St John's Catholic Church, New Ferry
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 26th February, 2017. Cycle A
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
FAITH IN FOCUS: Letting tomorrow care for itself
Christ wants to reassure us: Do not worry so much about things, always wondering, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?" Remember, your heavenly Father knows you need them all and he will take care of you." Or as that holy woman, Julian of Norwich used to say, "all manner of things will be well." Of course, this would not be a practical principle to apply in business, or government, or the professions; as if one did not have to plan ahead, study the details of a project and use all of one's insight and energies to bring things to fruition. Like other countries, in Ireland we have learned to our cost that expecting a boom-time to last is a recipe for needing a bailout and the stern monitoring by the International Monetary Fund! Nobody doubts the need for prudence and for providing for the foreseeable needs of the future. However, just as important for our wellbeing is the kind of basic trust and optimism commended by Jesus. His words offer a radical antidote to being overburdened by caution and afraid of the risks of living. We really do need the sense that Someone up there is looking after me. A lovely image of divine providence is portrayed by Isaiah in the rhetorical question: Does a woman forget a baby at the breast?
or fail to cherish the son of her womb?
Yet even if these forget,
I will never forget you. People's fears are real enough. It seems that we are afraid of something all of the time and of everything some of the time. Many are afraid of failure, afraid of letting others down and of being let down ourselves by others. We may be afraid to love somebody because they might not love us; afraid of losing our jobs, our health, our security, our grip. We are afraid of growing old and of dying. Fear comes in a wide variety of forms, stress, doubt, tension, pressure, anxiety. It manifests itself in ways from a nervous tic to a nervous breakdown. Or as in my case now, a tendency to look over my shoulder at every shadow in the street. So we all of us have a lesson to learn from the great teacher of wisdom who said, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith?" A deep faith can put all our normal fears into healthy perspective.
A local charity called Merseyaid is collecting clothing and household goods to send to Lebanon and for refugees coming to our area. Anything you want to donate will be put to good use. A box will be provided at the back of church and emptied weekly. As Christians we are called to look after those less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you for your generous support.
Thank you for your continued support .If anyone is free on Monday or Tuesday mornings and would like to go on the rota to take our collected goods down to the warehouse in Birkenhead, please let us know. Please see the list of urgently needed goods on the notice board at the back of Church. Urgently required goods include biscuits, sponge pudding, sugar, squash and deodorant.
Day of Reflection on Pope Francis' Exhortation 'The Joy of Love':10.30am – 3pm, Wed 26 April at LACE, Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool, L17 1AA and led by Father Chris Thomas, the well-known retreat giver. Cost £20 including lunch.
FATIMA- Pilgrimage/ 100th anniversary. The Little Way Association House. 10th to 17th May 2017. B&B plus airport transfers Cost £387. Own insurance required. If you would like to know more please contact John Connerly on 328 1487.
MEDJUGORJE Irish Centre Pilgrimage 20th-27th May. 7nights half board in 4 star apartments. Cost including airport transfers 370 Euros. Details; Jackie 020 3239 8662 or Colette 0151 220 0665.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpfulreflection on next Sunday's readings and do not forget to take a look at the Church Notice Boards giving details of other events and happenings and to look at the Book Stall and to buy your Catholic Paper
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letterbox by 12 noon on Thursdays. This will help Louise, Ann & I greatly. Many thanks.
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time 26th 5.00pm
7.30pm Molly McAllister Intentions
Fr Jack McLeish RIP
Monday 27th 9.15am Ryan Peers RIP
Tuesday 28th 9.15am Maura Farley RIP
Wednesday 1st
March 10.00am Ash Wednesday Parishioners of St John's
Thursday 2nd 7.15am Mary Haigh RIP
Friday 3rd 9.15am
2.00pm Ann Osborne RIP
Woman's World Day of Prayer
1st Sunday of Lent 5th 5.00pm
7.30pm Sick Priests
Ints. Philomena Fletcher
CHILDREN'S LITURGY 0N SUNDAY AT 9.30AM MASS
Children's Liturgy will close during half term and reopen on Sunday 5th March.
Confessions Saturday 10.30 – 11.30am
Morning Prayer of the Church 15 minutes before daily masses
Baptisms …… please contact us to arrange a date.
First Communion Masses: Saturday 13th May and Saturday 20th May at 11am.
Offertory: £614.16p
Thank you for your generosity.
Tea and coffee is served in the Parish Centre each Sunday after 9.30am Mass. All most welcome.
This Friday March 3rd at 2pmis the Women's World Day of Prayer Service here at St John's. The service comes from the Philippines this year and is being held in our church. As we are praying for Filipino women, we are hoping that some of our Filipino parishioners will kindly help and be a part of this service. Please see Maria Fryer or Claire McGree.
Lent begins this Wednesday- which is of course Ash Wednesday . This is still a day of fasting and abstinence for all who are able.
Mass at St John's on Wednesday will be at 10am and Mass at St Anne's is at 7.30pm.
Ashes will be blessed and distributed at both Masses. There will also be Ashes Services in all of our schools on this day.
During Lent here at St John's there will be Stations of the Cross each Sunday afternoon at 3pm. There will be an early Mass on Thursdays at 7.15am, Lent lunches most Friday's after an 11.30am Mass, Exposition and Confessions each Saturday from 10.30-11.30am.
In the LPA & Deanery there is Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the Oratory at St Luke's on Wednesday 15th March from 10am throughout the day, a Taize Evening at St Anne's on Tuesday 21st March, a Lenten Talk at Christ the King Bromborough on Thursday 30th March and the Deanery Lenten Penitential Service this year will be at St Michael's Woodchurch on Wednesday 5th April.
Singing Practice – There will be a meeting at 7.30pm on Thursday 2nd March to look at music for Lent and Easter. All welcome.
Catholic Grandparents Association
A meeting to discuss the establishment of a branch of the Catholic Grandparents Association in our Deanery will be held here at St John's on Thursday 23rd March at 7.30pm. See poster on Church noticeboard
Healing Mass: Saturday 25th March at 3pm, St Werburgh's, Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, CH1 1QJ is for all families that are affected by mental illness and those that work with them. There will be an Anointing of the Sick during Mass and an opportunity for socialising and meeting members of the Diocesan Mental Health Action Group afterwards.
PARISH SOCIAL EVENTS
We would like to organize a parish day outing for the start of the school summer holidays in July. Please sign the list at the back of Church if you have any ideas for the venue. We would like to book a coach as soon as possible. We would suggest a distance of no more than one to one and a half hours by coach.
We have booked a block of tickets to see "The Kilkennys" at the Gladstone Theatre on Thursday 15th June at a cost of £16 each. This Irish band is returning to the Theatre after its successful visit there last year. The concert programme and a seating plan showing the seats booked is displayed at the back of the Church. Please tick the list if you are interested in reserving a seat.
For details of these and any other suggestions, please see Liz McIntosh or Maria Fryer.
"A Recovery of Mercy : the radical experience of Grace through all our addictions" is the theme for the next Day of Reflection for ACTS (Adult Catholics Together Spiritually) being held on Sat 11th March 2017. If you are aged between 18-35 then you are more than welcome to join us when we will be led by Damien Prescott, the Director of Olive Branch Recovery Communities. The day will start approximately 9.30am until approx.. 5pm (exact times to be confirmed nearer the time) and will take place at Wistaston Hall Crewe, CW2 8JS. Payment will be by anonymous donation (suggested cost £20 and £15 for unemployed/student). If you would like to join us or wish to know more about it please contact Siobhan at siobhanbc
tel; 0161 477 2783 / 07761138947
Posted by George
Filed in Parish Newsletter
Comments are off but you can trackback from your own site.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 19th February, 2017. Cycle A
*St John the Evangelist*
Diocese of Shrewsbury(reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest:Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael DalyPhone:0151 645 3314
Email:stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites:www.stjohnevang.co.uk http://www.lpa24.org **
_Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 19^th February, 2017. Cycle A_
FAITH IN FOCUS: All-embracing Compassion
Other thinkers had said: "do not do to others what you would not have them do to you." That is perhaps the basic law of manners and politeness. Jesus, characteristically, goes beyond this: Do to others.. The Christian ethic is positive. It goes beyond "Thou shalt not.." to "Do…" It is activist. There is the story of the man who appeared at the gate of heaven asking to be let in. St Peter asked him why he thought he should be let in. The man answered: "my hands are clean." "Yes," answered Peter, "but they are empty!' The Christian ethic always asks us to grow. Many people are puzzled and confused because Christian moral guides are sometimes slow to lay down a clear minimum which people must achieve to be justified. But Jesus asks for more. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?" What is so special about that? Jesus asks for extra. We told his disciples: "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Yet with those who tried and failed he was full of sympathy and compassion. He will never say "enough," but he will not reject anyone who has failed and comes back to him. Some people see life in terms of survival of the fittest, or 'dog-eat-dog'. David had his chance to kill his enemy before his enemy killed him, as Saul fully intended to do. But he held back and he would not take Saul's life. The temptation to violence is an easy one. The world is full of wars and violent confrontations. We yield too readily to our instincts of aggression, whether it is the great aggression where nation confronts nation in a balance of terror, or violent confrontations between groups of citizens, or violence in the home. Education in peaceful means of solving interpersonal and intercommunal difficulties is one of the greatest needs of our age. The way is open to Christians to start to learn more about non-violent means of solving conflicts and becomes peacemakers. Mercy is God's primary characteristic – even of the "Old Testament God" whom many commentators, following some Christian heretics, prefer to portray as harsh and cruel. Our psalm, which comes from the Old Testament emphasises that God is not the seeker of vengeance that many people imagine him to be.He is not waiting and anxious to punish each and every fault, but he is concerned only to remove our sins and to make us one with him. God's merciful goodness towards us is shown most clearly in the life and death of Jesus Christ. This Jesus wants to join us with him for an eternity of fulfilment and happiness. God's compassion for sinful and unhappy humanity is the model of our compassion. St Matthew had said: "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Ch. 5:48.) St John said: "God is love" (1 John 4:7.) St Luke's report of Jesus' words is: "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate."
*A local charity called **Merseyaid**is collecting clothing and household goods to send to Lebanon and for refugees coming to our area. Anything you want to donate will be put to good use. A box will be provided at the back of church and emptied weekly. As Christians we are called to look after those less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you for your generous support.*
*_WIRRAL FOODBANK_***
*Thank you for your continued support .If anyone is free on Monday or Tuesday mornings and would like to go on the rota to take our collected goods down to the warehouse in Birkenhead, please let us know. Please see the list of _urgently needed goods _on the notice board at the back ofChurch.****Urgentlyrequired goods include biscuits, sponge pudding, sugar, squash and deodorant.*
*Day of Reflection on Pope Francis' Exhortation 'The Joy of Love':****10.30am – 3pm, Wed 26 April at LACE, Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool, L17 1AA and led by Father Chris Thomas, the well-known retreat giver. Cost £20 including lunch.*
*FATIMA- Pilgrimage/ 100^th anniversary. The Little Way Association House. 10^th to 17^th May 2017. B&B plus airport transfers Cost £387. Own insurance required. If you would like to know more please contact John Connerly on 328 1487.*
*MEDJUGORJE Irish Centre Pilgrimage 20^th -27^th May. 7nights half board in 4 star apartments. Cost including airport transfers 370 Euros. Details; Jackie 020 3239 8662 or Colette 0151 220 0665.*
*Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word.It is a helpful****reflection on next Sunday's readings and do not forget to take a look at the Church Notice Boards giving details of other events and happenings and to look at the Book Stall and to buy your Catholic Paper***
*If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letterbox by12 noon on Thursdays. This will help Louise, Ann & I greatly.Many thanks.*
*7th Sunday in Ordinary Time*
Parishioners
Peggy Fullerton RIP
For World Peace
Service of Word and Communion
Kate and James Kennedy RIP
Molly McAllister Intentions
*CHILDREN'S LITURGY 0NSUNDAY AT 9.30AM MASS*
*Children's Liturgy will close during half term and reopen on Sunday 5^th March.*
Saturday 4.15 – 4.45pm
Morning Prayer of the Church
15 minutes before daily masses
*_Baptisms _**…… *please contact us to arrange a date as soon as possible.
*_First Forgiveness; _*Congratulations to the children from St John's school who celebrated their First Forgiveness on Thursday. Thank you to the parents and teachers for instructing them and supporting them in prayer.
*_First Communion Masses_**:Saturday 13th May _and _Saturday 20th May at 11am.*
*Money Matters*
*Offertory: £632.32.p *
*Thank you for your generosity.*
***Tea and coffee is served in the Parish Centre each Sunday after 9.30amMass. All most welcome.*
*Children's Liturgy and Confirmation Saturday *
*25th February 10.00am-1.00pm (registration from 9.30pm) at Ellesmere Port Catholic High School*
*CH65 7AQ.Speakers: Teresa Kehoe and Hannah Vaughn-Spruce.Open to everyone interested in how to share the faith with children and adolescents.Enquiries: **barbara.davies@dioceseofshrewsbury.org* **
*Registration **helen.jones@dioceseofshrewsbury.org* **
*See Poster at back of church for details. *
*On****Friday March 3rd at 2pm****it is the Women's World Day of Prayer. The service comes from the Philippines this year and is being held in our church. As we are praying for Filipino women, we are hoping that some of our Filipino parishioners will kindly help and be a part of this service. Please see Maria Fryer or *
*Claire McGree.***
*"A Recovery of Mercy : the radical experience of Grace through all our addictions" *is the theme for the next Day of Reflection for ACTS (Adult Catholics Together Spiritually) being held on *Sat 11^th March 2017. *If you are aged between 18-35 then you are more than welcome to join us when we will be led by Damien Prescott, the Director of Olive Branch Recovery Communities. The day will start approximately 9.30am until approx.. 5pm (exact times to be confirmed nearer the time) and will take place at Wistaston Hall Crewe, CW2 8JS. Payment will be by anonymous donation (suggested cost £20 and £15 for unemployed/student). If you would like to join us or wish to know more about it please contact Siobhan at siobhanbc@talktalk.net __
*Healing Mass**: **Saturday **25th March**at 3pm, St Werburgh's, Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, CH1 1QJ is for all families that are affected by mental illness and those that work with them. There will be an Anointing of the Sick during Mass and an opportunity for socialising and meeting members of the Diocesan Mental Health Action Group afterwards.*
*Singing Practice – There will be a meeting at 7.30pm on Thursday 2^nd March to look at music for Lent and Easter. All welcome.*
*Catholic Grandparents Association*
*A meeting to discuss the establishment of a branch of the Catholic Grandparents Association in ourDeanery will be held here at St John'son Thursday 23^rd March at 7.30pm. See poster on Churchnoticeboard**.*
*PARISH SOCIAL EVENTS*
*We would like to organize a parish day outing for the start of the school summer holidays in July. Please sign the list at the back of Church if you have any ideas for the venue. We would like to book a coach as soon as possible. We would suggest a distance of no more than one to one and a half hours by coach.*
*We have booked a block of tickets to see "The Kilkennys" at the Gladstone Theatre on Thursday 15^th June at a cost of £16 each. This Irish band is returning to the Theatre after its successful visitthere last year. The concert programmeand a seating plan showing the seats booked is displayed at the back of the Church. Please tick the list if you are interested in reserving a seat.*
*For details of these and any other suggestions, please see Liz McIntosh or Maria Fryer.*
*_Lent 2017_*
*Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on 1^st March ( a week on Wednesday) Mass at St John's on that day will be at 10am and at St Anne's at 7.30pm.*
*During Lent *here at St John's there will be Stations of the Cross each Sunday afternoon at 3pm. There will be an early Mass on Thursdays at 7.15am, Lent lunches most Friday's after an 11.30am Mass, Exposition and Confessions each Saturday from 10.30-11.30am.
In the LPA & Deanery there is Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the Oratory at St Luke's on Wednesday 15^th March from 10am throughout the day, a Taize Evening at St Anne's on Tuesday 21^st March, a Lenten Talk at Christ the King Bromborough on Thursday 30^th Marchand the Deanery Lenten Penitential Service this year will be at St Michael'sWoodchurch on Wednesday 5^th April.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 12th February, 2017. Cycle A
FAITH IN FOCUS: New standards for living
We notice a potentially fruitful tension between the Gospel and the first reading from Sirach. While Jesus makes the commandments even more demanding, Sirach claims that we can keep the commandments if only we really want to. Both readings are very direct and there's no missing the message. One approach to today's Scriptures would be to take them as pointers and ideals for Christian morality. Jesus forbids not merely murder, as the most extreme form of disregard for another person, but also lesser forms of injuring others. What unites the three faults he lists (losing one's temper, using insulting names and of refusing to forgive) is that in each case another person's feelings are trampled underfoot. The importance of forgiveness is shown by the fact that it comes before strictly religious duties, and presumably the same priority is assigned to the other two matters. So the point Jesus makes is that one must respect not simply people's right to life but also their right to dignity and self-respect. Then he speaks about sexual purity, but broadening it out to purity of intention in general. A mere legal observance is utterly insufficient for Jesus. The words about self mutilation have never been understood literally by the Church and are best understood as a parable to express vividly the disastrous effects of sin. The correction he makes of the Old Law disallows an abuse which Moses tolerated, namely remarriage after divorce. The exceptive clause ("except on the ground of unchastity") has long been debated, but its main interpretation in the Catholic Church is that it refers to a previous marriage that was prohibited by Jewish laws. The only divorce permitted is one where there was no real marriage, and Jesus was simply reaffirming the sanctity of the marriage bond, as in Genesis "the two shall become one flesh" — a loving, interdependent unity. The prohibition of oaths has not been taken as literally by the Catholic Church as it has by some other Christians. Jesus held that oaths should not be necessary at all, if there is a general atmosphere of trust and truth-telling. In such a society reinforcement by oaths would not be needed. This it is an atmosphere of openness and mutual confidence which Jesus promoted. What he teaches by his corrections of the Law is a morality of values held from the heart
Day of Reflection on Pope Francis' Exhortation 'The Joy of Love': 10.30am – 3pm, Wed 26 April at LACE, Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool, L17 1AA and led by Father Chris Thomas, the well-known retreat giver. Cost £20 including lunch.
MEDJUGORJE Irish Centre Pilgrimage 20th-27th May. 7nights half board in 4 star apartments. Cost including airport transfers 370 Euros. Details; Jackie 020 3239 8662or Colette 0151 220 0665.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday's readings and do not forget to take a look at the Church Notice Boards giving details of other events and happenings and to look at the Book Stall and to buy your Catholic Paper
6.00pm Eleanor McGuigan Anniv RIP
Monday 13th 9.15am Patrick Fitzgerald Anniv RIP
Tuesday 14th 9.15am Service of Word and Communion
Wednesday 15th 9.15am Tim Wilby RIP
Thursday 16th 9.15am Service of Word and Communion
Friday 17th 9.15am Steven Tunley RIP
Saturday 18th 10.00am Carmel Mass
6.00pm Parishioners
Confessions Saturday 4.15 – 4.45pm
Baptisms …… please contact us to arrange a date as soon as possible.
First Forgiveness for children at St John's School will be celebrated in Church this Thursday 16th February at 6.30pm. Please keep the children, their parents and teachers in your prayers this week.
Offertory: £572.02.p
Sister Michela of the Comboni Missionary Sisters who gave the Annual Mission Appeal at last weekends Masses sends her thanks for the collection which amounted to £550.
Traidcraft Stall is open this weekend after Saturday and Sunday Masses. Please continue to support this worthwhile cause.
Tea and coffee is served in the Parish Centre each Sunday after 9.30am Mass. All most welcome .
"Our Mission Together"
Thanks to your continuing generosity and prayers the work on the sanctuary re-ordering and the re-siting of the tabernacle and the baptismal font is now underway. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. The redecorating of the Church and the Day Chapel will follow mid July/August.
Children's Liturgy and Confirmation Saturday
25th February 10.00am-1.00pm (registration from 9.30pm) at Ellesmere Port Catholic High School
CH65 7AQ. Speakers: Teresa Kehoe and Hannah Vaughn-Spruce. Open to everyone interested in how to share the faith with children and adolescents. Enquiries: barbara.davies
Registration helen.jones
See Poster at back of church for details.
Shrewsbury Catholic Charismatic Renewal will be holding a weekend at Pantasaph Friary on 24th-26th February. Theme: "Hungry for God". Speaker: Fr Chris Thomas. Cost £105. See poster at back of church for details. Contact: Ann Murray 0151 645 5514 for booking information.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on the 1st March… A full Lenten programme will be in next week's newsletter.
On Friday March 3rd at 2pm it is the Women's World Day of Prayer. The service comes from the Philippines this year and is being held in our church. As we are praying for Filipino women, we are hoping that some of our Filipino parishioners will kindly help and be a part of this service. Please see Maria Fryer or
Claire McGree.
A Prayer for this National Marriage week.
We thank you Oh God, for the love you have implanted in our hearts. May it always inspire us to be kind in our words, considerate of feeling, and concerned for each others needs and wishes. Help us to be understanding and forgiving of human weakness and failing. Increase our faith and trust in you and may your prudence guide our life and love. Bless our marriage Oh God, with peace and happiness, make our love fruitful for your glory and, our joy both here and in eternity. Amen.
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 5th February, 2017. Cycle A
FAITH IN FOCUS: PASS THE SALT!
In Jesus' day salt was very precious. Some people were even paid in it. (Our word "salary" is from the word for salt-payment.) Since there were no fridges or freezers people used it to preserve food as well as to flavour it. In fact, there is even today an Arabic expression of friendship that says, "There's salt between us". The obvious thing about salt is that it pervades everything it comes into contact with. You can't just have part of your soup that is salty. The whole lot gets transformed. And today Jesus tells his disciples that they are the salt of the earth. They are to bring flavour and taste to the earth, to all the people and situations they find themselves in. So often Christians appear as killjoys whose message is one of a life of deprivation and self-denial that would appeal to no normal person. Yet Jesus is saying that our job is to bring good news to a society that is becoming increasingly fearful and feeling under threat. The message of the gospel is one that is intended to add the flavour to life, to give life some seasoning, to leave a nice taste in the mouth. And we are called to be that salt.
He also calls us the light of the world. The Jews he was speaking to had no electricity. They used oil wicks. Without matches it took an age to light these lamps and so, for safety reasons, when people went out of their homes for a while, they put the lamp under a container where it could burn without danger of catching fire. As soon as they came back in they took it from under the pot and put it on a stand. As our world comes under the grip of real or imagined terrorist threats, as conflicts break out here and there, and as once more we hear of countries suffering famine and disaster, where can we look to shed some light on the situation? The only true source of light is God since there is no darkness in God. Jesus today tells us that we are to be the light of the world. By living his life, by witnessing to him, to the power his gospel has to transform, we reflect not our own light but God's.
You are the salt of the earth, but what happens if the salt loses its flavour? You are the light of the world, but what happens if the light grows dim? Pass the salt!
Thank you for your continued support .If anyone is free on Monday or Tuesday mornings and would like to go on the rota to take our collected goods down to the warehouse in Birkenhead, please let us know. Please see the list of urgently needed goods on the notice board at the back of Church.Urgently required goods include biscuits, sponge pudding, sugar, squash and deodorant.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpfulreflection on next Sunday's readings and do not forget to take a look at the Church Notice Boards giving details of other events and happenings and to look at the Book Stall and to buy your Catholic Paper.
A Prayer for National Marriage week 7-14 February 2017.
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 5th 5.00pm
6.00pm Missions
Ints of Martin & McCaffrey Fams
Monday 6th 9.15am John Joseph Kelly Anniv RIP
Tuesday 7th 9.15am Margaret Silcock RIP
Wednesday 8th 9.15am Victims of Trafficking
Thursday 9th 9.15am Kennedy +McCormick Fams RIP
Friday 10th 9.15am Marie Rooney RIP
Baptisms and Weddings in 2017…… please contact us as soon as possible.
First Forgivenessfor children at St John's School will be celebrated in Church on Thursday 16th February at 6.30pm.
Retired Priests Fund: £451.23p
Thank you for your generosity#
This weekend: (at St John's and St Anne's). We welcome Sister Michela of the Comboni Missionary Sisters who will give the Annual Mission Appeal.
The Parish Pastoral Team meets on Thursday at 7.30pm in the Presbytery.
Grandparents Association Meeting on Thursday at 6.30pm in the Day Chapel. All grandparents welcome to this first local meeting of this newly formed association.
Thanks to your continuing generosity and prayers the work on the sanctuary re-ordering and the re-siting of the tabernacle and the baptismal font is now underway. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. The redecorating of the Church and the Day Chapel will follow mid July/August. If you have not already contributed to "Our Mission Together" and would like to do so or, if you have any questions about this Diocesan Initiative which is now bearing so much fruit around the Diocese, please contact
Fr Bernard or Anthony Doyle.
Tel No 0151 652 9855/07833209713
The next Love Birkenhead Prayer Event will be held at Charing Cross Methodist Church on Friday
10th February 2017 at 7.30pm. We have Frank Field and Bishop Keith Sinclair joining us to help us focus our prayer for our area. See Poster at back of church for details
Diocesan Annual Mass for the Celebration of Marriage. This annual Mass has grown as a Diocesan event and is greatly appreciated by the couples and their families who take part. This year's Mass will be celebrated at our Lady's Church in Stockport on Saturday 11th February at 12 noon. If you are celebrating a significant anniversary in 2017 (i.e. 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th) and wish to attend please let Fr Bernard know.
Children's Liturgy and ConfirmationSaturday
Registrationhelen.jones
OnFriday March 3rd at 2pmit is the Women's World Day of Prayer. The service comes from the Philippines this year and is being held in our church. As we are praying for Filipino women, we are hoping that some of our Filipino parishioners will kindly help and be a part of this service. Please see Maria Fryer or
Traidcraft Stall will be open next weekend after Saturday and Sunday Masses. Please continue to support this worthwhile cause.
Enclosed with this bulletin please find a copy of Bishop Mark's Pastoral Letter "On our Social Mission- Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury."