St. Joseph’s Newsletter – 11th March 2018
Bonus Ball Winner: 29 – Bernie Doyle
Offertory - £1844.18 (inc. standing orders)
CAFOD – Thank you all very much for your kind donations to CAFOD’s Family Fast Day. The amount raised was £1618.27.
Sanctuary Lamp
Thanks to St. Jude Thaddeus
Marian Candle
Julie Shaw
(In Loving Memory)
Lately Dead
Elizabeth Vaughan, Wendy Harrison, Graham Deans, Peter Hollins, J. Armer
If anyone knows of any sick or housebound parishioner who would like to receive communion at home, please let Fr. Malcolm know. Thank you.
St. Joseph’s Toddler Group
Will re-commence on Thursday 11th January from 9.45am to 11.30am at the Loreto Centre. Cost is £1.50. Please contact Angela Meade on 01925 723951 for more information.
St. Joseph’s UCM
Easter Bingo on Monday 12th March at 1.30pm in the Parish Centre
Thursday 15th March – Lenten Reflection in Church at 7.30pm
Pilgrimage to Krakow Poland
Would you like to join a pilgrimage to Krakow, Poland from Sunday 29th April to Friday 4th May? The pilgrimage will be accompanied by Frs. Michael Fitzsimons and Bill Murphy fromSt Wilfrid's Parish, Widnes. Flights are from Liverpool airport direct to Krakow, staying at Hotel Campanile in the historic centre of Krakow.Visits to sites in Krakow, and trips to Czestochowa, Wadowice, Auschwitz and the Divine Mercy Centre. Price £650 single room supplement £135. Travel Insurance £46 per person no age limit. For more information contact the Parish Office at St Wilfrid's on 0151 422 1772
Easter Services at St. Joseph’s
If you would like to read at one of the Easter Services please sign the sheet at the back of the church with your name and PHONE NO: by MONDAY 26th MARCH. Thank you
Cheltenham 2018---Date for your diary.
This is always a popular afternoon in St Joseph’s Club, watching the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the telly! The date this year is Friday 16th March from 12noon.
‘Friday 13th - Sunday 15th April ‘The Advocate will teach you everything…’ The Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel led by Fr Chris Thomas. ‘
Suggested donations for each retreat: £85 residential; £60 non residential [with meals] £20 Non - residential bringing sandwiches. For a booking form contact Irenaeus on 0151 949 1199 or email
Stations of the Cross
As in previous years, Stations of the Cross will follow Exposition each Friday during Lent at St. Joseph’s.
Open the Book
Can you join the team taking the Bible into our local primary schools?
Hopefully you will already have heard about the fantastic initiative from the Bible Society call “Open the Book” which is being established nationally in hundreds of primary schools. If not, then please carry on reading and see whether you can be involved in such an exciting mission telling the stories of the Bible to the children in our community……
Open the Book is where a team of volunteers visits a local school and acts out a story from the Bible in a fun and engaging way. All the material is pre-prepared for the team and satisfies the appropriate educational requirements. So many of our children today are not familiar with stories from the Bible and Open the Book teams simply retell the stories followed by a short learning point or message.
An Open the Book volunteer needs no previous experience or special skills, has all the material already prepared, can be any age over 18 (we have several volunteers aged 80 plus) and usually needs to commit to no more than an hour or so weekly.
At the moment the demand from schools for an Open the Book team is outstripping the volunteers we have available. Please pray and carefully consider whether you can join the West Warrington Open the Book volunteers.
For more details please contact Linda Murdoch on
Or 07594 356260 or visit the Bible Society’s website.
Nugent
Archbishop Malcolm and the Trustees have agreed that the annual collection for Nugent, our official Archdiocesan caring service be moved to the 4th Sunday of Lent and is now a mandatory collection for parishes within the Archdiocese, therefore, this Sunday, 11th March there will be a retiring collection for Nugent.
St. Joseph’s Uniformed Groups
Plant order forms are available at the back of Church. Please take one and return to either Andy/Paul or the Presbytery.
Lenten Meditation Course will be held at St. Joseph’s Family Centre in Museum Street over the next three Monday evening, next on 12th March at 7.30-8.30pm. This is a free course and all our welcome, new and experienced meditators alike.
John Traynor will be holding Lenten Reflections on John’s Gospel and the TriduumonWednesday evenings from 14th March, 21st March and 28th March. All are welcome to come along, in particular readers.
Change of Mass Time
Please note that the daily Mass time at St. Joseph’s on a Friday will in future be at 12 noon. This is to allow Fr. Malcolm to visit St. Joseph’s and St. Vincent’s schools and join in their Celebration assemblies on a Friday morning.
St. Joseph’s Gardening Team
Please note a change in the date of the next meeting for the gardeners. It will be on Saturday 14th April 2018. Usual T’s & C’s will apply!
Gospel Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
How To Make Good Choices
From the minute we open our eyes in the morning, we are faced with choices. By the end of the day we have made hundreds of choices and not all of them good. In fact, we probably fail to choose God in a hundred and one different ways, yet God still loves us. How do we know? We know because every time we look at a Crucifix we are reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made out of love for us. Just as Moses held up a bronze snake on a pole to remind the Israelites of God’s love, so we look to the Crucifix as a reminder that God doesn’t condemn us for our mistakes, but offers us a second chance of salvation. Too often we take God’s love for granted. How could we make ourselves more deserving? We could begin by looking at all those choices we make on a daily basis. Do we choose to fritter our lives away in inconsequential activities, or do we choose to make the world a better place? Do we choose to bury our heads in the sand when we see someone bullied at work, or do we make a brave stand? Do we determine to look after ailing family members or do we put it off until we are less busy? Do we shroud our decisions in darkness and secrecy or do we walk in the light with our heads held high?
But how do we start making good choices when we have spent so much time making poor ones? This is the beauty of reconciliation; our mistakes are part and parcel of making better choices from now on. We remember how it felt to make a bad choice and we don't want to go there again. Knowing what we are about is also a part of making good choices. Jesus knew what he was about and so must we. There's no better time than Lent to sit down and think about who we want to be. Lastly, once we have decided what choices we are going to make, we mustn't procrastinate. The Bible never tires of telling us that time is of the essence.
Laetare Sunday
"Happy Mothering Sunday"
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally called Laetare Sunday, a celebration very much like Gaudete Sunday in Advent. For each of those Sundays, we can use rose-colored vestments, and both Latin words can be translated, “rejoice.” Both also announce to us that we are drawing ever closer to the feast for which we are preparing (Christmas for Gaudete Sunday, and Easter for Laetare Sunday). This day has also come to be known as 'Mothering Sunday'. Four hundred years ago, people made a point of visiting their nearest big church (the Mother Church) on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Young girls and boys 'in service' were only allowed one day to visit their family each year, and this was usually Mothering Sunday. Often the housekeeper or cook would allow the maids to bake a cake to take home for their mother. Sometimes a gift of eggs; or flowers from the garden was allowed. 'Mothering Sunday' does not have the same origins as 'Mother's Day', but it has become a tradition to show our mothers our appreciation on this Sunday. Happy Mothering Sunday!
Too Late for Lent?
So you haven't got round to doing anything for Lent and wonder if it's too late? Are you thinking that you might as well forget about it now and try it next year instead? The answer is that it's never too late to do anything for God. Even if there is only one day left to do something, it's worth the effort because, after all, an effort made even if it is small and late, it is still an effort God will see. It’s not too late to do something for Lent and one of the places we might start is to say we are sorry, whether to God or to another person.
Penitents and Wanderers
The twin themes of Lent are baptism and penance. In recent years some parishes have explored using the Lenten period as a time to assist those returning to the Church after a period of notbeing active in the life of the Church. This reflects the ancient practice of the Order of Penitents
which reached its end on the morning of Holy Thursday. Is there somebody close to you thatmight return to the Church with a little friendly encouragement?
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick will be best remembered for his calling to convert pagans to Christianity, a ministry for which he showed great talent, much to the irritation of the Celtic Druids.
Much Irish folklore now surrounds the saint. It is said that he once gave a sermon from a hilltop and drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is more likely a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans.
Recommended Viewing
Exploring Mark - The Gospel of St Mark
The Gospel According to St Mark is the shortest of the four gospels but often tells of Jesus’ ministry in more detail. The Catholic Church of England and Wales has posted a series of short films on its website, called 'Exploring Mark'. The films aim to bring us a little closer to Mark the Evangelist and his account of Jesus, his life and His ministry. The commentary is provided by the excellent Nicholas King SJ - an eminent author and Bible scholar.
Watch online at
Bitesize
It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.
Roy Disney
Mass Intentions for week commencing 12th March 2018Monday 12th / 9.30am / Paul Sheehan
Tuesday 13th / 9.30am / Ruth Leigh
Wednesday14th
/ 9.30am / Jack Lynch
Thursday 15th / 6.30am / Jack Dinan
Friday 16th / 9.30am / Paul Hilditch
Saturday 17th / 4.30-5pm
Sunday 18th / 8.30am
10.30am
4.00pm / Peter Doody (Thanksgiving)
Des Ord
People of the Parish
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Joseph’s will take place this week on Wednesday and Friday from 10.00am to 12 Noon.
Funerals
There will be a Funeral Service for Elizabeth Vaughan on Tuesday, 20th March at 1.15pm at St. Joseph’s Church