26th Sunday of the Year (A)


 

Fr Paul's Sunday Reflection

 

Re-Opening of Churches:  Churches are now allowed to open for Mass and other services following guidelines and preparations from the Archdiocese. The number allowed in church will be restricted and may require people to pre- book places.

Instructions to pre book St Margaret Clitherow

Instructions to pre book St Edmund Arrowsmith

The Sunday obligation to attend Mass is still suspended for the time being. Please be patient as our greatest concern is the safety of everyone.
Mass will continue to be livestreamed as below.

Facebook and  YouTube.

The Redemptorists have Sunday Mass online available from 12pm on Saturdays, celebrated by Fr Denis McBride C.Ss.R.

There are several churches which live stream masses throughout the Archdiocese of Liverpool. These can be accessed here.

Other streamed masses are also available, click below for more

26th Sunday of the Year. (A)

First Reading – Ezekiel 18:25-28.
When sinners renounce their sin, then they will live with God.

Second Reading – Philippians 2:1-11.
The Incarnate Son empties himself of his majesty to become human.

Gospel Reading – Matthew 21:28-32.
The tax collectors and sinners respond to God’s Word, but not the chief priests and the elders.

There are four newsletters published weekly in the Deanery, you can access current and past editions here:

St Edmund Arrowsmith Newsletters (St Joseph's, Sacred Heart, Twelve Apostle, Our Lady's - Leigh)

St Margaret Clitherow Newsletters (Holy Family, Boothstown; St Ambrose Barlow, Astley; St Gabriel's, Higher Folds)

St Lewis, St Catherine's & All Saints Newsletters (Croft, Lowton & Golborne)

St John Rigby Newsletter (Sacred Heart, Hindley Green; St Richard's, Atherton; Sacred Heart Hindsford)

 

( Newsletters download as pdf files in a new window.)

 

In prayerfully being present at a Mass being broadcast to you, obviously physically receiving the Eucharist is not possible. However, Spiritual Communion is.

So what is Spiritual Communion? The common practice of making such a spiritual communion indicate our desire to join with the Lord when in a situation that makes unable to sacramentally receive the Body and Blood of the Lord in Holy Communion at Mass.

St Joseph's Centre - 01942 673517

Fr Paul Seddon - 01942 883395 (St Richard's & Sacred Heart.)
Fr Paul Grady - 0161 790 2390 (Holy Family, St Ambrose Barlow & St Gabriel's)
Fr Kieran O'Grady - 01942 673517 (Sacred Heart & St Joseph's)
Fr Gordon Abbs - 01942 273851 (St Lewis, St Catherine's & All Saints)

St Margaret Clitherow Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

St Edmund Arrowsmith Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 


Friday 9 October 2020
Coronavirus is a crisis that affects us all. It will take all of us working together to survive, rebuild and heal.
With you by our side, our local experts and community volunteers can ensure help reaches the most vulnerable communities on earth before the virus does.

“We thank God that Cafod stepped in and provided us with PPE. They give us the confidence to go on”.
Sr. Gertrude, Handmaids Catholic Heath Clinic, Sierra Leone

This Family Fast Day, please fast and give to help protect our global family.

Online special events to celebrate Harvest Fast Day

Friday 9th October
11am: Listen to our live talk about the latest on our coronavirus response.
6pm: Our Harvest Fast Day livestreamed Mass.12pm:

Saturday 10th October
Its lunch time! Join our Global Food Family Event from your own kitchen.
7pm: Join us for the ultimate Family Fast Day online quiz!

Sunday 11th October
10am: Children's Liturgy Live - Harvest Special.
Please visit: www.cafod.org.uk

Various inspiring and heart warming items and pictures to reflect on:

The Redemptorists have started a new newsletter initiative on the theme of 'Pilgrimage'. Subscribers to the newsletter will receive a series of emails which reflect on several different Pilgrimage routes - the Camino de Santiago, the Via Dolorosa, the Malvern Hills and more. Each email will contain interesting stories, opportunity for reflection and points of inspiration, to inspire us, to reflect on ourselves, our intentions and the world around us and to take us on a spiritual journey of discovery.

Click on the image above to sign up for the emails.

There are several items of interest available from the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

New resources now available include:

 The Liverpool Catholic website also has up to date information on the Church's Policy regarding Coronavirus and lots of other useful information.

 

September 1st to October 4th is recognised as Creation Time, when Christians throughout the world join in a time of prayer and reflection in an effort to raise awareness of the human impact on our planet and make efforts to resolve the devastating effect we can have. Click on the image above or see below for more information.

Download the Season of Creation 2020 Prayer Card

 

 

CREATION TIME REFLECTION: What does the destruction of biodiversity mean? Fr Sean McDonagh
During the past few decades human devastation of nature has caused the end of the Cenozoic (new life period) which began 65 million years ago. We have now entered the Anthropocene or Human Epoch because of the massive changes humans have made on terrestrial and marine ecosystems. At present, we are living in the sixth major extinction of life since life began on earth 3.8 billion years ago. The last time something similar happened was at the end of the end of the Mesozoic period 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs were wiped out. As a species we need to educate ourselves about the impact of our wasteful, industrial societies and, most of all we need to urgently devise strategies and lifestyles which will allow us to live in a more sustainable way with the rest of creation. Every group in society, including politicians, economists, industrialists, farmers, people and religious people will need to be involved in shaping this sustainable lifestyle. It is a gigantic task, but essential if we are to leave a beautiful, vibrant and fruitful planet to future generations.

Follow the links below to find resources to support your efforts to be more environmentally aware:

 

Times of Masses.
Welcome back to Mass. If you are attending please read and follow all the guidelines in all the churches that are open. Please do take note of the stewards who are there to help. It is for your safety and for everyone else’s safety that we have to do this at this time.

Holy Family, Boothstown – Sunday at 9.30am
St Ambrose Barlow, Astley - Saturday 6pm & 11am. Follow this link for more information about Sunday Masses in St Margaret Clitherow Parish
All Saints, Golborne – Saturday at 5pm & Sunday at 10.30am.
St.Lewis’, Croft – Sunday at 9am.
St.Joseph’s, Leigh – Saturday at 4.30pm & Sunday at 9.30am. Follow this link for more information about Celebrating Mass together again in St Edmund Arrowsmith Parish
Sacred Heart, Leigh - Sunday at 11.00am
Sacred Heart, Hindley Green – Saturday at 5pm & Sunday at 10.30am.

It is great to see so many at the 9.30 Mass at St Joseph's but we are slowly starting to reach our full capacity. There is still plenty of room at the 4.30pm Mass and there is also plenty of room at the weekday Mass on Wednesdays. I know that the Sunday Mass is so precious to us but the miracle of the Mass is the same whichever day we celebrate it on. I ask you to consider this as I would not like to turn anyone away from Mass because we have reached our full capacity. Fr Kieran.

MORE STEWARDS NEEDED!!!! As we are now operating four Masses a week, there is a need for several more volunteers to help with the essential task of stewarding at Mass and a short time of wiping down benches and surfaces after Masses or services. This is especially the case for the Saturday evening Mass. If you are under 70 and have no underlying health issues please volunteer to help. Your parish needs YOU. Many thanks, Fr Paul

We are beginning to look at booking baptisms from September. At this time no decision has been made with regards to First Holy Communion celebrations. Fr Paul will be in touch with these families in the near future to look at potential times to safely and suitably celebrate this special time with our children.

Most weeks there may well be a number of feast days. We don’t necessarily celebrate them all. Some saints are more important in certain parts of the country than others and will be celebrated more on a local level, whilst other saints will be celebrated everywhere. So each week we will comment on the feast-days that we should celebrate in our regional Church.

Tuesday September 29th – Feast of the Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel & St. Raphael.
Pope Gregory the Great once wrote, “When angels come to minister to us, even the names by which we know them are taken from their ministry. Michael means “Who is like God”, Gabriel means “strength in God”, and Raphael means “Healing of God”.”

Wednesday September 30th – St.Jerome.
St.Jerome was born on the Adriatic Coast in 342. Studying in Rome he travelled to Gaul, returning home to live an ascetic life. About 370 he went to Palestine, later settling in the Syrian Desert as a hermit for about five years. Returning to Antioch he was ordained priest, spending some time in Constantinople. He later settled in Jerusalem where he ruled a newly founded monastery and devoted the rest of his life to study and writing, his greatest achievement being the translation of the Bible into Latin, which took him 30 years to complete.

Thursday October 1st – St.Theresa of the Child Jesus.
Born in 1873, St.Theresa of Lisieux was a French Carmelite nun who never did anything extraordinary but who performed every element of the austere Carmelite life extraordinarily well. In 1895 she suffered from a haemorrhage, which was the first sign of tuberculosis which was to kill her two years later. She suffered heroically in silence and would have probably remained unknown if she had not, under obedience to her superiors, written a short spiritual autobiography entitled “The Story Of A Soul”. Her “Little Way” was one of simplicity and self-forgetfulness but at the same time one of complete obedience. Theresa was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II. St.Theresa once wrote, “For me prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward Heaven; it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

Friday October 2nd – Feast of the Guardian Angels.
In recent times there has been a resurgence of interest in angels and in all things spiritual. Today’s feast celebrates the goodness of God to his people as seen in the care shown to us by all the angels of Heaven. Each one of us are called to be angels to each other and ambassadors for God.

In these difficult times we cannot give financial support as normal. We still need your support, so if it is possible for you, you can bring your donation to Church when we are open, or you can put your offering through the letterbox at Sacred Heart, St Joseph’s, Holy Family or St Richard's (Please remember to put your Gift Aid number on the envelope if you are signed up for Gift Aid), or you may want to set up a standing order, the bank details are as follows:

HSBC 99-101 Lord St, Liverpool, L2 6PG sort code 40-29-12 account No. 51545205.

Online giving website:
The Archdiocesan online giving website is now ready to be used and can receive both one-off and regular monthly donations. Each parish has its own unique link on the website and a church photograph is shown to provide additional reassurance to donors that they are donating to their parish. All donations will go to the parish selected by the donor. There is a Gift Aid option.
There is a detailed guide on how to donate on the website. If any parishioners would like support with this, please contact. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with name and telephone number and we will endeavour to call to assist as quickly as possible.

The links for the various parishes are:

St Margaret Clitherow : https://donate.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/st-margaret-clitherow-boothstown
St John Rigby : https://donate.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/st-john-rigby-atherton
St Edmund Arrowsmith’s: https://donate.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/st-edmund-arrowsmith-leigh

Making an offering to the parish by text message:

Recent Articles which may be of interest:

Useful Links

Yemen Appeal

New School Year

Prayer for the People of Beirut

St Vincent de Paul Society

Macauley's Yemen Appeal

Yemen article

Prayer for Yemen

Bishop Vincent Malone R.I.P.

Communications Sunday

Reporting Abuse

May, the month of Mary

Some resources for families who would like to celebrate the Liturgy of the Word with their children.

Martin at Ten: Ten is making available for free their daily prayers resources: https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary-subscription/prayers-for-home/daily-prayers-for-home/ and their Family Liturgy for Sundays: https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary-subscription/prayers-for-home/sunday-liturgy-for-families/

The God who Speaks now have a section on the Word at home: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/events/the-god-who-speaks/word-at-home/

CAFOD has several useful items to use with children -  updated weekly