THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR C)
WEEK: MARCH 30TH - APRIL 5TH 2025
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.”
YOUR CHARITABLE PRAYERS are requested for our parishioners and friends, especially those whose names appear below.
SICK: John Green, Joan Killeen, Christine Clarke, Tony Kenny, Luke Burke, Dominic Boardman, Connie Marrone, Alexander Loughlin, Surya Duval, Margaret Lawless, Peter Barlow, Jean Barlow, Nynna Carpio, Terry Cummins, Elizabeth Flanagan, Margaret Emsis, Andrew Debbie
LATELY DEAD: Donald Cooke, Nestor Carlos, Kevin Mullen, Ron Heaton
ANNIVERSARIES: Mary Ann Coen, Lilian, Tom and Gerard Lees, George and Edith Brooks, Michael Robinson, Mary Thomas, James Whelan, Jack Hargreaves, Michael Hywell, William Sumner, Hugh O’Brien
LAST WEEK'S COLLECTION: £941.74
Standing Order: £1,103.90 a month
CHURCH BOXES / DONATIONS
Caritas (Homeless) £20.00; Foodbank £20.00; CAFOD £419.50
Many thanks for your kind generosity.
If anyone needs the Bank account details to set up Direct Debit payments, please contact Father Phil.
THIS SUNDAY'S MISSALETTE The Fourth Sunday of Lent - Missalette
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NOTICES:
All Masses will continue to be live streamed. A link is provided on the Parish website: www.smwsp.org.uk or via the Twitter App (@PhilipSumner13).
Happy Mother’s Day!
LENTEN STATION MASSES FOR 2025 |
STATIONS OF THE CROSS DURING LENT – LED BY THE CHARISMATIC PRAYER GROUP.
Every Friday evening during Lent (but not including Good Friday) from 6.00pm to 8.00pm.
SERVICES DURING THE TRIDUUM |
ARTICLE IN THE TABLET
On page 14 of this week’s Tablet Magazine, there’s an article called “Multiple faiths, one city” which features this parish and Manchester Cathedral. The article refers to our now established pattern of different community choirs taking a lead in the music of the liturgy on different Sundays of the month, and to our Filipino stained-glass window. Unfortunately, the writer refers to our African choir as a ‘Nigerian choir’ but he was clearly impressed with his two visits to our parish. The editor of the Tablet wrote a personal email to me saying, “I’m sorry we haven’t celebrated your fantastic parish before. This seemed a good way to do it.”
DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO WALSINGHAM |
MARY’S MEALS
Mary’s Meals is a charity organisation based in Scotland which feeds more than two million primary school children every day in the world’s poorest areas. They have now come up with the idea to collect and reuse foreign currency. People returning from travel in different countries often have some foreign currency left over. They might be able to use some of that again or get it changed into pounds sterling. But there might be still some bits and pieces left over. I know that we often get some of these bits and pieces put in the collection plate in the church! Mary’s Meals are now requesting those bits left over so that they can get them exchanged and use it to feed even more children. They say that they can also use UK coins and notes that are no longer legal tender. There are some envelopes at the back of the church for this currency or you can just bring it to the parish office, and we will arrange for it to be sent off to Mary’s Meals.
PARISH RECONCILIATION SERVICE |
GIFT AID AND ENVELOPES
Thank you to all those who have been able to use Gift Aid to enhance their donations to the Parish in 2024-2025. For 2025-26, boxes of donation envelopes will be displayed for collection at the back of Church on Sundays 23 March and 30 March. If you have been using an envelope this past year, please collect your box of envelopes – your name will be on it. Also, Gift Aid forms will be available to sign on those days; if you have signed a form in the past, there is no need to sign a fresh one, as the old one remains valid. However, there are about 12 that we need fresh signatures for where the original form has been mislaid. The only other reason to sign a new one is if you are new to making contributions or have recently become a taxpayer (and are paying sufficient tax to cover your contributions).
SPECIAL DAYS THIS WEEK |
THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS
Is it irony or just meanness on the part of a Church run, almost exclusively, by men that, on this mothering Sunday, the principal story of the Scriptures is about the Prodigal Father? You might be thinking, “Hang on a minute, isn’t the story of this week’s Gospel called, “the story of the Prodigal son?” Well, that is the name that has been given to it, and the younger son was indeed wasteful, and to a great extent, but the real story, here, is about the prodigality of the father. The younger son is certainly not the hero of this story. The principal actor, and the only hero, is the father, who was incredibly wasteful with his mercy and love. Even when the younger son makes his mind to go back home after wasting his father’s money, it’s not for the purest of reasons; he is thinking of himself. It’s merely a matter of pragmatic self-interest. The father, on the other hand, who hears of the impending arrival of his son, rushes out to meet him at the outskirts of the village, fully aware of what the reaction of the rest of the village towards his son might be. In an ‘honour-based culture’, the younger son had brought great shame on his father. Then, the fact that the father runs and shows emotion to his son in public is also something that would have been frowned upon by his neighbours; it simply wasn’t dignified! But the father doesn’t care what others might think of him. He wants to show them all that this is his son whom he loves despite the shame the son has brought on the father. The son still carries out his prepared speech which seems to lack any real sign of repentance. But the father jumps in to interrupt before there’s any mention of a preparedness to become a servant. The father insists that they put a ring on his finger. The commentators suggest that this would have been the father’s signet ring and a sign of authority in the household. Then he tells them to put sandals on his feet. This would have been a sign to the rest of the household of his free status. Slaves, at that time, would not have worn any footwear. We see the prodigality of the father’s love for his son, and this would have been shocking for the Jews of Jesus’ day.
Then we hear of the second son, who, though he had remained with his father, displays so much envy and self-righteousness. Again, the father goes outside to him; he is prepared to make all the effort to avoid the loss of this son too. We are not told if he was successful. This second part of the story is in reaction to the Pharisees and Scribes questioning Jesus about his eating with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees were people who honoured the traditions of their ancestors and, as their name suggests, kept themselves separate from anything or anyone judged to be ‘unclean’. Jesus was challenging us not to keep ourselves separate but to go outside the boundaries of what we find comfortable, to be bearers of God’s mercy and love wherever.
ST. PATRICK’S PRIMARY SCHOOL |