MASS INTENTIONS THIS WEEK – Both parishes

Parishioners

Andrew Carter RIP

Martin O’Connor RIP

A Speedy Recovery from an Operation (CW)

Patricia Bowen RIP

Michael Anthony Kelly RIP

 

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
OUR LADY’S and Ss PETER & PAUL’S – No Masses or services.  Church can no longer open for private prayer.  Fr Anders will continue to say Mass for the intentions listed above.

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This Week
Ministry	E. Minister	Reader
Saturday
Sunday

Next Week
Ministry	E. Minister	Reader
Saturday
Sunday

 

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JOINT PARISH NEWSLETTER

THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL REFLECTION: John 10: 1-10 – I am the gate of the sheepfold
Gates play a large part in scripture, both practically and metaphorically. The gates in ancient cities were strongly built and strongly guarded; they marked the vulnerable areas of a city’s defences. They were also places of meeting, in particular of the ‘elders’ – the leaders and senior citizens of standing – and therefore were regarded as places of discussion, decision-making, honour and integrity.
In today’s gospel reading Jesus talks about himself as the ‘gate’ of a sheepfold. This is a metaphor that links the role of Jerusalem as ‘the city of God’ and its mystical description in the Book of Revelation as having ‘twelve gates, over which were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’, forerunners of the twelve apostles and the Church.
This heavenly City has no Temple: ‘The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the Temple’. Here the ‘Lamb’ represents Jesus as the Saviour sacrificed for the flock and therefore its head. The Church, one entity, with its Head, is the ‘gate’ to the eternal City – Heaven.
Our Faith on Sunday

READINGS FOR 3 MAY
1st Reading: Acts 2: 36-41 God has made him both Lord and Christ
Psalm 22: The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 2: 20-25: You have come back to the shepherd of your souls
Gospel: John 10: 1-10 I am the gate of the sheepfold
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! I am the Good Shepherd says the Lord; I know my own sheep and my own know me. Alleluia!
Communion antiphon: The Good Shepherd has risen, who has laid down his life for his sheep and willingly died for his flock. Alleluia

WEEKLY LETTER FROM FR ANDERS
Dear Parishioners,
May is traditionally the month for Mary and the rosary – and we need the prayers of our Mother now more than ever. This week, the Universe carries an article based on the Holy Father’s message that Catholics should make a special effort to pray the Rosary, knowing that by doing so they will be united with believers around the world, asking for Mary’s intercession in stopping the coronavirus pandemic.
The Vatican has released a letter by the Pope in which he says, “Contemplating the face of Christ with the heart of Mary, our mother, will make us even more united as a spiritual family and will help us overcome this time of trial.” He adds, “The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this ‘family’ aspect, from a spiritual point of view…. You can decide according to your own situations whether to pray individually, in a family group or in other ‘virtual’ groups.”
Pope Francis has written two prayers to Mary, to be recited at the end of the Rosary and one of them is included in this Newsletter.
Please check the full edition of this week’s Universe on line at www.thecatholicuniverse.com
Mass intentions may still be submitted, so please continue to get in touch on that.
With every prayer and blessing for you and your families this coming week,
Fr G Anders

PRAYER GROUP FOR BOTH PARISHES – FINAL CALL: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst’.
Are you interested in keeping in touch with other parishioners through live prayer group meetings via Zoom?
Prayer has become increasingly important to many people as a result of the stresses and uncertainties we are all facing during this pandemic. We are therefore planning to launch a weekly prayer meeting on Tuesdays from 7.15pm to 7.45pm. If you would like to take part and see what it’s all about, please email either parish office: Our Lady’s = olhct@rcaol.org.uk or St Peter & Paul’s = ssppm@rcaol.org.uk by next Monday 4 May. We will then contact you with further details, some preparatory reading and very importantly, your password and the link for the first of these live, streamed meetings on Tuesday 5 May.

MAKING AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Prayer of St Alphonsus
Alone or together with others in your household
Make the sign of the cross
You could read the Gospel of the day
Then share prayer intentions quietly or aloud
Say the Lord’s Prayer
Then make an Act of Spiritual Communion:
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
Close with the sign of the cross

OFFERTORY COLLECTIONS DURING THE LOCKDOWN
The Archdiocese has now issued a set of guidelines for priests and parishioners.

They advise against offertory envelopes being posted through presbytery doors because this increases the number of non-essential journeys being made by vulnerable people. It also requires the counting and retaining of cash in the presbytery and subsequent trips to banks / post offices – all increasing the likelihood of spreading infection.
The Archdiocese therefore recommends that parishioners who are able to and who wish to continue with their offertory donations can do one of the following:
1. Wait until the crisis is over and then write out one cheque only, payable to the parish, and place in that particular week’s offertory envelope / an envelope with your offertory number on (so that it can be identified for Gift Aid, if appropriate)
2. Take out a standing order with your bank. You will need the parish account name, sort code and account number. Please either email the parish office for this information, or phone the Tarleton presbytery on 01772 812242 and we will send you (mail / email) a Standing Order Mandate form. You may wish to make a monthly payment, rather than a weekly one in this instance.

MASSES ONLINE
Daily Mass can be viewed from Bishop Barron’s Chapel at 1.15pm on You Tube
Locally, there is St Clare’s, Sharoe Green Lane, Fulwood: www.stclares.co.uk which streams Mass daily at 10am. Please follow the easy links on the website.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en Pope Francis
https://www.churchservices.tv/whats-on-now/ Great selection of Masses and other Church services https://www.lourdes-france.org/en/tv-lourdes/ Mass and daily at 2pm, the Rosary in English
https://www.livemass.org Extraordinary Form (1962 Missal)
Sky Channel 588 – for daily Mass at 1pm
Use the website links to EWTN, or the Archdiocese to access daily Masses
On the radio: Catholic Radio Channel 0147
Also, you may wish to try the Pray as you Go phone app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.foxcode.prayasyougo&hl=en

PRAYERS from the Archdiocese, for Stations of the Cross etc: https://www.liverpoolcatholicresources.com/

Please email the Parish Office with details of any other online services you know of that may help parishioners at this very difficult time. We will try to include them in next week’s Newsletter.

 

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER FOR THE END OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

He is asking people to recite the rosary and say this prayer afterwards (a second, much longer prayer is in this week’s Universe – www.the catholicuniverse.com )
O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who, at the foot of the cross
were united with Jesus’ suffering, yet persevered in your faith.
‘Protectress of the Roman people’, you know our needs
and we know that you will provide so that, as at Cana in Galilee,
joy and celebrations may return after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the will of the Father
and to do what Jesus tells us.
For he took upon himself our suffering and burdened himself with our sorrows,
to bring us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen
We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions, in our time of need,
But deliver us always from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin. Amen

Part of the 2nd prayer includes the following invocations:
Beloved Mother, help us to realise that we are all members of one great family, and to recognise the bond that unites us, so that in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity, we can help to alleviate countless situations of poverty and need.
Make us strong in faith, persevering in service, constant in prayer.
Mary, Consolation of the Afflicted, embrace all your children in distress and pray that God will stretch out his all-powerful hand and free us from this terrible pandemic, so that life can serenely resume its normal course.
To you, who shine on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope, do we entrust ourselves, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary.
Amen

CAFOD UP-DATE Emergency Appeal Launch – 30 April
CAFOD launched its coronavirus emergency appeal on 30 April. The effects of coronavirus on developing countries where CAFOD works are likely to be devastating. Families without enough to eat and without access to clean water and healthcare are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. The poorest and most marginalised communities will be pushed further into poverty. Your prayers and gifts are needed now more than ever to help protect the lives of those in poor communities. While we are not able to hold physical collections in our church, you can donate as individuals at www.cafod.org.uk/coronavirusappeal/
OTHER CAFOD INFO
cafod.org.uk/parishes – has a two-minute video message about the appeal
cafod.org.uk/parishes – also provides tips for CHILDREN’S activities
They also have a programme of online talks about their response work as well as a weekly live-streamed Mass and Sunday Children’s Liturgy.

SYNOD 2020
The Synod Office is open for further thoughts and reflections from parishioners, as a consequence of this pandemic and the closure of churches. Your thoughts are most welcome. Please contact the Synod Office and check online materials for this on: https://synod2020.co.uk/themes/proposals/reflections
PLEASE NOTE: THE DEADLINE HAS NOW BEEN EXTENDED TO MONDAY 18 MAY

USEFUL CONTACTS: GETTING HELP – WEST LANCS PARTNERSHIP
Everyone should have received leaflets from WLDC outlining the help and support being offered to vulnerable families and individuals during this crisis.
If you haven’t received anything, then please ring 0800 616 667 between 7am and 7pm.
West Lancs Together can help with food deliveries, collecting prescriptions, financial help, social isolation (loneliness and anxiety).
Other specific helplines include:
Victim /Domestic Abuse – 0300 323 0085
Macmillan Care – 01695 402164
Dial-a-Ride, for wheelchair users – 0845 121 7686
Alzheimer’s Society – 01772 788700
Foodbank referrals – 0800 616 667
Minor injuries requiring medical attention – 01695 402180
Southport A & E; Chorley Hospital, Preston Royal – open as usual

GIVING HELP
Some parishioners and their friends / family have been – and still are – helping to shop for food for those who are vulnerable, as well as collecting prescriptions for them. If you know of a neighbour or friend who needs this sort of help, please contact Diane on 01772 815508. For more specialist help, please contact WLDC – see above.
Make a Scrub Bag!
Another way of helping is to provide ‘scrub’ bags for medical staff and care home workers. These can be made from old pillow cases: just fold a hem around the top opening – about 2cm – and machine stitch round. Thread some sewing tape or ribbon through, to make a drawstring. Easy! Again, please contact Diane if you need help with this. She will arrange for collection and distribution around local hospitals, care homes and hospices, where they are in great demand!
Southport churches have made up over 500 bags but many more are still urgently needed, so if you are unable to sew but have spare pillow cases, sewing tape, ribbons (about 2m in length), then please let Diane know and she’ll arrange to collect from you.                                       Thank you in anticipation!

NEWS ITEMS FEATURED IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSE THIS WEEK
• Priests work an ‘on call’ system at London’s Nightingale hospital, which means a great deal to patients and their families.
• The Bishop of Limerick has stressed that in spite of the closure of churches, the Church itself is very much alive: the celebration of sacraments for 1st Communion and confirmation may be postponed, but the Church continues to exist within the family.
• Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, warns that hundreds of people have become homeless during the lockdown. Whilst the Manchester Combined Authority had helped over 1100 homeless, there were still over 100 sleeping rough.
• Prisoners have been tasked with making PPE for British hospital workers. Inmates at eight jails are starting to make scrubs and face masks. They charge just £5 a set as opposed to £15 being charged on the open market.
• The Holy Father prays particularly for teachers and students, as the lockdown hits education at a crucial time in young people’s lives.
• VE Day: remembering and honouring those who fought in – and perished in – the Second World War on the 75th anniversary.
• Stay active, with challenging daily exercises, which will give your immune system a much-needed boost. Exercise is also good for mental as well as physical well-being. Getting stuck in to a couple of hours of gardening is easily as good for you as a brisk walk round the block – and is hugely rewarding too, of course!

AS ALWAYS, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES OR NEED ANY HELP, PLEASE CONTACT FR ANDERS AT THE PRESBYTERY IN TARLETON ON 01772 812242, OR EMAIL EITHER OFFICE.

WITH EVERY BLESSING FOR THE COMING WEEK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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