Newsletter: 22nd December 2024

Newsletter: 29th December

The Holy Family

No Confessions
17.30 VIGIL MASS

9.00 MASS
10.30 MASS (& Coffee)
12.00 Baptisms
14.00 Jubilee Year Launch Mass – Salford Cathedral

10.00 Mass
10.30 Coffee Morning

18.00 Mass (Mary Mother of God)

10.00 Mass

10.00 Mass
11.00 Graveside Service for Jadwiga Uszak, Radcliffe

No Confessions
17.30 VIGIL MASS

9.00 MASS
10.30 MASS (& Coffee)

HEARTFELT THANKS

I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the beautiful cards, thoughtful gifts, and so many kind sentiments I have received this Christmas. Your generosity and love have touched my heart, and I really appreciate your kindness. It is a blessing to belong to a caring community. Wishing you all a joyful and peaceful and holy New Year.

With gratitude and blessings, Fr. Brady

ADVICE AS ENERGY BILLS CONTINUE TO RISE

If you, anyone you know, or someone in your wider parish community is in need of support around rising energy bills, Caritas Salford has put together some helpful advice on their website.

You can find out more by visiting www.caritassalford.org.uk/fuel-poverty-challenges and can also find details on the website page on how to arrange a session with their energy advice service team.

CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING

Our Laudato Si’ Centre is once again joining forces with a Christmas Tree recycling project in a bid to care for community and common home. The project raises funds for local charities by collecting used Christmas trees, while chippings from the trees will be repurposed across the Laudato Si’ Centre. Find out more >

PARISH OFFICE HOURS

Closed until Tuesday 7th January 2025

NEW PILGRIM OF HOPE BOOK LAUNCHED

Monsignor John Allen has harnessed his love of the geography and history of our diocese, penning a very special book which is being sold in aid of Caritas Salford. The book, Pilgrims of Hope, has been published in time for the start of the 2025 Jubilee Year which is also focussed on the theme of Pilgrims of Hope, and is available to purchase by visiting the Caritas website: caritassalford.org.uk/pilgrimbook

OPENING MASS FOR THE PILGRIMS OF HOPE JUBILEE

Pope Francis has invited dioceses across the world to unite in prayer as we begin the 2025 “Pilgrims of Hope” Jubilee. Our diocese will be marking the start of the Jubilee with a Mass, celebrated by Bishop John, on Sunday 29th December at 2pm at Salford Cathedral’s Temporary Church. All are welcome to join us as we mark the start of this special year of grace.

THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS BEGINS

When the carols have been stilled,
When the star-topped tree is taken down,
When family and friends are gone home,
When we are back to our schedules
The work of Christmas begins:
To welcome the refugee,
To heal a broken planet,
To feed the hungry,
To build bridges of trust, not walls of fear,
To share our gifts,
To seek justice and peace for all people,
To bring Christ’s light to the world.

Jubilee Year 2025

Pope Francis has decreed that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, a holy year which happens every 25 years in the Catholic Church.

Find Out More

Our Synodal Journey

At the start of the Synodal journey, Bishop John reflected on the considerable changes our Church has witnessed over recent years, remarking that the time has come to envisage a new future for the Church in our diocese. The challenge was to establish what we need to be now, in a changing world.

Following on from the Big Listen, four themes emerged, namely:

Nurturing Faith for tomorrow’s world
Building connections
Enabling access and
Fostering Christ-like care

To move our Synodal journey forwards, theme gatherings have taken place to identify the key proposals for each of the above themes. We appreciate that not everyone was able to attend the gatherings and so to give everybody the opportunity to have their voice heard, we have placed an synod action box on the table in the Church atrium to allow you to include your proposals for each theme.

Summaries of the four themes, together with the four questions can be found beside the action box.

Alternatively, if you are unable to get to Church and would prefer to enter your proposals online, please follow the link below and complete the short survey. (Please can you ensure that all responses are submitted by 12pm on Sunday 15th December.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5DS5PF3

Your opinions matter and we hope that you will support us in giving the parish here at St Mary and St Philip Neri a voice to help shape a new future for the Church in our diocese.

STAY WITH US, LORD, ON OUR JOURNEY

THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL

This little incident, the only one told of Jesus’ youth, has two attractive lessons for us. Firstly, it is a joy to see Jesus behaving just like any other twelve-year-old. He was a real child, and a child of that age goes off exploring, adventuring, unhesitatingly sure that the all-powerful, all-knowing parents will know where he or she has gone; parents, meanwhile, worry themselves sick at the unexplained disappearance of their child. Mary, the young mother, knows her son and the ways of the twelve-year old. She does not scold or expostulate, but just accepts what he says with love and relief. Secondly, Jesus’ reply gives us a glimpse of his relationship to the Father. The phrase ‘with my Father’s affairs’ may equally well be translated ‘in my Father’s house’, but either translation indicates Jesus’ total absorption with his Father. What does it mean to be “busy with my Father’s affairs”? What changes would this make in your life?

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.

BAPTISM CERTIFICATE COPIES REQUESTS For those requesting copies of baptism certificate the office can be contacted initially and the certificate can be collected at any of the weekend Masses. This is also to encourage people to come to Mass.

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.

CHRISTMAS 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. Our Lady’s Lamp and Sanctuary Lamp are £5.00 and burn for seven days. Please place any intentions in an envelope with your donation and give to Father Brady or place in the Mass offering Box in the atrium. All newsletter items must be sent in by Thursday morning.

MASSES AND PRAYERS RECEIVED THIS WEEK

Lately Dead
John Lees, Peter Davies, Skye Blair (Aged 9) Jadwiga Uszak.

Anniversary
Terrence McGrail, Bernice Moore.

Birthday Memory
William, Sharrock, Harry Rice, Elizabeth Keogh.

Sick
Jeanette Moran, Daniel Kuhanga, Deanne Plummer, Michelle Clegg, Ann Timothy, Ann Richardson, Maureen Walsh, Geoffrey Hunt.

Christmas Masses
Catherine & William Bailey, Anne Eagleton, Anne & Thomas Nally, The Hornby Family, The Jones Family, The Moore Family & In Laws.

Other
Intentions of Noel Moore, Stephen Lang (RIP).

This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for:

Kosta Lamniso.

This week Our Lady’s Lamp burns for:

Helen Hyndman M.B.E
Terrence McGrail
Coulter & Fletcher Families
Laurence Hawkins.

Lourdes TV

Please click on the red ‘Play’ button to watch Lourdes TV.

Newsletter: 29th December 2024