A reminder to everyone that our St Mary's Christmas Fair will be this coming Saturday 1st December from 12-3pm in the parish halls. Come along and enjoy: Home Bakes, Fiddle Music, Christmas Carols, Refreshments, Tombola, Knits, Books, Jewellery Kid's activities including: Santa's Grotto, Fortnite Dance-off, Face-painting and Christmas Craft Come along, support the parish and get in a festive mood!
Father Terry writes: I’ve lost track of the disaster movies that I have seen advertised. Every few years seems to bring a new film, showing civilisation threatened by nuclear holocaust, or relentless snow, or earthquake, or some other terrible cataclysmic event. Why, I wonder, are these films so popular? I think it is because they allow our fears to come out, in a way that we can acknowledge without despair. For example, disaster films these days often have some fearsome weather event at the centre of the story. This is not surprising, given our anxieties today about climate change. Films such as these help us deal with our fears by bringing them to the surface and portraying them in a
MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS Sat 17th Nov 6 pm Vigil Mass For those in our November Book of Remembrance Sun 18th Nov 8.30 am Arthur Laycock, RIP 10 am Scholastica Iberi, anniversary 12 noon People of the Parish Mon 19th Nov 10 am Funeral Mass for Anna Maria Adobatti Tue 20th Nov 10 am Molly Donnelly, 10th anniversary Wed 21st Nov Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 10 am For those in our November Book of Remembrance Thurs 22nd Nov St Cec
Father Terry writes: With today’s gospel (Mark 12.38-44) we may omit the first paragraph, and you can see why. This paragraph makes clergy embarrassed, with its description of self-important religious functionaries wearing special robes. Well, it can apply to priests – but it applies to lawyers also, because the scribes were lawyers and judges who adjudicated. In fact, these words of Jesus could even apply to administrators, because the scribes had great influence in how the community governed itself. There is a reminder here that our institutions exist for all of us. The bigger an organisation, the harder it is to keep an atmosphere of service. Clergy need to recall that the church does not
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) 11th November 2018 MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS Sat 10th Nov 6 pm Vigil Mass Teresa McGovern, anniversary Sun 11th Nov 8.30 am People of the Parish 10 am Jane Kendall, RIP 12 noon For those in our November Book of Remembrance Mon 12th Nov 10 am Pat and Rene Cotter, RIP Tue 13th Nov 10 am Father Terry, intentions Wed 14th Nov 10 am For those in our November Book of Remembrance Thurs 15th Nov 10 am Arthur La
Father Terry writes: I sometimes wonder how disabled people feel about biblical references to such handicaps. Blindness is often used in scripture as an image for those who refuse to believe. Similarly, those who will not listen to the message of God are said to be deaf. Campaigners for the disabled have made us rightly aware of how our attitudes towards the disabled can make them feel worthless. So today we might feel uncomfortable sometimes about the way scripture uses disability. And yet, we need to move beyond notions of political correctness to grasp the deeper meaning of scripture. Often, in the Bible, the message is that those who are inwardly closed off cannot see God's will or
MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS Sat 27th Oct 6 pm Vigil Mass Agnes Muheirwe, intentions Sun 28th Oct 8.30 am People of the Parish 10 am Deborah Longford-Ross, intentions 12 noon Teresa Ponzini, thanksgiving Mon 29th Oct Blessed Martyrs of Douai College 10 am Piero and Vittoria Adobatti, anniversary Tue 30th Oct 10 am Arthur Laycock, RIP Wed 31st Oct 10 am Martin and May Brennan, intentions Thurs 1st Nov All Saints 10 am
Father Terry writes: When James and John approached Jesus trying to wheedle promotion out of him, they were simply acting out the kind of fantasy that all of us indulge in from time to time. How wonderful it would be, we think, to have the top job! Imagine all that power and prestige. Imagine, however, of how Jesus must have felt at that moment. I wonder if he had his head in his hands and was tempted to despair. These were men who had walked alongside him, who had heard him teach about God’s love for us all. They had listened as Jesus made his call for repentance and inspired his listeners to be like yeast, salt, light, making the world a better place out of humble love for others.
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) 21st October 2018 MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS Sat 20th Oct 6 pm Vigil Mass Martin Murray, 3rd anniversary Sun 21st Oct 8.30 am People of the Parish 10 am Kathareine Johnson, RIP 12 noon Daniele Silva, RIP Mon 22nd Oct St John Paul II 10 am The Baylon Family, intentions Tue 23rd Oct 10 am Funeral Mass for Mary Spellman Wed 24th Oct 10 am Marie Bloom, intentions Thurs 25th Oct 10 am Jack
