyrs Church, Cambridge, where he was Assistant Priest.

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A big thank you (from Fr Antony) to all who have been a great support of my life and ministry in the parish, especially the Finance and Fabric Committee, Fund raising Group, Sacristans, music groups, Webmaster and the Catechists. I appreciate and thank you for your great commitment and involvement in the parish. I had planned to form the parish pastoral council, unfortunately I couldn't, but hopefully the new priest could do it. You will always be remembered in my special prayers. 

Thank you.  Fr. Antony

I am happy to announce that David Parr (07708997022) and Louis Busuttil (07986366802) have been appointed as our new Parish Safeguarding Representatives. They have received their initial training and are ready to begin their role. I sincerely thank them for generously accepting to serve the Parish Community. We assure them our special prayers and support as they learn their role. 

I also gratefully acknowledge the generous service of Francisca Podar as our previous PSR.

Mass can be offered for anyone, living or dead, and for a variety of reasons including in celebration, thanksgiving or remembrance of people or events.  We include special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, exam success; any cause or need such as peace in the Holy Land or for refugees; or for your own "Private" intentions.  Please use one of the offering envelopes located at the back of the church to register your requests.  If you wish a Mass said on a particular date (anniversary, etc.), please let us know as far in advance as possible.

There is a bit of a back log with Mass intentions: If you would like Mass offered for a particular intention on or near a specific day, (and at a specific location) please give as much notice as possible – some people book days a year in advance. If the date that you would like is unavailable Mass will be offered at the requested location, on the next available free-day. The current schedule, however, means that this could be as long as six weeks after the proposed date. If you are not too-concerned about where Mass will be offered (Brandon or Mildenhall) then it is often possible to fit a Mass in sooner than this. 

Donations for flowers are welcomed. Simply place your donation in an envelope (please gift-aid if eligible) available at the back of church and clearly mark ‘flowers’. Hand it to Father or one of the helpers after Mass.  Thank you.

Both churches now hold a great resource of books on the Church, prayer, spirituality and biographies of saints. Free to borrow– simply fill in the record card and return when you’re done. If you have books you would like to donate, please see Father. Many thanks to all who have helped set up this resource.

If you have an APF Red Box, you can now leave or have it delivered at one of our churches. Sue Dean will arrange its collection and processing

TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO BE A MISSIONARY - YOU CAN HELP BY PRAYING FOR THE MILL HILL MISSIONARIES AND DONATING THROUGH USING A RED BOX.  

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Red Box Fundraising in 2022

St Thomas of Canterbury and St John the Evangelist raised £636.57 in 2022 through the Red Boxes, including individuals giving directly. The diocese as a whole raised around £50,000 so we did very well. 

Keep donating for Missio’s invaluable work and the Red Boxes will be collected in again at the beginning of June 2023. 

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Thank you for helping APF's Missionary work. Please keep up this good work for 2024-25.  

Not got a Red Box? Some spare boxes are at the back of the church. Take one and tell Sue Dean or Fr Anil. 

The first series of talks have finished for the time being, but the full catalogue is available below.

Missed a talk? The full series is available to ‘watch again’ both here on our Faith Talkspage and on Facebook. 

Topics covered thus far: 

• Faith for our Times: God's call on our lives - Fr Luke's Vocation Story
• Faith and Reason (Science and Faith) 
• Genesis, Evolution and the Big Bang!
• The Resurrection in scripture and Tradition 
• The Eucharist: Real Presence 
• The Eucharist: Source and Summit
• The Eucharist: Meal and Sacrifice
• The Church
• The Problem of Evil
• Spiritual Warfare
• There is something about Mary

CPW offers a chance to enrich and develop your faith, as well as warmly welcoming people from other faith traditions who are in sympathy with the catholic tradition. Events range from 1-day meetings to 7-day holidays, from retreats to conferences to walking holidays. They vary from activities for whole families (in school holidays) to 18+ events: and they are affordable holidays in comfortable accommodation. A limited number of leaflets are available. For details talk to Gill or Tom Caple. 

Tom Caple’s book of poems Stations of the Cross is available free. Each poem is a reflection for each Station. Contact Tom at dashwoodtales@gmail.com. Voluntary donations will go to the Parish.

Would your family like to become more involved in our parish? Fr Anil needs boys and girls (school Year 3 and above) from our parish to volunteer to be trained and become altar servers typically at our Sunday and special Holy Day services. Please find the time and energy to help enrich our Holy Mass services for the entire community. 

Every year we conduct classes for those among us who are preparing to take the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. These classes are lead by parishioners who choose to be Catechists and help to enrich the lives of others growing in their faith. 

Fr Antony has put out a call for such people within our community who might step forward now and volunteer to become Catechists. If you can answer that call, please contact Fr Anil. Thank you. 

...is true to its mission of being “a light to guide the world, and a mirror to reflect it” Keeping Catholics informed about their faith, and bringing them ever closer to God. In order to keep our high standard going and maintain a strong weekly Catholic voice at a time when it is much needed in the world, please consider taking out a subscription.

We have an excellent website full of trustworthy articles and an online shop with all subscribers receiving a 10% discount.

Order your Digital 4 weeks FREE introductory offer by calling Michelle on 0743 661 7650 or email: michelle.jones@universecatholicweekly.co.uk

We invite you to submit articles/news and celebrations about your local parish activities.

Please see link below for last week’s Universe Catholic Weekly.

https://universecatholicweekly.co.uk/universe-weekly-newsletters/november-2022/UNIVERSE-25-NOVEMBER-2022.pdf

As a parish, we are dedicated to working for fair treatment of growers and suppliers in the Third World. 

Because of lack of support, we no longer have a Traidcraft stall at Mildenhall, but we are still obliged to use Fairly Traded tea and coffee. If these cannot be purchased from shops and supermarkets locally, Gillian Caple can order it from Traidcraft. Please ask her. 

Locally, Sainsbury’s have opted out of using the Fair Trade logo and, therefore, there is uncertainty about the status of their products. Non-fair trade brands such as Nescafe, Lavazza, etc. should not be used in St John’s. Please inspect purchases carefully for the Fairtrade logo. 

A BIG THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone for your generous donations and second collection contributions towards the new Lectionaries. The total collected to date is £1350 which is only a little short of our target. 

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The Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland have approved a new Lectionary 

When the Priest and Readers announce God’s message on Sundays, they must use the approved Lectionary as their text. Every Parish must have an approved copy for use at Mass and with the Sacraments. 

The copy for use in Churches (the “Ambo” version) comprises 4 volumes. Changes have been made to assist in speaking the text clearly and meaningfully. This will help both Readers and the Congregation to understand better God’s message to us.

When are the changes happening?

The new Lectionary becomes mandatory from Advent 2024 [Sunday December 1st]. The Publisher, CTS, plan to release copies on 14 October 2024. In our Parish we need 2 new Lectionaries: i.e. one at St Thomas’ and one at St John’s. The publication date means we will have about 4 weeks to help Readers become familiar with any changes.

How Much Will It Cost?

Each set of 4 volumes is priced at £695, i.e. a total of £1,390 (2 sets).

The Book of the Gospels is priced at £295, i.e. a total of £1,685

How we will raise the Money

We will use a range of approaches, such as a special Sunday Collection; profits from the September Event, etc.  More information will be published soon.

If you have any questions now, please talk to Fr Anil, Philip Kemp, our Treasurer, Jo Leveridge (St Thomas’) or Tom Caple (St John’s).