The Presbytery, Water Street, Port Talbot, SA12 6LE, Wales
Tel. 01639 882846
Diocese of Menevia
Parish Priest: Monsignor J Cefai, MA, PhD
Pastoral Letter — Menevia 22 November 2021 (pdf)
Honouring Sunday (pdf)
Pastoral Letter re COP26 (docx)
Gift and Legacy (pdf)
5th Sunday of Easter, 15th May 2022
Mass Times and Intentions
This weekend
Saturday: 5.00pm (Cwmavon: (People of the Parish)), 6.00pm (Anne Breeze)
Sunday: 8.30am (Deceased Clergy), 10.00am (Patsy Devenney)
Monday: 12 noon (attilio viazzani)
Tuesday: 10.00am (Joan Stitson)
Wednesday: 10.00am (Gabriel Aghazarian)
Thursday: 10.00am Requiem Mass (Josie Bennett)
Next weekend
Saturday: 5.00pm (Cwmavon: Betty O’Shea); 6.00pm (Bridget Reardon)
Sunday: 8.30am (Patsy Devenney), 10.00am (Parishioners)
Your prayers:
for the sick, housebound & benefactors of the parish and for Bridget Riordan (48yrs) and Hywel Watts who died recently.
Collections:
Priests Training Fund £650 plus £100 donation: total= £750.
Standing Orders:
No more envelopes or cash in the bags: We encourage you to make a Monthly Standing Order towards the upkeep of the Parish. Fill a form from the back of the Church and take it to your bank.
Visits to the sick (unable to go out):
please let the priest know to call to hear their Confessions and distribute Holy Communion.
Vocations Weekend for young women:
Theme: Discernment and Vocation. Dates: 27-29 May 2022. Location: Liverpool. The weekend is organised by the sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ). There is nothing quite like religious life – it’s an extraordinary adventure into a deep relationship with God. If you are wondering if God is calling you to religious life and would like to find out more why not come along? You are welcome to stay for the weekend or just come along on Saturday for the day. There will be opportunity for prayer, reflection and input, chance to ask questions and to meet others who are also wondering where God is calling them. For more information contact Sr Lynne fcJ at lynnefcj@hotmail.com or visit our website fcjsisters.org
Please see
this Response to the three-part documentary Mother Teresa: For the Love of God? shown on Sky Documentaries.
Returning to Mass at Pentecost (5th. June 2022)
An invitation from the Bishops of England and Wales
This is the bread come down from heaven (John 6:58)
A beautiful hallmark of the Catholic faith is the profound desire to participate in the Holy Mass and share in the Eucharist. We do so with deep gratitude and joy. The Eucharist gives the Church her identity – “The Eucharist makes the Church, and the Church makes the Eucharist.” It enables us to worship Almighty God, to support each other on our journey of faith, and to be a visible sign of faith in the world. This hallmark is supported and strengthened by the precept that our fundamental Christian duty is to worship God by participating in the celebration of Mass. Attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days is the greatest of all privileges, sometimes referred to as “the Sunday Obligation.” Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, until the present time, we have shared with you our judgment that the situation of the last two years has meant that the Sunday Obligation has been impeded and has needed to be fulfilled in other ways. We thank God that this situation has now changed. The pressing challenges of the pandemic have lessened significantly. Most people have resumed the wide range of normal activities, no longer restricted by the previous Covid measures. We therefore believe that the reasons which have prevented Catholics from attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation no longer apply. We understand there will still be some members of our congregations who, for reasons of health, do not feel safe enough to return to Mass. It has always been the understanding of the Church that when the freedom of any Catholic to attend Mass in person is impeded for a serious reason, because of situations such as ill health, care for the sick or legitimate fear, this is not a breach of the Sunday Obligation.
Our Catholic people and parishes have benefitted during these difficult times from the online streaming of Mass and other services. “Virtual viewing” of Mass online does not fulfil the Sunday Obligation. It may, however, be a source of continual spiritual comfort to those who cannot attend Mass in person, for example those who are elderly and sick, for whom the obligation does not apply. In this context, we recognise gratefully the ministry of those who administer Holy Communion to the elderly, sick and housebound. We are grateful to our clergy, religious and lay faithful who have served our parishes, schools and communities with dedication and distinction throughout this pandemic. Now we look forward with renewed faith and confidence. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Lord’s Supper, the Lord Jesus entrusted to us the precious gift of Himself. With humility, we glory in being a Eucharistic people for whom attendance at Mass is essential. Looking forward to the forthcoming feast of Pentecost, we now invite all Catholics who have not yet done so to return to attending Mass in person. As the Church needs the witness of the presence of each person, so too each believer needs to journey in faith and worship with their fellow disciples. Nourished by our encounter with the Risen Lord Jesus, fed with His Word and His Body and Blood in Holy Communion, and supported by the presence of each other, we receive strength week by week, to serve the Lord and glorify Him with our lives. (Approved by the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops’ Conference Friday 6th May 2022).
