The Bible Readings:
Today, the Feast of Christ the King, is the last Sunday of the Christian Year. For the previous few Sundays we have already been anticipating the themes of Advent, (starting next Sunday,) and this process comes to its climax today: Christ's second coming in glory, and the last judgement. The Gospel and the other readings today portray Christ both as Shepherd and King. We have this year been reading St Matthew's Gospel, which in various places shows us Christ's Kingship, though previously in a hidden way. The visit of the Magi shows the infant Jesus to be King of the Jews, though this is only recognised by the Magi through their royal gifts to the Christ child, and in his Passion Jesus is described in kingly terms – Pilate asks him if he is a King, the soldiers dress him up as a mock-king, and the title on the cross, intended ironically, describes Jesus of Nazareth as the King of the Jews. But on the day of judgement, described in today's parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus is recognised by all as King in all his splendour, seated on his throne of glory. On today's feast we are anticipating the day when Christ's universal Kingship will be recognised.
In the parable he judges the nations on the basis of the way they have treated the least of his brethren, (meaning his disciples.) Some have truly served their needs, and in doing so have served Christ himself. They are the sheep who will have a place in Christ's kingdom for their heritage. Some have not served their needs, and so have also not served Christ. They are the goats, who will go to eternal punishment. The least of Christ's brethren is often extended to mean not just his disciples, but all those who suffer, in supplying whose needs we do serve Christ himself.
The first reading by contrast shows us the Lord as the Good Shepherd tending to the various needs of us his sheep – looking for the lost, bandaging the injured etc – but ends with him judging between sheep and goats. In the Middle East mixed flocks of sheep and goats were common, but were separated by the shepherd in the evening, because goats need to go into the warm, but sheep prefer to stay outdoors. The sheep are the more valuable, which is why they symbolise the righteous in today's readings. Our prayer today is that by the way we serve Christ in the least of his brethren we may be counted among the sheep on the day of judgement: in the words of the Dies irae (a mediaeval hymn used in the church's liturgy this coming week),
'With thy sheep a place provide me,
From the goats afar divide me,
To thy right hand do thou guide me.'
Fr Rajiv’s homily will be updated on https://castingfire.wordpress.com
During the Lockdown we are not allowed to celebrate Mass publicly in the Church
Times of Opening of the Church for Individual Prayer
for the Week beginning Sunday 22nd November
(Made possible due to the generosity of our volunteer stewards, who will ensure safe social
distancing is maintained and that the hygienic cleaning of the seating etc takes place.)
Saturday 21st November 1.00 - 5.00 pm Four Hours Adoration of the
Vigil of Christ the King Blessed Sacrament
The church will not be open for individual prayer in the evening
Sunday 22nd November 9.45 – 10.45 am
Christ the King 11.15 am – 12.15 pm
Monday 23rd November 5.45 – 6.45 pm
St Clement
Tuesday 24th November 5.45 – 6.45 pm
St Andrew Dung-Lac
Wednesday 25th November 8.45 – 9.45 am
St Catherine of Alexandria
Thursday 26th November 8.45 – 9.45 am
Friday 27th November 8.45 – 9.45 am
Saturday 28th November 5.45 - 6.45 pm
Sunday 29th November 9.45 – 10.45 am
First Sunday of Advent 11.15 am – 12.15 pm
We are only allowed to open the church for Mass if volunteer stewards are kindly available to ensure the required hygienic and social distancing arrangements are observed, and to clean thoroughly or sanitise the church after each Mass. If you would like to enquire about volunteering for this ministry, please contact the parish office.
Mass Intentions
Although no public Masses are allowed, our priests will still say Mass privately each day. You can find a link to the Mass Intentions for this week on our website.
Requests for Mass intentions can be made by email during lockdown. It is customary to make an offering when requesting a Mass intention. This has always been a contribution to the support of the priests of the particular parish where the Mass is being said. The Diocese of Westminster suggests the figure of £10 as a guideline, but it is of course entirely the free choice of the donor to decide this.
Each Thursday Mass is being offered for all working in the NHS and all Hospital Chaplains
First Holy Communion and Confirmation
Today is National Youth Sunday, we celebrate and pray for the young people in our parish and all the gifts and talents they share with us.
Follow @NationalYouthSunday for more information, see
This year we can’t be physically together at Mass, so the Confirmation candidates have contributed to the power point Children’s Liturgy for the feast of Christ the King. You can watch it on the parish Facebook page.
Look out, also on Facebook, for the candidates’ photos & reflections for each day of Advent!
Children’s Liturgy continues on the parish Facebook page every Sunday, thanks to our dedicated Children’s Liturgy Team. Why not view it with your young children & give it a like?
Interested in the Catholic Faith? The new group has begun to meet via zoom. For more details email All recently received Catholics and new enquirers are welcome.
Catechists are invited to register for a 30-minute Zoom reflection on the ‘Saints of Catechesis’: LIVE STREAMED FREE OF CHARGE –on a different day of the first week of each month. Next date is Wednesday 2nd December at 7.30pm. Register at
The Bible Timeline Course: Jeff Cavin’s worldwide-famous Catholic Bible Study. Live Streamed – Free of Charge A 7- session course on Wednesdays, starting on Wed 4th November at 7pm
Course info: www,comeandsee.org
Register: https://comeandsee.org/registration.html
Preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism
If you have a child for Baptism under 5 years old please email us for an application form. You will be contacted once the form has been received. A copy of one of the Catholic parents’ baptism certificate will be required. Baptisms can only take place on Saturdays at 11am with special Covid safety measures in place,however, during lockdown baptisms are not allowed.
November is the Month of the Holy Souls
As usual, a book containing the names of our dear departed will be placed near the altar, and each week several Masses will be offered for the repose of their souls. We invite you to submit the names of those you wish to be prayed for on a sheet of A4 (if possible) paper, which should be placed in an envelope marked Holy Souls, along with a donation towards the Masses, and put through the presbytery letterbox. (We are unable this year to leave special sheets of paper and envelopes in church for you to take for this purpose, as this would infringe the coronavirus regulations.)
Thank you to all who have been able to continue giving in these difficult times.
If you wish to make a one-off donation, or continue giving, please use the red DONATION button on the right which will allow you to easily use your credit or debit card Please make sure to label your donation as Planned Giving (when you normally use envelopes) or simply donation (if not gift aiding).
Alternatively, you may make any offering via bank transfer to:
HSBC
Acc Name: Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee, Brook Green Holy Trinity
Acc no: 01308173
Sort Code: 40-05-20
Thank you for remembering that without your donations the parish cannot run. A lot of expenses remain whilst our income has been drastically reduced. We are very grateful for your continued support.
Certificate of Catholic Practice for Nursery and Primary School Applications
Due to lockdown restrictions no personal interviews with parents can take place. Please email the parish office in order to obtain and complete an information form and a certificate of Catholic practice:
PACT - Operation Christmas Elf
Caritas Westminster is partnering with PACT to provide gifts for prisoners’ children. This year, they are unable to receive physical presents so are asking people to send £10 book tokens:
You can buy book tokens online from (using a credit/debit card or PayPal) or from all local bookshops. If you buy your book token online, you can even choose for it to be delivered straight to Santa's Grotto! (Which is really our office: Pact - Operation Elf 29 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UA)
If you are going to be supporting Operation Elf and donating a book token for a prisoner's child, let us know on our website and you can also leave a Christmas message for a prisoner's child. There’s also lots more information about Operation Elf on the website too, you’ll find it all at
Please note: We need tokens to arrive by 23rd November to give us time to distribute them.
With your help, Pact is working to ensure that these children still get to experience the magic of Christmas. Operation Elf gives you the chance show a little love and care for children with a parent in prison, especially in this most difficult of years. Thank you.
News from the Nightshelter
The nightshelter is up and running this year albeit in a very different form to previous years. We are covering Tuesday nights as usual but this year the night shelter is based in one venue, Chelsea Methodist Church on Kings Road. We are only offering a hot meal and no overnight accommodation and due to Covid restrictions we are only feeding 20 guests in the venue and providing 10 take away meals. But this may all change! As you can imagine, it is very difficult not being able to interact with guests in the same way as previous years and having to watch them walk out onto the street at the end of the meal.
At the moment we only need 5 volunteers to help each evening, but if you did feel able to volunteer do please contact us (Heather Alston, email hja@rawspace.co.uk or phone 07966 233 581). As in previous years, we would love to be able to offer the guests fruit and cheese with homemade cake that they can either eat in or take away to have later. If you felt able to make a small donation towards this, or towards the vouchers we have traditionally provided for Christmas gifts it would be much appreciated. Please either contact us directly or drop an envelope marked “Nightshelter” through the presbytery letterbox.
Thank you so much for your support.
Christian Marriage: a journey of healing
On Friday 29th September the Church celebrated the Great Feast of the Three Archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Can you identify them in the picture above?
Michael carries a sword in his hand to defend your marriage from the Devil who accuses us when we sin, lies to us about what makes us happy, and puts in our minds doubts about the love of God.
Gabriel carries a pregnant womb, the visible sign that every Word of God carries new life and can become flesh in your marriage, because ‘nothing is impossible to God’.
The third angel, in the middle, is Raphael, meaning ‘God’s healing’. This Angel carries the hand of a young man - called Tobias - and is walking with him towards the marriage with Sarah. Raphael is the Guardian Angel of Tobias and Sarah,and of EVERY married couple.
Planning to get married?
Marriage Preparation Course 2020
Our marriage preparation course concluded in March and no further courses will be held this year.
Our course is open to all couples intending to marry in a Catholic Church, regardless of which parish you live in. If you are interested in attending a course in the future please email us:
