FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
(YEAR C)
WEEK: JANUARY 12TH - 18TH 2025
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
YOUR CHARITABLE PRAYERS are requested for our parishioners and friends, especially those whose names appear below.
SICK: John Green, Joan Killeen, Eileen Killeen, Christine Clarke, Tony Kenny, Luke Burke, Dominic Boardman, Connie Marrone, Alexander Loughlin, Mary Malone, Surya Duval, Margaret Lawless, Peter Barlow, Nynna Carpio, Terry Cummins, Elizabeth Flanagan, Margaret Williamson, Margaret Emsis
LATELY DEAD: Joseph McParland, Jim Bowker, Teresa McGarrigle, Anghel Alina, Win Powell, Jane Lord, Michael O’Rourke, Edward Donovan
ANNIVERSARIES: Alice McConnon, John Donnelly, Jim Buttimer, Margaret Grudzien, Judith Dwyer, Margaret Hywell, Teresa Donovan, Bridget Donovan, William Donovan, Brendan Sheehy, John McDermott, Peter Crossan, Dave Fanning, Paddy Joe Canny, Nathan McLean
LAST WEEK'S COLLECTION: £589.31
Standing Order: £674.00 a month
CHURCH BOXES / DONATIONS
Caritas (Homeless) £20.00
Many thanks for your kind generosity.
We have had to remove the bank account details because, if the details are in the public domain, we will suffer more attempts to extract money from our accounts. Two such attempts have been made in the last few weeks! If anyone needs the account details, please contact Father Phil.
THIS SUNDAY'S MISSALETTE & HYMNS Baptism of the Lord - 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).
CARITAS SUNDAY |
FIRST COMMUNION PROGRAMME FOR 2024-25
The next session will be on Saturday 8th March at 10.00am.
OCTAVE OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY (18TH – 25TH JANUARY) |
LENTEN STATION MASSES FOR 2025
The Lenten Station Masses for 2025 will begin on 11th March at St. Jospeh’s, Mossley. Then, on 18th March, we will be in St. Herbert’s, Chadderton. On 25th March, we will be at Ss. Aidan and Oswald’s, Royton. On the 1st April, we will be at St. Anne’s in Ashton. Then, finally, on 8th April, we will be at St Edward’s, Lees. All these Masses will be at 7.00pm.
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY (HMD) takes place each year on 27th January. Holocaust Memorial Day is a day that we put aside to come together to remember, to learn about the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur, in the hope that there may be one day in the future with no genocide. |
CONFIRMATION PROGRAMME FOR 2025
Fr. Callum, who organises this programme, has informed us that it is being carried out this year in both Newman College and St. Damian’s High School. The programme will begin on Monday 17th February at 3.30pm-5pm (Newman College) or on Tuesday 18th February at 3.30-5pm (St. Damian’s). If there are young people who don’t go to either of these schools who want to be on the programme, it is planned to do a further series of meetings. There will be seven sessions in all, the last one being a reconciliation service. The confirmations will take place at 7pm on 4th June at St. Mary’s Failsworth, or a 7pm. 5th June at St. Edward’s, Lees. The Bishop will carry out the confirmations in both churches. Young people of Year 8 age group and older can register. Forms for registering will be available after Christmas.
SPECIAL DAYS THIS WEEK |
THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS
Today, there’s a jump from the stories surrounding Jesus’ birth to the time when he’s thirty years old and just about to begin his public ministry. Anyone writing a book, or an article, knows that those first few lines are so important; they draw someone into the story and sometimes give the reader the idea of what sort of story it is. Jesus’ baptism does this so well. We find all sorts of clues as to the person he is and will be.
First, he announced himself in the wilderness where John was baptising. The wilderness was a special place for the Jews because of the Exodus story which reminded them of God intervening on their behalf. The exodus journey had concluded with the Ark of the Covenant crossing the River Jordan very close to the point where Jesus was baptised. Jesus is opening up the way to the Promised Land.
Next, the simple act of Baptism points forward to what Jesus himself calls a second Baptism, his death on the cross. Some of us might associate water with memories of holidays by the sea or walks by pleasant lakes or winding streams. But water, in the Book of Genesis, was a symbol of chaos and death. In Genesis, we see God bringing life out of chaos. You might remember that in the New Testament too, the Book of Revelation gives a vision of the New Jerusalem as a place where there will be no more sea. Again, it was a symbol of death. Jesus suggests that he is prepared to plunge himself into chaos or death to help us out of it. And this is what he will do on the cross. In fact, Jesus refers to the death he must undergo as a baptism. So, Baptism begins his public ministry and points to another type of Baptism that will conclude it.
But his Baptism was also the Baptism of John which was a public acknowledgement of one’s sinfulness. Why would Jesus accept such a baptism? He is prepared to become completely one of us, even to being thought of as contaminated by our sinful condition. Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would be “thought of as someone punished…burdened with the sins of all of us…letting himself be taken as a sinner.” On the cross too, he will be thought of as a sinner and a criminal, when he was completely innocent.
There are also the words that we hear from the Father, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” There’s a clear reference here to more words of Isaiah, which speak of the Messiah “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights.”
So, with such symbolic action Jesus clearly speaks of the type of Messiah he will be and points to the way he will do it. So much is said in one small action!