All Souls Day
 
The following spiritual reflection for All Souls’ Day is taken from Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe salvi facti sumus (“In hope we are saved”) was promulgated on 30 November 2007.
 
“The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of gratitude or even a request for pardon?
Now a further question arises: if “Purgatory” is simply purification in the encounter with the Lord, Judge and Saviour, how can a third person intervene, even if he or she is particularly close to the other? When we ask such a question, we should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone.
The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death.
In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other—my prayer for him—can play a small part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert earthly time into God's time: in the communion of souls simple terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain.
In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.”

Mass Times at Our Lady & St Alphege
Sun 26th         30th Sunday of the Year
1100   Freda Dummer RIP
1800   Sean Boylan RIP
Mon 27th        Weekday in Ordinary Time
No Mass
Tues 28th       Feast of St Simon & St Jude  
1000  
Weds 29th      Weekday in Ordinary Time
1000  
Thurs 30th     Votive Mass of St Joseph & blessing of the new stand
1715   Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
1800  Patrick Timothy & deceased members of the
          Timothy family
Fri 31st           Weekday in Ordinary Time
1200   Abbot Kevin Taggart OSB RIP
Sat 1st            Votive Mass of Our Lady
0930 Rosary in the Lady Chapel
1000   Frances Jordan RIP
1030   Sacrament of Reconciliation - Confession
Sun 2nd         Solemnity of All Saints
1100   Wayne Taylor RIP
1800   Jim Magan RIP

November – the month of the Holy Souls
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In preparation for the Commemoration of All Souls I have put envelopes on the table on the table by Our Lady’s Statue in which you can put the names of those whom you will be remembering and there is a basket at the back of the Church to place them in. These will be placed near the Altar of All Souls Day and Mass will be offered for the repose of their souls. 

Pope Leo’s Prayer Intention for October

In the month of October, Pope Leo invites us to pray for Collaboration Between Different Religious Traditions. Let us pray that believers in different religious traditions might work together to defend and promote peace, justice, and human fraternity.
 

Our Lady of the Rosary
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On October 7, the Church celebrates the yearly feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Known for several centuries by the alternate title of “Our Lady of Victory”.  Mary is the Queen Mother because her Son is Christ the King. The Rosary, as given to St. Dominic, is a meditation on the mysteries of the Incarnate King, and thus on the sorrows and joys of His Mother, as well. Thus, Mary is so deeply entwined with the Rosary that one cannot think of the Rosary without thinking of Mary.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, "The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description."
Journeying through the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries of the rosary, the individual brings to mind our Lord's incarnation, His passion and death and His resurrection from the dead. In so doing, the rosary assists us in growing in a deeper appreciation of these mysteries, in uniting our life more closely to our Lord and in imploring His graced assistance to live the faith. We also ask for the prayers of our Blessed Mother, who leads all believers to her Son.
A Catholic Charity has very kindly donated 200 Rosaries to our Parishes together with leaflets on how to say the Rosary and these will be available at the back of the Church. Please feel free to take these to support your own prayer life but also maybe take some to give to others, who may be in a time of need or worry, or to someone who doesn’t have as much contact with the Parish as they might once have – an invitation to know again the presence of God in the Mass and Rosary.