The Parish of Our Lady and St Patrick Oldham

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD(YEAR C)
WEEK: FEBRUARY 2ND - 8TH 2025

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD

“…my eyes have seen your salvation…a light for revelation to the gentiles.”

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, Mary Malone, Surya Duval, Margaret Lawless, Peter Barlow, Nynna Carpio, Terry Cummins, Elizabeth Flanagan, Margaret Emsis
LATELY DEAD: Vittorio Forgetto, Mateus Manuel Alfredo, Maria Moreno, Eileen Killeen, Graeme Matthew Park, Karolyn Wadsworth
ANNIVERSARIES: Joe Rimmer, Michael McGladdery, Terry Mills, John Donnelly, Alice McConnon, Kathleen McDermott, Monica Gough, Alice Wright, Catherine and Lewis Laverty

LAST WEEK'S COLLECTION: £754.36

Standing Order: £674.00 a month

CHURCH BOXES / DONATIONS
Caritas (Homeless) £40.00, Donation in remembrance of Pat Haines £64.50

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 & HYMNS

The Presentation of the Lord - Missalette

The Presentation of the Lord - Hymns

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).

MASS IN CANTONESE BY ARCHBISHOP SAVIO HON
Today, Sunday 2nd February at 2.30pm we are privileged to have another visit to this church from Archbishop Savio Hon who works in the diplomatic service for the Holy See. He will say Mass in Cantonese. We will welcome many Hong Kong people for this Mass.

RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY
The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales mark Racial Justice Sunday on 16th February this year. The Churches Together in Britain and Ireland mark the day a week before on 9th February, The Catholic Association for Racial Justice, suggests, therefore that we focus on racial justice for the whole week (from 9th – 16th). The theme for the day set by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales is, “Pilgrims of Hope: Our Journey Together Towards Racial Justice”. This year, they invite the Catholic community to reflect on the journey towards racial justice. How far have we come, where are we now and what remains to be achieved?

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.

FIRST COMMUNION PROGRAMME FOR 2024-25
The next session will be on Saturday 8th March at 10.00am.

CONFIRMATION PROGRAMME FOR 2025
Fr. Callum has informed us that it is being carried out this year in St. Edward’s Church, Lees, Newman College and St. Damian’s High School. The programme will begin with a meeting for parents of all the young people who wish to be confirmed, on Wednesday 12th March at 7pm at St. Edward’s Church, Lees. Then the programme begins for the children on 17th March at Newman, 18th March at St Damian’s (both 3.30-5pm) and 19th March at St. Edward’s (time to be announced). You can sign up the young people for the programme at the first meeting (the one for parents). 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. Young people of Year 8 age group and older can register.

SPECIAL DAYS THIS WEEK
Monday 3rd February - St Ansgar - He set out in 826 to preach the Gospel in Denmark. He persevered in his mission until he died in 865.
Also on Monday - St. Blaise – He was bishop in Armenia in the fourth century. The blessing of throats may be given by a priest, deacon, or a lay minister who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister.
Tuesday 4th February is the International Day of Human Fraternity and also World Cancer Day.
Wednesday 5th February St. Agatha – She was martyred in Sicily in the persecution under the Emperor Decius (240-251). Her name is one of those women saints mentioned in the Roman Canon.
Thursday 6th February St Paul Miki & companions: In the 16th century the Emperor persecuted the Church in Japan; among those arrested were Paul, a young Jesuit, and 25 others, as young as 13; taken to Nagasaki they were crucified in 1597 Saturday 8th February St. Jerome Emiliani – He was a soldier who, after capture and imprisonment, began to serve the poor, establishing in 1532 the Clerks Regular of Somaschi to assist the poor and needy. He died in 1537.
Also on Saturday - St. Josephine Bakhita – She was born in Sudan in 1869. Her respected and reasonably prosperous father was brother of the village chief. She was surrounded by a loving family of three brothers and three sisters. She was later to write about herself: "I lived a very happy and carefree life, without knowing what suffering was." Then, in 1877, when she was 7–8 years old, she was seized by Arab slave traders, who had abducted her elder sister two years earlier. She was forced to walk barefoot about 600 miles to El-Obeid. She was sold and bought twice before she even arrived there. Over the course of twelve years (1877–1889) she was sold three more times and then given away. Bakhita was not the name she received from her parents at birth. It is said that the trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her own name; she took one given to her by the slavers, bakhita, which in Arabic means 'lucky' or 'fortunate.' She was treated appallingly by her different owners, frequently whipped, beaten and scarred. Bakhita was then bought, in Khartoum, by the Italian Vice Consul, Callisto Legnani, who treated her kindly and did not beat or punish her. Two years later, when Legnani himself had to return to Italy, Bakhita begged to go with him. Eventually she was to be given her freedom, and she asked to be baptised. Then, she entered the Sisters of Mary Magdalene. She died on 8th February 1947.
The current high incidence of trafficking and modern slavery has meant that Bakhita has become the ‘go to’ saint in prayers for assistance in combatting this evil.

THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS
On this Feast Day, we jump back again, from the early ministry of the adult Jesus (where we have been since the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord), to the infancy narratives, when his parents came to present him in the temple.
The ancient practice of presenting Jewish children in the temple in this way was meant to be a reminder of when God brought their ancestors out of slavery in Egypt. They had finally gained their freedom when the last of the ten plagues caused the firstborn sons of the Egyptians to perish. Their own children were saved/redeemed by the blood of a lamb painted on the doorposts. From that time on, religious Law required Jewish families to continue to redeem their firstborn sons soon after their birth with a sacrifice of some sort. The sacrifice that Mary and Joseph offered as they brought Jesus to the temple was that of two turtle doves. But, as he was being presented, the old man Simeon, in an inspired outburst, also reminded any onlookers of the prophecy of Isaiah. He said that now his eyes had seen the salvation which, according to Isaiah all the ends of the earth would see. He was saying that the Messiah was for all people, and not just for the Jews, though he was their glory too. And the Prophet Malachi had said that this “Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his Temple.” The child Jesus was fulfilling that prophecy.
Some of us might be tempted to speculate as to what made Simeon so certain that Jesus was the child for whom he’d been waiting. Perhaps he’d heard some rumours about the strange circumstances of Jesus’ birth and then investigated more before coming to his conclusion. But Luke, no doubt deliberately, doesn’t tell us. He simply says that Simeon was someone on whom the Spirit of God rested. Luke’s silence in this matter clearly suggests that it’s God who reveals Himself to us and not human beings who discover God. To see salvation means waiting patiently, like Simeon. Then, as Simeon was no doubt struck with a tremendous sense of awe holding the prophesied servant of salvation in his arms, he found the Spirit of God within him impelling him to speak.
This day is also known as “Candlemas Day” when candles are often blessed and lit and sometimes carried in procession in many churches around the world. They’re lit as a sign of defiant hope in a difficult world, and, for Christians, they echo again Simeon’s claim that Jesus is the light of the nations and not just the glory of the people of Israel. A candle’s gentle light has often been a powerful symbol for Christians and non-Christians alike. In August 2015, people in this country left thousands of tealights in jam jars to line the bridge over the River Adur in Shoreham after the Hawker Hunter jet crashed into the A27. But there are so many other examples. In this year of a Jubilee of ‘Hope’, we are invited to light a candle, physically or metaphorically, in the face of the adversity before us all.

WEEKLY SERVICES
SUNDAY:	10.00am. 12.30pm (Polish Mass) 6.00pm
MONDAY:	12 noon Mass
TUESDAY:	12 noon Mass
WEDNESDAY:	12 noon Mass
THURSDAY:	12 noon Mass
FRIDAY:	12 noon Mass
SATURDAY:	12 noon Mass