URGENT APPEAL FOR MEDICAL HELP. The next annual pilgrimage to Lourdes by Jumbulance marks the 25th anniversary since I became Group Leader of the Chester Group. Sadly, one of my nurses has had to withdraw and so I urgently require a replacement – or we cannot travel.
Chester Across Group urgently require another nurse (or Doctor) to travel overland to Lourdes by Jumbulance. The latter is literally a Jumbo-Ambulance with seven beds, an accessible toilet and kitchen. Now in our 25th year, sadly, one of our nurses has withdrawn so another is needed. Dates: Thu 30th August to Sat 8th Sept. Cost. Nurses are asked to pay half price – £400 – but we do fundraising to subsidise anyone who cannot afford to pay the full amount.
For further information please contact Group Leader Tony Murphy on 07881-656-974 or by email tonymurphyefc2002@yahoo.co.uk See Poster on notice board at back of church for details.
‘Following on from our successful Tuesday night Grace Group, we’re looking to start another all-female Cell Group on Wednesday evenings, starting late September. Initially meeting every week for 6 weeks, we’ll be studying the book of Esther while loving, encouraging and supporting each other through this amazing adventure called faith! If you’re interested and would like to know more, please contact Claire Griffiths on 07985 312 703.’
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, 15th July 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: SOMETHING MISSING?
Holy Trinity Church and St Mark’s were the two oldest parishes in the town. They dated back to early Victorian times and had seen some changes over the years. Trinity became the established centre-of-town parish while St Mark’s had seen its population dwindle as houses were knocked down to make way for new developments.
Trinity prided itself on its worship. It was a beautiful piece of architecture and it lent itself well to the 32 voice mixed choir that provided both inspiration and entertainment at the Sunday liturgy attended loyally by many of the older families of the town. The parish had been blessed over the years with zealous clergy who were meticulous in their presentation of worship and in their high standards of preaching. When the bell started to toll at 10.50 every Sunday morning you could feel a sense of expectation until the moment when at 11 o’clock a parade of colour, candles, incense and servers was greeted by the opening hymn. During the week there were faith-sharing meetings, as well as an active youth group, a choir practice and a bell ringers’ club.
St Mark’s had no bell but oddly enough provided an 11 o’clock service too. Liturgy was not its strongpoint and it was a more straightforward affair, a priest with no servers, a guitar group to accompany the music and a well-crafted sermon. It too had its share of loyal supporters many of whom were involved in the parish outreach to asylum seekers. The St Mark’s drop-in centre had its critics but managed to feed about 20 people every lunchtime and to offer a bed to a dozen or so each night in the parish hall. Like Trinity Church it too was active in local ecumenical schemes and enjoyed good relations with other Christian Churches. In addition it was in the early stages of training parishioners to form teams for a “Faith on the Streets” programme that the parish deacon was leading.
The last sentence of the first reading had just been read in both churches: “Go, prophesy to my people Israel”. The priest and people in both parishes felt somewhat uneasy when they heard it. Something was missing.
| Fifteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 15th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Eddie & Maria Fryer 25th Wedding Annv Ints
James Jones RIP Prayer Meeting |
||
| Monday | 16th | 9.15am | Stuart Burrows RIP | ||
| Tuesday | 17th | 10.30am | Funeral Mass –
Patrick Clancy |
||
| Wednesday | 18th | 9.15am | Ints Sisters of Charity | ||
| Thursday | 19th | 7.30am | Ints Forshaw & Parr Fams | ||
| Friday | 20th | 9.15am | Maurice Maher RIP | ||
| Saturday | 21st | 10.00am | Carmel Mass | ||
| Sixteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 22nd | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Chris Sarson RIP
St John’s Parishioners Prayer Meeting |
||
| Confessions | Saturday 4.15-4.45pm | ||||
| Morning Prayer | 15 minutes before daily Masses | ||||
Fr Frank Rice is now resident in a nursing home in West Kirby. Because of Fr Frank’s condition visits are not encouraged at this stage but he does ask for a remembrance in your daily prayers.
Welcome to Fr Anselm Atkinson OSB the Abbot of Pluscarden Monastery in Scotland who is on leave this week visiting his mother, Audrey, one of our housebound parishioners.
Fr Anselm will be celebrating the 9.15am Mass on Wednesday and Friday.
Catenians: Paul Davenport, the President of the Birkenhead Circle, will be saying a few words at the end of both Masses this weekend about the work of the Catenian Association and how you can support it.
Money Matters: Thank you for last weekend’s Offertory collection which amounted to
£497.32p.
Thank you for your donations to the Peter’s Pence collection which amounted to £253.14p
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new. If you would like to join the Tea/Coffee rota, please have a word with Noelene Evans or Fr Bernard.
Lately Dead: Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Patrick Clancy whose Funeral Mass will be held here at St John’s this Tuesday 17th July at 10.30am. May he and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Deadline for National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress Adoremus 7th-9th September: Booking to hear the inspirational Bishop Robert Barron from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles USA on Saturday 8th September and the 9.30am Pilgrimage Mass on Sunday
9th September will be taken until Tuesday
31st July. Please see Fr Bernard. Tickets and delegate packs will be posted to delegates in mid-August. For further details
www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org follow the Adoremus link
Thank you to Deacon Mike and to the members of the Bereavement Group for arranging a lovely service last Thursday evening and thank you to the individuals and families who came to remember their loved one and the recently deceased of St John’s Parish.
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Monday 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet. Everyone is warmly invited.
Canon Brendan Hoban is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood this summer. A Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at Christ the King Bromborough at 7.00pm on Friday 20th July. All are warmly welcome.
Parish Day Out to Southport on Wednesday 25th July. Leave from outside Church at 10am prompt return by 5pm.There is a signup sheet on the table at the back of church. Please enter your name and the number of seats you will require for the day.
Our Schools finish this week for their summer break. I will be celebrating a whole school Mass in St John’s Junior School on Tuesday morning (Fr Paschal will be celebrating the Funeral Mass in Church) and on Wednesday afternoon I will be celebrating Mass for our Year 6 Leavers (Fr Anselm will celebrate the usual 9.15am Mass). After a very busy time in all our schools we wish students and staff a great holiday and good weather, coming back refreshed and enthusiastic for the start of a new school year in September. We also think of and offer a prayer for those anxiously awaiting their exam results in August.
URGENT APPEAL FOR MEDICAL HELP. The next annual pilgrimage to Lourdes by Jumbulance marks the 25th anniversary since I became Group Leader of the Chester Group. Sadly, one of my nurses has had to withdraw and so I urgently require a replacement – or we cannot travel.
Chester Across Group urgently require another nurse (or Doctor) to travel overland to Lourdes by Jumbulance. The latter is literally a Jumbo-Ambulance with seven beds, an accessible toilet and kitchen. Now in our 25th year, sadly, one of our nurses has withdrawn so another is needed. Dates: Thu 30th August to Sat 8th Sept. Cost. Nurses are asked to pay half price – £400 – but we do fundraising to subsidise anyone who cannot afford to pay the full amount.
For further information please contact Group Leader Tony Murphy on 07881-656-974 or by email tonymurphyefc2002@yahoo.co.uk See Poster on notice board at back of church for details
Diocesan Vacancies: Senior Trusts & Foundations’ Officer to play a key role in the development and implementation of the Diocesan fundraising activities and those of Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury in order to secure funding for parishes, programme work, project work (and organisational core costs) by assisting with the preparation of funding bid applications.
Diocesan Health & Safety Officer The post holder will act as the key contact for all health & safety matters throughout the Diocese and will co-ordinate health and safety compliance in all Diocesan Departments and Parishes, trading subsidiaries and associated organisations; supporting, training and assisting in developing risk assessments, policies and procedures required to deliver and promote a first class safety culture. This post is suitable for those holding NEBOSH diploma and Chartered Member of MIOSH For more information please visit our website http://www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/about-us/curia/vacancies or send CV to Pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, 8th July 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS:HOW MUCH DID JESUS KNOW?
When Jesus preached in his home synagogue of Nazareth people were amazed. Where did he get this wisdom from? Wasn’t he the just the carpenter’s son?
Now when Jesus lay in the manger at Bethlehem did he know he was the Son of God? When he began his ministry in Galilee did he know he was the Messiah? When he went through his Passion did he know he was God? The answer has to be “no” in all these cases, otherwise the life and death of Jesus is worth nothing more than a fairy tale. For if he knew that he was God then his humanity was never fully tested.
It’s easy to presume that because Christ was God then he knew all things. But God knows all things at once in an instant that never ends: eternity. However, we human beings think in ideas and concepts, and our human thought unravels in time; it takes us a while to grasp and formulate things. That’s why from birth Jesus had to learn from experience and discover the truth of things for himself. He had a clear awareness of his sonship, although he did not have the words to think or express this. This was a consequence of God humbling himself to take on our human nature. Jesus’s own consciousness was wrapped in human limitation.
It can shock people to realise the human limitations of Jesus, for many of us were brought up to think of him as an extension of God’s almighty power. Indeed, his miracles seem to support this way of thinking. Yet the more we look at Jesus the more we realise that, in the person of Christ, God decided to become vulnerable rather than almighty, gentle instead of imperious, tolerant not merciless.
This leaves us with a very different God from the one that’s popularly portrayed. In Jesus we find a God much closer to our way of being than we could ever imagine. We come face to face with God’s own lifestyle, God’s way to be human.
Most who heard his Sabbath sermon couldn’t cope with him and took offence – a prophet despised in his own land who could work no miracles. And what about us? Can we cope with the real Jesus or are will still hankering after a magical God for whom human life presents no problems? Because if we are, then we’re asking for a God who’s not one of us and who can work no miracles either.
| Fourteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 8th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
St John’s Parishioners
Myles Dempsey RIP Prayer Meeting |
||
| Monday | 9th | 9.15am | Lynn Merity 2nd Annv RIP | ||
| Tuesday | 10th | 9.15am | Madge Callaghan
St John’s Yr 2 in Church |
||
| Wednesday | 11th | 9.15am | Patrick England RIP | ||
| Thursday | 12th | 7.30am
7.30pm |
Ints Eileen Kealey
Memorial Service |
||
| Friday | 13th | 9.15am | Ints Canon Brendan Hoban (60th Annv of Ordination) | ||
| Saturday | 14th | ||||
| Fifteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 15th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Eddie & Maria Fryer 25th Wedding Annv Ints
James Jones RIP Prayer Meeting |
||
| Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass
THIS SUNDAY IS A DAY OF SPECIAL PRAYER FOR SEAFARERS WEDNESDAY IS A DAY OF SPECIAL PRAYER FOR EUROPE |
|||||
| Confessions | Saturday 4.15-4.45pm | ||||
| Morning Prayer | 15 minutes before daily Masses | ||||
Money Matters: Thank you for last weekend’s Offertory collection which amounted to £ 596.19p.
Thank you too for your donations to the Peter’s Pence collection and to all those who supported the recent Quiz Night. Next Quiz Night in September.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new. If you would like to join the Tea/Coffee rota, please have a word with Noelene Evans or Fr Bernard.
URGENT APPEAL: At present there are only 2 ladies doing the Altar Flowers and we URGENTLY need help to cover holidays and/or to start a rota. As you can see no experience is necessary, just a love of helping to make the church look nice and welcoming for everyone. Please contact Kath Clements on 334 8272 or Fr Bernard on
645 3314.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Lately Dead: Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Patrick Clancy whose Funeral Mass will be held here at St John’s on Tuesday
17th July at 10.30am. May he and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Deadline for National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress Adoremus 7th-9th September: Booking to hear the inspirational Bishop Robert Barron from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles USA on Saturday
8th September and the 9.30am Pilgrimage Mass on Sunday 9th September will be taken until Tuesday
31st July. Please see Fr Bernard. Tickets and delegate packs will be posted to delegates in mid-August. For further details
www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org follow the Adoremus link
School News: We are coming towards the end of the school year. Year 2 of our Infant School will be leading the 9.15am Mass on Tuesday which will be in the main Church. In the Junior School it has been a very busy time with an OFSTED inspection last week and an RE inspection due this coming week. At St John Plessington Catholic College a Thanksgiving Mass was celebrated during the week to mark the retirement of Margaret Marks as Chair of Governors, John Williams has been appointed as the new Chair of Governors at SJP and
Emily McArdle will become Vice Chair from
1st September. All our schools are grateful for the support they receive from the local parishes especially from those parishioners who freely give of their time as Foundation
Governors and in other voluntary capacities.
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service this Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship. All welcome.
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on
16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet. Everyone is warmly invited.
Canon Brendan Hoban is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood this summer.
A Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at Christ the King Bromborough at 7.00pm on Friday 20th July. All are warmly welcome. Mass at St John’s on Friday,
14th July will be celebrated for his intentions.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
Parish Day Out to Southport on Wednesday 25th July. Leave from outside Church at 10am prompt return by 5pm.There is a sign up sheet on the table at the back of church. Please enter your name and the number of seats you will require for the day.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, 1st July 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: QUALITY OF LIFE
Did you know that they’ve invented some food additives that could keep you living until well past a hundred? All your friends will be dead but at least you’ll still be around with your memories. And scientists have invented a new drug that means you don’t have to eat and drink any more, just three injections a week and two litres of water a day. There are also some pills available that guarantee you’ll die really healthy. Worth trying?
We all want to live; it’s only natural. But what is it that we want to live for? What sort of quality of life do we want? What do we want our days to be filled with?
When Jesus raised people from the dead he added years to their life. But more importantly he added life to their years. For once a person is raised to life in Christ their experience of what life is about and what is on offer can never be the same. To be alive in Christ cannot mean simply living the same life as before, for the life Christ offers is one that is transformed. St Paul was so aware of this that he said, “I live; no, Christ lives in me”. Christian living is about being inhabited, taken over, consumed and hurled into an adventure that sometimes disconcerts but always takes us to the edge of our being. It suspends us in eternity.
So if you’re not excited by life then you’re not living a Christian existence because the life Christ offers is God’s very own. If you don’t appreciate the beauty of God’s world, if you’re not energised by the challenges that face you daily or thrilled at the prospect of meeting new people who themselves are reflections of God’s human imprint, then you may be alive but you’re not living. For life means taking part.
Christian faith takes us off the ventilator and lets us begin breathing with the Spirit’s breath. There is a qualitative difference to Christian life, one that’s not available to those without it. Ours is a blessed existence, one which summons and challenges us to live life to the full in Christ, not to prolong an existence that has been long dead through its dulled deception and disappointment, through its sin and shallowness.
When Jesus raises people from the dead life takes on a new meaning. If not, then it’s probably time for the injections and some more water.
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and 27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website http://www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
Diocesan Vacancies: Senior Trusts & Foundations’ Officer to play a key role in the development and implementation of the Diocesan fundraising activities and those of Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury in order to secure funding for parishes, programme work, project work (and organisational core costs) by assisting with the preparation of funding bid applications.
Diocesan Health & Safety Officer The post holder will act as the key contact for all health & safety matters throughout the Diocese and will co-ordinate health and safety compliance in all Diocesan Departments and Parishes, trading subsidiaries and associated organisations; supporting, training and assisting in developing risk assessments, policies and procedures required to deliver and promote a first class safety culture. This post is suitable for those holding NEBOSH diploma and Chartered Member of MIOSH For more information please visit our website http://www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/about-us/curia/vacancies or send CV to Pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
| Thirteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 1st | 5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm |
Ted Armstrong Annv RIP
Phil & Gerry Topping 60th Wedding Anniversary Ints Prayer Meeting |
||
| Monday | 2nd | 9.15am | Gerard Edwards RIP | ||
| Tuesday | 3rd | 9.15am1.00pm | Ints Margaret Marks
Funeral Service at Landican – Doreen Lillian Byrne |
||
| Wednesday | 4th | 9.15am | Jeanette Wagg RIP | ||
| Thursday | 5th | 7.30am | Ints Sarah Bayliss | ||
| Friday | 6th | 9.30am | Funeral Service –
Rita Ann Oakley |
||
| Saturday | 7th | ||||
| Fourteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 8th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
St John’s Parishioners
Myles Dempsey RIP Prayer Meeting |
||
| Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass | |||||
| Confessions | Saturday 4.15-4.45pm | ||||
| Morning Prayer | 15 minutes before daily Masses | ||||
Money Matters: Thank you for last weekend’s Offertory collection which amounted to £ 546.56p.
Retiring Collection this weekend for Peter’s Pence…
the Pope’s own charity. From then Philippines to India, Central Africa to Bangladesh, Peter’s Pence stands beside the most needy, on the edges of the earth, giving hope where it is needed most. Please give what you can.
Many thanks to those who came to the Parish Quiz Night on Friday. Your support is much appreciated.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
URGENT APPEAL: At present there are only 2 ladies doing the Altar Flowers and we URGENTLY need help to cover holidays and/or to start a rota. As you can see no experience is necessary, just a love of helping to make the church look nice and welcoming for everyone. Please contact Kath Clements on 334 8272 or Fr Bernard on 645 3314.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Lately Dead: Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Doreen Lillian Byrne whose Funeral Service will be held at Landican on Tuesday 3rd July at 1.00pm and Rita Ann Oakley whose Funeral Service will be here at St John’s on Friday 6th July at 9.30am. Also Patrick Clancy’s Funeral Mass will be held here at St John’s on Tuesday 17th July at 10.30am. May they and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
St John Plessington Catholic College has recently been awarded on a number of fronts. This week it was named the Wirral Globe’s Secondary School of the Year. There will be a Thanksgiving Mass celebrated at the college this week to mark the retirement of Margaret Marks as Chair of Governors. Margaret has giving many years voluntary service to SJP and to Catholic Education on the Wirral.
John Williams has been appointed as the new Chair of Governors and Emily McArdle will become Vice Chair from 1st September.
The Parish Pastoral Team meets roughly on a monthly basis…. its minutes are on the designated notice board on the left hand side of the Church. The Pastoral Team’s next meeting is this Thursday 5th July at 7.30pm in the presbytery. If you have any suggestions/ideas for the team to consider please place them in the suggestions box on the table at the back of Church or through the presbytery letterbox.
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service on Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. Invitations have been sent to bereaved families. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship. All welcome.
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on
16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet. Everyone is warmly invited.
Canon Brendan Hoban is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood this summer. A Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at Christ the King Bromborough at 7.00pm on Friday 20th July. All are warmly welcome.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
Parish Day Out to Southport on Wednesday 25th July. Leave from outside Church at
10am prompt return by 5pm.
There is a sign up sheet on the table at the back of church. Please enter your name and the number of seats you will require for the day.
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and 27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website http://www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
ARE YOU A CATHOLIC TEACHER BUT NOT TEACHING IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL? YOUR DIOCESE NEEDS YOU!!! We are holding an informal session on Saturday 30th June at
St Hugh’s Parish Hall, 314 Manchester Road, West Timperley, Altrincham,
WA14 5NB from 10 am – 12 pm, with Mass available at 12.15 pm. If you would like to attend or want further information about returning to Catholic education please e-mail Sue Jenkinson on sue.jenkinson@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
Diocesan Vacancies: Senior Trusts & Foundations’ Officer to play a key role in the development and implementation of the Diocesan fundraising activities and those of Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury in order to secure funding for parishes, programme work, project work (and organisational core costs) by assisting with the preparation of funding bid applications.
Diocesan Health & Safety Officer The post holder will act as the key contact for all health & safety matters throughout the Diocese and will co-ordinate health and safety compliance in all Diocesan Departments and Parishes, trading subsidiaries and associated organisations; supporting, training and assisting in developing risk assessments, policies and procedures required to deliver and promote a first class safety culture. This post is suitable for those holding NEBOSH diploma and Chartered Member of MIOSH
For more information please visit our website http://www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/about-us/curia/vacancies or send CV to Pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet. Everyone is warmly invited.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box
by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
The Nativity of St John the Baptist, Sunday, 24th June 2018. Cycle B
Today the Church celebrates the great feast of the Birth of the one who was “Precursor”, “Friend of the Bridegroom”, “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,” John the Baptizer. The first reading, the second of the four “Servant of the Lord” songs of the prophet Isaiah 49:1-6 identifies so well the role of the Baptist. He was truly the Servant made ready and fit for the preaching of God’s word. John was identified with the people of Israel and his vocation as ultimately not only the restoration of Israel, but also the conversion of the world. John was the sharp-edged sword who pointed out the true light to the nations, the one whose salvation would reach to the ends of the earth.
St. Paul, in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles [13:22-26] spoke of this John who heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’ There is no Gospel that begins the story of Jesus’ public ministry without first telling the reader about the life and mission of John the Baptist. John’s preceding Jesus was clearly fixed in the Christian tradition, so much, that in two of the three Gospels that begin their story before the public ministry with Jesus’ first appearance on earth, John the Baptist is brought forth to precede the appearance as well. His role in salvation history and in announcing the coming of the Messiah is beautifully described in the Advent preface of the Roman liturgy: “John the Baptist was his herald and made him known when at last he came.” John the Baptist’s image is often portrayed in the finger pointing to the one who was coming: Jesus Christ. If we are to take on John’s role of preparing the way in today’s world, our lives also will become the pointing fingers of living witnesses who demonstrate that Jesus can be found and that he is near. John gave the people of his time an experience of forgiveness and salvation, knowing full well that he himself was not the Messiah, the one who could save. Do we allow others to have experiences of God, of forgiveness and of salvation? John the Baptist came to teach us that there is a way out of the darkness and sadness of the world and of the human condition, and that way is Jesus himself. The Messiah comes to save us from the powers of darkness and death, and to put us back on the path of peace and reconciliation so that we might find our way back to God. We have to listen to the voice of the one calling in the wilderness, even when it confesses: I am not he. You cannot choose not to listen to this voice, ‘because it is only the voice of a man.’ And, likewise, you cannot lay aside the message of the Church, because the Church is ‘not worthy to untie the shoelaces of its Lord who goes on before it.
| Nativity of John the Baptist | 24th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Edgar Candlish RIP
Ints Mulraney Family Prayer Meeting |
||
| Monday | 25th | 9.15am | No Mass or Service | ||
| Tuesday | 26th | 9.15am | Fr Philip Atkinson 25th Annv
St John’s Yr1 Infants in Church |
||
| Wednesday | 27th | 7.00pm | Ints Pamela Murray | ||
| Thursday | 28th | 7.30am | John McIntosh RIP | ||
| Friday | 29th | 7.30am
7.00pm |
Pat Fennell RIP
St John’s Parishioners |
||
| Saturday | 30th | ||||
| Thirteenth Sunday in Ord Time Cycle B | 1st | 5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm |
Ted Armstrong Annv RIP
Phil & Gerry Topping 60th Wedding Anniversary Ints Prayer Meeting |
||
| Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass | |||||
| Confessions | Saturday 4.15-4.45pm | ||||
| Morning Prayer | 15 minutes before daily Masses | ||||
Friday is the Feast of the Apostles Ss Peter and Paul, a Holy day. Masses at St John’s at 7.30am and 7.00pm.
Money Matters: Thank you for last weekend’s Offertory collection which amounted to £526.46p
Inside this bulletin please find a copy of Bishop Mark’s Pastoral Letter,”In Thanksgiving for the Diocesan-wide initiative Our Mission Together”.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
Traidcraft Stall goods will be on sale this weekend, Saturday
23rd/24th June. Please take time to have a browse.
Children’s Liturgy: Additional helpers are urgently needed if this important Sunday ministry/activity is to continue in our parish. In this Pentecost week especially pray about this and if you feel called to help, please have a word with Jackie Mitchell or
Fr Bernard. The more helpers there are the less of a commitment there is. Ideally, we would like to create a 3 week, possibly 4 week, rota.
URGENT APPEAL: At present there are only 2 ladies doing the Altar Flowers and we URGENTLY need help to cover holidays and/or to start a rota. As you can see no experience is necessary, just a love of helping to make the church look nice and welcoming for everyone. Please contact either Kath Clements on 334 8272 or
Fr Bernard on 645 3314.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Lately Dead: Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Rita Oakley whose Funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised and Patrick Clancy Funeral Mass here at St John’s on Wednesday 11th July at 10am. The Funeral Mass for Jeanette Wagg is at 10am this Monday, 25th June at St Anne’s. May they and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Novena continues here at St Johns up to and including 27th June. The programme is as follows:
| Sunday 24th June | After 9.30am Mass |
| Monday 25th June | 7pm |
| Tuesday 26th June | 7pm |
| Wednesday
27th June |
7pm with Mass |
Next Parish Social/Quiz Night with Raffle for Parish Funds, Friday 29th June after 7pm Mass (Feast of Sts Peter and Paul) in the Liberal Club next door to the Church.
Adoremus:
There are still a few places available for the National Eucharistic Congress on
7th-9th September in Liverpool but tickets are going fast. If you wish to be involved please see
Fr Bernard after Mass today.
Invitation to Diocesan Holy Hour TODAY Sunday 24th June 2018, Diocesan Holy Hour: In preparation for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress in September, Bishop Mark invites you to join him in St Anthony’s Church, Wythenshawe THIS Sunday, 24th June at 3pm for a time of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Delegates for the Eucharistic Congress in September will be commissioned at the end of the hour. If you cannot attend and wish to join online ‘virtually’, the Holy Hour will be live-streamed from 3pm at www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/about-us/live-masses .
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service on Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. Invitations have been sent to bereaved families. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship.
All welcome.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
Parish Day Out to Southport on Wednesday 25th July. Leave from outside Church at 10am prompt return by 5pm. Bookings for this day/names for seats on coach will be taken from next weekend.
A Pastoral Letter
In Thanksgiving for the Diocesan-wide Initiative ‘Our Mission Together’
To be read at Mass in all Churches and Chapels of the Diocese on
Sunday 24th June 2018
the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
My dear brothers and sisters,
The Gospel today tells how people throughout the hill country of Judea treasured the news of the birth of John the Baptist and wondered, “What will this child turn out to be?” (Lk 1:66). Like them we might wonder about the future, for it is not given us to see precisely how the mission of the Church will develop in the decades to come. I think of the first Bishop of Shrewsbury who could see few human prospects for this fledgling Diocese. Yet he was able to look forward in the same faith and confidence with which the mission of John the Baptist began, that the hand of the Lord would be with us (cf Lk 1:66).
Today, I write to give thanks for the Diocesan-wide initiative Our Mission Together which has shown our shared commitment to the future mission of our Shrewsbury Diocese. A series of priorities have found strong resonance among clergy and lay people. Together we have committed ourselves to support: new vocations to the Priesthood and the unprecedented number of priests moving into retirement; the development of our youth mission and our social mission to the poorest; the renewal of catechesis in our parishes; and the vocation of Christian Marriage. Added to all this, we have seen a large number of local, parish initiatives making possible what might have seemed impossible.
This Sunday, we can say Our Mission Together has proved to be a historic achievement for this Shrewsbury Diocese. It has been a bold initiative that has occasioned renewed prayer for mission and generous, sacrificial giving of millions of pounds in material support of these priorities. Most happily, as I was told the other day, it has turned the thoughts and conversations of many towards our continuing mission.
/ Continued
I wish to thank all who have shared in this achievement: by your dedicated prayer; in giving of your time and energies (especially the more than 220 volunteers!); by the generous pledging of monies; or by simply taking time to consider this opportunity. I wish to thank the clergy who have worked with dedication for this initiative and have been generous donors themselves. I wish to acknowledge the professionalism of those working for our Diocese, and the charitable fundraisers who have supported us, together with the laity and clergy who served on the Campaign Advisory Committee. I have been heartened by meetings which have focused upon our mission and our future.
I ask your prayer for the Stewardship Committee, comprising both lay people and clergy, now tasked with ensuring that all funds effectively serve the goals for which they were given. I also ask your prayers for the increasing number of young men coming forward in both discernment and training for the Priesthood and the men preparing for the Permanent Diaconate. I ask your continued prayer: for the Youth Mission Team in its increasing work across the large geographical area of the Diocese, with the development of many new projects for young people; for Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury as the arm of our social mission in the service of the poorest; and for our dedicated welfare officer already helping to serve the needs of our retired clergy. The next two areas of development are the support and formation of parish catechists and support of the vocation of marriage. I ask your prayers for all these intentions. I ask you to remember, too, the wide range of local mission projects and new initiatives now taking shape in the parishes.
So much has happened – and will continue to happen – in what is truly our mission together. It is not given us to see precisely how all of its effects and fruitfulness will be realised. Yet, in seeking to be faithful today to our mission, we have the same assurance that marked the birth of Saint John Baptist: that the hand of the Lord will be with us! In this confidence let us ask Our Lady, the Help of Christians, together with all the Saints of our Shrewsbury Diocese, to pray for us.
United with you in this prayer and in this mission,
+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and 27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
ARE YOU A CATHOLIC TEACHER BUT NOT TEACHING IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL? YOUR DIOCESE NEEDS YOU!!! We are holding an informal session on Saturday 30th June at
St Hugh’s Parish Hall, 314 Manchester Road, West Timperley, Altrincham,
WA14 5NB from 10 am – 12 pm, with Mass available at 12.15 pm. If you would like to attend or want further information about returning to Catholic education please e-mail Sue Jenkinson on sue.jenkinson@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
Diocesan Vacancies: Senior Trusts & Foundations’ Officer to play a key role in the development and implementation of the Diocesan fundraising activities and those of Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury in order to secure funding for parishes, programme work, project work (and organisational core costs) by assisting with the preparation of funding bid applications.
Diocesan Health & Safety Officer The post holder will act as the key contact for all health & safety matters throughout the Diocese and will co-ordinate health and safety compliance in all Diocesan Departments and Parishes, trading subsidiaries and associated organisations; supporting, training and assisting in developing risk assessments, policies and procedures required to deliver and promote a first class safety culture. This post is suitable for those holding NEBOSH diploma and Chartered Member of MIOSH For more information please visit our website http://www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/about-us/curia/vacancies or send CV to Pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet. Everyone is warmly invited.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box
by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Sunday, 17th June 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: THE INVISIBLE FORCE
Christians sometimes focus so much on the Church that they lose sight of the kingdom. They tend to think that the Church is the be-all and end-all of religious activity and they can become blind to the kingdom of God.
Yet the kingdom and the Church are not the same things. The Church is the bearer of the kingdom but not the exclusive owner. The kingdom, which Jesus today speaks about in his parables, is wider than the Church and is not so visible and tangible.
Jesus taught his disciples that the kingdom is already with us, though it can seem to be hidden. It has already been inaugurated, though it is yet to reach its fulfilment. Day after day it is unfurled, little by little in an almost unnoticeable way.
The ideals of the kingdom clash with the values of the world. That’s because the kingdom is eternal and universal whereas the world is about fads and fashion, about exclusivity and partiality. The kingdom is about truth and life, whereas the world happily lies and trades in destruction of all types. The kingdom espouses holiness and grace, concepts which the secular world considers laudable but outmoded. And the kingdom’s principles of justice, love and peace are more likely to be echoed in the world’s pop songs than in its strategies.
Does this mean that we’ve nothing to hope for? That injustice, violence, corruption and oppression will always be with us? Is it just par for the course?
Jesus says not. With his arrival on earth the kingdom of God has begun to embed itself in all aspects of our world. There are invincible forces already at work as the world matures and the kingdom silently grows. Like a seed planted in a field it grows unobtrusively, by day and by night. Like a mustard seed it starts off tiny but becomes a force to be reckoned with. And even now we sometimes catch a glimpse of the power of the kingdom when world events are confounded and when men and women, even just for a moment, unite in a shared vision that reflects the will of God.
The kingdom is here now. The way we behave will help or hinder it. But it’s bigger than all of us put together. That’s why we pray: Thy kingdom come.
Eleventh Sunday in Ord Time
17th
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Chris Sarson RIP
For All Fathers
Prayer Meeting
Monday
18th
9.15am
Canon Frank Pullen Annv. RIP
Tuesday
19th
9.15am
Maurice Maher RIP
Wednesday
20th
9.15am
Ints Larkin Family
Thursday
21st
7.30am
Bernard Campbell RIP
Friday
22nd
9.15am
Ints Fr Robin Sutton
Saturday
23rd
Nativity of John the Baptist
24th
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Edgar Candlish RIP
Ints Mulraney Family
Prayer Meeting
Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass
Confessions
Saturday 4.15-4.45pm
Morning Prayer
15 minutes before daily Masses
SUNDAY IS A SPECIAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR DAY FOR LIFE
Money Matters: Thank you for last weekend’s Offertory collection which amounted to £524.29p.
This weekend’s scheduled appeal on behalf of the Barnabas Society has been postponed until a later date due to the appealer being taken ill over the past few days.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
Children’s Liturgy: Additional helpers are urgently needed if this important Sunday ministry/activity is to continue in our parish. In this Pentecost week especially pray about this and if you feel called to help, please have a word with Jackie Mitchell or
Fr Bernard. The more helpers there are the less of a commitment there is. Ideally, we would like to create a 3 week, possibly 4 week, rota.
URGENT APPEAL: At present there are only 2 ladies doing the Altar Flowers and we URGENTLY need help to cover holidays and/or to start a rota. As you can see no experience is necessary, just a love of helping to make the church look nice and welcoming for everyone. Please contact either
Kath Clements on 334 8272 or Fr Bernard on
645 3314.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Novena will be held here at St John’s 19th-27th June. The programme is as follows:
Tuesday 19th June
7pm with Benediction
Wednesday 20th June
7pm
Thursday 21st June
7pm
Friday 22nd June
7pm
Saturday 23rd June
4.15pm before Mass
Sunday 24th June
After 9.30am Mass
Monday 25th June
7pm
Tuesday 26th June
7pm
Wednesday
27th June
7pm with Mass
Traidcraft Stall goods will be on sale next weekend, Saturday 23rd/24th June. Please take time to have a browse.
Next Parish Social/Quiz Night with Raffle for Parish Funds, Friday 29th June after 7pm Mass (Feast of Sts Peter and Paul) in the Liberal Club next door to the Church.
Parish Day Out to Southport on Wednesday 25th July. Leave from outside Church at 10am prompt return by 5pm. Bookings for this day/names for seats on coach will be taken from next weekend.
Adoremus:
There are still a few places available for the National Eucharistic Congress on
7th-9th September in Liverpool but tickets are going fast. If you wish to be involved please see Fr Bernard after Mass today.
Invitation to Diocesan Holy Hour Sunday
24 June 2018, Diocesan Holy Hour: In preparation for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress in September, Bishop Mark invites you to join him in
St Anthony’s Church, Wythenshawe on Sunday 24 June at 3pm for a time of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Although this event is open to all, to facilitate arrangements please let Helen Jones know if you are coming by Wednesday 20 June – 0151 652 9855 or helen.jones@dioceseofshrewsbury.org.
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service on Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. Invitations have been sent to bereaved families. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship. All welcome.
God our Father, We give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old. We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation; May they find courage and perseverance to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice. We pray for fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering; May they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow. We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice. We remember fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love. Amen
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and
27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet.
Everyone is warmly invited.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, 10th June 2018. Cycle B
All ancient religions and cultures have stories which portray the beginning of the world. The story of Genesis invites us to imagine a garden where there was complete harmony between man and woman, between human beings and God, between the human world and the world of animas and nature. In this garden peace presides over everything. But there is a veto on eating from the tree which yields knowledge of all things, including death. The woman is tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit; the promise is made that “your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil”.
Genesis teaches us a profound truth about sin: when we sin we cannot face each other openly.
Neither can we face God. In the story of Genesis God has to seek out then first human beings. So the question of a questing God: “Where are you?” When the man and woman finally emerge from their hiding place they are banished from the garden into the chaos that exists outside its gates. The first human beings are the first refugees; they are banished from their home, condemned to make do in the world that is no longer under their authority. In the beginning there was the exile
The experience of distance from God dominates much of the prayer of the people of Israel. In the fullness of time, however, God sent his Son. But, as we learn from the Gospels, Jesus was not accepted by his own people. He was an exile in his own homeland, forced to flee from his own town. In today’s Gospel, Mark tells us that Jesus’ own relatives think that he is demented. No doubt they cannot understand why Jesus does the things he does, why he associates himself with so many undesirables. Jesus brings home the kind of people that any normal parent might regard with undisguised horror. The relatives make their disapproval known; they want to take charge of him. They do not understand that Jesus has his charge from someone else. His Father.
Jesus is not disowning his family; he is acknowledging a relationship that is higher than the physical bond. He establishes a new family of relations, no doubt hoping that his own relatives, like everyone else, will come to accept him for who he is.
The Good News is that we are part of Jesus’ new family. We are his mother and brothers and sisters – if we do the will of God. Doing the will of God may alienate us from our family and relatives, but the witness of Jesus always points towards a more important relationship. That is why we gather each week as a family of faith: to bless our Father and gain strength from our brothers and sisters.
Extract taken from Seasons of the Word. Fr Denis McBride
Tenth Sunday in Ord Time
10th
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Danny McGuigan RIP
St John’s Parishioners
Prayer Meeting
Monday
11th
9.15am
Service of Word & Communion
Tuesday
12th
9.15am
Patricia Clark RIP
Wednesday
13th
9.15am
Gerard Edwards RIP
Thursday
14th
7.30am
Ints Fr Frank Rice
Friday
15th
9.15am
Ints Mike Jarvis
Saturday
16th
12 Noon
Secular Carmelite Ints
Eleventh
Sunday in Ord Time
17th
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Chris Sarson RIP
For All Fathers
Prayer Meeting
Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass
Confessions
Saturday 4.15-4.45pm
Morning Prayer
15 minutes before daily Masses
A Secular Carmelite Retreat Day is being held here next Saturday for local groups. All are welcome at the 12 noon Mass which will be celebrated by a Carmelite priest in the Day Chapel.
Mass Intentions: ….a reminder: If anyone would like a Mass celebrated for a special intention, a sick person or for someone recently deceased or on the anniversary of their death please write the intention on one of the designated Mass Offerings envelopes at the back of Church and hand it to
Fr Bernard or put it through the presbytery letterbox. The usual offering which goes inside the envelope is £5 or £10 but it is an offering and not a requirement.
Money Matters: Thank you for last weekend’s Offertory collection which amounted to £524.29p.
The Book Sale will be concluded this weekend so please take a look at the books on the tables at the back of Church. You might pick up a bargain. Hardbacks £2, Paperbacks 50p. To date £100 has been raised for Parish Funds. Let us see if we can make it £150!
Next week at both Masses there will be an appeal on behalf of the Barnabas Society.
Next Parish Social/Quiz Night with Raffle for Parish Funds, Friday 29th June after 7pm Mass (Feast of Sts Peter and Paul) in the Liberal Club next door to the Church. More details next weekend.
Parish Day Out to Southport on Wednesday 25th July. Leave from outside Church at 10am prompt return by 5pm. Again, more details and bookings taken from next weekend.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
Children’s Liturgy: Additional helpers are urgently needed if this important Sunday ministry/activity is to continue in our parish. In this Pentecost week especially pray about this and if you feel called to help, please have a word with Jackie Mitchell or
Fr Bernard. The more helpers there are the less of a commitment there is. Ideally, we would like to create a 3 week, possibly 4 week, rota.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Chaplaincy Visit whilst in Hospital If you or any member of your family are admitted to Hospital and wish to be seen by the Roman Catholic Chaplain or receive the Sacraments then please telephone 678 5111 Extn 2275 and leave the patients name and ward location along with your request.
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
will be held here at St Johns
19th-27th June. The programme is as follows:
Tuesday 19th June
7pm with Benediction
Wednesday 20th June
7pm
Thursday 21st June
7pm
Friday 22nd June
7pm
Saturday 23rd June
4.15pm before Mass
Sunday 24th June
After 9.30am Mass
Monday 25th June
7pm
Tuesday 26th June
7pm
Wednesday
27th June
7pm with Mass
Adoremus:
There are still a few places available for the National Eucharistic Congress on
7th-9th September in Liverpool but tickets are going fast. If you wish to be involved please see
Fr Bernard after Mass today.
Invitation to Diocesan Holy Hour Sunday 24 June 2018,
Diocesan Holy Hour: In preparation for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress in September, Bishop Mark invites you to join him in St Anthony’s Church, Wythenshawe on Sunday 24 June at 3pm for a time of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Although this event is open to all, to facilitate arrangements please let Helen Jones know if you are coming by Wednesday 20 June – 0151 652 9855 or helen.jones@dioceseofshrewsbury.org.
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service on Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. Invitations have been sent to bereaved families. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship. All welcome.
Northern Catholic Conference
22nd-24th June at Liverpool Hope University “I am with you always, YES”, to the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). Speakers: Fr Eamonn Mulcahy,
Michelle Moran, Gary Stephens, Fr Pat Deegan. For more information please phone the enquiry line
Tel 07543800812.
ARE YOU A CATHOLIC TEACHER BUT NOT TEACHING IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL? YOUR DIOCESE NEEDS YOU!!! We are holding an informal session on Saturday 30th June at St Hugh’s Parish Hall,
314 Manchester Road, West Timperley, Altrincham,
WA14 5NB from 10 am – 12 pm, with Mass available at
12.15 pm. If you would like to attend or want further information about returning to Catholic education please e-mail Sue Jenkinson on sue.jenkinson@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and
27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service on Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. Invitations are being sent to bereaved families. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship. All welcome.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet.
Everyone is warmly invited.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ, Sunday, 3rd June 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FAITH IN FOCUS: EUCHARIST: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
PAST: 2,000 years ago on a Thursday evening Jesus ate what was probably a Passover meal with his disciples in the Upper Room. This meal was a memorial of how God had freed the Jewish people by liberating them from slavery and providing them with a promised land. During his meal Jesus told the disciples that from now on they were to eat this meal not in remembrance of Moses and the Exodus but in memory of him. For the bread that they would eat was his body that the next day would be nailed to the cross, and the wine that they would drink was his blood that on the same Friday would be shed on Calvary.
PRESENT: Today we Christians have a living memorial of that saving action of Christ. It is the eucharist. Over the centuries Christians have never ceased to follow that command of Jesus at the Last Supper. They have gathered together, listened to God’s word in the scriptures and then, when they have taken, blessed and broken the bread, they have shared communion by eating and drinking what Christ tells us is his body and blood. In this sacrament of the eucharist Jesus is really present to those who receive him. His flesh is real food and his blood is real drink because both of them nourish, they sustain us and keep us spiritually healthy. As we eat and drink from the one bread and cup the eucharist becomes a sign of the unity that we share and at the same time it also makes us one in Christ.
FUTURE: The eucharist is food for our journey, medicine for our health and strength for our future. Not simply about the past and present it directs us towards two futures. The first future means that the eucharist is a sign of our commitment to building up the kingdom of God here on earth. So receiving the eucharist is not just an act of devotion; it commits us to action. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit we pledge ourselves to playing our full part in the Church’s work of bringing about a world in which justice, peace and holiness reign. And the second future is in the afterlife. The eucharist is a pledge of the heavenly banquet that God has promised to those who listen to the voice of his Son. What we experience in the food of the eucharist is a foretaste of an eternal feast with God.
The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ allows us to thank God for this wonderful gift.
Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
3rd
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Arthur Brockway Annv RIP
St John’s Parishioners
Prayer Meeting
Monday
4th
9.15am
Rosemary Butcher RIP
Tuesday
5th
9.15am
Intentions Ted Welch
Wednesday
6th
9.15am
Harry Duggan RIP
Thursday
7th
7.30am
Stuart Burrows RIP
Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
8th
9.15am
Ints Anthony & Julia Zidon
Saturday
9th
Tenth Sunday in Ord Time
10th
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Danny McGuigan RIP
St John’s Parishioners
Prayer Meeting
Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass
Confessions
Saturday 4.15-4.45pm
Morning Prayer
15 minutes before daily Masses
On Friday we celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with Mass at the usual time of 9.15am
Mass Intentions: ….a reminder: If anyone would like a Mass celebrated for a special intention, a sick person or for someone recently deceased or on the anniversary of their death please write the intention on one of the designated Mass Offerings envelopes at the back of Church and hand it to Fr Bernard or put it through the presbytery letterbox. The usual offering which goes inside the envelope is £5 or £10 but it is an offering and not a requirement.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Chaplaincy Visit whilst in Hospital If you or any member of your family are admitted to Hospital and wish to be seen by the Roman Catholic Chaplain or receive the Sacraments then please telephone 678 5111 Extn 2275 and leave the patients name and ward location along with your request.
Lately Dead: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Edgar Candlish who died earlier this week. Edgar was a very active member of St John ‘s parish until he moved to Nottinghamshire. May he and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Money Matters: £627.29p
Last Week’s Book Sale raised £90 for Parish funds. Many thanks to the organisers, donators and buyers
Thank you for your continued generosity.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
Children’s Liturgy: Additional helpers are urgently needed if this important Sunday ministry/activity is to continue in our parish. In this Pentecost week especially pray about this and if you feel called to help, please have a word with Jackie Mitchell or Fr Bernard. The more helpers there are the less of a commitment there is. Ideally, we would like to create a 3 week, possibly 4 week, rota.
EATING AT THE TABLE
This is the time of the year when our children make their First Communion. They have spent a lot of time preparing for this special event and we wish them well. In their classes they have learned that the Eucharist was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper and that it is the central act that we the community enact when we call on the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In their own simple way they understand that by eating and drinking Christ’s body and blood they are joining the family (the Church) at its table, where it gathers to be fed for the journey that is life.
Those of us who are adults have a responsibility to pray for these children so that they may be sustained in this attitude of faith that they bring on this special day. The quality of our lives, the way we welcome them, the manner in which we wholeheartedly take part in our worship…all these things will have a lasting effect upon them and ensure that they will be fellow diners at the table of the Lord for many years to come. For children learn how to behave at table from adults.
Adoremus:
There are still a few places available for the National Eucharistic Congress on
7th-9th September in Liverpool but tickets are going fast. If you wish to be involved please see
Fr Bernard after Mass today.
The postponed Diocesan Symposium on the Holy Eucharist led by Fr Oliver Treanor from Maynooth in Ireland will be held on Saturday 9th June at
St Ambrose College, Hale Barns. See poster on the notice board at the back of church or the Diocesan website for further details.
Wirral Knights of St Columba extend a warm invitation to join us in the celebration of the feast of our patron next Saturday 9th June at 11am in the
St Columba chapel in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Mass will be celebrated by our chaplain Father Bernard Forshaw.
Northern Catholic Conference 22nd-24th June at Liverpool Hope University “I am with you always, YES”, to the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). Speakers: Fr Eamonn Mulcahy, Michelle Moran, Gary Stephens, Fr Pat Deegan. For more information please phone the enquiry line
Tel 07543800812.
Diocesan Support Worker required to support the Welfare Officer assisting in visiting and participating in the care of sick and retired priests, and also in administration. Visit the Diocesan website or send your CV to pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org or phone Pauline at the Curial Offices
Tel 0151 652 9855.
Closing date Friday 8th June.
ARE YOU A CATHOLIC TEACHER BUT NOT TEACHING IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL? YOUR DIOCESE NEEDS YOU!!! We are holding an informal session on Saturday 30th June at St Hugh’s Parish Hall,
314 Manchester Road, West Timperley, Altrincham, WA14 5NB from 10 am – 12 pm, with Mass available at 12.15 pm. If you would like to attend or want further information about returning to Catholic education please e-mail Sue Jenkinson on sue.jenkinson@dioceseofshrewsbury.org
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and
27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
Wirral Knights of St Columba extend a warm invitation to join us in the celebration of the feast of our patron on Saturday 9 June at 11am in the St Columba chapel in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Mass will be celebrated by our chaplain
Father Bernard Forshaw.
The Bereavement Group will be holding their annual Memorial service on Thursday, 12th July at 7.30pm. Invitations will shortly be sent to bereaved families. We invite you to come along and support those members of our parish family who are coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The service will include scripture readings, poetry and hymns, followed by light refreshments and a time of fellowship. All welcome.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet.
Everyone is warmly invited.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
The Most Holy Trinity, Sunday 27th May, 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: TRINITY HOROSCOPE
Anyone with any sense knows that horoscopes are pure nonsense. If our lives were to hang on the whim of stars, moons and planets it would be time to hang up our boots. Christians know that our lives are held in the palm of God’s hand, not some capricious astral time-lord. So here’s a horoscope that’s true, not just this week but every day of your life, because it speaks of the Trinity’s continuing work in creation.
ARIES: Resist the temptation to worry about the past. You can do nothing about it and someone else has taken care of it. Take strength from them and move on.
TAURUS: This week you’ll begin to sense that there is someone in the wings looking out for your interests, a father figure. Do all you can to respond to this sensation.
GEMINI: Money matters may raise their head but, strangely, when things seem to go pear-shaped it gives you the chance of appreciating what you already have.
CANCER: Faced with a severe test you will find a new spirit within you that helps you to cope when the odds seem stacked against you.
LEO: Be slow to put people in their place this week. Remember not only where they’re coming from but also where they’ve come from.
VIRGO: You have some difficult decisions to make. Use your intuition, consult widely and you’ll find that some ancient sources of wisdom still hold good.
LIBRA: Now is the time for those travel plans but you may find that you don’t have to go that far in order to see a thing of beauty.
SCORPIO: Your love-life takes a turn for the better when you realise surprisingly that the object of your affection is also besotted by you.
SAGITTARIUS: When a work project is finally completed, you’ll understand with hindsight that you relied too much on your own efforts and refused valuable help.
CAPRICORN: Frustration levels may rise this week until you take the opportunity to talk things over with the only person you know can really help.
AQUARIUS: Be sure to organise events that involve family and friends. A new-found togetherness will be a cause for thanksgiving and time for stock-taking.
PISCES: Your life is not a lottery. These next few days will show you that there is a reason for everything. Try to embrace it with joy and play your full part in it all.
The Most Holy Trinity
27th
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
St John’s Parishioners
John McIntosh RIP
Prayer Meeting
Monday
28th
10.00am
Ints Liz Saalmans
Tuesday
29th
9.15am
Anthony Moulton RIP
Wednesday
30th
9.15am
Ints Tunna Family
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
31st
7.30am
All Expectant Mothers
Friday
1st
9.15am
Moira Roberts RIP
Saturday
2nd
10.00am
10.30-5pm
Success of the Eucharistic Congress
Exposition
Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
3rd
5.00pm
9.30am
7.30pm
Arthur Brockway Annv RIP
St John’s Parishioners
Prayer Meeting
Please note the change of Mass time on Bank Holiday Monday to 10.00am.
Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass
Confessions
Saturday 4.15-4.45pm
Morning Prayer
15 minutes before daily Masses
Mass Intentions: ….a reminder: If anyone would like a Mass celebrated for a special intention, a sick person or for someone recently deceased or on the anniversary of their death please write the intention on one of the designated Mass Offerings envelopes at the back of Church and hand it to Fr Bernard or put it through the presbytery letterbox. The usual offering which goes inside the envelope is £5 or £10 but it is an offering and not a requirement
Preparation for Adoremus National Eucharistic Congress. On Saturday 2nd June Mass will be celebrated here at
St John’s at 10.00am. From 10.30am until 5pm Mass there will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Brian Noble will be the Principal Celebrant at the 5pm Mass.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Chaplaincy Visit whilst in Hospital If you or any member of your family are admitted to Hospital and wish to be seen by the Roman Catholic Chaplain or receive the Sacraments then please telephone 678 5111 Extn 2275 and leave the patients name and ward location along with your request.
We ask your prayers for Michael Smith and Chamali Sammarasekara who were married here last Saturday. We pray God’s blessing upon them and wish them every happiness in their future life together.
Lately Dead: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr Jim Farrell retired priest of the Diocese (former assistant priest at St Joseph’s, North Road 1969-79 and
St Winefride’s, Neston 1979-1981) who died last Saturday. Funeral Mass at St Bede’s, Weaverham on Wednesday at 11.30am. May he rest in peace
Money Matters: £649.49p
Thank you for your continued generosity.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
There will be a Book Sale at St John’s after Mass this weekend on Saturday & Sunday 26th/27th May. The books will be situated at the back of church. Please take a few minutes after Mass to browse through the books on sale.
Readers & Eucharistic Ministers: In the next few weeks we are hoping to commission some additional Eucharistic Ministers and Readers. If you would like to be involved in these important ministries please have a word with Wilf Humphrey or
Fr Bernard. Readers please inform
Dot Humphreys of any dates when you will be UNAVAILABLE to read during the summer months
(June-Sept) inclusive. With thanks.
Children’s Liturgy: Additional helpers are urgently needed if this important Sunday ministry/activity is to continue in our parish. In this Pentecost week especially pray about this and if you feel called to help, please have a word with Jackie Mitchell or Fr Bernard. The more helpers there are, the less of a commitment there is. Ideally, we would like to create a 3 week, possibly 4 week, rota.
Adoremus :
There are still a few places available for the National Eucharistic Congress on
7th-9th September in Liverpool but tickets are going fast. If you wish to be involved please see Fr Bernard after Mass today.
The postponed Diocesan Symposium on the Holy Eucharist led by Fr Oliver Treanor from Maynooth in Ireland will be held on
Saturday 9th June at St Ambrose College, Hale Barns. See poster on the notice board at the back of church or the Diocesan website for further details.
Northern Catholic Conference 22nd-24th June at Liverpool Hope University “I am with you always, YES”, to the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). Speakers: Fr Eamonn Mulcahy, Michelle Moran, Gary Stephens, Fr Pat Deegan. For more information please phone the enquiry line
Tel 07543800812.
Diocesan Support Worker required to support the Welfare Officer assisting in visiting and participating in the care of sick and retired priests, and also in administration. Visit the Diocesan website or send your CV to pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org or
phone Pauline at the Curial Offices
Tel 0151 652 9855. Closing date Friday 8th June.
ARE YOU A CATHOLIC TEACHER BUT NOT TEACHING IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL? YOUR DIOCESE NEEDS YOU!!! We are holding an informal session on Saturday 30th June at St Hugh’s Parish Hall,
314 Manchester Road, West Timperley, Altrincham, WA14 5NB from 10 am – 12 pm, with Mass available at 12.15 pm. If you would like to attend or want further information about returning to
Pentecost, 20th May, 2018. Cycle B
21/05/2018
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Pentecost, 20th May, 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: SOMETHING BURNING?
A ticklish itch makes you want to reach for one of those backscratchers, but a burning itch makes you want to stamp up and down until you’ve got rid of it. It’s like a fire raging within you.
When the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles it was in the form of tongues of fire. Do we have that fire of the Spirit within us, that urgency and elation of Pentecost, that Whitsun sense of wonder, or are we more of the armchair-Christian type?
Fire consumes everything it touches. It’s highly contagious and quickly catches hold of the next thing around it. Are we Spirit-burners, people who are so inflamed with their faith that others can’t fail to notice it, or are we the sort that would rather keep things to ourselves for fear of being thought of as “religious”?
Fire purifies; that’s why it was used as a primitive form of sterilisation. The Holy Spirit purified the apostles of their fears and their sense of inadequacy, of their reluctance to witness to the gospel, of their timidity as they hid themselves away, afraid of the authorities. It purified them to accept the message that Jesus had left them, and to go out preaching to people of every conceivable nationality. Are we fired with the Spirit, irrepressibly grace-led, or simply sedated by convention? One way of seeing in the dark is to light a fire. For fire sheds light on our surroundings. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us into truth, would save us from permanent error and would guide us on our way. Do we use the light of the Spirit as a yardstick for the decisions of our daily lives, or do we prefer the gurus of daytime TV and the latest best-seller?
Fire generates heat, and so we kindle fires when we feel cold. They provide us with the warmth we need to keep going, to stay the course. Do we feel ourselves warmed by the Pentecost heat of the Spirit, comforted and cheered, inspired to go beyond ourselves and our narrow visions, or are we content with a few bars of the electric fire? When people stand close to us can they smell burning?
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from 26th July-3rd August overland and
27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website http://www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
WORD OF GOD
Suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven…and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire .These separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. (Acts 2:1-3)
St John’s has been donating/collecting for Merseyaid UK to send clothing and household goods to Lebanon and for refugees coming to our area. Anything you want to donate will be put to good use. We now have an official collecting box (pictured here) provided by Roberts Recycling which will be placed at the back of church and emptied weekly. As Christians we are called to look after those less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you for your generous and continued support.
The Carmelite Monastery will be celebrating 100 years foundation in Birkenhead. Bishop Mark Davies will be celebrating Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Tuesday 16th July at 7.00pm, followed by a buffet.
Everyone is warmly invited.
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
| Pentecost | 20th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Margo Sarson RIP
St John’s Parishioners Prayer Meeting |
||
| Monday | 21st | 9.15am | Stephen Scully RIP | ||
| Tuesday | 22nd | 9.15am | Intentions Fr Frank Rice | ||
| Wednesday | 23rd | 10.00am | Funeral Mass –
Stephen Byrne |
||
| Thursday | 24th | 7.30am | Fr Jack McLeish Annv RIP | ||
| Friday | 25th | 9.15am | Intentions Pat Ashworth | ||
| Saturday | 26th | ||||
| The Most Holy Trinity | 27th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
St John’s Parishioners
John McIntosh RIP Prayer Meeting |
||
| SUNDAY IS A SPECIAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH.
Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass |
|||||
| Confessions | Saturday 4.15-4.45pm | ||||
| Morning Prayer | 15 minutes before daily Masses | ||||
Please note the change of Mass times this week. Funeral Mass on Wednesday at 10.00am. Please also note that an early Mass at 7.30am is celebrated every Thursday morning here at St John’s. Why not pop in on your way to work or school. It makes a fine beginning to the day.
During this week Fr Bernard will also be celebrating a Thanksgiving Mass with the First Holy Communion Children in St John’s School at which they will be presented with their First Holy Communion Certificates.
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Chaplaincy Visit whilst in Hospital If you or any member of your family are admitted to Hospital and wish to be seen by the Roman Catholic Chaplain or receive the Sacraments then please telephone
678 5111 Extn 2275 and leave the patients name and ward location along with your request.
Lately Dead: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Stephen Byrne whose Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St John’s on Wednesday23rd May at 10am. May he rest in peace.
As in previous years the Bereavement Group will be arranging a Remembrance Service in Church on a weekday evening in July for those parishioners and friends who have died. More details next week.
Readers & Eucharistic Ministers: In the next few weeks we are hoping to commission some additional Eucharistic Ministers and Readers. If you would like to be involved in these important ministries please have a word with Wilf Humphrey or Fr Bernard. Readers please inform Dot Humphreys of any dates when you will be UNAVAILABLE to read during the summer months (June-Sept) inclusive. With thanks.
Children’s Liturgy: Additional helpers are urgently needed if this important Sunday ministry/activity is to continue in our parish. In this Pentecost week especially, pray about this and if you feel called to help, please have a word with Jackie Mitchell or
Fr Bernard. The more helpers there are, the less of a commitment there is. Ideally, we would like to create a 3 week, possibly 4 week, rota.
Money Matters: £555.37p
Thank you for your continued generosity.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
There will be a Book Sale at St John’s after Mass over the weekend of Saturday/Sunday 26th/27th May. The books will be situated at the back of church. Please take a few minutes after Mass to browse through the books on sale.
The Drama of Salvation…an opportunity to discover the continuing relevance of all God’s Covenants for the Church and our individual lives…. this scripture course continues on Wednesdays in the Day Chapel 10-11.30am
Adoremus National Eucharistic Congress…
See Bishop Mark’s Pastoral Letter inside this bulletin. Up to now round 20 or so from St John’s have signed up to participate in one or more parts of this historic event to be held in Liverpool from 7th-9th September. It is not too late to sign up…. see Fr Bernard after Mass today or during the week for a booking form. Bishop Brian will be celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christ with us at the beginning of June and a Deanery Holy Hour will be held at St Anne’s before the summer break. The postponed Diocesan Symposium on the Holy Eucharist led by Fr Oliver Treanor from Maynooth in Ireland will be held on Saturday 9th June at
St Ambrose College, Hale Barns. See poster on the notice board at the back of church/the Diocesan website for further details about all the above.
Diocesan Support Worker required to support the Welfare Officer assisting in visiting and participating in the care of sick and retired priests, and also in administration. Visit the Diocesan website or send your CV to pauline.mcculloch@dioceseofshrewsbury.org or
phone Pauline at the Curial Offices
Tel 0151 652 9855. Closing date Friday 8th June.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR CONTINUED GENEROSITY AS THE PARISH RECENTLY DONATED 89.14KG OF FOOD. THIS IS OUR BEST EFFORT TO DATE. Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road, New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Bernard Forshaw Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites: www.stjohnevang.co.uk www.lpa24.org
Seventh Sunday of Easter, 13th May, 2018. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
Today, the seventh Sunday of Easter, is one of the strangest of the Church’s entire year. There’s an air of anticipation and unfulfilment about it. Jesus has already ascended to heaven and yet we’re still here waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We’re in the in-between time. It gives us chance to pause and breath a little, to take stock of the thrust of what Jesus said and did during his life and teaching on earth before he went back to the Father.
And when we listen to Jesus’ last message today, a prayer to God for his disciples, we find something of a paradox. Jesus wants us to be in the world but not part of it.
Does this mean that we should become like monks in a monastery, shut off from the world and having nothing to do with it? Should we keep our distance from those who are God’s children but who are not Christians? Should we shun science and technology, culture, sport, music and enjoyment? Should we stack our bookshelves with nothing except bibles and prayer books? Should we pepper our conversations with scripture quotes and hope thereby to convert people?
The word “world” has a special meaning when Jesus uses it. It doesn’t mean the earth or the mass of people who inhabit it. It means all those values which do not reflect God’s vision for his creation. And so we live in the world but do not have “worldly” values. The world thinks it’s stupid to put yourself last rather than first, to put yourself out for those in need, to die to yourself in order that you can really live. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek. It makes no sense says the “world”. For the world puts a premium on comfort and affluence.
So today Jesus reminds us that if we are true to his word, if we allow ourselves to be consecrated in the truth, then our thought-patterns will be different from those who do not know him or believe in his message. And his final prayer is not that we should be removed from the world but that we should be protected from the tempter who will try and entice us to worship fame, success, wealth or what the world might call “progress”. Are we sufficiently tuned in to God’s word that we can be in the world but not of it?
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes. The Diocesan Pilgrimage will take
27th July-2nd August by air. Brochures and booking forms can be downloaded from the Pilgrimage Website http://www.shrewsburypilgrimage.co.uk or from the Pilgrimage Office: St Alban’s, 30 Mill Lane, Wallasey, CH44 5UD. This year flight seats are limited so early booking is recommended.
WORD OF GOD
I am not asking youto remove them from the worldbut to protect them from the evil one. (John 17: 15)
St John’s has been donating/collecting for Merseyaid UK to send clothing and household goods to Lebanon and for refugees coming to our area. Anything you want to donate will be put to good use. We now have an official collecting box (pictured here) provided by Roberts Recycling which will be placed at the back of church and emptied weekly. As Christians we are called to look after those less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you for your generous and continued support.
Please continue to give generously to the Foodbank. The need is as great as ever. Please check the notice board at the back of Church for most needed items for the ITEMS URGENTLY NEEDED: Tinned custard, sugar (small if possible), washing up liquid, tea, tinned spaghetti, small cereal, sponge puddings
Please take a copy of the Wednesday Word. It is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings.
If you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address or put it through the presbytery letter box by 12 noon on Thursdays. Many thanks.
| Seventh
Sunday of Easter Cycle B |
13th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Ints Pat Ashcroft
St John’s Parishioners Prayer Meeting |
||
| Monday | 14th | 9.15am | Molly Treacy RIP | ||
| Tuesday | 15h | 9.15am | St John’s Infants in Church
Ints Sarah Higgins |
||
| Wednesday | 16th | 9.15am | Joe Moore Birthday Annv. | ||
| Thursday | 17th | 7.30am | Ints Norah McCormick | ||
| Friday | 18th | 12 Noon | Funeral Mass –
Stephen Scully |
||
| Saturday | 19th | ||||
| Pentecost | 20th | 5.00pm
9.30am 7.30pm |
Margo Sarson RIP
St John’s Parishioners Prayer Meeting |
||
| Children’s liturgy on Sunday at the 9.30am Mass | |||||
| Confessions | Saturday 4.15-4.45pm | ||||
| Morning Prayer | 15 minutes before daily Masses | ||||
Please note the change of Mass times this coming week. – Funeral Mass on Friday at 12 Noon
Prayers for the Sick: Please keep our Sick and Housebound parishioners in your prayers and if anyone is in need of Holy Communion or a visit, please do let us know.
Chaplaincy Visit whilst in Hospital If you or any member of your family are admitted to Hospital and wish to be seen by the Roman Catholic Chaplain or receive the Sacraments then please telephone 678 5111 Extn 2275 and leave the patients name and ward location along with your request.
Lately Dead: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Stephen Scully whose Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St John’s on Friday 18th May at
12 noon and for Stephen Byrne whose Funeral Mass is at St John’s on Wednesday23rd May at 10am. Please also pray for the repose of the soul of Daniel (Danny) McGuigan Rosary at Charles Stephens Chapel of Repose 7.30pm Tuesday 15th May. Funeral Service at Frankby Cemetery Chapel, 2.30pm Wednesday
16th May followed by interment. May they and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
First Communion Congratulations, best wishes and prayers to the children who made their First Communion at St John’s yesterday. Please keep all the children, their parents, families in your prayers at this time.
Readers & Eucharistic Ministers: In the next few weeks we are hoping to commission some additional Eucharistic Ministers and Readers. If you would like to be involved in these important ministries please have a word with Wilf Humphrey or Fr Bernard. Readers please inform Dot Humphreys of any dates when you will be UNAVAILABLE to read during the summer months (June-Sept) inclusive.
With thanks.
Money Matters: £579.62p
Thank you for your continued generosity.
Traidcraft Stall goods will be on sale this weekend, Saturday 12th May & Sunday 13th May. Please take time to have a browse.
Tea & Coffee after Sunday 9.30am Mass every week in the Parish Centre. Why not stay a while and meet up with friends old and new.
The Drama of Salvation…an opportunity to discover the continuing relevance of all God’s Covenants for the Church and our individual lives…. this scripture course continues on Wednesday in the Day Chapel 10-11.30am
The Parish Pastoral Team will meet next Thursday 19th May at 7.30pm in the presbytery. If you have any suggestions/ideas for the team to consider please place them in the suggestions box on the table at the back of Church.
St Bede’s LPA will be hosting an evening of preparation for Pentecost on Thursday
17th May at 7pm at
St Joseph’s, Birkenhead. Music groups and choirs from across the area will lead us in a time of prayer as we invite the Holy Spirit to renew us. See poster at back of church for details.
Calling all Quiz Lovers: Laughter Africa Charity Quiz night next Friday evening in Bebington Liberal Club (next to Church). The quiz starts at 7.45pm. It is £3 per person and up to six persons on a team. There will be a raffle and bric-a-brac too. Further details from Mary & David Tyrell. Tel 645 7322
Adoremus National Eucharistic Congress…
See Bishop Mark’s Pastoral Letter inside this bulletin. Up to now round 20 or so from St John’s have signed up to participate in one or more parts of this historic event to be held in Liverpool from
7th-9th September. It is not too late to sign up…. see Fr Bernard after Mass today or during the week for a booking form. Bishop Brian will be celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christ with us at the beginning of June and a Deanery Holy Hour will be held at
St Anne’s before the summer break. The postponed Diocesan Symposium on the Holy Eucharist led by Fr Oliver Treanor from Maynooth in Ireland will be held on Saturday 9th June at St Ambrose College, Hale Barns. See poster on the notice board at the back of church/the Diocesan website for further details about all the above.
A PASTORAL LETTER
ON THE NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS
To be read at all Masses on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, 13th May 2018
My dear brothers and sisters,
This Sunday I write to you concerning a great and historic event to take place in Liverpool in September: a National Eucharistic Congress which will bring Catholics together from across England and Wales. This is an event of such significance that I hope many of us will be able to travel to Liverpool and everyone will be able to share in this moment of grace for our nation. The Eucharistic Congress invites us to enter into the prayer heard in the Gospel today which flowed from the Heart of Jesus on the very evening He gave us the Eucharist, that we may be one.1 Pope Francis explains: “The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion, which brings us out of individualism to live together our journey in His footsteps, our faith in Him”.2 The Eucharistic Congress calls us together in the unity of faith and in a renewed recognition of the place of the Holy Eucharist at the heart of the whole life and mission of the Church. The Congress has already occasioned a special Eucharistic Year for us and these days in September will be a unique moment to renew our Eucharistic faith together.
In 1908, when the first National Eucharistic Congress was held in London, the Government invoked a new law to prevent the Blessed Sacrament being carried in procession. The Pope’s representative wrote a public letter to explain how that Congress was not a political demonstration; it was, he insisted, a Catholic people coming together “… to affirm with all simplicity their faith in the Eucharist, recalling the time when that faith was universal in England”.3 It is with this same purpose that we will gather in Liverpool with the same faith with which we “believe that the Saviour of the human race is with you in glory,” as we prayed at the beginning this Mass “may we experience, as he promised, until the end of the world, his abiding presence among us”.4
This Sunday I want to suggest the different ways in which we can be part of this moment of grace, this special moment in our history. We can all accept the invitation to be part of Eucharistic Adoration both in our own parishes, especially on the Solemnity of Christ’s Most Holy Body and Blood, Sunday 3rd June, and on Sunday 25th June at 3.00 pm at Saint Anthony’s, Wythenshawe, together with those preparing to attend the Congress. In Pope Francis’ words, this means accepting a challenge. The Holy Father writes:
1 cf Jn 17:11
2 Corpus Christi Procession 31st May 2013
3 Letter of Cardinal Vannutelli, Papal Legate to the 1908 Congress 4 Collect for Seventh Sunday of Easter
1
Pastoral Letter, National Eucharistic Congress – 13th May 2018
“Let us ask ourselves, adoring Christ truly present in the Eucharist: do I let myself be transformed by Him? Do I let the Lord who gives Himself to me, guide me to come out more and more from my little fence, to get out and be not afraid to give, to share, to love Him and others?”5
On Saturday 8th September, we can take part in the great event itself in Liverpool’s Echo Arena. It will include one of the great, contemporary communicators of the faith, Bishop Robert Barron, who will speak on the Holy Eucharist; and this national gathering will end with Cardinal Vincent Nichols and all the Bishops of England and Wales leading an hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Attendance at this event requires a ticket which can now be obtained through your parish. On Sunday 9th September, ticket holders will be able to attend a celebration of Mass in Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral at 9.30 am or 11.30 am. Others who wish to attend either of the Sunday Masses, can apply for tickets online in June. The outdoor Eucharistic Procession, which will be one kilometer in length, is open to everyone and will set out from the Catholic Cathedral at 1.00 pm. The whole Pilgrimage and Congress will end with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 2.45 pm.
In preparation for the Congress there will be a series of workshops and presentations. In our own Shrewsbury Diocese we will welcome Father Oliver Treanor who taught for many years at the Pontifical University of Maynooth. Father Treanor will lead us in a special reflection on the Holy Eucharist as the centre of the Christian life; this will take place at Saint Ambrose College, Hale Barns on Saturday 9th June and on Sunday 10th June at the Cathedral. On Friday 7th September there will be workshops in Liverpool of special interest to teachers, catechists and musicians. All the details can be found in the leaflet being distributed today or on our Diocesan website.
May we see the opportunity of these days of renewal in faith and love offered in the Eucharistic Year and the National Eucharistic Congress and Pilgrimage. Let us entrust this time of grace to Our Lady who prayed continuously with the disciples in the days before Pentecost.6 Through her intercession may the Holy Spirit kindle “within us the same ardour experienced by the disciples on the way to Emmaus7 and renew ‘Eucharistic wonder’” in all of our hearts.8
United with you in this prayer,
+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury
5 Corpus Christi Homily 2013
6 cf Acts 1:14
7 cf Lk 24:13-35
8 cf Sacramentum Caritatis n 97
2
