St. Joseph’s Newsletter – 11th June 2017
Bonus Ball Winner: 50 – Aileen Dunn
Offertory £1649.11 (inc. standing orders)
CAFOD – £58 (2 weeks)
Sanctuary Lamp
Jim Parker
(Birthday Remembrance)
Marian Candle
Marvyn Reaney
(80th Birthday Celebration)
Lately Dead
Edward Gatley, Catherine Ford, Joan Reaney,
Brightlights Festival is an annual event for Catholic young adults (ages 16-30) taking place June 23rd – 26th in the beautiful grounds of Alton Castle in Staffordshire. Come and join us for a weekend of live music from artists including One Hope Project and Guvna B. To journey together in Faith through liturgy and worship. And to hear simulating input the possibilities of living life: UNLIMITED. To find out more information or book tickets, visit our website: brightlights.org.uk, call 0300 075 0115 or find us on social media: T/FB/IG: BLFestival
UCM
Line Dancing - Wednesday 14th June (8-10pm) – Rosalie Wilde & Mary Higham
Annual Mass at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral – Wednesday 14th June. Coach will leave car park at 6.10pm
June Bingo Monday 12th June at 1.30pm
Provision for Priests in Retirement
There will be a collection for the Provision for Priests in Retirement this Sunday 11th June. Envelopes are available at the back of church.
OPEN THE BOOK
‘Open the Book’ is an initiative by the Bible Society to present bible stories to children in schools. These children may have no other Christian input into their lives; what an opportunity! It’s easy, it’s enjoyable and rewarding! Feedback from the schools and the children is very positive. We work in small teams of 5 or 6 people, using stories from the Lion Bible Storyteller Book. One person narrates the story while the others ‘act it out’ in a very simple way, using simple props to aid visual presentation. (NB – no acting ability needed!) Time commitment is only an hour or so a week, usually during an assembly time. We currently present in 5 schools, but as more schools in our area are asking for this, we are unable to meet the demand. Are you able to help? If so, please contact either Joan Povey on 01925 726511, or Ron Clucas on 01925 550693 for more information. Alternatively, you can contact St. Joseph’s Presbytery to leave your details.
CAFOD WALK
Dave Cooper and Gordon Moss are walking in the Wirral Coastal Walk for Cafod on Sunday 18th June 2017. They are raising funds for the Yemen and Syria Crisis Appeal. Sponsor forms are available at the back of Church, many thanks in advance as I am sure you will give generously as always. If you would like to join them on the walk, please ring Gordon on 01925 411156.
A Date For Your Diary
Margaret’s Tea Party is planned for Friday 14th July at 1.30pm. Further details to follow.
Come Celebrate the Child
This year Celebrate the Child Mass continues its journey around the diocese and Mass will be held on Sunday 2nd July at St. Anne’s Church, Prescot Road, Ormskirk, L39 4TG. Mass will begin at 3pm. Many people come together to prepare this celebration of our faith with children, families and their church family. The theme of this year’s Mass is ‘Welcome the Cross’. The day will begin at 1pm when children will be able to join in activities to help prepare for the Mass. Mass will be celebrated by the Archbishop Malcolm, priests are invited to concelebrate. Pastoral Area 14 is hosting this year’s Mass. After Mass, there will be time to enjoy your picnic in the church grounds and join in the many games that are planned. Please help to make this a joyful celebration of our faith.
West Kirby Trip with St. Joseph’s ‘Over 60’s’ Club on Wednesday 21st June, leaving at 10am, returning at 4.30pm. Cost is £12. Please ring Angela on 01925 728763.
St. Joseph’s ‘Over 60’s Club’ meet every Thursday in the Parish Centre at 1.30pm until 3.30pm to enjoy a cuppa and biscuit and a game of Bingo! If interested in joining us please ring Mary on 01925 726913.
WE NEED YOU! …….Yes, you!
Can you help our aging gardening group with just two hours of your time once a month to help maintain our beautiful church grounds? Experience not essential! We next meet on Saturday 24th June. Please come along and join us………the bacon, sausage and black pudding are delicious! Should the weather be poor on the day, we will meet the following Saturday, 1st July.
Una Redmond
The family of Una would like to thank Frs. Richard, Christopher and Malcolm for the lovely Mass to celebrate the life of their dear Mum. Also, a big thank you to all friends and parishioners for their many Mass cards and messages of sympathy which were much appreciated. A Mass will be offered for your intentions.
Centenary Tea Party
In aid of St. Joseph’s Family Centre at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Club, Burtonwood on Wednesday 14th June from 2pm – 4.30pm. All very welcome.
Day For Life – there will be a second collection next week Sunday 18th June for Day for Life 2017. Prayer cards are available at the back of Church. Please take one.
Gospel Reflection for the Holy Trinity
Sharing God’s Light
We only have to switch the TV on to know there is plenty of evil in the world, but in today’s Gospel John reminds us that if we know and believe in God we can stand up to that evil. But how do we even begin to know God? Do we think of a God who created the world billions of years ago but has been pretty quiet since? Do we think of God who sent his Son to save us, but only know it because the story sits in a bible up on the book shelf? Or do we think of a God who made us, a God who sent his Son to teach us, and a God who sent his Spirit to guide us through each day of our lives and through each generation that walks the earth?
The Trinity might be a bit of a theological mystery to us, but that doesn’t mean to say that we are not able to understand anything of God. We understand God in three ways; as Father and creator, as Son and redeemer, and as God’s Spirit left to guide and strengthen us.
God the Father is all around us. God’s miracles are in front of our eyes when we wake up in the morning and in the night skies before we go to sleep. We live on the only planet able to support life in our universe. God’s miracles are there for all to see in our breathtaking landscapes, in our oceans teeming with life and in mankind itself. How often do we stop to praise God’s creation or appreciate the miracles that surround us?
God the Son came to teach us with stories and signs. He came to reveal God’s plan for us. God the Son came to show us the way to God the Father. Gods’ Son came to us in a great manifestation of God’s love. “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
The Spirit of God is the part of God left to guide us and lead us. The Holy Spirit is something we can completely forget about … or something we can call on every day, in every choice and in every decision we make.
Today John tells us that God is the light that helps us stand up to evil wherever it raises its head. Knowing God helps us to share that light.
Brexit and Fairtrade
New figures show Brexit could make or break farmers from some of the poorest countries by creating fairer trade or it could result in at least £1 billion in extra taxes, warned the Fairtrade Foundation and Traidcraft.
A new report ‘Brexit: Let’s change trade for good’ launching on 6 March, during Fairtrade Fortnight 2017, reveals the potential untold human cost behind Brexit for millions of people around the world. However the report reveals there is also an unprecedented opportunity for the UK to become a world leader in fairer trade.
EU measures currently mean products the UK imports from the poorest countries are exempt from charges or taxes. But if equivalent rules aren’t put in place by our government, 116 countries stand to lose out. This would seriously harm the incomes of the many people that produce some of the UK’s favourite products, be it coffee, sugar or bananas.
To do:-
Read ‘Brexit: Let’s Change Trade for Good’ at www.fairtrade.org.uk
The Great Get-Together
16th-18th June
Churches and communities are being encouraged to join The Great Get-Together between16 and 18 June 2017, corresponding with the first anniversary of MP Jo Cox’s murder on June 16 last year.
‘Near Neighbours’ has partnered with the ‘Jo Cox Foundation’ to encourage communities to come together by holding events such as street parties, picnics, barbecues, bake-off competitions, sports days and fairs. It is expected to be the biggest event of its kind since the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
To do:-
Visit www.greatgettogether.org for some ‘great get together ideas’.
Day of The African Child - ‘Mary’s Meals’ 16th June
To do:-
‘Mary’s Meals’ is a global charity that aims to feed hungry children in their place of education. (In other words …. School meals in the poorest parts of the world.) It costs just £13.90 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for a whole year. You could think big and sponsor a whole school in parts of the world where children have nothing. Donate online at www.marysmeals.org.uk
Paris Climate Agreement
Together We Can Make A Difference
Less than 24 hours after the US president announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 agreement and strike a new, less ambitious deal with the rest of the world, Brussels declared its outright refusal to engage in such talks. EU officials will instead cut out the White House to deal directly with the US states and major corporations, many of whom have already pledged to live by the terms forged in Paris. The message is that whatever judgements our leaders make, we are still capable of change. It may be hard to do little things like recycling the cereal boxes when people with the real power are refusing to engage, but the message is not to give up. Together we can make a difference.
Care for our Common Home
Tip for this week:-
Fill a coffee flask before leaving for work. Make a pledge to stop buying overpriced coffee in cups that can’t be recycled.
Bitesize
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Mass Intentions for week commencing 12th June 2017
Monday 12th 9.30am Alan Naylor
12 Noon Funeral Service
Hazel Hayde
Tuesday 13th 9.30am Teresa O’Conner
Wednesday 14th 9.30am Michael Fallon
Thursday 15th 9.30am Joyce Gange
Friday 16th 9.30am Derek Hill
Saturday 17th
Sunday 18th 8.30am Una Redmond
10.30am Charlie Bamford
4.00pm People of the Parish
FUNERALS
There will be a Funeral Service for Hazel Hayde on Monday 12th June at 12 noon at St. Joseph’s.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place at St. Joseph’s on Wednesday and Friday this week from 10.00am until 12 noon.