18th Sunday Ordinary Time
Parish Priest: Fr. David Palmer: Tel: 01673 842323 E:mail: holyroodchurchmr@outlook.com
Welcome to our website. Here are the Mass times for this week:
Confessions after Mass & by appointment
Tea, Coffee, and biscuits available after 11.30 Sunday Mass in the schoolroom. Minimum donation of £1 each please.
August 100+ Club Winners: 1st 07 Sue T; 2nd Wendy 90; 3rd Sue C 119.
Use of the Narthex at the Sunday 11.30am Mass at Market Rasen:
The Narthex is reserved for First Aid Support and for young children and their family/guardians should they wish to use it. All other congregation members should use the pews.
Schoolroom Keys: Thank you for all who have offered to help with Coffee after Mass. Rather than giving everyone a set of keys we are changing the system to a key safe box with a code that can be given out as needed. Could all those who have current keys to the school house return them to Church (or post them through the Presbytery door) as soon as possible please. Thank You.
The Reader, Flower, and Coffee rotas have now moved to the Rotas page on this website.
Parish E-Mailing List: We have set up a new parish E-mail list which allows those who join to be kept up-to date with information in the parish via E-mail. It is a versatile tool and will allow (in time) various groups within the parish to have their own sections. If you would like to join, please just send an E-mail with “Parish List” in the subject line to holyroodchurchmr@outlook.com (You can leave at any time).
Rosary: The Rosary is said before the 10am Mass at Holy Rood on Tuesdays, all are welcome to join in.
Mass Intentions: If you want to have a Mass offered for a particular intention, we will soon have “Mass intention Envelopes” at the back of each Church. However, until they arrive just ask Fr David if you want a Mass said. The Diocese recommends a donation of £10 for a Mass intention.
Holy Rood Church open Holy Rood is open most days from 8:00am to 7pm so that people can pop in and pray. Please do avail yourself of the opportunity to be with our Lord.
Food Bank: Tinned & dried goods are always needed to help those families who are struggling at this time of year. If you would like any further information please have a chat with Pauline.
What‘s happening out and about?
Becoming a Catholic? If you are interested in becoming a Catholic (or know someone who is) or want to find out more about the Catholic faith, we are hoping to start a new course in September for adults. Please either speak to Fr David after Mass, or E-mail him at holyroodchurchmr@outlook.com
The Roman Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is seeking a dedicated and organised Sacristan to join their team. This vital role supports the daily liturgical life of the Shrine, ensuring the sacred spaces are well-prepared, reverent and welcoming for all pilgrims and visitors. For more details about this full time position, visit: www.walsingham.org.uk/2025/07/22/job-advert-sacristan
CAFOD Runners in Leicester: Anyone interested in running a half marathon or 10k in Leicester on Sunday 26th October, please contact nottingham@cafod.org.uk
The Diocese is looking to appoint a Clergy Health and Wellbeing Assistant to provide a professional service supporting the health and wellbeing of clergy in the Diocese. If you have experience in nursing, social work, etc, where care and empathy are combined with skills and creativity, then consider applying for this role. The job is 22.5 hours per week over 3 days, and details are available at: www.dioceseofnottingham.uk/careers The deadline for applications is 9am on Monday 18th August, emailed to office@dioceseofnottingham.uk
Pope Leo paves the way for St John Henry Newman to be formally declared a “Doctor of the Church”. One of the great modern thinkers of Christianity, a key figure in a spiritual and human journey who left a profound mark on the Church and 19th-century ecumenism, and the author of writings that show how living the faith is a daily “heart-to-heart” dialogue with Christ. A life spent with energy and passion for the Gospel—culminating in his canonisation in 2019— will soon lead to the English cardinal John Henry Newman being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.
The news was announced on July 31, in a statement from the Holy See Press Office, which reported that during an audience granted to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV has “confirmed the affirmative opinion of the Plenary Session of Cardinals and Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church, which will soon be conferred on Saint John Henry Newman.”
“From Shadows and Images into the Truth”
“Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on.
The night is dark, and I am far from home—
Lead Thou me on…
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.”
John Henry Newman was 32 years old when this poignant prayer rose from his heart during his return to England after a long journey through Italy. Born in 1801, he had already been an Anglican priest for eight years and was widely recognised as one of the most brilliant minds in his church—a man who captivated with both spoken and written word.
The 1832 trip to Italy deepened his inner search. Newman carried within him a thirst to know the depths of God, His “kindly Light,” which for him was also the light of Truth—truth about Christ, the true nature of the Church, and the tradition of the early centuries, when the Church Fathers spoke to a still undivided Church. Oxford—epicentre of his faith and the place where the future saint lived and worked—became the road along which his convictions gradually shifted toward Catholicism.
In 1845, he distilled his spiritual journey into the Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, the fruit of a long pursuit of that Light, which he came to recognise in the Catholic Church—a Church he saw as the very one born from the heart of Christ, the Church of the martyrs and the ancient Fathers, which, like a tree, had grown and developed through history. Soon after, he asked to be received into the Catholic Church, which took place on October 8, 1845. He later wrote of that moment: “It was like coming into port after a rough sea; and my happiness on that score remains to this day without interruption.”
Devoted to Saint Philip Neri In 1846, he returned to Italy to enter, as a humble seminarian—despite being a theologian and thinker of international renown—the Collegio di Propaganda Fide. “It is so wonderful to be here,” he wrote. “It is like a dream, and yet so calm, so secure, so happy, as if it were the fulfilment of a long hope, and the beginning of a new life.” On May 30, 1847, the circle of his vocation was completed with his ordination to the priesthood.
During these months, Newman was deeply drawn to the figure of St. Philip Neri—another soul, like himself, “adopted” by Rome. When Blessed Pope Pius IX encouraged him to return to England, Newman went on to found an Oratory here, dedicated to the saint with whom he shared a joyful disposition. That good humour remained intact even through the many challenges he faced in establishing Catholic institutions in his homeland, many of which seemed at first to falter. Still, his mind continued to produce brilliant writings in defence and support of Catholicism—even under fierce attack.
In 1879, Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal. Upon hearing the news, Newman wept with joy: “The cloud is lifted forever.” He continued his apostolic work with undiminished intensity until his death on August 11, 1890. On his tomb, he asked that only his name and a brief phrase be inscribed, one that encapsulates the extraordinary arc of his 89 years of life: Ex umbris et imaginibus in Veritatem, “From shadows and images into the Truth.”
Benedict XVI beatified him in 2010, honouring a man of deep prayer who, in the Pope’s words, “lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care” for people: “visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison.
‘Cor ad cor loquitur’ Newman was canonised in 2019 by Pope Francis, who, in the encyclical Dilexit nos, explained why the English cardinal had chosen as his motto the phrase Cor ad cor loquitur—“Heart speaks to heart.” Because, the Pope noted, beyond any dialectical argument, the Lord saves us by speaking from His heart to ours: “This realisation led him, the distinguished intellectual, to recognise that his deepest encounter with himself and with the Lord came not from his reading or reflection, but from his prayerful dialogue, heart to heart, with Christ, alive and present. It was in the Eucharist that Newman encountered the living heart of Jesus, capable of setting us free, giving meaning to each moment of our lives, and bestowing true peace.” (Article taken from Vatican News)
For your information or assistance…
We have two email addresses that perform different roles. Just to clear any confusion here is a reminder.
holyroodchurchmr@outlook.com is the one to use to communicate with Fr. David directly re spiritual, personal, or ongoing matters.
holyroodmr@gmail.com was set up in 2020 to deal with general enquiries, communication generated via the website, and third parties such as West Lindsey churches festival. These emails are initially looked at by the bulletin team and passed to Fr. David if appropriate.
God bless you all,
Fr. David
