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Note from Fr Joe
A couple of changes to the timetable: MASS BOOKING SYSTEM Following on from last week’s success, our parish booking system for weekend Masses will be opened online on Tuesdays at 9AM. Thank you for your continued patience, and perseverance as we trial a new day for booking Masses. THURSDAY MORNING MASSES As you know, we haven’t been having Mass on Thursdays since the re-opening of the church. The reason for this is our excellent team of cleaners spend quite a long time on Thursday mornings deep cleaning the church for us. However, may parishioners--including the cleaners-- have requested we resume the Thursday morning Mass which we are happy to do. So, continuing on from last week, there will also be Mass on Thursday mornings at 10am. Because the cleaners won’t then be starting the deep clean until after the Mass, it means they will be giving most of their Thursday to working in the church. May I take the opportunity on behalf of the whole parish to thank the cleaners as well as all the stewards and everyone else who is working so generously to enable us to have the church open for Masses and services. Without this small army of volunteers, our church would have to remain closed. Please consider joining the cleaning group or becoming a steward—the more, the better!! The only condition is that you have no major underlying health problems which would make you more susceptible to the Coronavirus e.g. if you have been shielding, etc. If interested, have a word with Fr Joe or Fr Jonathan. CHURCH OPENING TIMES Please note the church will be open ONLY during the publicised timetabled slots. There have been a few requests to leave the church open longer but sadly we cannot do so. Remember, to be open we have to have stewards on duty and proper sanitising of those entering as well as the building. It is not possible to simply leave the doors open as in the past for anyone to pay a visit whenever they like. Please God, those days will return soon but in the meantime, we have to be very careful to maintain the highest standards of hygiene and keep all those visiting the church as safe as possible. So our parish church is open every weekday for morning Mass at 10am and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays there will be Exposition and Private Prayer from 10.30 until 1.00pm. On Sundays it is the normal timetable for Masses, including Saturday Vigil. HABEMUS NOVUM SACERDOS We have a new priest! Congratulations to Father Ryan Black who was ordained to the sacred priesthood on Saturday by Bishop Keenan at St Mirin’s Cathedral. We wish him many joyful years of service to God and His holy people in our diocese. Fr Ryan will offer his first Mass of Thanksgiving today, the Solemnity of the Assumption, at St Francis’, Port Glasgow. PRAYERS REQUESTED Please remember in your prayers this week all those involved in our schools as they return for their first full week since March. Also please pray for those who are in need or are sick or dying. We also remember all those who died recently, And the anniversaries of Helen Dunne, Geraldine McGinty, Fiona O’Brien, Archie McGinty, Lauren Husk, Rosemary McGinty, Anne Burgess, John & Anne McGuire, George McLean, James Harris Devine, Patrick Kerr. May the Lord hear and answer all our prayers, according to his will for us. Lord, hear us. Reflection on this weekend’s Scripture Readings Dear brothers and sisters, This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven; all Marian feasts are moments of celebration and beauty, gifted to us by Our Lord to give us hope. Life, as we know, is not without its difficulties; this is particularly true for the followers of Jesus. From the very beginning, all of them, at one time or another, met the Cross in their lives. The feasts of our mother Mary are heavenly signposts which remind us of the eternal reality our hearts are made for, where life and joy reign forevermore; where she is, we are called to. So, these feasts act as a holiday, when we can lift up our hearts; they are a time of repose when we can contemplate her beauty; they are a time of consolation as we look to the reward that Mary enjoys and trust in the Lord who offers the same heaven to you and I. Amen
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