This “gem church” will be open each day for private prayer and meditation from 9.30am. until 3.30pm.
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR A)
WEEK: MARCH 9TH - MARCH 15TH 2014
Jesus replied, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says you must worship the Lord, your God, and serve him alone.”
YOUR CHARITABLE PRAYERS are requested for our parishioners and friends, especially those whose names appear below:
SICK or HOUSEBOUND: Joanna; Shirley; Joan Casey; Cecilia; Jude Michael Harrison; Regina Wisniewski; Seamus Whelan; Catherine McCarthy; Terry Hulley; Luke McSherry; Sheila McNicholas; Pauline Harrison; Mary Egan; Michael McGinn; Robert Tait; Veronica Appleton; Robert Williams; John & Dorothy Fogg; Martha Anna Harris; Orrell Plummer; Tony G; Foyet Bernadette; Alwyn Barbar; Irene Hamer; Fr. Sheahan; Angela Green; Maureen Smith.
LATELY DEAD: Keith Miller; Thomas Alan Power; Margaret Barnes; John Gerald Stanton; Fernando Lopes Silva.
ANNIVERSARIES: Jean Hallas; Vera Melia; Robert Hendrik; Norah Dooley; Alice Cheetham. May they rest in peace.
SUNDAY COLLECTION: Envelopes: £515.59; Loose: £379.60; Total: £895.19
Thank you all for your continued generosity.
DONATIONS/COLLECTIONS: many thanks for the following donations:
Redecoration/Restoration Fund: Loose: £16.05; £11.85; £6.10.
Gift Aided: £0.00.
Also, £23.07, £10.00 and £5.00 for CAFOD; special thanks to our Polish community for their recent donation of £510.00 for church funds.
PARISH NEWS
- New Offertory envelopes for use from the first Sunday in April will be distributed next Sunday as follows: before and after both Masses at St. Patrick’s church and only before Masses the following Sunday; at St. Mary’s church, after the 11.30am Mass and on the following Sunday both before and after Mass. Anyone who does not use the Offertory envelopes but would like to, please see Colin Riley at St. Patrick’s or Ann Patterson at St. Mary’s, who will make the arrangements. The envelopes can be used for donations at either church. These envelopes are an essential way of organising parish finances and, of course, if you are a tax payer, you can Gift Aid your offering. This will increase the value at NO cost to you whatsoever. The parish can reclaim an extra 25 pence for every pound Gift Aided!
- Oldham Food Bank is desperate for donations of food for those in real need in our own town. As Lent begins, perhaps we can make a special effort to increase the donations of food (cans, jars, bottles etc) that we already give. There is a box at the back of church where you can put your gift, if the sacristy is closed.
- Will St. Patrick’s Readers and Eucharistic Ministers please take and complete one of the forms at the back of church to indicate which services they will be attending during Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) so that a rota can be drawn up. Completed forms must be handed in by Sunday 30th March, either put in the suggestion box or handed in at the piety shop.
- There are free copies of the spring issue of Missio magazine at the back of church – please take one.
| READERS: | ||
| Today | 10.00am | P. Hilton & J. Williams |
| 11.30am | T. Nakawooya | |
| 6.00pm | K. McCarthy | |
| Next Sunday | 10.00am | School Children |
| 11.30am | P. Marshall | |
| 6.00pm | M. Tomlin |
CHURCH CLEANING ROTA
This week: Week 2 - Joyce & David Daka and friends (African)
Next week: Week 3 - Mary & Francis Fernandez and friends (Indian)
“WHAT’S ON” THIS WEEK
TUESDAY: Deanery Station Mass at Ss. Aidan & Oswald’s church, Royton at 7.30pm.
THURSDAY: Sacramental Programme – parents’ meeting and children’s lesson at 3.15pm in St. Patrick’s school.
FRIDAY: CAFOD Lent Fast Day. Tonight, one in eight of us will go to bed hungry. For some, finding food is a daily struggle. CAFOD is working with poor communities around the world on our behalf, so that they can put food on the table. Fast Days are our opportunity to support that vital work. If you wish to donate, there are special CAFOD envelopes available at the back of church. There are also prayer cards/bookmarks with the prayer “Your Garden of Plenty”.
“We pray for our brothers and sisters throughout the world: that together we may be moved to overcome the scandal of poverty and hunger in our world”.
NEXT SUNDAY: Sacramental Programme – the schoolchildren will attend the 10.00am Mass with the theme of “We Celebrate God’s Gifts”.
I have learned that in this world you don’t need a multitude of friends. All you really need is one who will stand by you through thick and thin.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Please see the church notice board for further details of the following:
- Deanery Station Mass at Holy Family church, Limeside, on Tuesday 18th March.
- Deanery Station Mass at St. Christopher’s church, Ashton-under-Lyne, on Tuesday 25th March at 7.30pm.
- Deanery Station Mass at St. Joseph’s church, Mossley, on Tuesday 1st April.
- 3s – 11s Children’s Liturgy Group meet during the 10.00am Mass on 6th April.
- Parish Reconciliation Service at St. Mary’s church at 3.00pm on Sun. 6th April.
- Deanery Station Mass at St. Joseph’s church, Shaw, on Tuesday 8th April.
“BITS and PIECES”
- Diocese of Salford: Walsingham Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady on Saturday 3rd May. Assemble in Friday Market at 1.00pm for crowning of Our Lady’s statue then procession along the Holy Mile followed by lunch, Service of Reconciliation at 3.00pm then Mass at 4.00pm.Coach home at approx. 4.45pm. For more information phone 0161 653 7284. “When England goes back to Walsingham, Our Lady will come back to England”.
- The Justice and Peace Organisation (Caritas, Diocese of Salford) has arranged an event to commemorate the life and death of Archbishop Romero on Saturday 22nd March at St. Mary’s church, Duke St., Denton M34 2AN. There is Mass at 12 noon followed by a presentation “Archbishop Romero’s Life and Influence on El Salvador Today” by Ann Wilson, who recently visited El Salvador with the Romero Trust.
“SMILE – A - WHILE”
Wrong e-mail address: A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the e-mail. Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a Baptist minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her e-mail expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read: To: My Loving Wife. Subject: I've arrived. Date: March 21, 2012. I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I've seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was. P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!
A little girl ran to her grandfather, jumped into his arms and gave him a great big hug. Then she ran her fingers along his balding head and down the side of his wrinkled face. “Did God make you, granddad?” she asked. He replied, “Yes, sweetheart, he made me.” She felt her own cheek and then asked, “Did God make me too?” “Yes, darling, he made you too.” “Well” she shrugged, “Don’t you think he’s doing a better job now than he used to?