Sunday 27th October 2024
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Masses & Liturgies for the coming week...
Friday 25th October
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Weekday Mass (Feria)
Saturday 26th October
9am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
10am Votive Mass of Our Lady (Celebrated in Lady Chapel)
6pm The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
6:30pm Vigil Mass for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Sunday 27th October
9:30am The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
10am Mass for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
12:30pm Parish Social at Franco's, Union Road, Oswaldtwistle
Tuesday 29th October
1pm – 3pm St. Mary's Warm Welcome (See below for more details)
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Weekday Mass (Feria)
Wednesday 30th October
9:15am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
10am Weekday Mass (Feria)
7pm - 8pm Parish Synod II: Building Connections (see below for more details)
Thursday 31st October
9:15am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
10am Weekday Mass (Feria)
1pm Funeral Service for Joseph Stuart Duhan RIP
Friday 1st November
All Saints, Holy Day of Obligation
10am Mass, Solemnity of All Saints
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Mass, Solemnity of All Saints
Saturday 2nd November
9am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
10am All Souls Mass
2pm Blessing of Graves at Accrington Cemetery (see below for more details)
6pm The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
6:30pm Vigil Mass for the Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Sunday 3rd November
9:30am The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
10am Mass for the Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Sanctuary Lamp
This week (25th October - 2nd November), the Sanctuary Lamp is for Mary Le Pla.
Last Week's Easter Offertory Collection
£732.82. Thank you for your kind generosity.
All Saints - Holy Day of Obligation...
On Friday 1st November we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. This is a holy day of obligation and all faithful Roman Catholics are obliged to come to Mass that day. At St. Mary's there will be the following opportunities for prayer and Holy Mass:
10am Mass for All Saints
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Mass for All Saints
Parish Grounds
The drop in temperature and the darker nights can only mean one thing – autumn has arrived! This also means that trees begin to shed their leaves and as we all know we have plenty of trees on the parish grounds. Volunteers are always greatly appreciated with this yearly task and all help is gratefully accepted. Maintaining the paths and keeping them free from leaf debris isn't the most glamorous of jobs but it's an important one for health and safety reasons. If there is a day you are free, or a time you can pop down to church, which is convenient for you, please contact Navada Keenan who helps to facilitate all our parish garden volunteers – email: keenannavada@gmail.com
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who do so much to keep our church gardens looking pristine and tidy. It is much appreciated. Thank you.
Take Action to Oppose Assisted Suicide
Catholics across England and Wales are being called to unite in prayer and compassionate action in opposition to a new Bill on assisted suicide. The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has pulled together a range of resources with more information, a pastoral letter from Cardinal Nichols, and a link to an online tool to contact your MP to voice your opposition to the bill. Find out more at https://www.cbcew.org.uk/opposing-assisted-suicide
New Lectionaries
This weekend at the back of church you will be able to see the new lectionaries that have been published ready for use at the start of Advent. Thank you again to all those who have sponsored the cost of buying these new books. Families and loved ones names will be placed on the inside cover in due time. The Lectionaries are the books that contain the Scripture readings for Mass and the Sacraments, and have been changed as part of the continuing process of revising liturgical translations. The process began with the Roman Missal in 2011 and has continued with all the other liturgical texts. The new Lectionary will use the English Standard Version – Catholic Edition of the Bible and the Abbey Psalter. The changes are intended to make the biblical translations more faithful to the original languages, biblical scholarship, and to provide a text for use in liturgical setting that is more proclaimable and, where appropriate, more inclusive.
Readers Day
A session for readers from within St John Vianney Deanery will take place at St Mary's Parish Rooms, Burnley, on Saturday 9th November. The session will begin at 11.45am and finish at 1.00pm. The focus will be on the importance of the Ministry of Reader and a chance to become acquainted w
ith the translation, found in the new lectionary, which comes into use on 30th November. Tea/Coffee/cake will be served from 11.15am. All readers are welcome to attend. Please let Fr O'Brien know if you would like to attend so he can forward numbers to the Dean.
Parish Social at Franco's
Thanks to Tony Alveston for facilitating our next parish social which will a meal at Franco's on Sunday 27th October, 12:30pm for 1pm. The cost is £20 pp and people can sign up on the list by the stewards desk. Tony is also appealing for any prizes to put into a mini raffle on the day. If you could donate a prize please see him or one of the stewards at Mass.
St. Mary's Warm Welcome
The next warm welcome is on Tuesday 29th October from 1pm – 3pm. Everyone and anyone is welcome! We have some talented parishioners who will dispel the coming autumn blues with live upbeat music that everyone can sing along to. Plus there's unlimited brews and fantastic homemade cake in a warm space. Why not come along and experience something different.
Diocesan Synod: Parish Update
Diocese of Salford Big Listen - Session II
Our thanks to all who attended the first Synod meeting on the 18th September. We had a really interesting evening and all of the comments made have been noted and will be included for the next steps. The next Synod meeting will take place on Wednesday 30 October between 7.00pm and 8.00pm, where we will cover the theme "Building Connections". The Big listen responses highlighted that people have differing opinions on what makes 'Community'. On the one hand, 'Community' is understood by a minority as a 'Church or Parish Community' that is distinctive from the rest of the local community. On the other, a majority see the Church or parish community as including the wider community in which it is situated. This has implications on how people seek to build connections. In the light of what has been raised specifically in the Big Listen, at the next session we will look to answer on behalf of our parish how can we Build Connections that enhance our mission to build up the Body of Christ here in the Diocese of Salford? We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 30 October.
Synod Theme Gathering for Young Adults
Young adults across the Diocese of Salford are invited to join us to take part in the next important stage of our Diocesan Synod. This November, our Young Adults Synod Members will be leading a special theme gathering to further discern and discuss the themes to have emerged from last year's Big Listen Exercise and to submit proposals for each of the themes. The meeting will take place after our next monthly Mass for Young Adults, which begins at 5.30pm on Sunday 10th November at St Augustine's Church, Manchester. All are very welcome to attend!
Vocations Newsletter
Our diocesan Office for Vocations is pleased to share with you its latest newsletter, featuring news and updates on vocations to the priesthood and permanent diaconate, as well as insights into different aspects of ministry. To read the latest copy, please visit https://tinyurl.com/vocations-2
Building Update:
The diocesan property department contacted me with an update on the building works. With the erection of the scaffolding the roofers have been able to see the full extent of problems especially over the Lady Chapel. Further work is required which will involve more cost and so the Salford Diocesan Trustees have had to discern whether to give the go ahead. On the Friday before I left for the healing ministry training conference the following was emailed:
"APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL TO ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE. PROPERTY: ST MARY'S RC CHURCH. Thank you for your recent Application for Approval to Additional Expenditure. Your application was considered by the Diocesan Property Committee and a further £165,826.38 has been approved towards this project. Your contact in the Diocesan Property Department is Waheed Masters, should you require any further help or assistance."
November: Month of the Holy Souls
The month of November, for us as Roman Catholics, is traditionally a time dedicated to praying for the dead and all the Holy Souls in purgatory who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. On Saturday 2nd November, All Souls Day, we will have our usual box containing the names of those who have died placed in front of the Altar. Throughout the month all those names of loved ones in the Holy Souls Box will will be prayed for. Please feel free to write the names of deceased family and friends down on a piece of paper and place them in the Holy Souls Box. Throughout November you are welcome at anytime to place further names in the box.
Parish November Prayer Service
On Saturday 16th November at 2pm there will be the annual prayer service for all those who have died in the parish over the last year (Nov 23 – Nov 24) and for all those whose names are in the Holy Souls box in front of the Altar. All are welcome. There will be the opportunity for light refreshments afterwards.
Blessing Graves
This year the Blessing of Graves will be on two Saturday afternoons between ourselves and St. Joseph & St. Anne's parish, Accrington. Myself and Fr. Wadsworth will be present to bless the graves of those whose families come to the cemeteries on the following dates:
Accrington Cemetery – Saturday 2nd November at 2:00pm
Dill Hall Cemetery – Saturday 9th November at 2:00pm
Mass for the Deceased Clergy
On Thursday 7th November at 10am, there will be a Requiem Mass for all the deceased priests who have ministered to our Catholic community in East Lancashire over the years. This special deanery Mass will be at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Todmorden Rd, Burnley BB10 4AU. What a wonderful opportunity to come together as a deanery and pray for all those priests who have served our families over the years. Everyone is welcome.
Parish Schools
During November Sacred Heart, St. Mary's and St. Oswald's schools will be creating space and opportunity for pupils and families to pray for all those who have died among friends and family, people they have known and those they haven't. On Wednesday 13th November pupils from all three primary schools will join us for the 10am parish Mass and bring forward a book of remembrance with the names of people who have died that they would like to be prayed for.
Take a moment and recite this prayer given to us by Jesus through St. Gertrude the Great:
"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen"
Memorial Mass
A Memorial Mass to remember loved ones who have died in The Manchester Foundation Trust Hospitals and The Christie will be taking place on Wednesday 13th November. We invite you to join us at The Holy Name in Manchester at 6pm, where we will begin by praying the Rosary before Mass at 7pm. All are welcome to come and remember the dead and pray for their eternal rest.
The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst
Praying with St Dominic, 1st – 3rd November 2024
This retreat explores the life and faith of St Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans), whose objective was to continue safeguarding the Catholic faith. His Marian devotion and the place of the rosary in Christian prayer will be a special focus of this retreat preached by Fr Lawrence Lew, OP. For more information and to register:
https://christianheritagecentre.com/events/praying-with-saint-dominic/
Be Still and Know that I am God, 21st – 24th November 2024
Join Fr Roger Dawson, SJ, for this retreat exploring the human condition with practices common to mindfulness and to Christian contemplative prayer. The retreat will seek to reclaim those practices that share common ground with the tradition of apophatic prayer and theology rooted in the monastic and the Eastern Orthodox traditions. For more information and to register: https://christianheritagecentre.com/events/be-still-and-know-that-i-am-god/
The Christian Heritage Centre, Stonyhurst, Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 9PZ
Tel: 01254 827329 www.christianheritagecentre.com
Northern Dioceses Environment Group - CAFOD LiveSimply Development Meeting
The Northern Dioceses Environment Group invites you to join them for an online meeting to explore the latest developments to CAFOD's LiveSimply programme. The meeting takes place at 5pm on Monday 28 October. To find out more and register, head to https://tinyurl.com/NDEGMeeting
Caritas Homelessness report
Our diocesan charity, Caritas Salford, is running a campaign in the coming weeks and months to shine a spotlight on issues around the increasing number of individuals and families who are currently homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. There are lots of really simple ways you can get involved to help in your area - please take a look at their website and help if you can: www.caritassalford.org.uk/endhomelessness
Remembering our loved ones - A Moment of Prayer
The Diocese of Salford's Laudato Si' Centre is inviting people to remember loved ones in a special way this November. Names will be written down and hung in the centre's willow dome, where visitors will be asked to pray for those people and their families during the month of November. They will also be remembered in a special prayer service on 29th November. If you would like your loved ones to be remembered in this way, or would like to join the prayer service, please email laudatosi@dioceseofsalford.org.uk.
God Bless and keep praying.
Our Lady of Oswaldtwistle, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Fr. O'Brien