Newsletter: 23rd July 2023

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

16.30 No Confessions
17.30 VIGIL MASS

09.00 MASS | 10.30 MASS
12.00 Baptisms

Father Brady’s Day Off

10.00 MASS
10.35 Coffee Morning

10.00 MASS
19.30 U.C.M. Meeting

10.00 Word and Communion

Father Brady in Lourdes

No Confessions
17.30 VIGIL MASS – Survive Miva Appeal

09.00 MASS – Survive Miva Appeal
10.30 MASS – Survive Miva Appeal

DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES
Later this week the Bishop will lead the diocese in our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. Fr Brady will be joining the pilgrimage as Director of Liturgy.

If you have any petitions for Our Blessed Lady please bring them to church by Wednesday and Fr Brady will personally place them in the Grotto for you.

The diocese of Salford is joining with Bishop Mark Davies and the diocese of Shrewsbury for Mass at the Grotto on Monday 31st August at 9.00am French time.

You can join the Mass on Lourdes TV via the internet,

LOURDES PRE-DEPARTURE MASS
Bishop John will preside at the Mass at 5.30pm on Sunday 23rd July at St Bernadette’s in Whitefield.

All are welcome to attend the Mass and to stay for refreshments afterwards.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL NATIONAL SUMMER RAFFLE
Tickets available after all weekend Masses. Tickets cost £1.00 each with prizes of 1st £5,000, 2nd £1,000 and a further additional 15 prizes of £100.

Please support this worthy cause.

SURVIVE MIVA APPEAL
There will be a collection next weekend after Masses on the 29th and 30th July.

This is a Catholic lay Association, based in Liverpool and founded in 1974, which provides grants to fund essential transport for health outreach work in isolated rural areas, and for the Church’s pastoral care in places of difficult access, across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

See noticeboard for details. Thank you for your generosity.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER OF GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY
Today (23rd July) is the Third World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly, falling close to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus. To mark this year’s celebration, Pope Francis presents each of us with a challenge to foster “joyful and renewed encounter” across all generations, and to make a special gesture to reach out to grandparents and the elderly. As part of this, Pope Francis has granted a Plenary Indulgence for those who visit their grandparents, or elderly or housebound friends, neighbours, or relatives.

EUCHARISTIC HEALING SERVICE
At Mother of God and St James Church, Heywood Way, Salford, M6 5UJ. Tuesday 8th August, 7.30pm A priest with an internationally-renowned healing ministry is returning to our diocese for an upcoming Eucharistic Healing Service. Fr John Baptist Bashobora will be travelling from Uganda to St James and All Souls.

DIOCESAN YOUNG ADULTS MASS
Sunday 10th September, 5.30pm (confessions between 4.45 – 5.15pm). St Augustine’s Church, Grosvenor Square, Manchester. Please note, there will be no Diocesan Young Adults Mass in August as we break over the summer. Our next Young Adults Mass will take place on Sunday 10th September at St Augustine’s Church, Manchester, when we will be delighted to welcome Daniella Stephens as our speaker after Mass. We look forward to seeing you then!

PARISH OFFICE OPEN ON TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY – 9.00AM to 12.00PM

STAY WITH US, LORD, ON OUR JOURNEY

THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL

The Gospel of Matthew gathers together a whole set of pictures which Jesus used to describe the society of God’s servants which he was intent on setting up. Matthew calls it ‘the Kingdom of Heaven’. Jews avoided bandying around the name of ‘God’, so Matthew calls it by the place where God is enthroned, Heaven. The first picture, the wheat and the darnel, shows that in some of those called the good seed has been overlaid by weed. In its early growth this weed, the inedible darnel, is incredibly difficult for a non-farmer to distinguish from good barley. No more can we presume to sort out who is seeking God and who is not; it is dangerous to despise or to dismiss anyone at all. The explanation given by Matthew constitutes a warning that the harvest, the judgment, will come in the end. Do we have any right to judge others (or may we be mistaking wheat for darnel)? What is the darnel in us that needs weeding out before the judgment?

BAPTISMS Please see Fr. Brady after Mass if you would like your child to be baptised. A baptismal certificate for one of the parents must be provided as evidence of baptism in a Roman Catholic Church before a baptism date can be given. We welcome parents and children and by attending Masses at the weekend on Saturday at 5.30pm, Sunday at 9.00am or 10.00am which fulfil the Sunday obligation. All Catholics are OBLIGED to celebrate Mass on EVERY Sunday.

SICK AND HOUSEBOUND If you know of anybody who would like Fr Brady to visit, could you please give him their name and address with postcode and a contact telephone number. Thank you.

MASS INTENTIONS AND NEWSLETTER INCLUSIONS The practice of requesting a Mass to be offered for loved ones, living or deceased, is a beautiful and wonderful part of our Catholic Tradition. Continuing this long-standing practice, you can remember someone who has died recently or many years ago. The Mass can also make beautiful gifts for any special occasion: birthdays, anniversaries, in thanksgiving for a prayer answered etc. You can offer an intention for anybody who is struggling with a serious illness or other difficulties of life. Please hand in any Mass Intentions and items for the bulletin before Thursday as the newsletter is printed on Friday Morning. There are Mass Intention Envelopes provided on the table in the Atrium. Please provide a contact number with Mass Intentions so that any discrepancies can be resolved. Thank you.

WELCOMERS NEEDED: If you would be interested in joining the welcome team, who greet people coming into Mass at the weekend, please speak to Fr. Brady. “Make hospitality your special gift” (Romans 12:13)

OUR LADY’S LAMP AND THE SANCTUARY LAMP: These burn for seven days. Please place any intentions in an envelope with £5 in the Mass Offerings Box in the Atrium.

MASSES AND PRAYERS RECEIVED THIS WEEK

Lately Dead
Barbara Diggle

Anniversary
Irene Jordan

Birthday Memorial
Tony Livesey, Winifred Beresford, Mary Barrett

Sick
Eileen Watmough, Anthony Long, Maureen Canning, Valentine Cleary

Other
In Thanksgiving for Successful Surgery
For those with Disability Visible or not, that they Feel Valued

This week burns:

This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for Bishop John Arnold.

This week burns:

This week Our Lady’s Lamp burns for the intentions of the Anigbo Family And Eileen Scott.