18th Sunday of the Year (A)


 

Fr Paul's Sunday Reflection

Macauley's Yemen Appeal (see Yemen article below)

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

18th Sunday of the Year (A)


First Reading – Isaiah 55:1-3.
The Lord invites us to come to him and live out his Word in our lives each day.

Second Reading – Romans 8:35,37-39.
Nothing can ever come between ourselves and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Reading – Matthew 14:13-21.
Jesus feeds all those who come to him to listen to his Word.



Archdiocesan Sunday Reflections and hymns

“Motivated by the guiding principle of Christian charity, we seek to find those in need, to help them in a spirit of justice and to tackle poverty where we can.”

Our aim is to tackle poverty in all its forms through the provision of practical assistance to those in need.

The concept of need is broader than financial hard-ship, so visiting people who are sick, lonely, in prison, or suffering from addiction is also a significant proportion of our work. The essence of our work is person-to-person contact and spending time with people is our greatest gift.

Our 10,000 volunteer members, motivated by their faith, are committed to meaningful and long term befriending. Inspired by the message of the Gospels they seek and find those in need and offer them sincere friendship. They visit them in their homes, in hospital and in care homes on a regular basis and offer additional practical support such as food, furniture or financial help where needed.

We offer friendship and practical help to all we visit, without regard to faith, ethnicity, status or sexual orientation. As we visit people in their homes we have strict safeguarding policies and procedures and all visiting members must hold a DBS certificate.

The St Vincent de Paul Society (S.V.P.) in our parish has continued through the pandemic to work and come to the aid of people in need. They have not been able to hold any collections, so if you would like to contribute to their essential voluntary work, please put your donation in an envelope marked S.V.P. and take it to St Joseph’s church where it will be passed onto the S.V.P. Thank you for your generosity.

Many of you will have seen the terrible situation in the Yemen on the TV News recently. Thousands of innocent people are caught in the middle of the war over there and are stranded. many of them have had to flee to other countries where they have not always been welcomed. Apart from the war they, like ourselves, are facing a Pandemic and are trying to satay safe in such difficult circumstances. Many of these people area children. How do you stay safe in a war torn country or as a refugee?


One of the young people from the local area, Macauley, is doing a charity run very soon to raise much needed funds for the plight of the children in Yemen. Please help him by visiting his "fund giving" page - the link is below, and help the needs of these children who are greatly at risk in these difficult times.

Macauley's Yemen Appeal

Prayer for Yemen

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.

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

St Edmund Arrowsmith Newsletters

Sts John Rigby & Margaret Clitherow Newsletters (new joint newsletter from 1st September 2019)

St Lewis, St Catherine's & All Saints Newsletters

(Sacred Heart, Hindley Green Newsletters (to 4th August 2019)

 

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

 

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.

 

18th Sunday of the Year (A)

Reflect

In today's Gospel we hear the miracle of the loaves and the fishes which are used to feed a vast crowd of people to the full with food left over.

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.

Download this information as a pdf

View a short video of what to expect

What to expect

Before you arrive You should avoid bringing any unnecessary items into church, e.g. shopping bags, as you will not be returning to your seat once you have received Holy Communion.
You should stay at home if you are unwell. People who are vulnerable or who feel unsure about returning to Mass need to consider the wisdom of doing so.
Remember the Sunday obligation has not been reinstated and livestreaming of Masses will continue.
You will need to bring your own face covering. All people entering church must wear a face covering at all times.

When you arrive

You will be welcomed by a volunteer steward and you may be asked to give your contact details.
You must adhere to social distancing guidelines in place.
Baskets will be available at the entrance (and exit) for your weekly envelopes or other contributions.
You will be directed to the hand sanitiser.
You will be directed to a bench. It may not be where you usually sit.
Toilets will remain closed at all times except for a genuine emergency.
The piety stall will be closed.
Any children accompanying you must do the same.

Times of Masses.
Many of you will know that SOME churches are re-opening for services. This will depend on the advice of the Archbishop’s Council. At the moment we are only allowed to re-open ONE Church in each Parish. This means that in the Leigh Deanery we will be re-opening five churches. They are listed below. Numbers will be limited, because we will still have to adhere to self-distancing rules and regulations. The liturgy of the Mass may have to change slightly to reflect the need for safety. Please read and follow all the guidelines in all the churches that are open. 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 9am & 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, Hindley Green – Saturday at 5pm & Sunday at 10.30am.

This is only a temporary list of Mass times. At present, due to the fact that this whole situation is so unprecedented, we have no idea how many people will wish to attend Mass. We may need more Masses or we may need less. If you turn up for Mass you may find that you cannot get in. we simply cannot guarantee a place in church at this time since numbers will be limited due to social distancing.

As you may be able to notice from Archdiocesan guidelines, the Sunday obligation of attending Mass does not apply at present, so we may put on more Masses during the week at which we will celebrate the Sunday Liturgy.

If you attend Church please do follow the guidelines and seek the help of those present. Please bring a face-mask with you if you have one. The liturgy will be different and, because of social distancing at this time, the Mass may well be shorter. You will be receiving Holy Communion as you leave the Church itself. Social distancing must be maintained at all times. This is for your safety and the safety of those around us.

We will need more people to help in the future – especially those churches not yet open. If you feel you are in a position to help then please contact one of the priests as soon as possible.

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 August 4th – St.John Vianney.
Born near Lyon, the son of a farmer, he was a shepherd on his father’s farm with very little schooling. At the age of 20 he began studies for the priesthood. Finding studies difficult, especially Latin, he was nevertheless admitted to holy orders because he was known to be so very devout. In 1817 he became Parish Priest of Ars-en-Dombe, a remote and unimportant village of about 250 inhabitants. He spent the rest of his life there. He excelled at preaching and counselling. His insight into persona difficulties seems to have been helped by supernatural gifts of reading the secrets of hearts. Every day John preached at 11ma. Just before his death, when visitors were reputed to number about 20,000 per year, he often spent as much as 16 hours a day hearing Confessions. He is patron of all the priests of the world.
 
Thursday August 6th – Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
On this day we celebrate the famous moment when Jesus, in full view of his disciples, was transfigured on Mount Tabor. According to the Gospel, his clothes became a brilliant white, as he welcomed into his presence Moses and Elijah, who represented both the Law and the Prophets. The disciples wanted to stay there. But Jesus knew he had to face his Passion in Jerusalem. Even today 1000s of people travel to Mount Tabor to the shrine built on the scene of the Transfiguration.

Saturday August 8th – St.Dominic.
Born in Spain, St.Dominic became a priest in the late 12th Century. As he travelled through France he encountered many heresies which he tried to counteract. However, because he travelled on horseback and stayed at the best hotels and inns, the locals were not impressed by him. So Dominic, along with three Cistercians, began a more modest way of living and preaching according to the Gospel values. He continued this work for over 10 years and brought many people back to the faith. His fellow preachers gradually became a community, and in 1215 he founded a religious house at Toulouse, the beginning of the order of preachers, the Dominicans as we know them today.

 

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:

This section will have details for the most recent links to websites which have been passed on to me or I've come across.

Click on each link to be taken to the relevant site. Older items can still be accessed on the useful links page by clicking here.

CAFOD have produced this assembly for young people by young people from around the world, detailing how coronavirus is impacting on their lives and how they are dealing with it

Tearfund has an article which highlights the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has also brought out some of the best of humanity. You can read the paper here 

Recent Articles which may be of interest:

Bishop Vincent Malone R.I.P.

Communications Sunday

Reporting Abuse

May, the month of Mary

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

Archbishop Malcolm invites us to pray together with him through these times:
God Our Father,
each person is precious to You.
You are the Giver of life.
Have mercy on us and protect us at this time,
as the coronavirus threatens health and life.
You are an ever-present Helper in time of trouble.
Watch over those who are suffering,
give strength to those who are aiding the sick
and give courage to all in this time of anxiety.
We ask this of you in the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ.
Amen.

 

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