NEWSLETTER SUNDAY 3rd Feb 2008

Please pray for all the sick in the hospital and in our parish including:

Kitty Stubbs, Bertha Appleton, Flo Mullen, Christopher Brown, Jimmy Carson, Christine McDonald, Dennis Lynch, Joe Donkin, Olive Atkinson, Nora Gallagher, Ethel Fagan, Denise Calvert, Ken Hutchinson, Andrea Saward, Paul Tulloch, Jan Buckley, Lucy Mole, Bishop Kevin and Metropolitan Mar Makarios.



 

Please remember in your prayers the following priests of the diocese whose anniversaries occur during the week:

THE CYCLE OF PRAYER– Lent

During Lent we are asked to pray for these intentions: Candidates for the sacraments; Women; The Needy and Hungry of the World; Penitents and Wanderers.

ALTAR SERVERS
All Altar Servers are asked to collect a copy of their new rata from St. Cuthbert's Chapel this weekend. We would like to ask their parents to please help them to keep to the rota.

LENT
Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting and Abstinence or other act of self-denial. Ashes will be distributed at Mass which will be celebrated at 7.00 p.m. During Lent church will open on Tuesday afternoons from 1.30 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. for private reflection and Stations of the Cross. Stations of the Cross will also be celebrated at 3.00 p.m. every. Friday afternoon. On Sundays there will be a Lenten devotion at 4.00 p.m. Next Sunday Sister Anne McCarthy will lead us in a Lenten Meditation.

WALK WITH ME
To help us reflect during Lent we again have copies of "Walk With Me" - a Lenten Journey of prayer for 2008. This booklet has a reflection and prayers for everyday in Lent. Please take one from the back of church - They are free!

MASS PREPARATION GROUP
There is a meeting of the Mass Preparation Group on Monday evening after Mass. We will be preparing the liturgies for the first 4 Sundays of Lent. All are welcome to come along and see how we prepare and to make your own contribution as how we can make the celebration of Mass more meaningful.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNIONS
There is a meeting for parents of children preparing for First Holy Communion this year, on Wednesday 6th February after 7pm Mass (Ash Wednesday). Next weekend the children will be enrolled on to the programme at both Masses. Please remember to pray for the children and their families.

HOLY FAMILY 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Holy Family Parish are celebrating their 40th Anniversary on Saturday 9th February with a party in their parish hall. Admission is by ticket and we have ten. If you want to go please see Father Gordon. It is "first come first served".

On 11th February the Holy Family will be celebrating 40 years since its dedication. Many people will have fond memories of the church and Holy Family Parishioners felt that they should celebrate this occasion. All are welcome to the celebration Mass on 10th February at 11.00 a.m. It would be lovely to see old faces and new.

FAIR TRADE
Next weekend we have our first Fair Trade stall of 2008. Bring a little extra money with you and help our brothers and sisters in the developing world to help themselves.

YOUTH MINISTRY CO-ORDINATOR
St Michael's Deanery (Washington/Houghton area) is advertising for a Youth Ministry Co-ordinator to help inspire and encourage young people there. Closing date for applications is 25th February. For more details see the advert on the notice-board at the back of church and phone 234 3300.
 

LOURDES JUBILEE YEAR

On the 11th day of February in 1858 Bernadette Soubirous saw a beautiful lady in the Grotto at Massabielle in Lourdes.  The lady smiled at Bernadette and held her arms towards her.  Bernadette knelt down and began to say the Rosary.  The lady let her own rosary slip through her fingers as Bernadette prayed.  The only words the lady uttered were the words of the Gloria Pater.  The 11th February is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and it is also World Day of Prayer for the Sick.  Perhaps we could all say the Rosary on that day for all who are sick.

HELPERS REQUIRED
Volunteers are required to be helpers at Holy Island Camp. Children from the Diocese are taken there each year for a fantastic holiday, but we desperately need helpers who can act at role models for the children. Anyone interested please contact Sister Mary Josepha on ( or Barbara Taws on ( for application forms or more information.

THE MIKADO
St. Anthony's opera are performing Gilbert & Sullivan's the Mikado from Tuesday, 12th February-Thursday, 14th February at 7.30pm in Our Lady's Hall. Tickets are available from the school. For more information please see the notice at the back of church.

LIVESIMPLY
This week as we listen to the Beatitudes in the St. Matthews Gospel we return to the livesimply project, which will now run at least until April 2009. Livesimply calls on us to look hard at our lifestyles, and to choose to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor just as we are called to do in the Beatitudes. The idea that God calls us to live simply is radical, and in direct contrast to what Western society demands of us - to earn more and more in order to consume on an ever grander scale.

Living simply in this sense is not just about money: many people, both in our own country and of course in the developing world, are forced to live very simple lives due to their economic circumstances. Instead, this is a challenge to reflect, celebrate and take action in order to work for justice, and to be happier in ourselves as a result. It's about identifying what we need rather than grasping for more - sharing rather than hoarding and there is no better time to do this than in Lent.

"God intended the earth and everything in it for the use of all human beings and peoples" states Pope Paul VI, an assertion as politically challenging today as it was four decades ago when it was written. Some of its messages can be very hard for us to hear, even as charitable and well-meaning individuals. How does this statement from St Ambrose make us feel, for example? "You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor, but you are giving back what is theirs ... You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone." The livesimply project aims to bring such vital moral reflections to life in the Church today. In 1967, Pope Paul VI looked at the great challenges of the age and what the Church should be doing about them. It is urgent for us to do the same for our own times.

The Encyclical "On the Development of Peoples" is a clarion call for us to live a new kind of life, in a spirit of solidarity with the community, motivated by faith.

 

POLISH MASS  

Mass in Polish will be celebrated at 4 pm on the 4th Sunday of every month in St. Benet’s Church Sunderland.  Confessions before at 3.30 pm.  Refreshments after Mass in the Parish Hall.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Today: 4th Sunday Ordinary Time:

Monday:

Mass Preparation Group Meeting after Mass

Ash Wednesday:

7.00 p.m. Mass and distribution of Ashes

7.30 p.m. Meeting for 1st Communion Parents

Friday:

3.00 p.m. Stations of the Cross
7.00 p.m. Indian Prayer Group

Saturday:

1.00p.m. El Shaddai

5.00p.m. Prayer Meeting

Sunday: 1st Sunday of Lent

4.00 p.m. Lenten Meditation led by Sister Anne McCarthy
 

Rotas week ending 9th/10th Feb 2008