ASCENSION OF THE LORD: SUNDAY 24th MAY 2009
MASS TIMES: INTENTIONS:
Saturday Vigil: 7.15 p.m. Michael Bowditch.
Sunday: 9.15 a.m. Thomas Nicholls.
11:00 a.m. Ron Wells.
Monday: 9:15 a.m. Sid Merchant.
Tuesday: 9.15 a.m. Kenneth Gerrard RIP.
Wednesday: 9.15 a.m. Ned O’Gormam A..
Thursday: 9.15 a.m. Kitty Floyd.
Friday: 9.15 a.m. Peter Whitby.
Saturday: 9.15 a.m. No Morning Mass.
12.00 noon. UCM Mass with Bishop Brian.
Vigil Mass 7.15 p.m. Margery Whatmough.
Sunday: 9.15 a.m. The Parish.
11.00 a.m. James Loughlin.
MORNING PRAYER:
9.00 a.m. in the Sacristy Office, on weekdays excepting Wednesday.
CONFESSIONS:
Confessions are heard every Saturday after morning Mass and in the evening from 6:45 p.m. to 7:10 p.m.
BAPTISMS:
By appointment with Fr. Cooke. After speaking to Fr. Cooke, it is important that parents contact our Baptism Co-ordinator, Ann Siddall (01244 371787) to discuss detailed arrangements.
FIRST HOLY COMMUNIONS:
There will be further groups celebrating their first Holy Communions today and on 31st May. The central benches will be reserved for these children and their families. Please pray for them all at this special time.
THE SICK:
Please keep in your prayers all the sick and housebound of the Parish and those who care for them. If you know of anyone who can no longer come to Mass and would like to receive Holy Communion please let Fr. Cooke or a Eucharistic Minister know.
ANNIVERSARIES:
We remember Elizabeth Baker, Dolly Cooper, Ronald Alfred Wells, Eileen Hughes, Thomas Patrick Nicholls, Godfrey Z Mullins, Frederick McGhee, Paul Joseph Herbert, Ann Lee, Martha Winifred Shea, Peter Burton (Snr.), Christina Rita Newton, Agnes Harvey, Catherine Carney, Florence Beryl Fairhead, Bernard Patrick McGuiness, Llewellyn Trevor Pickmere, Ned O’Gorman, Thomas Boyle, Geoffrey Alan Wilding, William Butler-Langford, Kathleen Amelia Swinton, Ann Cooper, William Ward McGlown, Arthur May, Angela Lennon, Linda Lumley, Veronica Carr, James Edward Casman, Alba Martin, Ernest Gordon George Kirk, Dorothy Davies, Catherine Ryan, William Nash, Kathleen Nancy Wood, William Arthur Evans.
COFFEE AFTER MASS:
Tea and coffee are served in the Hall after the Sunday morning Masses. All are welcome.
OFFERTORY: (17th May 2009)
Loose Plate: £404.13
Planned Giving: £469.10
Average Weekly SOs: £562.00
Coffee: £71.84
Hire of Hall; £242.00
PLANNED GIVING:
This scheme does exactly what it says. It allows you to plan methodically what you give to the parish. There are two main methods, the first is to use a set of envelopes, one envelope for each Sunday, into which you can place your weekly donation, cash or cheque, at any time during the week before putting it in the Sunday collection. The envelopes are individually numbered and your identity and the amount you give is confidential. There is no commitment to give particular amount each week or even to give every week, it’s entirely up to you. I will write about the second method, Standing Orders, in a couple of weeks. If you would like to know more, please contact David Savage on 380626.
UPTON CHURCHES PRAYER DIARY:
This week we pray for:
• The residents of Churchward Close, The Wiend and Mickle Trafford.
• For the hospitals in our area. For all who work in the NHS. For patients and their families. For the chaplaincy teams.
UPTON CHURCHES:
Thanks to those of you who supported the Friendship Lunch on May 14th. A total of £117.50 was raised which has been donated to Christian Aid and CAFOD.
The next event is a Coffee Morning at the URC on 18th July in aid of the Claire House Children’s Hospice
BEREAVEMENT GROUP:
Has bereavement affected you?
Do you feel the need to talk in confidence?
The Parish Bereavement Group provides support and care to the bereaved and their families. All members have been fully trained and would like to invite people to contact the group by ringing Ruth on (01244) 380300
VINCENTIAN VOLUNTEERS:
A positive opportunity for young people to have a challenging experience in service to vulnerable people, and living in a community with other likeminded volunteers. Accommodation and living expense provided. Volunteer year is 09/2009 – 07/2010. Contact Sr.Barbara Quilty DC at 0161 2269561 or 0161 2099156,
barbaraquilty@hotmail.co.uk, www.vincentianvolunteers.org
READERS:
A Day of Recollection with Fr. Geoff O’Grady has been organised for existing Readers on Saturday 31st October 2009 at St. Columba’s. Please make every effort to attend. Further details will be posted on the front and back porches as soon as available.
CATECHISTS:
A gathering with Bishop Brian will take place on Saturday 13th June at St. Nicholas Catholic High School, Hartford, from 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. All parish catechists are invited – please put the date in your diary and you will be contacted with the details by your team leader.
BUILDING CONFIDENT PARENTS:
A Six-week Programme for parents of teenagers will begin on Monday 8th June from 7.30 p.m. to 9.15 p.m. in St. Werburgh’s & St. Columba’s Catholic Primary School. The purpose of the programme is to help us find our own ways of enjoying our children more while also being more effective as parents. The course will be very positive in its nature and anyone attending should not feel or think of themselves as bad or failing parents, in fact, quite the reverse. For further information contact Clara Donnelly 0151-691-2811 or email cc.donn@talktalk.net
CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE:
The Annual Meeting will be held on Sat. May 30th. Bishop Brian will concelebrate Holy Mass together Fr. Michael Gannon, our Chaplain’ at 12noon here at St Columba’s, all welcome to the Mass. Mrs Margaret Richards will speak about the League's work with the armed forces Non members who would like to hear of the work services committee will be very welcome to her talk at around 2.45pm in the hall.
ST WERBURGH’S & ST COLUMBA’S SCHOOL SUMMER FAIR - PLANT STALL:
The PTA is starting to prepare for the annual Summer Fair on 4th July and would appreciate the help and generosity of any gardeners in the parish; as you are planting seeds, potting up and taking cuttings for your own garden, we would be very grateful if you could spare a plant or two for the Plant Stall. Also, if you have any empty plant pots you no longer require, we will gladly take them off your hands! Empty pots can be dropped off at school any time and any plants you can donate may be delivered to school on the day of the Fair. Please contact Lal Cook on Chester 317550 for any enquiries.
CATHOLIC CHILDREN’S SOCIETY-SPRING COLLECTION:
Please leave your box at the back of Church to be emptied. The box will be returned the following week. If you are a tax payer and would like to gift aid your donation, please put a note in your box and we will contact you with the forms. Please ensure your full contact details are on the box. Many thanks. Anne Mosquera (tel 340243) & Millie Bradshaw (tel 315938).
CHRISTIAN AID WEEK:
Many thanks to those parishioners who kindly volunteered to act as local collectors for Christian Aid Week (10-16th May). A total of £535 was collected from the streets allocated to St. Columba’s. The money has now been sent to Christian Aid and goes in support of their various projects around the world – a combination of emergency aid and longer-term development projects.
FEASTS OF THE WEEK:
Monday is the Feast of St. Bede the Venerable (673-735). As a monk, he spent most of his life in Jarrow, Lindisfarne and York, and is famous for his biblical and historical writings. Bede’s “History of the English Church and People” is his most important work. It tells how Christianity played a vital role in creating a sense of national identity at a time when England was still divided into a number of kingdoms.
Wednesday is the Feast of St. Augustine, one of the most influential figures in the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England to the Roman episcopal style of Christianity. He was appointed by Pope Gregory the Great to head a band of 40 monks to preach the gospel to the heathen English. Journeying through Gaul and learning more about the task ahead, they were all for turning back, but Gregory sent fresh encouragement. They landed in Kent and within a few years had converted Ethelbert, the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, and established the first cathedral at Canterbury. He died at Canterbury in 605.
CAFOD MUSICAL EVENING:
To be held on Friday 19th June at St Theresa’s Club, Blacon Avenue, 7.30 for 8 p.m. start. This promises to be a very entertaining evening, featuring myriad local vocal and instrumental talent, with plenty of opportunity for audience participation! Further details on the posters or from 01244 375606.
NEXT WEEK’S NEWSLETTER:
This will be compiled by Ann Siddall, tel. 371787, email: a-siddallYOUKNOWTHESYMBOLsky.com Items for inclusion can also be left in the blue folder in the Sacristy. Please ensure that all items are in place by 9.00 a.m. on Thursday. Please include a phone number in case of queries.
Current and past issues of the Newsletter can also be seen on the parish website, www.stcolumbachester.org.uk.
Please, please, please take your newsletter home and use it for reference and prayer during the week.