news-26January2020

Parish celebrates Word of God Sunday with new Commissioning of Readers
On 30 September 2019, Pope Francis, by the Motu Proprio Aperuit Illis  declared the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time to be the Sunday of the Word of God. To highlight this, Fr Mervyn arranged for a wonderful display of Holy Scriptures to by set up on the altar steps and, for the first time, commissioned the Parish’s readers, paralleling the annual Commissioning of the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday.   On this Sunday each year,  the Lectors (Readers) of the Parish will be formally commissioned at each Mass.
The display of bibles included texts in Hebrew, Greek, Latin (the universal language of the 
Church) and English, including copies of the The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (ed. Henry Wansbrough OSB) which Fr Mervyn presented to each Lector as they had been commissioned.  The Bibles each contained an inscription, personalised for each reader:

“Your Word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path” Psalm 119:105
For (name of Lector)
on the occasion of the celebration of the first Sunday of the Holy Word of God, instituted by His Holiness Pope Francis (Aperuit Illis, 30 ix 2019, on the Feast of St Jerome.
Given by the Parish Community of Corpus Christi Headington and Our Lady of Lourdes, Wheatley.

On the twenty sixth day of January, in the Year of Our Lord 2020.

All readers  attending each Mass came forward after the homily to be commissioned by Fr Mervyn.   The readers promised, to the best of their ability, with prayer and study, to prepare carefully beforehand on each occasion they were summoned to read to the community, and to commit themselves as Ministers and Readers of the Word of God.  Before presenting each with a copy of the Bible, Fr Mervyn blessed the readers saying, “Blessed are You Lord, our God, the King of the Universe for these Ministers of the Word who desire to profess and renew their own love for the Holy Scriptures.”

The Revised New Jerusalem Bible
Would individuals and families who would like the Parish to order for them a copy of The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (ed. Henry Wansbrough OSB et al [London: DLT, 2018]) at the price of £25.99 please print their names on the list at the entrance to the Churches. There are many Versions of the Scriptures but this one is an accessible Catholic Version with clear Introductions and footnotes.