St. Joseph’s Newsletter – 2ndJuly 2017
Bonus Ball Winner: 44 – Monica Alcock
Offertory £1852.54 (inc. standing orders)
CAFOD –
Sanctuary Lamp
Arthur Graley (RIP)
Marian Candle
Thanksgiving for Prayers
Answered (MG)
Lately Dead
Arthur Graley, Cynthia McGuire, Daniel Fitzgerald, Aban Archer, Julia Pendleton, Alan Foster
UCM
Line Dancing - Wednesday 5thJuly (8-10pm) Cath Gorman & Jessie Whitfield
Wednesday 5th July UCM Meeting
Monday 10th July Bingo in St. Joseph’s Parish Centre at 1.30pm
In light of the violence seen in the UK over the last few weeks. Lynn Pester OCV, would like to hear from anyone interested in forming a parish rosary group to pray 20 decades of the Rosary once a month in honour of Our Lady Queen of Peace. Anyone interested please contact her on: 01925 263905.
Margaret’s Tea Party in aid of St. Joseph’s Family Centre. Strawberry and Cream Tea on Friday 14th July at 1.30pm. Admission is £2 plus a bottle of anything! Raffle, Bottle Stall etc. Everybody is welcome.
Praise in the Park
As part of the Penketh Carnival, Warrington West Churches Together are holding a ‘Praise in the Park’ on Sunday 9th July at 12.30pm on Greystone Recreation Ground. This will be followed by a picnic, so bring some chairs or blankets and enjoy an hour of fellowship. Everyone is most welcome to join us.
Mass Intentions
There is a list in the Narthex at St. Joseph’s of the Masses that have been sent away to Bishop Tesfay in Ethiopia.
Power To Be
Every child has the power to achieve great things. But one in six people live without electricity. This holds children back from reaching their full potential. On Sunday 9th July CAFOD members will be outside St. Joseph’s church at each Mass inviting you to sign a postcard addressed to the UK representative at the World Bank. The World Bank is an international organisation with a mission to end poverty around the world. But currently less than 3% of its spending on energy goes towards local, renewable energy. To tackle poverty we need to shift the balance. Please sign your name, and unless you wish to receive email updates from CAFOD, write‘St. Joseph’s Parish, Penketh’ on the card.
Listening to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor
The response of the Church in Latin America to Pope Francis’ call, Father Peter Hughes, SSC (CAFOD Partner) on Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am for 10.00 am until 2.15 pm. St. Joseph’s Parish Centre, Crow Orchard Road, Wrightington, Wigan, WN6 9PA (just off junction 27 of M6)
Hear:
- About the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples in South America.
- How you can respond in practical terms through the Climate Coalition’s Week of Action and CAFOD’s campaign, ‘Power to Be’
- MP’s responses and advice.
(Fr. Peter Hughes is an Irish Columban priest who has lived mainly in impoverished communities in Lima, Peru. He is an advisor to the Instituto Bartolome de las Casas and through CELAM, the 22 Bishops Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean on pastoral leadership, initiatives and inspiration and recently to the United Nations)
Please bring something for a shared lunch. For more information contact
or call 0151 228 4028.
It’s that time of year again to give prior notice of:-
“TheWorld’s Biggest Coffee Morning”
For Macmillan Cancer Care. All help gratefully accepted, whether it’s cakes, helpers, raffle prizes or donations. Date to be confirmed, either 29th or 30th September. Thank you in anticipation. Bernadette Doyle.
Adoration and Healing Hour with Benediction
St. Oswald’s Church, Monday 17th July from 7.30pm – 8.30pm
All welcome.
‘ACN Portraits of Faith: Syria’s Christina Search for Peace’
Christian families remaining in Syria are in great need of our prayers and support. Our Cathedral will be hosting an exhibition, organised by Aid to the Church in Need, to raise awareness of their plight. For full event details, please see the leaflets at the back of church or visit
Venue: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, L3 5TQ. Dates: 22nd-23rd July.
Times: 10am-4pm Daily. Entrance is FREE.
Start a Conversation
Supporting Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness
You are invited ‘start a conversation’
- Start a conversation with your neighbours, family and friends and tell us about their experiences of loneliness
- Encourage us all to work together to take action on loneliness
There will be a free lunch and a cake competition. Guests are encouraged to bring along a cake for the competition. Monday 3rd July, 12 noon until 4pm at Pyramid Arts Centre. For more information, see poster in the Narthex or call 01744 752644.
Any items for next week’s Newsletter please contact Fr. Christopher or email him at
Gospel reflection for the thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Do Something Simple
So how do we best succeed in being people of God in the world? Jesus' advice is "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me." Surely this advice is too hard to follow. Does Jesus expect us to abandon our parents our children and our families in favour of some Christian crusade? On closer inspection this is not quite what Jesus may have meant. The broad advice is that Jesus should come first, and that no worldly matters should get in the way of God. What is the point of becoming obsessed with houses, cars, university results and the best pension deals if we are only to lose our physical lives at the end of the day anyway? The Word of God we are told, will last for eternity. It's not difficult to know where our priorities should lie and yet it is still easier said than done. We are part of the physical world after all, and transcending physical comforts is a tall order. It seems altogether too difficult, and yet would Jesus really ask something of us if we weren't capable of giving it?
The tendency in today's world is to notice and reward the grand gestures. While discipleship certainly includes such great acts as laying down one's life for Christ, it also includes such everyday simple acts as hospitability and charity. Jesus was surely an expert psychologist when he said "….And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple - amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." It's with relief that we learn that God asks no more of us than we are individually capable of. We are all capable of doing something, however simple. Do something simple for God today.
Peace Actions for July
- 9th July is Sea Sunday. On this day we support the seafarers who face danger and poor working conditions to bring us food and supplies
- The United Nations has declared 18th July “Nelson Mandela International Day” in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom. Read 'Higher Than Hope,' the Authorized Biography of Nelson Mandela.
- As the school term rattles to an end, remember to buy your teacher a ‘Fairtrade’ gift.
- July is traditionally the month we think about our holidays. Give a thought to how our holiday plans impact the poorest on the planet.
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for July 2017
All over the world millions of lapsed Christians are feeling the pull to come back to the Church, but for many there are just too many stumbling blocks. The two main stumbling blocks are belief and engagement. A lapsed Christian may want to believe, but there are just too many unanswered questions inhibiting their faith. Engagement is an area where we can all help. A lapsed Christian might having feelings of wanting to return to church but nothing of specific interest is beckoning. This is where the rest of us can help. How well are we promoting our parish activities? When was the last time we set up a new group? How good are our youth opportunities? How good is our outreach? Does the wider community know what we do? This month we are invited to join in Pope Francis’ prayer intention “….That our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life.” Right now, someone who's been lost is hearing God's call. Our job is to help improve the connection.
Speak Up Week of Action
1st-9th July
Big things are happening this summer: people in all corners of the country are preparing to Speak Up on climate change and renewable energy to their newly elected MPs from 1-9 July.
The Speak Up Week of Action is your opportunity to make sure that the concerns of the world’s poorest people are one of the first things on your MP’s agenda, just a few weeks after they have been elected.
To do:-
A call to all those e-campaigners out there to petition the World Bank:- CAFOD is calling on Melanie Robinson, the UK’s representative at the World Bank, to shift the balance to support renewable energy which tackles poverty, so everyone can have the chance to fulfil their God-given potential. Please sign the online petition today. Log on at and follow the link to Power to be campaign: World Bank petition.
Saint Thomas the Apostle
3rd July
Saint Thomas is best remembered for being absent from the Upper Room the first time Jesus appeared to his disciples after the Resurrection. We will remember Thomas for his nagging doubts and his insistence for physical proof. In all, Thomas has provided wonderful opportunities for Christ to teach us important and eternal truths.
“Cast away all disquieting doubts, and learn to triumph over old weaknesses as St Thomas did, who by his ignorance hath instructed the ignorant, and by his incredulity hath served for the faith of all ages.”
Bitesize
Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway.
Mignon McLaughlin
Mass Intentions for week commencing 3rd July 2017
Monday3rd 9.30amAnthony Parle
Tuesday4th 1.15pmRequiem Mass for
Arthur Graley
Wednesday5th 9.30amJosephine Pritchard
10.30amFuneral Service for
Alan Foster
Thursday 6th 9.30amAlbert Gerrard
Friday 7th 9.30amBilly Kilroy
1.00pmFuneral Service for
Daniel Fitzgerald
Saturday 8th
Sunday9th 8.30am Edward Flynn
10.30amPeople of the Parish
4.00pmEvelyn Turner
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place at St. Joseph’s on Friday this week from 10.00am until 12 noon.
There will be a Requiem Mass for Arthur Graley on Tuesday, 4th July at 1.15pm at St. Joseph’s Church.
There will be a Funeral Service for Alan Foster at 10.30am on Wednesday 5th July at St. Joseph’s Church.
There will be a Funeral Service for Cynthia McGuire at 11.00am on Wednesday 5th July at Walton Lea Crematorium.
There will be a Funeral Service for Daniel Fitzgerald at 1.00pm on Friday 7th July at St. Joseph’s Church.