Message from Father Jim
8th November 2026
The first reading opens with the words from the Book of Wisdom: “Wisdom is radiant and unfading by those who love her” (Wisdom 6:12-13). It is a beautiful description of wisdom. However, in the real world, finding wisdom is often easier said than done.
In the parable of the ten bridesmaids in today’s Gospel (Matthew 2:1-13), Jesus reminds us that wisdom is not simply about what we know, or even what we have experienced; it is about how we prepare ourselves for life. The five wise bridesmaids understood that they could not leave everything until the last moment. They had thought ahead and brought extra oil for their lamps. The foolish bridesmaids, on the other hand, were unprepared.
Perhaps they assumed there would always be more time. There is something very human about that. We can sometimes recognise what needs to change in our lives, but we put it off until tomorrow. Jesus is reminding us that wisdom requires more than good intentions; it requires awareness, preparation and action. We cannot simply borrow someone else’s wisdom when the important moments of life arrive. Ultimately, we each have a responsibility to keep our own lamps burning. Let us pray that each of us will be guided by the light of Christ.
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)
