There are a few notices I want to bring to your attention this week:

FUNERAL Tuesday morning
There is a funeral Mass on Tuesday morning at 10am for the repose of the soul of John Crossan. Again, due to government restrictions on numbers, this Mass will be for John’s immediate family only.

FIRST COMMUNIONS/SATURDAY MORNING MASSES
Throughout the month of September and the first Saturday in October, the Saturday morning Masses in the parish are First Communion Masses for our children who were supposed to receive the Sacrament in May but due to the lockdown were postponed.
Because there are limited numbers allowed in the church and also given we have so many children receiving the Sacrament, the SATURDAY MORNING MASSES FOR THE NEXT MONTH WILL BE FOR THE CHILDREN AND THEIR LIMITED INVITED GUESTS ONLY. THEY ARE NOT OPEN TO THE GENERAL PARISH.
I apologise to all those who normally come to Saturday morning Mass but I’m sure you will agree and understand the importance of the children receiving the Lord. If you are among those unable to come on Saturday mornings, please offer your sacrifice in prayer for the children.
(The Confirmations for S1 will be arranged after all children have received First Holy Communion.)

RCIA--NEW MEMBERS BEING RECEIVED INTO THE CHURCH
This weekend our parish receives into the Church two adult converts to the faith. It has been a bit of a convoluted route to full reception for Karen and Stephen due to the coronavirus, lockdown and restrictions but nevertheless this is a time of great joy for them and the whole parish as we welcome two new members into our community. It may not be the great Easter Vigil (when adult converts are usually received into the Church) and there may be restrictions on numbers celebrating the event, sanitising, facemasks, etc., etc. but well done to them both for making it through their journey to this point!! Please keep Karen and Stephen in your prayers.
If interested in joining RCIA for the next session, have a word with Fr Joe or Fr Jonathan.

CLERGY MOVES
On Friday, Bishop John very reluctantly made some clergy moves. Unfortunately, they do affect us in St John’s. Bishop John has decided to move me to become the Administrator of St Mirin’s Cathedral. Fr Joe Blamer, PP in St Thomas’ will also take on the role of PP here at St John’s alongside Fr Jonathan. This is a time of change which is always unsettling for all concerned—People and Priests—but I know you understand and appreciate how difficult this is for the Bishop. Let’s all pray and work together for the smooth transition as I head to Paisley and Fr Balmer takes up the reins here.
On a personal note, may I say how happy and truly blessed I have been here in St John’s for the past two and a half years and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your kindness and support and especially your prayers. God bless you all!!

This is the full list of moves:
Canon Oliver Freney has stepped down from being Administrator of Saint Mirin’s Cathedral and is currently on leave of absence.
Fr Joe Burke, currently PP of St John’s in Barrhead, will move to become Administrator of St Mirin’s Cathedral and of St Colm’s Kilmacolm.
Fr Joe Balmer, currently PP of St Thomas’ Nielston, will also become PP of St John’s Barrhead, having charge of both parishes.
Fr Eoin Patten moves from St. Cadoc’s and Canon Eddie Cameron, currently PP of St Peter’s Glenburn and St Paul’s Foxbar, will move to become PP of Saint Cadoc’s, Newton Mearns.
Fr Andrew Coleman, currently PP of St Laurence’s Greenock and chaplain to Notre Dame High School, will move to become PP of St Peter’s, Glenburn.
Fr Eoin Patten will become the PP of St Laurence’s in Greenock and chaplain to Notre Dame High School.
Fr Jude Okorie, currently PP of St Mary’s in Paisley, will also become PP of St Paul’s in Foxbar.
Fr Ryan Black will take up his first priestly appointment as Curate at St Mirin’s Cathedral, Paisley. Deacon Don Keane, currently serving in St Laurence’s, Greenock will move to exercise his ministry in St John’s, Port Glasgow.
Also, Canon Eddie Cameron to Diocesan Convenor of Fundraising and to lead our Diocesan Fundraising Team.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please keep in your prayers all those who have asked us to pray for their intentions, especially for the repose of the souls of John Crossan, Paul Gillan, William Houston, Janice Connor, Michael English and Alice Morgan who all died recently
As well as Belle Finnie, Betty Mooney, Joe Kenny, Neil Duffy, Bernard and Margaret McDermott, Marion Rose McDermott, Andrew Curran, John De Souza, Jim Carroll and Greta Doyle whose anniversaries occur around this time.
May all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Reflection on this week’s Scripture
Today’s gospel is rather shocking. It presents us with Jesus’ foretelling his own suffering and death and then clearly stating that his followers too would have to suffer. This all sounds more than a bit disconcerting but how true those words are! As his modern day followers, do you always find it easy to practise your faith; do you at times have to make choices which are actually sacrifices, giving up something you’d rather do or taking on something when in fact you’d rather not? Are others respectful always of your beliefs? This is what the Lord is talking about—doing what He asks of us and in so doing, putting Him before ourselves. It’s not always easy in reality to be a witness to our Faith. We may not be physically crucified but we may well face criticism, mockery, insults. We may run the risk of being ostracised or shunned. It can happen in a family situation, workplace or even in the street. A brief look at the past two thousand year history of our Church shows how true those statements actually are-- perhaps even more so in our modern, secular, materialistic and increasingly atheistic society. And yet, this is what our God asks of us. Why? Because His message, His Good News is needed more than ever.
We are given beautiful consolation, though. He promises us we will never be left orphans, that He will always be with us. And we believe that wholeheartedly. We know He loves us. And that is what is at the root of our strength and courage—LOVE. What the Lord did for us and what we do in serving Him is and should always be rooted in love, His love for us and our love for him. Love makes sacrifice possible.
This week, let’s ask the Lord to deepen our love for Him and always allow Him to work in others through our words and actions. Amen.

Note from Fr Joe
A couple of changes to the timetable:

ADORATION – FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST
There won’t be Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Friday 28th August after the 10am Mass as there is a Funeral Mass taking place at 12 noon; this is to allow time for preparing the Church for Mass.

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 previous weeks, 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 10:30am until 1pm.
On Sundays it is the normal timetable for Masses, including Saturday Vigil.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please remember in your prayers all those in civic authority as we navigate these challenging times; may they be given a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Also please pray for those who are in need or are sick or dying.
We also remember all those who died recently, Paul Gillan, Pat Donelly, Mary McKenna,
And the anniversaries James Cannon, Jacqueline O’Neill, Tommy & Maisie McCafferty, Teddy Boyland, Patrick Conafray, Agnes Geddes, John Delaney, Eamon Delaney, Sacramenta Coelho, John Hughes, Jean Millar, James & Elizabeth Canberry, James Canberry Jr, Raymond & Patricia Canberry and Jean Fenn.
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

‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ – The great C.S. Lewis once said “the person of Jesus Christ demands a choice from each of us”; in His presence we simply cannot remain neutral. Either He is truly the Son of God, and therefore, worthy of all our love and devotion or he is an imposter, and we must flee from him; but what we can never do is avoid Him entirely! In our gospel reading this weekend, Our Lord turns to His disciples, looks them straight In the eye and asks them this all important question “who do you say I am?”. Pope St. John Paul II said “we all know this moment, In which, it is no longer sufficient to speak about Jesus by repeating what others have said. You must say what you think, and not quote an opinion. You must bear witness, feel committed by the witness you have borne and carry this commitment to its extreme consequences. The best friends, followers and apostles of Christ have always been those who heard within them one day the definitive, inescapable question, before which all others become secondary and derivative: ‘For you, who am I?’. A person’s life, his whole future, depends on the clear, sincere and unequivocal answer, without rhetoric or subterfuge, that he gives to this question.” Jesus now turns to His disciples in this age, you and I, and once more asks that all important question “For you, whom am I?”. Let us pray that our response will be that of St. Peter, filled with faith and love, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

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

Note from Fr Joe
A couple of changes to the timetable:

MASS BOOKING SYSTEM
A few parishioners have indicated they are having difficulty on Mondays when trying to book online for the following Sunday Masses. I think the issue may be the sheer volume of parishioners from this and many other parishes who are trying to book via the system at the same time. To free this up, we have decided to hold off our church bookings until the Tuesday morning at 9am. This means that starting this week, you will not be able to book online for St John’s until the Tuesday morning. Please pass this on to others you know who use the booking system on line. Hopefully this will alleviate any frustration caused on Mondays.

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 beginning this 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 eg 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 10:30am until 1pm.
On Sundays it is the normal timetable for Masses, including Saturday Vigil.

ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD
This Saturday Bishop John will ordain Deacon Ryan Black to the Priesthood in St Mirin’s Cathedral. Please keep Deacon Ryan in your prayers. There are MANY restrictions just now, including a maximum of only 50 allowed to attend the ordination, but it is a sure sign of God’s blessing that we have a new Priest being ordained to serve in our diocese.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please remember in your prayers this week all those involved in our schools as they return for the first time since March.
Also please pray for those who are in need or are sick or dying.
We also remember Claire Quinn and Flora Cummins, who died recently
And the anniversaries of Alex Lafferty, Margaret McGoldrick, Rita Marie Dunne, John McShane, Anna McCready, Lawrence McGowan, and George Howell
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,

There are moments all throughout sacred scripture, in both the Old Testament and the New, that could rightly be described as ‘cinematic’; epic scenes which many of us first encountered as children, and have remained in our memories ever since. This weekend’s Gospel taken from St. Matthew, in which, Jesus walks on water to save His friends, invites Peter to do the same, prevents him from drowning, and calms the sea, is no exception. Indeed, this scene is a blockbuster!

After sending His disciples across the water to prepare the ‘other side’ for His arrival, Jesus, from a hilltop where he was at prayer with his Father, could see that the powerful elements of this world, strong winds, and crashing waves, were overcoming his dearest friends and that they were in danger of not reaching the place where He sent them. The Lord immediately rushed to their aid without delay; He never fails his friends.

As He approached their creaking ship, they began to scream fearing the presence drawing closer was a ghost; but ‘at once’, the Gospel tells us, Jesus called out to them in reply “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” At the sound of His voice they recognised Him, and were instantly at peace; ‘I know my own, and my own know me’ we read elsewhere in the Gospel.

These consoling words “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid”, are spoken now to you, for you, by that selfsame Lord who once calmed the storm for His dearest friends. Our Lord recognizes that in our lives we have our moments of weakness, fatigue, and difficulty, those ‘strong winds, and waves’, in which, it seems as though we are in danger of sinking, and not reaching the ‘other side’, but as it was then, so it is now, the Lord comes to our aid, through the power of His Sacraments, the abiding gift of His Presence, providing us with every grace and heavenly blessing we need to reach definitive ‘other side’ that is Heaven our true home.

Let us take courage, as He offers it to us, that Christ the Lord never forgets nor abandons his dearest friends, even though at times the winds are against us, His divine help will never be lacking. He will not pass us by, but rather draw all the closer, and speak those words of consolation, strength, and peace, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

Amen