Message from Father Jim
18th October 2026
On this World Mission Sunday, we remember missionaries who proclaim the Gospel throughout the world. Some do this through preaching and sacramental life; others through education, healthcare, community development and accompanying people through suffering. I feel it’s important on a day like today to be mindful that the Church’s mission is to make Christ known and to witness to the love of God.Today we give thanks to God for all those missionaries who are working all over the word. But there is a question worth asking: is mission simply about what happens within the Church, or does it also concern how we engage with the world beyond it? In today’s Gospel we are reminded “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” The coin bears Caesar’s image. But the human person bears the image of God. That gives us a powerful way to reflect on our relationship with people outside the Church. We do not have to share another person’s religious beliefs to recognise their dignity, appreciate their contribution to society or work alongside them for peace and justice.
The first reading, Isaiah 45, offers a particularly interesting connection. God works through Cyrus, a foreign ruler who does not know God, to accomplish a purpose in history. This challenges us to be humble. We should not assume that God can work only through those who belong to our own religious community.
For Christians, Jesus Christ remains at the heart of our mission. Yet we can also recognise that people outside the Church may work for values that resonate deeply with the Gospel: justice, compassion, peace and the protection of human dignity.
Newsletter
This week’s newsletter can be viewed here
Vatican News
The Vatican news widget is now onsite so the latest news from the Vatican can be accessible from the right hand side of this page under the menu, or alternatively click here for a larger display.
Contributions to Sacred Heart & St Anne
Donations can be made via the collection plate in Church or direct from your bank account, the details of which can be found here
If you pay tax please consider adding gift aid to your contribution which would enable the parish to claim an extra 25% courtesy of the taxman at no cost to yourself. If this is something you would like to consider please contact me here with your phone and email address and I will ask Margaret, our gift aid co-ordinater, to get in touch.
Current gift aid donors can ignore this paragraph as we will pick up the information from their names if they donate online.
In addition we now have online card terminals in both of our churches; at St Anne’s in the rear area near the side door and in Sacred Heart on the left hand side when facing front door (from central aisle) , by the statue of St Thérèse.
Both machines are capable of accepting card and contactless payments for various donations and for piety goods. Donations can also be gift aided, if selected you will need to enter your name, house number and post code (this will be a one off exercise as the terminal will remember your details for future visits)
The terminal is simple to use, just tap the screen and follow the prompts.
Past Memories
Recent events including Veronica’s birthday and memories from much longer ago can always be found on our History & Archive pages
Parish Facebook
In order to be able to keep parishioners informed whenever Father Jim makes any communications or when the website is updated with newsletters etc we have created a Parish Facebook page.
If you have a facebook account please visit and like the page so that you will then be automatically notified whenever this website is updated otherwise please visit this page periodically to check for any updates
For those parishioners without a facebook account I have embedded a feed from it below so everyone will be able to access the latest 5 postings to the page
(Please note not all browsers will display the feed)
