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
Second
Sunday of Lent 28th February, 2021 Cycle B
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
With
God on our side who can be against us? Let us now turn to the Father in the
words our saviour gave us: Our Father…
Wirral Foodbank: continues to need your help and support, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help
People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050
The Parish
Newsletter & the Wednesday Word are available as you leave Church (via the
front side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone else who would
appreciate receiving this newsletter. There is some Lenten literature on the
table at the back of church. Please feel free to take this home with you also.
If
you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address
or put it through the presbytery letter box
FAITH IN FOCUS: A KNITTING MONKEY?
In the midst of all the economic doom and gloom about the global
recession our news programmes try to find the occasional thing to cheer us up.
So after yet another High Street name has gone bankrupt we are treated to a
story about a monkey that can knit or an octogenarian who has just gone over
Niagara Falls in a barrel. It helps us to see that there is light at the end of
the tunnel. But of course it doesn’t take the recession away.
The disciples had their moments of gloom too. Just before today’s gospel
account of the Transfiguration Jesus had been talking to them about taking up
their cross and suffering, about losing their lives for the sake of the gospel.
That can’t have cheered them up much. But the Transfiguration had the opposite
effect on them. They were privileged to see Jesus talking with Moses and
Elijah, to see his appearance changed before their very eyes and to hear the
voice of God coming from the cloud.
It
was a boost to their faith, to put it mildly. Such an experience would keep
them going strong through all sorts of setbacks that lay in store for them.
That’s why Peter wanted to set up three tents, so that he could keep going back
and savouring the moment again. If the temptations of Jesus last week represent
him as human, then this week’s Transfiguration show his divine side. The three
disciples caught a glimpse of his glory, a glory that is normally hidden from
view in this life. What
keeps you going in your life of faith? In the ups and downs of daily life there
are times when we wonder if it is all worthwhile and yet there are other
moments when the presence of God breaks through loud and clear and we feel that
we could almost reach out and touch God’s presence. Lent is a time for taking stock. Perhaps one
thing we could take stock of is how we come across God in our daily lives. If
you had three tents and could put something in each of them that would speak to
you about the close presence of God, about those moments when you can almost
smell God, what would you put in each one of them? You can have anything you
want, except a monkey that knits!
|
Second Sunday of Lent |
28th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Des Capper RIP Clare Cooper RIP Teodor Hanzaryk (8thAnni) |
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Monday |
1st |
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Tuesday |
2nd |
9.15am |
Gerry Topping RIP |
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Wednesday |
3rd |
9.15am |
Betty Finan RIP |
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Thursday |
4th
|
7.00pm |
Peter Keating RIP |
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Friday |
5th |
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Saturday |
6th |
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Third Sunday of Lent |
7th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
George Lawson RIP Ints Bernadette Heaney St Luke’s Parish |
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Public Masses; continue in our
churches You must book in for weekend Masses using
the pink form (
available from the front of
the Church) or by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com. Please remember
social distancing at all times inside and outside the church, face coverings
must be worn inside the church and please continue to use the hand sanitiser on
entering and leaving. Please do not come to church if you are feeling unwell or
have any Covid 19 symptoms. If you are able and willing to help with stewarding
duties at our Lenten, Holy Week and Easter Services please let Fr Bernard know
asap.
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings etc…following Government &
Diocesan advice this week. I ‘m afraid we won’t be able to proceed with these
until the end of May. Those wishing to book Baptisms or Weddings please email
: stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
or phone 0151 645
–3314
Prayers
for the Sick-
please pray for
the sick and all those self-isolating in our parish. If anyone is in need of a
visit please let Fr Bernard know. Your
prayers are still requested at this time for Deacon Phillip White and Canon
Brendan Hoban.
Lent 2021
at St John’s Church
Sunday Masses;
Sat 5.00pm Sun 9.30am & 11am
Weekday Masses;
Tuesday & Wednesday at 9.15am.
Thursday at 7pm
Stations of the Cross Each Sunday at
3.00pm. This week led by Deacon Mike Daly.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (in Church)
and socially distanced Confessions (in the Day Chapel) Saturday’s
from 10.30am-11.30am.
World Day of Prayer this Friday 5th March at 2pm at Christ Church,
Higher Bebington. All most welcome.
In
Memorium
:
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of
George Lawson, Funeral Mass at St John’s on Friday 12th
March at 10.30am and for the soul of Peter Roberts, Funeral Mass
Thursday 18th March here at St John’s at 2pm. May they Rest in Peace.
Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection amounted to a
more promising £464.59p .Thank you.
Please note that the offertory basket is on the table at the back of Church for
your donations. You can also push offertory envelopes/donations through the
presbytery letterbox or take out a standing order
.
Church Cleaning– Every Tuesday after 9.15am Mass. Please stay behind if you can and
lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19 times and in this
season of Lent.
CAFOD
Family Fast Day this Lent was on Friday.
CAFOD envelopes are available at the back of church and can be handed in
anytime between now and Palm Sunday 28th /29th March.
Richard Blundell’s Big Walk for
Water for Cafod-
Took place around the parish last week 20th Feb. So far Richard has raised
£284 donations can still be made directly to his Just Giving page at:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-blundell5 but if people would prefer to
leave a cash donation in the basket at the back of church that’s fine also.
CAFOD’s
page with the details can be found here:
https://cafod.org.uk/Fundraise/Organise-an-event/Big-Walk-for-Water
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
First Sunday
of Lent 21st February, 2021 Cycle B
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
Lord
Jesus, you rescue us from sin by the waters of baptism: Lord, have mercy. Lord,
have mercy. Christ Jesus, you show us
the way to new life :Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord
Jesus, by your death on the cross you lead us to the Father: Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May
almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting
life. Amen.
Wirral Foodbank: continues to need your help and support, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help
People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050
The Parish
Newsletter & the Wednesday Word are available as you leave Church (via the
front side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone else who would
appreciate receiving this newsletter. There is some Lenten literature on the
table at the back of church. Please feel free to take this home with you also.
If
you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address
or put it through the presbytery letter box
FAITH IN FOCUS:DO-IT-YOURSELF GRACE?
The problem with temptation is that we only recognise it after it’s
over. When we are actually being tempted we see what’s on offer as completely
normal. That’s why the smoker really believes that this little after-dinner
light-up will not get them hooked once more, why the gambler is convinced that
this bet on the cert means he’ll never need to worry about money again, and the
woman passing the pub is confident that she can enjoy this tipple without
stepping onto the downward spiral.
When
the Spirit led Jesus out into the desert he was tempted by the devil. It’s
reassuring to know that even Jesus was tempted. But how was he able to resist
the temptations? He could do it because he wasn’t there alone; he was living in
the Spirit. It was this close link with the Spirit that allowed him to refuse
to give in.
Our society is hooked on the
idea that we can improve ourselves by our own merits. Buy a self-help book and
you’ll be able to levitate, speak Yiddish in three days and cook gourmet meals
while composing your latest harpsichord sonata. All you have to do is pull
yourself together and make the effort.
Sometimes Christians are guilty of borrowing this flawed attitude and
applying it to the way we relate to God and the way we deal with the spiritual
challenges of our lives. So we end up thinking that when it comes to temptation
the only solution is to be firm, to exercise our willpower and everything will
fall into place. This is usually referred to as the “muscular Christian”
syndrome. But
however many little victories we may win by using this method, the only way to
defeat temptation permanently is recognise that we need God’s help, God’s
grace, the life of his Spirit. We cannot save ourselves; only Jesus Christ can.
We cannot flex our spiritual muscles and overcome sin; only God’s grace can do
that for us. If it were otherwise, then there would have been no need for
Christ to die on the cross.
As this Lent begins we
are reminded that temptation is part of daily life. But we are offered another
forty days to seek out God’s Spirit, to look for his life, to find the grace to resist temptation. And when we see others
who have fallen at the hurdles of temptation, we become aware that there but
for the grace of God go I.
|
First Sunday of Lent |
21st |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Joe Moore RIP Brian Cummings RIP Neil Murray RIP |
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Monday |
22nd |
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Tuesday |
23rd |
9.15am |
Helen Fielding RIP |
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Wednesday |
24th |
9.15am |
Ints Brannon & Kenny |
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Thursday |
25th
|
7.00pm |
Ints Phillip & Sara White |
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Friday |
26th |
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Saturday |
27th |
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Second Sunday of Lent |
28th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Des Capper RIP Clare Cooper RIP St Luke’s Parish |
|
Please find enclosed with this newsletter a copy of Bishop Mark’s
Lenten Pastoral Letter entitled “ Building on the Foundation of the Eucharist”
Public Masses; continue in our
churches You must book in for weekend Masses using
the pink form (
available from the front of
the Church) or by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com by 10am on Saturday
morning. Please remember social distancing at all times inside and outside the
church, face coverings must be worn inside the church and please continue to
use the hand sanitiser on entering and leaving. Please do not come to church if
you are feeling unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms. If you are able and
willing to help with stewarding duties at our Lenten Holy Week and Easter
Services please let Fr Bernard know sometime this week.
Church Cleaning– Every Tuesday after 9.15am Mass. Please stay behind if you can and
lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19 times and in this
season of Lent.
Lent 2021 at St John’s Church
Sunday Masses;
Sat 5.00pm Sun 9.30am & 11am
Weekday Masses;
Tuesday & Wednesday at 9.15am.
Thursday at 7pm
Stations of the Cross Each Sunday at
3.00pm. This week led by Fr Bernard.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (in Church)
and socially distanced Confessions (in the Day Chapel) Saturday’s
from 10.30am-11.30am.
World Day of Prayer on Friday 5th March at 2pm at Christ Church,
Higher Bebington. All most welcome
In
Memorium
:
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of
George Lawson, Funeral Mass at St John’s on Friday 12th
March at 10.30am and for the soul of Peter Roberts, Funeral Mass Thursday
18th March here at St John’s
at 2pm. May they Rest in Peace.
Prayers
for the Sick-
please pray for
the sick and all those self-isolating in our parish. If anyone is in need of a
visit/ phone call, please let Fr Bernard know. Your
prayers are requested especially at this time for Deacon Phillip White and
Canon Brendan Hoban.
Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
amounted to a disappointing £325.83p . Please note that the offertory basket is
on the table at the back of Church for your donations. You can also push
offertory envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox or take out a
standing order
.
Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury thank you for your very generous donations, to the bucket at the back
of church collection, during Advent and Christmas, which realized £223.78p.
CAFOD Family Fast Day this Lent is on Friday. CAFOD envelopes are available at the back of
church and can be handed in anytime between now and Palm Sunday 28th
/29th March.
Richard Blundell’s Big Walk for
Water for Cafod-
Took place around the parish yesterday 20th Feb. Donations
can be made directly to my Just Giving page at:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-blundell5 but if people would prefer to
leave a cash donation at church that’s fine also.
CAFOD’s
page with the details can be found here:
https://cafod.org.uk/Fundraise/Organise-an-event/Big-Walk-for-Water
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 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time 14th February, 2021 Cycle B
WORD OF GOD
A
leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees :“If you want to” he said “you can
cure me.” (Mark 1:40)
WORDS FOR WORSHIP Lord
Jesus, you cleanse us from the disease of our sin: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have
mercy.
Christ
Jesus, you restore us to health and true happiness: Christ, have mercy. Christ,
have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you are the hope of all who believe in you: Lord, have
mercy. Lord, have mercy.
In his goodness may almighty God have mercy on us, cleanse us from our
sin and lead us safe rejoicing to everlasting life. Amen.
Wirral Foodbank: continues to need your help and support, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help
People who need emergency food and support at this time can contact
the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050
The Parish
Newsletter & the Wednesday Word are available as you leave Church (via the
front side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone else who would
appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
If
you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address
or put it through the presbytery letter box
FAITH IN FOCUS: FEELING SUPERIOR
It’s become fashionable to compare the modern-day disease of AIDS and
HIV with leprosy. They’re not connected medically but they sometimes have the
same effect on those who suffer with the illness: they become isolated, shunned
and in some cases looked down upon. Certainly
lepers were despised at the time of Jesus. They were not allowed to live in the
towns or to mix with other people. They carried a bell or made some noise when
approaching people so that everyone had a chance to move away from them. They
wore torn clothes and shielded their faces. And there was no way in which they
were allowed to practise their religion like the rest of society. They were
outcasts.
When St Mark reports the curing of the leper in the first chapter of his
gospel there is much more at stake than a simple healing of an individual. Mark
is anxious to point out from the start that there is no such thing as a no-go
area for Jesus, since he has come to offer salvation to all, irrespective of
who they are. There are no people who are beyond the pale, no sinners who have
committed such sins that they cannot hope for forgiveness, no people who don’t
qualify for the promises of God. So
as well as looking at what happened to the leper we also have to keep in mind
the effect on the crowd that witnessed the miracle. They would have been
shocked that Jesus had anything to do with a man whom their law said was
untouchable. And they would have been confused that a religious man, a rabbi,
seemed to be acting against what their religion had taught them. Maybe
today’s gospel can teach us two things. The first is to ask ourselves whether
we think that there are some people who are beyond forgiveness. Are there some
crimes that merit permanent exclusion from society? Or maybe we are tempted to
think that we ourselves have behaved in such a way that we do not deserve to
have God bother about us any more?
And the second thing is to be honest about the
way we view other people. Our society loves to have its lepers because it makes
us feel superior. We’re not like them. We’re clean. Are there people that we
feel superior to? And if so, why?
|
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
14th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Michael &Gill Azurdia RIP For Married People St Luke’s Parish |
|
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Monday |
15th |
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Shrove Tuesday |
16th |
9.15am |
Ines Chavez-Tellez RIP |
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Ash Wednesday |
17th |
10.00am 7.00pm |
Ints Canon B Hoban St John’s Parish |
|
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Thursday |
18th
|
1.00pm
7.00pm |
Funeral Service Kathleen O’Neill Arthur Brockway RIP |
|
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Friday |
19th |
12.30pm |
Funeral Mass Betty Finan |
|
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Saturday |
20th |
|
|
|
|
First Sunday of Lent |
21st |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Joe Moore RIP Brian Cummings RIP St Luke’s Parish |
|
Public Masses; continue in our
churches You must still book in for weekend Masses
using the pink form (
available from the front of
the Church) or by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com by 10am on Saturday
morning. Please remember social distancing at all times inside and outside the
church, face coverings must be worn inside the church and please continue to
use the hand sanitiser on entering and leaving. Please do not come to church if
you are feeling unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms.
It is important that we all stay in touch with one another
by phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact. If anyone is in need of material or
spiritual help please do not hesitate to
get in touch by phone 0151 645 3314/ or
email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Church Cleaning– Every Tuesday after 9.15am Mass. Please stay behind if you can
lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19 times and as Lent
approaches.
Lent 2021
at St John’s Church
This Wednesday= Ash Wednesday –a day of Fasting and Abstinence. Masses
with the Blessing & Distribution of Ashes at 10am & 7pm. In
these Covid 19 times we will explain exactly how that is to be done this
weekend. We will not use the weekend booking form for these Masses but to
satisfy the “Track and Trace” requirements you will need to let Fr Bernard know
which Mass you intend to come to via
email, phone (0151 645 3314) or with a note posted through the presbytery
letterbox by 11am on Tuesday 16th.
Sunday Masses;
Sat 5.00pm Sun 9.30am & 11am
Weekday Masses;
Tuesday & Wednesday at 9.15am.
Thursday at 7pm
Stations of the Cross Each Sunday at
3.00pm
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (in Church)
and socially distanced Confessions (in the Day Chapel) Saturday’s
from 10.30am-11.30am.
Prayers for the Sick- please pray for the sick and all those self-isolating
in our parish. If anyone is in need of a visit/ phone call, please do let Fr
Bernard know.
Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
amounted to £423.65p . Please note that the offertory basket is on the table at
the back of Church for your donations. You can also push offertory
envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox or take out a standing
order
. CAFOD Family Fast Day this Lent is on Fri 26th
Feb. More details in next week’s bulletin.
In
Memorium
:
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of Kathleen O’Neill, Funeral
Service at St John’s on Thursday at 1pm. Also for Betty Finan, Funeral
Mass at St John’s on Friday at 12.30pm. And
also for George Lawson, Funeral Mass at St John’s on Friday 12th
March at 10.30am.Please also remember in your prayers Dr Michael Azurdia and
his wife Gill and Brian Cummings who died recently. May they all
Rest in Peace.
Thinking about becoming a Catholic- recently, people have started to reflect upon the bigger
questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking about
becoming a Catholic please get in touch.
Richard Blundel’s Big Walk for
Water for Cafod
next Sat
20th February, 2.00 pm start. It’s a 5 mile walk for CAFOD to raise money
to combat water poverty. Richard’s route takes him through parts of Bebington,
New Ferry, Port Sunlight and Spital – He’ll be passing by church at about 2.15pm
were he will have a photo with Fr Bernard. Donations can be made directly to my
Just Giving page at:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-blundell5 but if people would prefer to
leave a cash donation in a basket at the back of church that’s fine also. CAFOD’s
page with the details can be found here:
https://cafod.org.uk/Fundraise/Organise-an-event/Big-Walk-for-Water
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 Fifth
Sunday in Ordinary Time 7th February, 2021 Cycle B
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
Let
us pray for those of our community who are sick, for those who care for them at
home and for those who use their skills in the hospitals and nursing homes of
our area. Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
Let us pray for those who like Job feel hopeless and helpless, that they
may be blessed with the care and support of those who love them and may be
helped to see an end to the problems that beset them. Lord…
As the economic downturn continues to affect our country let us pray
that we might be attentive to those around us who are in a worse position than
we are, and let us remember those in parts of the world who have nothing to
call their own. Lord…
On
Education Sunday we pray for those of our parish who are involved in the world
of teaching and learning: for the children of our schools and colleges, for
their teachers and for those who make decisions that affect their future
education at local and national level. Lord…
Wirral Foodbank: continues to need your help and support, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help
People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050
The Parish
Newsletter & the Wednesday Word are available as you leave Church (via the front
side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone else who would
appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
If
you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address
or put it through the presbytery letter box
FAITH IN FOCUS:EVERY SILVER LINING HAS A CLOUD!
The worst thing you can do to someone who’s depressed is to tell them to
pull themselves together. They simply can’t, because they don’t see things the
way we do and from their point of view all the positives seem to have
vanished.
That’s
the mood that Job is in today in our scripture reading. He’s suffering a
restlessness: when it’s night he longs for the dawn but when the new day comes
he wishes it was night again. He’s hopeless and helpless.
It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of depression, although most of us
just like a good moan and we occasionally end up feeling sorry for ourselves.
We complain about the rise in food prices in the economic downturn but then we
still spend our money on things that we don’t really need or that don’t do us
any good. But
imagine if you really did lose all hope and the future seemed bleak. Where
would you turn? What would be the compass points of your existence that would
guide you through the dark days? In today’s gospel we hear that Jesus cured
many people of mental illness who were brought to him by their family and
friends. When everything else seemed to have failed they knew that he wouldn’t
let them down. “Casting out devils” meant healing mental disturbance and this
was a large part of the healing ministry of Christ.
Just because we believe in Jesus does not mean that we will never suffer
from depression; in fact, depression is sometimes the only way a person can
survive an awful experience. It’s the mind’s way of defending itself for a
while. And it’s not the case that Christians look at the world with
rose-coloured glasses. We don’t just see a wonderful world; we go through the
same troughs as every other person. But faith gives a purpose to our suffering.
It teaches us that whatever we undergo we are not alone. Besides any medical
treatment that we might receive, we also know that Jesus himself has already
taken on the deepest suffering possible and has overcome it. Being a Christian
means being part of a community that cares, a community that sees the hurt of
one person as affecting the whole Body of Christ, the Church. Look around you.
|
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
7th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Ted Welsh RIP Gerry Topping 1st Aniv St Luke’s Parish |
|
|
Monday |
8th |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday |
9th |
9.15am |
Sylvia Nugent RIP |
|
|
Wednesday |
10th |
9.15am |
Alex Hoban RIP |
|
|
Thursday |
11th
|
9.15am |
For Covid Sufferers & NHS Personnel & Carers |
|
|
Friday |
12th |
|
||
|
Saturday |
13th |
|
|
|
|
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
14th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Michael &Gill Azurdia RIP For Married People St Luke’s Parish |
|
Public Masses; continue in our churches You must still book in for weekend
Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the Church) or by
sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com by 10am on Saturday morning. Please
remember social distancing at all times inside and outside the church, face coverings
must be worn inside the church and please continue to use the hand sanitiser on
entering and leaving. Please do not come to church if you are feeling unwell or
have any Covid 19 symptoms.
Exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament-
Saturday’s from 10.30-11.30am in Church. The
Rosary is prayed for all parish/ family/ individual needs and intentions at
11.10am. Please join us in person, in Church, or pray the Rosary at the same
time from your home.
Church
Cleaning
– Every Tuesday after 9.15am Mass.
Please stay
behind if you can lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19
times even if you can’t come every week. Many
hands make light the work!
It is important that we all stay in touch with one another
by phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact. If anyone is in need of material or spiritual
help please do not hesitate to get in
touch by phone 0151 645 3314/ or
email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Prayers for the Sick- please pray for the sick and all those self-isolating
in our parish. If anyone is in need of a visit/ phone call, please do let Fr
Bernard know. Thursday is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day
of Prayer for the Sick. A copy of Pope Francis’ Message for this Special
Day of Prayer is posted on the Church notice board or you can read it on the
Vatican website. The Rosary will be prayed on Thursday at 8.45am before the
9.15am Mass for Covid Sufferers and NHS Personnel and Carers.
Shrewsbury Lourdes Hospitality Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes will be live streamed on church
services tv,
https://www.churchservices.tv/svdpknutsford from St Vincent’s, Knutsford at 9.30am on 11th Feb .We will be
hosting a zoom social gathering that evening at 8pm, for details to join in
please email
secretary@teamshrewsbury.co.uk or text/call 07451249267.
Weekend’s Offertory Collection
amounted to £342.40p a slight drop on last week. Please note that the offertory
basket is on the table at the back of Church for your donations. You can also
push offertory envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox or take out
a standing order
.
In
Memorium
:
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of Kathleen O’Neill, Funeral
Service at St John’s on Thursday 18th Feb at 1pm. Also for Betty
Finan, Funeral Mass at St John’s on Friday 19th Feb at 12.30pm. Please also remember in your prayers Dr
Michael Azurdia and his wife Gill who died in Arrowe Park Hospital recently and Brian Cummings who died last
weekend. May they all Rest in Peace.
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings ,,,there is now a
considerable backlog. We hope & pray that we may be able to proceed with
these after Easter. Please keep in touch with Fr Bernard.
Thinking about becoming a Catholic- recently, people have started to reflect upon the bigger
questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking about
becoming a Catholic please get in touch.
Lent is coming
around quite quickly, with Ash Wednesday on the 17th February.
There will be two Masses here at St John’s on that significant day. At 10am (Fr
Paschal) and at 7pm (Fr Bernard). Ashes will be blessed and distributed at both
Masses and in these Covid 19 times we will explain exactly how that is to be
done next weekend. We will not use the weekend booking form for these Masses
but to satisfy the “Track and Trace” requirements you will need to let Fr
Bernard know which Mass you intend to come to
via email, phone (0151 645 3314) or with a note posted through the presbytery
letterbox by 11am on Tuesday 16th February.
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 Fourth
Sunday in Ordinary Time 31st January, 2021 Cycle B
WORD OF GOD
Here is a teaching that is new and with authority behind it. (Mark 1:27)
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
May God the Father be ever at your side that you may live according to
the wisdom of his eternal word. Amen.
May God the Son be your guide and lead you into the ways of truth and
justice .Amen. May God
the Holy Spirit inspire you to be prophets of the Good News in your lives of
service to each other .Amen.
And
may the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit come
down upon you and remain with you always. Amen.
Wirral Foodbank: continues to need your help and support, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help
People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050
The Parish
Newsletter & the Wednesday Word are available as you leave Church (via the
front side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone else who would
appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
If
you have a notice for the bulletin please email it to the parish email address
or put it through the presbytery letter box
FAITH IN FOCUS: ON WHOSE AUTHORITY?
There are two types of authority. One type goes with the job. Most
people do what they are asked when approached by a police officer because they
recognise that this person carries a certain authority. This authority demands
that people obey it. It’s the same type of authority that a teacher might claim
over the pupils or students in a school. Or maybe it’s your boss at work who
demands this authority, and it’s better to knuckle under than to lose your
job.
The second type of authority is one that is earned. We might agree that
a particular politician carries a good deal of authority because of their track
record. They’ve earned the respect. You might choose to send your child to a
piano teacher because he or she has a reputation for bringing out the best in
those they teach. Footballers may hold their manager in esteem not because he
has the power to sack them but because he knows what he’s talking about and has
won shed-loads of cups and trophies.
From
the outset of his gospel St Mark points out that Jesus spoke with authority.
The authority he had was the type that he earned because of what he said. He
knew what he was talking about, and in today’s reading people comment on how
what he says and does seems to make sense. Even spirits obey him.
Strangely,
the word “authority” in Latin is connected with the word that means to “grow”.
If a person has true authority then what they teach makes people grow; it
improves the situation; it makes things better. When
people heard Jesus preaching they saw that what he taught was not some code of
rules and regulations but was a message that improved people’s situation. He
cured people, set their minds at rest, forgave them, lifted them up, gave them
back their self-esteem and set them on the path that leads to happiness. He
offered them something that made sense in the here and now and which beckoned
them to a future of eternal happiness.
That was the basis of his authority and that’s why people who heard his
message followed him. And it’s the only reason why today we still do.
|
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
31st |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Ralf & Betty Fryer RIP John McIntosh RIP St Luke’s Parish |
|
|
Monday |
1st |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday |
2nd |
9.15am |
St John’s Parish & Schools |
|
|
Wednesday |
3rd |
9.15am |
Michael Hilliard RIP |
|
|
Thursday |
4th
|
10.00am |
Funeral Service at Landican For Thomas Igoe |
|
|
Friday |
5th |
|
||
|
Saturday |
6th |
|
|
|
|
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
7th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Ted Welsh RIP Gerry Topping 1st Aniv St Luke’s Parish |
|
Exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament-
Saturday’s from 10.30-11.30am in Church. The
Rosary is prayed for all parish/ family/ individual needs and intentions at
11.10am. Please join us in person, in Church, or pray the Rosary at the same
time from your home.
Public Masses; continue in our churches You must still book in for weekend
Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the Church) or by
sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com by 10am on Saturday morning. Please
remember social distancing at all times inside and outside the church, face coverings
must be worn inside the church and please continue to use the hand sanitiser on
entering and leaving. Please do not come to church if you are feeling unwell or
have any Covid 19 symptoms.
Tuesday is the Feast Day of the Presentation of Our Lord
(Candlemass Day)
. Candles will be blessed and distributed at the beginning of the
9.15am Mass (Please note that this month the Novena prayers to Our Lady of
Perpetual Succour will be incorporated into this Mass)
Church Cleaning– Every Tuesday after 9.15am
Mass.
Please stay
behind if you can lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19
times even if you can’t come every week. Many
hands make light the work!
It is important that we all stay in touch with one another
by phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact. If anyone is in need of material or
spiritual help please do not hesitate to
get in touch by phone 0151 645 3314/ or
email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings ,,,there
is now a considerable backlog. We hope & pray that we may be able to proceed
with these after Easter. Please keep in touch with Fr Bernard.
Prayers for the Sick- please pray for the sick, housebound and all those
self-isolating in our parish. If anyone is in need of a visit/ phone call,
please do let us know,
In
Memorium
:
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of Thomas Kevin Igoe:, Funeral
Service at Landican Cemetery this Thus 4th Feb at 10am.
also
for Kathleen O’Neill, Funeral Service at St John’s on Thursday 18th
Feb at 1pm.
and
for Betty Finan, Funeral Mass at St John’s on Friday 19th Feb
at 12.30pm. Please pray
for these and for all who have died from Covid 19 in the Liverpool Region. Please
also remember in your prayers Dr Michael Azurdia and his wife Gillian who have
died in Arrowe Park Hospital with Covid 19 during the past week. May they and all
The Faithful Departed rest in peace.
Pat
Bevan and family wish to thank you most sincerely for your prayers & kind
expressions of sympathy upon the death of Ted Bevan.
Thinking
about becoming a Catholic-
recently, people have started to reflect upon the bigger
questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking about
becoming a Catholic please get in touch either by phone or email.
Shrewsbury Lourdes Hospitality Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes will be live streamed on church
services tv,
https://www.churchservices.tv/svdpknutsford from St Vincent’s, Knutsford at 9.30am on 11th Feb .We will be
hosting a zoom social gathering that evening at 8pm, fot details to join in
please email
secretary@teamshrewsbury.co.uk or text/call 07451249267.
Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
amounted to £363.34p a slight improvement on the previous week. Please note
that a basket is now on the table at the back of Church for your Offertory Donation. You can also push offertory envelopes/donations
through the presbytery letterbox or take out a standing order
.
Retired Priest Fund-
Because of the current circumstances we are not taking a retiring collection at
this time. But if you would like to contribute to this fund, which helps meet
the future needs of our sick and retired priests, please put your donation in
an envelope, clearly marked for this purpose, through the presbytery letter box
by 10.30am this Sunday If you wish to Gift Aid your donation, please
make your donation online. go to
www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/retired-priests-fund An
electronic version of a leaflet about the Fund is available
www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/retired-priests-fund
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 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 24th January, 2021 Cycle B
WORD OF GOD
God saw the efforts of the Ninevites to renounce their evil behaviour.
He relented and did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.
(Jonah 3:10)
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
May God the Father look upon you with the love he has shown from of old.
Amen.
May God the Son renew you by his redeeming death on Calvary .Amen.
May God the Holy Spirit lead you repentant and rejoicing into the
kingdom of heaven. Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God, the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit come down upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.
Wirral Foodbank: needs
your help and support more than ever, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050
The Parish
Newsletter & the Wednesday Word, are presently available as you leave Church
(via the front side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone from your
street or neighbourhood who would appreciate receiving information about St
John’s Parish at this time.
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.
FAITH IN FOCUS: REPENTANCE
The very first words of Jesus recorded by St Mark are “The time has come
and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe the Good
News.”
Jesus’ whole life would turn out to be an invitation to enter God’s
kingdom through repentance. And the Good News was precisely that: we have a God
who does not want to lose us but wants us to be happy with him now and
forever.
Our first problem is usually in believing that God really means what he
says. We live in a society that encourages litigation. We are urged on to get
our rightful due, to press for what we are entitled to and to live in a
compensation world. Yet God laughs in the face of this. Who could claim the
all-time record payout when it comes to compensation? God, of course! Yet God’s
time is not spent getting his own back but looking of ways to forgive.
But
God’s forgiveness is not automatic; it demands repentance. Repentance
originally meant regret. But it’s not enough to regret our sins; we need also
to take action to ensure that they don’t happen again. In
the Old Testament, repentance included a physical action. The Hebrew word
“shuv” means to turn. Repentance for the Jewish people was like doing a U-turn
and deciding to go in a different direction. In the New Testament, the Greek
word used is “metanoia” which means having a change of mind and deciding that
we have to start looking with a fresh outlook on the way we behave. Later the
Romans would use the Latin word “conversio” from which we get our word
conversion. But conversion wasn’t just a religious word. It meant to turn
around, to transform and to return.
Whatever way we choose to think about
repentance, it is at the heart of the Christian gospel and it forms the basis
of Christ’s preaching. Repentance means changing our mind about the way we
behave and turning our lives around. If, like the people of Nineveh in the days
of Jonah, we want to experience God’s forgiveness then we need to repent. For
repentance is the hallmark of being a Christian. It’s something that never
ends. We need to show it now. And tomorrow. And the next day.
|
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time |
24th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Dorothy Turnbull RIP Ints Bill & Norah Martin Ints Sr Brigid Kelly |
|
|
Monday |
25th |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday |
26th |
9.15am |
Ted Bevan RIP |
|
|
Wednesday |
27th |
9.15am |
Patricia Smith RIP |
|
|
Thursday |
28th
|
9.15am |
Win Tunley RIP |
|
|
Friday |
29th |
|
||
|
Saturday |
30th |
|
|
|
|
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
31st |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Ralf & Betty Fryer RIP John McIntosh RIP St Luke’s Parish |
|
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament- Saturdays
from 10.30-11.30 in Church. A Rosary will be prayed for all parish/ family/
individual needs and intentions at
11.10am. Please join us in person or pray the Rosary at the same time from your
home.
Public Masses; continue in our churches despite the many
Covid 19 regulations of our time. You must still
book in for weekend Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the
Church) or by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com. Please remember social distancing at all times
inside and outside the church, face coverings must be worn inside the church
and please continue to use the hand sanitiser on entering and leaving. Please
do not come to church if you are feeling unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms.
Church Cleaning- Tuesday’s after 9.15am Mass. Please stay
behind if you can lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19
times even if you can’t come every week. Many hands make light the work!
It is important, this January, that we all stay in touch with one another by
phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact. If anyone is in need of material or
spiritual help please do not hesitate to
get in touch by phone 0151 645 3314/0151
645 3996 or email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings …. There
is now a considerable backlog ….. we hope and pray that we may be able to
proceed with these before too long. Please keep in touch with Fr Bernard.
Prayers for the Sick- please pray for the sick, housebound and all those
self-isolating in our parish. If anyone is in need of a visit/ phone call,
please do let us know, via parish email -phone 0151 645 3314 .
In Memorium: Please pray for those who have died as a result of Covid 19 in our Merseyside
hospitals and Care Homes. Please
remember too all those whose
anniversaries occur about this time. May they and all the faithful departed
rest in peace.
Christian Unity Week. 18th Jan – 25th
Jan
Sadly we
weren’t able to have our usual services in our Bebington Churches last week because of Covid 19. That
didn’t stop us from praying for our
fellow Christians in Bebington and New Ferry. Rev Michael Loach from Christ
Church, Higher Bebington and Fr Bernard recorded a prayer service at Christ
Church the other day. You can access that on
Thinking
about becoming a Catholic-
recently, people have started to reflect upon the bigger
questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking about becoming
a Catholic please get in touch either by phone or email.
Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
amounted to just £274.80p a very
disappointing amount!! Please note that a basket is now on the table at the
back of Church for your Offertory Donations …please
always make cheques payable to St John’s New Ferry.
You can also push
offertory envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox or take out a
standing order
.Your giving to St John’s Parish is very much needed and appreciated at this time.
Retired Priest Fund- Special Collection
Because of the current circumstances we are not taking a retiring collection at
this time. But if you would like to contribute to this fund, which helps meet
the future needs of our sick and retired priests, please put your donation in
an envelope, clearly marked for this purpose, through the presbytery letter box
by the 31st January. If you wish to Gift Aid your donation, please
make your donation Online. To donate Online please go to
www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/retired-priests-fund An
electronic version of a leaflet about the Fund is available at
www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/retired-priests-fund and
this also explains how you can donate to the Fund by Standing Order or Cheque
and how to Gift Aid donations made using these methods.
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 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 17th January, 2021 Cycle B
WORD OF GOD “Rabbi, where do you live?” they asked. “Come and see,” he replied. So they went with him and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. (John 1:38-39)
WORD FOR TODAY God never stops calling us. It’s not as if he called us when we were younger and has now moved on to someone else. Every day, through so many different events and circumstances God dares us to go beyond our comfort zone in showing we are his disciples.
Wirral Foodbank: needs your help and support more than ever, Full details of how to donate to Wirral Foodbank can be found at htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help People who need emergency food and support at this time can contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050. During these Covid times please do not bring any food donations into the Church.
The Parish Newsletter & the Wednesday Word, which is a helpful reflection on next Sunday’s readings, are presently available as you leave Church (via the front side door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone from your street or neighbourhood who would appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
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.
FAITH IN FOCUS: SELECTIVE HEARING Every time Tom ate his favourite meal, his wife’s dumpling stew, he got a pain in his foot later that night. He went to the doctor and found out that the stew was causing him to have gout. When he returned home his wife asked what the doctor had said, and Tom replied, “He said I’m going to have gout three times a week.” Sometimes we only hear what we want to hear. Eli and his family had long since stopped listening to what God was telling him, and in today’s reading God decides to bypass Eli and turn his attention to Samuel, the young boy. At least Samuel was alert: Speak, Lord; your servant is listening. This week and next week we’re going to see in the gospels how Jesus began calling people to be his disciples and inviting them to come and see what he wanted of them. And what he wanted of them was that they should change and embrace his teaching. Today we see that change reflected in a change of name for Simon: he is from now on to be known as Cephas (Peter) which means a rock. If we’re not careful we can miss the point of these biblical stories about the calling of Samuel and the calling of the disciples. We can end up thinking that it’s all about events that happened long ago. But it’s not. The truth is that God never stops calling. Not only is God calling people to serve him today, but he’s still calling you and me. God doesn’t pick us out to become Christians when we are young and then simply put our names in the book. God calls us every single day to go beyond where we were yesterday in serving him. God uses people and events around us to speak to our hearts, to call out to us, to dare us to give more of ourselves that we might hitherto have been prepared to give. God’s call is not static but dynamic. He’s always looking for more from us and his call is fresh every morning. Taking part in worship is an outward sign that we are prepared to be spoken to by God and are ready to listen to what is asked of us. To be a disciple of Jesus means to be continually listening out for God’s voice (like Samuel) in the sights and sounds that are woven through our lives. Otherwise, we may end up just hearing what we want to hear. And that’s the road that leads to gout!
|
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
|
17th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Des Capper RIP Harry Spencer RIP For Christian Unity |
|
|
Monday
|
18th |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday
|
19th |
9.15am |
Teresa Young RIP |
|
|
Wednesday
|
20th |
9.15am |
Ints Mona Heaney |
|
|
Thursday
|
21st
|
9.15am |
B Kenny RIP |
|
|
Friday
|
22nd |
|
||
|
Saturday
|
23rd |
|
|
|
|
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
|
24th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Dorothy Turnbull RIP Ints Bill & Norah Martin For our Sick and Retired Priests |
|
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament- Saturdays from 10.30-11.30 in Church. Please feel free to come along for the whole hour, 30 mins or just 10 mins. A Rosary will be prayed for all parish/ family/ individual needs and intentions at 11.10am. Please join us in person or pray the Rosary at the same time from your home.
Public Worship; Thankfully public Masses continue in our churches despite the many Covid 19 regulations of our time. You must still book in for weekend Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the Church) or by sending an email to stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com. Please remember social distancing at all times inside and outside the church, face coverings must be worn inside the church and please continue to use the hand sanitiser on entering and leaving. Please do not come to church if you are feeling unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms.
Church Cleaning- Tuesday’s after 9.15am Mass. Please stay behind if you can lend a hand with this essential task in these Covid 19 times. Many hands make light the work!
It is important, particularly in these lockdown days that we all stay in touch with one another by phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact. If anyone is in need of material or spiritual help please do not hesitate to get in touch by phone 0151 645 3314/0151 645 3996 or email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Please keep all our Catholic schools in your thoughts and prayers in these challenging days. Fr Bernard recognises that these are not easy days for our school staff, children or parents but prays that working together, we will be able to support and enhance the education of all our children.
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings …. There is now a considerable backlog ….. we hope and pray that we may be able to proceed with these before too long.
Prayers for the Sick- please pray for the sick, housebound and all those self-isolating in our parish. If anyone is in need of a visit/ phone call, please do let us know, via parish email -phone 0151 645 3314 .
In Memorium: Please pray for those who have died as a result of Covid 19 in our Merseyside hospitals . Please remember too all those whose anniversaries occur about this time. May they and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Christian Unity Week. 18th Jan – 25th Jan
Sadly we won’t be able to have our usual services in our Bebington Churches this week because of Covid 19. That doesn’t stop us of course from praying for our fellow Christians in Bebington and New Ferry. You can also download the Churches Together in England materials for this week, for your personal prayer and reflection.
Thinking about becoming a Catholic- recently, people have started to reflect upon the bigger questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking about becoming a Catholic please get in touch either by phone or email.
Thank you for Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection of £328.00p. Please note that a basket is now on the table at the back of Church for your Offertory Donations when you come into Church …please always make cheques payable to St John’s New Ferry. You can also push offertory envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox or take out a standing order .Your giving to St John’s Parish is very much needed and appreciated.
Retired Priest Fund- Special Collection Because of the current circumstances we will not take a retiring collection today. But if you would like to contribute to this fund, which helps meet the future needs of our sick and retired priests, please put your donation in an envelope, clearly marked for this purpose, through the presbytery letter box by the 31st January. If you wish to Gift Aid your donation, please make your donation Online. To donate Online please go to www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/retired-priests-fund An electronic version of a leaflet about the Fund is available at www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org/retired-priests-fund and this also explains how you can donate to the Fund by Standing Order or Cheque and how to Gift Aid donations made using these methods.
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 Baptism
of the Lord 10th January, 2021
Cycle B
WORD OF GOD
Listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to
enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen and your soul will live. (Isaiah
55:2-3)
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
Let us pray for baptised Christians of all denominations that we may
bear witness to our faith in Christ and may be formed by the Holy Spirit into
one body of believers. Lord, in your merciful love: Hear and grant our prayer.
Let us pray for those families who will bring their children for baptism during
this coming year, that they may find support from our community in their task
of handing on their faith to their children. Lord, in your merciful… Let us
pray for our world, for those whose lives are disrupted by violence and
oppression, for those who are denied basic freedoms and for those who do not
have enough food and drink to remain alive. Lord, in your merciful… Let us pray
for our parish and local community, for the sick, the lonely and the dying, for
those who are finding the economic situation difficult to cope with, and for
those who feel unloved and unwanted. Lord, in your merciful…
Wirral Foodbank: needs
your help and support more than ever, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050.
During these Covid times please do not bring any food donations into
the Church.
The Parish Newsletter & the
Wednesday Word, which is a helpful
reflection on next Sunday’s
readings, are presently available as you leave Church (via the front side
door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone from your street or neighbourhood
who would appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
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.
FAITH IN FOCUS: BAPTISM RING?
If a man or woman wears a ring on their finger it’s often a sign that
they are married. It’s a way of reminding themselves and others that they’ve
committed themselves to another person totally and forever. But just wearing
the ring doesn’t make them married; nor does it automatically make them
faithful. It’s a sign or symbol of their commitment. If they’re to be faithful
to each other then they have to live out their commitment day in day out.
The same is true of baptism. Baptism is a sacramental sign that we have
been given salvation in Christ. But just being baptised doesn’t mean we’re
“saved”. Our baptism has to be a genuine sign, like the ring. We have to live
out our baptism rather than simply acting as though it was something that was
over and done with one Sunday in church long ago.
There’s a difference between a wedding and a marriage. You can get a wedding
planner to help you make your big day go well but you can’t get a marriage
planner. That’s because a wedding only lasts a day but a marriage lasts a
lifetime and needs working at day after day.
Perhaps we could say that a “Christening” takes a day but a baptism
takes a lifetime. Christians need to work at their baptism just like a married
couple need to work at their marriage. When a person is
baptised by being fully immersed in water, what we are witnessing is essentially
a type of funeral. We are saying that this man or woman in going down into the
tomb with Christ and rising again to new life. The old person that they used to
be is now dead and buried, and they are taking on a new life in Christ. So
when we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord we are reminded that every day brings
a fresh opportunity for us to work on our own baptism: to offer God the best we
have (to be priests), to speak out about the values of God’s kingdom (to be
prophets) and to protect and enhance the creation that God has gifted us with
(to be kings and queens). Baptism is not a step that some adults can take. For
those of us who have already taken it, today’s feast is an occasion for
thanksgiving and recommitment.
|
The Baptism of The Lord |
10th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Thomas Thompson RIP Ints Kathleen Parr St Luke’s Parish |
|
|
Monday |
11th |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday |
12th |
9.15am 7.00pm |
Betty Brabander RIP Novena |
|
|
Wednesday |
13th |
9.15am 1.00pm |
Ted Bevan RIP Funeral Service Terry Pearson |
|
|
Thursday |
14th |
9.15am |
Patrick Kelly RIP |
|
|
Friday |
15th |
|
||
|
Saturday |
16th |
|
|
|
|
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time |
17th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Des Capper RIP Harry Spencer RIP For Christian Unity |
|
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament- Saturday from 10.30-11.30 in the main Church.
As part of this a Rosary will be prayed for all parish/ family/ individual
needs and intentions in church at 11.10am. Please join us in person or pray the
Rosary at the same time from your home.
The
Monthly Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
– will be held on Tuesday at 7pm in
Church. All most welcome. This is a special time of quiet prayer and
reflection. If you have not been before I recommend you attend as I am sure you
will find comfort and peac
e in these times.
Please
keep all our local Catholic schools in your thoughts and prayers in these
challenging days. Fr Bernard recognises that these are not easy days for our
school staff, children or parents but prays that working together, we will be
able to support and enhance the education of all our children. Let Christ’s light
shine in love for one another. (Pope Francis)
Public Worship; Thankfully public Masses continue in our churches
despite the many Covid 19 regulations of our time. Please find enclosed with
this newsletter Bishop Marks Pastoral Letter on “Public Worship and Public
Responsibility”. You must still book in for
weekend Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the Church) or
by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com. Please remember social distancing at all times
inside and outside the church, face coverings must be worn inside the church
and please continue to use the hand sanitiser on entering and leaving. Please
do not come to church if you are feeling unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms.
It is important, particularly at the start of a new year
and in these wintery conditions that we all stay in touch with one another by
phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact. If anyone is in need of material or
spiritual help please do not hesitate to
get in touch by phone 0151 645 3314/0151
645 3996 or email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings …. There is now a
considerable backlog ….. we hope and pray that we may be able to proceed with
these before too long.
Prayers
for the Sick-
please remember
our sick and housebound parishioners in your daily prayers. If anyone is in
need of a visit / Holy Communion, please do let us know, via parish email /
phone 0151 645 3314 especially if they are in our Wirral hospitals or at St
John’s Hospice.
In Memorium: Please pray for the repose of
the soul of Terry Pearson whose Funeral Service, conducted by Fr Paschal, is
here at St John’s on Wednesday at 1pm. May he and all the faithful departed
rest in peace.
Thinking
about becoming a Catholic-
recently, people have started to reflect upon the bigger
questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking about
becoming a Catholic please get in touch either by phone or email.
Thank you for Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
of £451.25p. Please note that a basket is now on the table at the back of
Church for your Offertory Donations when you come into Church …please always make cheques payable to St John’s New Ferry.
You can also push offertory envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox
or take out a standing order
(further info on this from
Carol Dalziel or from Mike Russell at the Curial Offices Tel 0151 652 9855)
Your giving to St John’s Parish is
very much needed and appreciated.
Fr Bernard thanks you for your generous
Christmas offerings and for the numerous cards and gifts he has received all of
which are very much appreciated. He also thanks all the members of St John’s
Parish for their prayers, help and support in the challenging year of 2020 and
prays that 2021 will be a better and healthier year for everyone. If you have
some spare time and would like to help
in our parish in any way this coming year please do let Fr Bernard know. Many
hands make light the work!
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 Second
Sunday After Christmas 3rd January, 2021 Cycle B
A Prayer for Refugees
Almighty and merciful God, whose son became a
refugee, and had no place to call his own;
Look with mercy on those who today are fleeing
from danger, homeless and hungry.
Bless those who work to bring them relief;
inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts; and guide the nations of
the world towards that day when all will rejoice in your kingdom of justice and
peace. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, Amen.
In the New Year
may you all be blessed with all the good things God has to give.
Wirral Foodbank: needs
your help and support more than ever, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050.
During these Covid times please do not bring any food donations into
the Church.
The Parish Newsletter & the
Wednesday Word, which is a helpful
reflection on next Sunday’s
readings, are presently available as you leave Church (via the front side
door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone from your street or neighbourhood
who would appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
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.
Extract taken from Seasons of the Word by Fr Denis
McBride CssR
In today’s gospel we hear the magnificent Prologue
to St John’s Gospel: how in the beginning there was the Word through whom all
things came to be. When John comes to
speak about Jesus you notice how he goes back beyond the time of Jesus’ birth
and conception to the very beginning of time itself. He sees Jesus as the Word that was with God,
the Word that was God, this Word was
not only at the beginning – it made the
beginning for all creation. The Word of
God worked. It was not just an empty word decorating the air – it was a Word
that had power to make the beginning of the world.
At Christmas we celebrate the great mystery of
God among us. This is very difficult to
grasp: that God gave himself away in the person of Jesus, that he chose to
reveal himself in the reality of the life and death of Jesus. This is a unique story in the history of
religions. We believe that our main resource
for understanding God is the person of his Son, Jesus. In Jesus we have everything there is to know
about God.
At
Christmas we celebrate the humility of God who came among us himself. We celebrate the love that waits for an
answer. We know that if our words fail, the Word of God never fails. It has power still. That is why we pray before communion “Lord, I
am not worthy to enter under your roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”. We pray that God will
speak his Word again in us. That just as
he made the beginning through his Word, he will make a new beginning in
us.
In this Eucharist we pray that the Word will grow in us; that it will
influence all our own words so that we will be as good as our word. For this to be done, the Word of God and our
own word will become one. And our own
word will then work.
|
Second Sunday After Christmas |
3rd |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Molly & Ted Harrison RIP John O’Shea RIP St Luke’s Parish |
|
|
Monday |
4th |
9.15am |
Teresa Young RIP |
|
|
Tuesday |
5th |
7.00pm |
Ella Shirks RIP |
|
|
Epiphany of The Lord |
6th |
10.00am |
Ints Sister Brigid Kelly |
|
|
Thursday |
7th |
12 noon |
Funeral Mass Ted Bevan |
|
|
Friday |
8th |
10.30am |
Funeral Mass Peter Merity |
|
|
Saturday |
9th |
|
|
|
|
The Baptism of The Lord |
10th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Thomas Thompson RIP Ints Kathleen Parr St Luke’s Parish |
|
Feast of the Epiphany:
there will be two Masses at St John’s to celebrate the
Feast Tuesday
5th January at
7.00pm
Wednesday 6th January at 10.00am There will also be a 12 noon Mass on Wednesday at St Anne’s.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament- resumes next Saturday from 10.30-11.30 in the
main Church. As part of this from next Saturday onwards a Rosary will be prayed
for all parish/ family/ individual needs and intentions in church at 11.10am.
Please join us in person or pray the Rosary at the same time from your home.
Resumption of Public Worship; Thankfully despite the many Covid
19 regulations of our time, public Masses have now resumed on Sunday’s and
Weekday’s and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to our Churches in
this Christmas Season. Our Weekend Masses remain
at the usual times . You must still book in for
weekend Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the Church) or
by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com. Social distancing still applies
and face coverings must be worn. Please do not come to Church if you feel
unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms.
It is important, particularly at this time of year that we
all stay in touch with one another by phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact.
If anyone is in need of material or spiritual help please do get in touch by
phone 0151 645 314/0151
645 3996 or email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Baptisms, First Communions, Weddings …. There is now a
considerable backlog ….. we hope and pray that we may be able to proceed with
these before too long.
Thinking about becoming
a Catholic-
recently, people have started to reflect upon the
bigger questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking
about becoming a Catholic please get in touch either by phone or email, as our
time of preparation is set to begin shortly.
Prayers
for the Sick-
please remember
our sick and housebound parishioners in your daily prayers. If anyone is in
need of a visit / Holy Communion, please do let us know, via parish email /
phone especially if they are in our Wirral hospitals or at St John’s Hospice.
In Memorium: Please pray for the repose of
the soul of Ted Bevan whose Funeral Mass will be at St John’s this Thursday at 12noon and for
Peter Merity whose Funeral Mass will be at St John’s this Friday at 10.30am. May their souls and the souls of
all the faithful departed rest in peace.
The Monthly Novena to
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
– will be held next
Tuesday 12th January at 7pm in Church. All most welcome. This
is a special time of quiet prayer and reflection. If you have not been before I
recommend you attend as I am sure you will find comfort and peace in these
times.
Thank you for Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
of £250.00p. Please note that a basket is now on the table at the back of
Church for your Offertory Donations when you come into Church …please always make cheques payable to St John’s New Ferry.
You can also push offertory envelopes/donations through the presbytery letterbox
or take out a standing order
(further info on this from
Carol Dalziel or from Mike Russell at the Curial Offices Tel 0151 652 9855)
Your giving to St John’s Parish in these challenging times is very much
needed and appreciated.
Caritas at Christmas Appeal
2020:
raised £223.78p for. Thank you for your
continued generosity in these difficult times.
THE BIG CARD
raised £67.38p for the Wirral Ark charity.
Fr Bernard thanks you for your
generous Christmas offerings and for the numerous cards and gifts he has
received all of which are very much appreciated. He also thanks all the members
of St John’s Parish for their prayers, help and support in the challenging year
of 2020 and prays that 2021 will be a better and healthier year for everyone.
The Holy Family, 27th December, 2020 Cycle B
26/12/2020
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 Holy
Family, 27th December, 2020 Cycle B
Let us pray for the families of our community that eachmember may value the others so that, in an atmosphere of mutual respect and
trust, all may feel esteemed and loved.
Let us pray for the family of nations throughout the world
that peace may reign in places that are ravaged by civil and religious dissent,
by war, violence and tyranny.
Let us pray for those, like the Holy Family, who are forced
to become refugees and asylum seekers due to the harshness of conditions in
their own country.
Let us pray for those who do not know the love of a family,
particularly
for orphans,
and for those who are separated from their families due to working away from
home, serving abroad or spending time in prison.
Wirral Foodbank: needs
your help and support more than ever, Full details of how to donate to
Wirral Foodbank can be found at
htpps/wirralfoodbank.org.uk/give-help People who need emergency food and support at this time can
contact the Wirral Emergency Food Hub on 0151 666 5050.
During these Covid times please do not bring any food donations into
the Church.
Thinking about becoming
a Catholic-
recently, people have started to reflect upon the
bigger questions of life, and explore their faith. If you have been thinking
about becoming a Catholic please get in touch either by phone or email, as our
time of preparation is set to begin shortly.
The Parish Newsletter & the
Wednesday Word, which is a helpful
reflection on next Sunday’s
readings, are presently available as you leave Church (via the front side
door). Please take a copy for yourself and anyone from your street or neighbourhood
who would appreciate receiving information about St John’s Parish at this time.
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.
FAITH IN
FOCUS: WE ARE FAMILY
From the corner of the farmhouse kitchen the mouse
looked on as the farmer’s wife opened a small box. To his horror the mouse saw
that it was a mouse-trap! So he went straight outside to the cow and asked her
to help him with the trap. “It doesn’t really affect me” said the cow. So the
mouse went to the chicken to ask for her help. But she said she wasn’t worried
by it either. Even the pig was unmoved by the mouse’s pleas.
In the middle of the night the
trap snapped shut and the farmer’s wife came downstairs to see what had
happened. The mouse wasn’t in it. Instead a poisonous snake had been caught by
the tail and it lashed out, biting her on the leg. The doctor came and said it
would take a long time for her to be well again. She needed building up with
lots of chicken soup. So the farmer killed the chicken to make the soup.
When the friends and neighbours
came round to sit with his wife they needed feeding so he butchered the pig and
had ham sandwiches on hand for anyone who felt peckish. But unfortunately his
wife got worse and after a few weeks she died. So the cow had to be slaughtered
to provide food for the reception after the funeral. The whole household was
brought down simply because it failed to concern itself with the smallest of
its members: the mouse.
The Holy Family was destined to
concern itself with the faults and failings of many. In fact, its ultimate
destiny was to take on the sins of the world as Jesus hung on the cross of
Calvary. Other people’s problems are not their own business; they’re ours too.
We belong to so many different levels of families: our nuclear family at home;
our extended family with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc; the family
that is our local area; our nation; the worldwide family of humanity and the
family of believers that is the Church.
The feast of the Holy Family
shows us that we all belong to each other because we all belong to God. And any
problem that one of our family members might have is ours too. Even if it’s
only the mouse!
|
Feast of the Holy Family |
27th |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
NO EVENING MASS Charles Reynolds RIP For Our Family & Friends |
|
|
Monday |
28th |
10.00am |
William & Eileen Kealey RIP |
|
|
Tuesday |
29th |
10.00am |
Hugh Gourley |
|
|
Wednesday |
30th |
|
||
|
Thursday |
31st |
7.00pm |
For all who have died in 2020 parishioners and all who |
|
|
Friday Mary the Mother of God |
1st |
10.00am |
St John’s and St Luke’s Parish |
|
|
Saturday |
2nd |
|
|
|
|
Second Sunday After Christmas |
3rd |
5.00pm 9.30am 11.00am |
Molly & Ted Harrison RIP John O’Shea RIP St Luke’s Parish |
|
Resumption of Public Worship; Thankfully despite the many Covid
19 regulations of our time, public Masses have now resumed on Sunday’s and
Weekday’s and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to our Churches in
this Christmas Season. Our Weekend Masses remain
at the usual times . You must still book in for
weekend Masses using the pink form (available from the front of the Church) or
by sending an email to
stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com. Social distancing still applies
and face coverings must be worn. Please do not come to Church if you feel
unwell or have any Covid 19 symptoms.
It is important, particularly at this time of year that we
all stay in touch with one another by phone, email, zoom or doorstep contact.
If anyone is in need of material or spiritual help please do get in touch by
phone 0151 645 314/0151
645 3996 or email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com
Prayers
for the Sick-
please remember
our sick and housebound parishioners in your daily prayers. If anyone is in
need of a visit / Holy Communion, please do let us know, via parish email /
phone especially if they are in our Wirral hospitals or at St John’s Hospice.
In Memorium: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Ted
Bevan whose Funeral Mass will be at St
John’s on
Thursday
7th January at 12noon
and for Peter Merity whose Funeral Mass will be at
St John’s on
Friday
8th January at 10.30am.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful
departed rest in peace.
New Year: There will be two Masses
celebrated at St John’s to mark the Feast of Mary the Mother of
God. On New Year’s Eve (i.e. this Thursday) at 7pm Fr Bernard will offer a Mass for
all those who have died in our parish in 2020 and all those who have been
affected in any way by COVID 19. This will be followed by a time of Adoration
before the Blessed Sacrament. On
New Year’s Day Fr Paschal will offer a Mass at 10.00am for
the intentions of everyone in St John’s & St Luke’s Parish.
Next
Weekend
is the Second Sunday of Christmas with Masses at the
usual times, Saturday 5pm and Sunday 9.30am.
Feast of the Epiphany:
there will be two Masses at St John’s to celebrate the
Feast Tuesday
5th January at
7.00pm
Wednesday 6th January at 10.00am
Thank you for Last Weekend’s Offertory Collection
of £772.02p. Please note that a basket is now on the table at the back of
Church for your Offertory Donations when you come into Church for private
prayer/a visit……….please always make cheques payable to
St John’s New Ferry.You can also push offertory envelopes/donations
through the presbytery letterbox or take out a standing order
You can also push offertory envelopes/donations
through the presbytery letterbox or take out a standing order
(further info on this from Carol Dalziel or from Mike Russell at the
Curial Offices Tel 0151 652 9855)
Your giving to St John’s Parish
in these challenging times is very much needed and appreciated.
Fr Bernard thanks
you for your generous Christmas offerings and for the numerous cards and gifts
he has received all of which are very much appreciated. He also thanks all the
members of St John’s Parish for their prayers, help and support in the
challenging year of 2020 and prays that 2021 will be a better and healthier
year for everyone.
Our Schools are on holiday now until the 4th January: We wish
all the children and staff a safe and restful holiday after a difficult and
trying term.
Caritas at Christmas Appeal
2020:
Caritas would like to
provide food and gifts to those most in need in the Shrewsbury Diocese this
Christmas. A box for your loose change is on the table at the back of church
and will remain there until after Masses this weekend. Please be generous.
THE BIG CARD
is still on the table at the back of church. Please
write your Christmas message at asuggested minimum
donation of £1.
All proceeds will go towards the work of The Ark. Please support this
very good cause and thank you for your support over the years.
suggested minimum
donation of £1.
All proceeds will go towards the work of The Ark. Please support this
very good cause and thank you for your support over the years.
