20th September – 25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
MASS INTENTIONS THIS WEEK
Saturday 19th 5pm Bernadette Welch RIP
Monday 21st 10am Lucy Glover
Thursday 24th 10am Margaret Riding RIP
Saturday 26th 5pm Parishioners
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MASS TIMES: SATURDAY VIGIL MASS at 5pm PARISH OFFICE: The Parish Office is open on Fridays from 10am to 4pm |
PARISH NEWSLETTER
MASSES THIS WEEK
Monday at 10am
Thursday at 10am followed by Exposition and Benediction
Church will be open Friday 25th September, 11am – 2pm, for visits to the Blessed Sacrament
Saturday 19th September 2pm – wedding service of Leo Thomas Bolton and Amy Louise Rowland
SECOND COLLECTION: HOME MISSIONS
There will be a second collection for Evangeli Gaudium (Home Missions) this Saturday 19th September.
MASS COUNT
The annual Mass count will take place this week on 19th September, and then on 26th September and 3rd, 10th October.
CONFESSIONS
Next confessions: last Saturday of the month – Saturday 26th September: 4.15pm to 4.45pm
READINGS FOR 20 SEPTEMBER
1st Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9, My thoughts are not your thoughts.
Psalm 145: The Lord is close to all who call him.
2nd Reading: Phillipians 1:20-24,27, For to me, to live is Christ.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 20:1-16, Do you begrudge my generosity
SAINTS’ DAYS AND FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK
19th September – St Januarius, St Theodore of Canterbury
21st September – St Matthew
23rd September – St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
24th September – Our Lady of Walsingham
26th September – St Cosmas and St Damian
CAFOD Family Fast Day
Family Fast Day is on October 2nd. The theme this year is helping communities to grow food and provide water, so that children can go to school healthy and able to learn. Envelopes for your contributions will be given out next week and collected on 3rd October. Please gift aid if possible.
MISSION BOXES
Anyone with a mission box that needs emptying can leave it in the narthex for collection, or ring Sandra Cobham on 01704 821609 to arrange collection. There are also Autumn 2026 Missio magazines and World Mission Sunday prayer cards in the narthex – please help yourself.
POPE’S PRAYER INTENTION FOR SEPTEMBER: For the care of water.
Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone might have equal access to it.
It is also the Season of Creation until 4th October. Pope Leo is urging all people to turn away from war and environmental destruction through a conversion of heart that brings healing to the human family and the earth.
CAFOD school volunteers needed!
Could you visit your local Catholic school to talk about the work of CAFOD? We are looking for volunteers to deliver school assemblies and workshops and inspire children and young people to make a difference and take action. For further information please contact Anna Letizia on 07710 094449 or email aletizia@cafod.org.uk
MAGNIFICAT
Now is a good time to buy a yearly subscription to Magnificat. It is published monthly, offering 13 issues a year, and works out at just over £5 a month, at £69 pa. Offer valid until 31st October 2026.
For each day, it contains the readings and prayers for Mass, with a meditation from the great spiritual writers of the Church throughout history, and prayers for morning and evening, inspired by the Liturgy of the Hours. You will also find the lives of the saints, articles on spiritual topics by contemporary writers, prayers at night, hymns, reflections and an essay on a great example of Christian art in each issue.
Please email magnificat@catholicherald.co.uk
ROAD CLOSURE
United Utilities have advised that there will be a road closure on Dark Lane between 7th September and 9th October.
CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST – PRAY FOR PEACE
God of peace, bearer of hope, we seek your help for the peoples of the Middle East. Quiet the clamour of war, and guide us towards peace. Where there is hatred and division, sow seeds of calm and openness. Where there is destruction, help us to rebuild. Where children are crying, bring an end to tears. Shelter your peoples and protect them. Guide them and keep them from harm. Show us how to break down the barriers of history and fear and breathe whispers of hope. Amen.
Linda Jones/CAFOD
APPLICATIONS FOR BISHOP RAWSTORNE ACADEMY
One of the entry requirements of C of E schools requires evidence of the commitment of one of the parents or guardians of the prospective pupil to the Christian faith, ie fortnightly worship for a period of at least one year. Please note that the Church is contacted to verify attendance for the year preceding entry. So, for pupils hoping to enter in September 2028, the period of assessment starts on 1 Sept 2026.
This means that unfortunately, anyone hoping that their child will be admitted to Bishop Rawstorne next September (ie 2027) has missed the deadline. Please pass this info on to parishioners who may not always manage to see the newsletter – which is on the website every week. Please check the school’s website for further details: https://bishopr.co.uk/parents/admissions
CHURCH FLOWERS
We’re always grateful to our flower arrangers, Ann & Tony, who make sure our church is filled with beautiful flower arrangements every week. Many of the flowers are sourced from their garden and also the grounds of the church, but inevitably many flowers also need to be bought and this incurs costs. Any donations therefore are particularly welcome and will help to ensure that our altars continue to provide a fitting tribute to Our Lord.
OFFERTORY ENVELOPES / GIFT AID / STANDING ORDERS!
If you are a taxpayer then you can easily help the parish to claim 25% extra on top of every donation you make – and it won’t cost you a penny! Eg: a donation of £10 per week would result in £12.50 going to the church. If you are able to use gift aid, please collect a form from the porch on your way out today, and return it to the Parish Office asap.
If you are a taxpayer who makes regular cash donations, please consider using an offertory envelope instead of just placing your ‘loose’ donations in the basket. This is really important: it can bring in more than £1000 to the church every year, as we’ll be able to claim gift aid directly on every donation you make. It won’t cost you anything at all, but it will make a huge difference to our finances.
Please contact the Parish Office if you’d like to use envelopes – they are free!
Even better – you can donate ‘painlessly’ each month by setting up a standing order with your bank. Forms are available in the porch.
DON’T FORGET! PARISH FOODBANK – DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME
Thank you for donations already received, which have been taken to the foodbank centre at St Mary’s in Leyland. They are particularly short of tinned pasta, tinned meat / fish and puddings.
Please check that donations are well before their BB date!
Thank you all for your kind-hearted generosity. It makes such a big difference.
CATHOLIC PICTORIAL
Keeping you up to date with all the news from around the Archdiocese online: www.catholicpic.co.uk
Postal subscriptions are available: 3 issues = £9.50, 6 issues = £19 and 12 issues = £37.50.
Email enquiries@cpmmmedia.com or ring 0151 709 7567.
Digital copies are also available. Please use the phone number / email address above.
MASS INTENTONS
Mass intentions are welcome, not just for our dear departed, but for any other occasion eg in thanksgiving, successful outcome (exams / operation), wedding / anniversary blessings. Please write your name and intention, with the preferred date – if applicable – on a piece of paper and place in an envelope, along with your offering, either in the weekly offertory basket or through the presbytery door. It may not be possible to guarantee the specific date requested, for various reasons, however, every effort will be made to find a date as near as possible.
THE UNIVERSE CATHOLIC WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS
These are available to order directly from the publisher (www.thecatholicuniverse.com or call Michelle on 0743 661 7650. It can be posted to you each week. A 3 months print subscription is £42.00 – 6 months is £75.00 and the year at £140.00.
WITH EVERY BLESSING FOR ALL PARISHIONERS FOR THE NEXT WEEK