Notes from Fr. Claro
18th Ordinary Sunday
2nd August 2026
YOUTUBE LINK for the Bible Study and Commentaries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOsPS3oEH9E
The feeding of the five thousand occupies a unique place in the Gospel tradition. It is the only miracle of Jesus — apart from the resurrection itself — that is recorded in all four Gospels. Matthew’s telling of the story has unmistakable echoes of the Exodus story. Today’s second reading invites us to set the feeding of the multitude against the backdrop of Isaiah 55, where God adopts the language of the marketplace, inviting people to receive food and drink without payment. It’s also worth nothing that Matthew uses the same four Greek verbs—take, bless, break and give —that he will use in his account of the Last Supper, so this miracle anticipates that final meal that Jesus shares with his disciples, as well as the celebration that Christians will come to call the Eucharist.
TRAINING HOW TO USE THE SUNDAY MISSAL and how to be a good Reader at 9.30 Sunday, contact Dr. David Williamson.
MONDAY BIBLE ZOOM time 7pm
YOUTH MEETING every other Friday, contact Helena Boakye 07455 993296
RIP Fr Peter Turbitt’s body will be received into St John Vianney Church on Thursday 20th August 2026 at 5pm. There will be a vigil Mass at 7pm. The Funeral, a Requiem Mass, will be held at 10am on Friday 21st August 2026 at English Martyrs, Didcot followed by burial in Chain Hill cemetery, Wantage. Following the burial, refreshments will be provided at St John Vianney, Wantage (please note that car parking is very limited at Wantage).
Reverend Canon Peter Turbitt
3rd December 1943 – 19th July 2026
Canon Peter Turbitt was born in Blaydon-on-Tyne, Tyne and Wear. He was one of three siblings and his brother died a few years ago. He is survived by his sister Mary. Following formation at Ushaw, he was ordained to the priesthood on 10th March 1968 at St Joseph’s, Blaydon, Durham by Bishop James Cunningham for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. He became incardinated into the Diocese of Portsmouth in 1974.
Canon Peter first served as an assistant priest at Sacred Heart, Fareham until 1976. From 1976 to 1980 he served as assistant priest at the Annunciation, Netley. Between 1980 and 1983, he was appointed parish priest for St Patrick’s, Jersey. He was appointed as parish priest of St Michael and All Angels, Leigh Park between 1983 and 1989 before moving to St John Vianney, Wantage in 1989. Canon Peter was appointed Coordinating Pastor of the North Downs Pastoral Area in 2010 and Dean of the same in 2016. He was appointed parish priest of Sacred Heart, Lambourn and Our Lady of Lourdes, Hungerford, and of Blessed Hugh Faringdon, Buckland and Faringdon in 2015. He was invited to join the Chapter of Canons of the Diocese in 2001. He was also a member of the Council of Priests. Canon Peter Turbitt retired in 2019. Let us thank God for his loving service to the people whom he was called to serve. May the Lord grant him eternal rest in the love that he so generously served through his ministry.
STATEMENT FROM THE BISHOP Philip Egan about ‘The Society of St. Pius X’ (SSPX)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, It is with sorrow and a heavy heart that I write to you today. On 1st July, against the express directive of the Holy Father, and so without a papal mandate, four priests of the Society of St. Pius X, the SSPX, were ordained bishops at Écône in Switzerland. By this defiant act, the two consecrating bishops and the four new bishops incurred excommunication latae sententiae, the most serious penalty of all. The SSPX and its members reject teachings of the Second Vatican Council and many of the developments since. With this ordination, they have formally broken away from the Church. Please pray for them and for all involved. In response, the Vatican has declared the ordinations a ‘schismatic act.’ Sadly, this means that all the bishops and priests who belong to the SSPX and the laypeople who exclusively attend their services are now excommunicated. The Masses they offer are illicit. Attendance at them does not fulfil the Sunday obligation. The sacraments they celebrate – of marriage and confession – are invalid.
