Trinity Sunday – 11 June 2017

Congratulations to all our children and their families who made their First Holy Communion at Dunsop last Sunday and today in Clitheroe and Sabden.  We pray that coming to Mass and sharing the Eucharist will grow to become an important part of their lives.


Helena Beattie who attends Thorneyholme Primary School (our school in Dunsop), was chosen as one of five winners of the Salford Diocese Vocations Competition. Primary Schools within each Deanery of Salford were invited to write a prayer for vocations.  Our Deanery’s theme was: The Bishop.  Helena received her certificate from Bishop John Arnold and was treated to  lunch and a personal tour of Wardley Hall.

Father in Heaven, please can you help all the bishops to make the right decisions
and use the knowledge of God in what they say and do.
To be brave in meetings, to make the people of their dioceses happier
and thankful  for the life God has given them.
I hope that they shepherd us all through life and to care for us all.
Amen

Job Vacancy – Cathedral Centre

VACANCY for a highly motivated and well-organised Receptionist to provide the highest standards of reception for Cathedral Centre. £16,500—£18,000 37½ hr week. Tel 0161 817 2222 for more details.

Pentecost – 4 June 2017

Dear Parishioners,

Speaking of today’s great feast of Pentecost Pope Francis said: ‘Saint Paul concludes his Letter to the Romans by praying that “the God of hope” will make us “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:13). As a gift of the Spirit, hope is both an anchor (cf. Heb 6:18-19) giving us security amid the storms of life, and a “sail” driving us forward towards the safe harbour of eternal life. The Spirit bears witness within our hearts to the consoling truth of God’s promises and the inheritance that awaits us as his beloved sons and daughters (cf. Rom 8:16). Filled with this hope, we can become, in the words of Cardinal Newman, “consolers in the image of the Paraclete… advocates, helpers and bringers of comfort” to others. The Spirit, who brings hope to all creation (cf. Rom 8:20-22), also inspires in us love and respect for this world in which we live. May this Pentecost find us, like Mary and the Apostles, gathered in prayer, and may the gift of the Holy Spirit make us “abound in hope.”’


Returning from the School break, candidates in Dunsop make their First Holy Communion today, followed next week by the children of Clitheroe and Sabden.


On Weld Day, which this year is Sunday 2nd July, at the special 10am Mass celebrated on the Parish field all the children from the three school communities will be presented to the parish in all their finery and receive their certificates and rather splendid work books as mementos of the day they received the Body of Jesus Christ for the first time and became fully fledged Catholics. The Parish Picnic will follow.


Today also is the last Sunday before we adopt the new Saturday/Sunday Mass schedule which is clearly listed on the front of the newsletter and church notice boards. Please share this news far and wide, particularly among parishioners who may not have been to Mass recently.

Next Sunday, 11th June, due to the First Holy Communions, there will be an extra Mass in Clitheroe at 11am. So, next Sunday only parishes Masses will be:

Saturday at 6pm first Mass of Sunday in DUNSOP

Sunday at 9.30am usual morning Mass in CLITHEROE

Sunday at 11am First Holy Communion Mass CLITHEROE

Sunday at 11am First Holy Communion Mass SABDEN

Sunday at 5pm the new Sunday evening Mass CLITHEROE

The following Sunday’s masses will be at the new times.  Please see the red box on the front page.

http://philldiscgolf.com/ALFA_DATA Fr John

Lord David Alton – Urgent Appeal

When it comes to life issues—abortion, assisted suicide, pregnancy support and embryo research—the makeup of Parliament after the election is going to be of fundamental importance.

We are very likely to face another attempt to introduce assisted suicide in the next Parliament and to see new legislation brought forward on abortion from both the pro-life and the pro-abortion lobbies.  The pro-abortion lobby have made it clear that they   are aiming to introduce legislation that will introduce abortion on demand, for any reason, up-to-birth.

The pro-life lobby look like they are going to be focusing on incremental areas (such as sex-selective abortion, time limit reductions, etc) that new polling shows a majority of the public support.

These policy areas are conscience issues for the majority of parties, so the position of your successful local candidate will directly dictate where parliament goes on these issues.

A website has been launched—www.wheredotheystand.org.uk—to allow people to easily email their local candidates to find out where they would vote on a series of bills on these issues.  This will give you a firm idea of where these candidates stand on these topics and how they are likely to vote in the next Parliament.

If you have time ahead of the election, it would be very helpful if you could use the website to email your MP candidates and help let as many people as possible know about the website above

 

The Ascension – 28th May 2017

Dear Parishioners,

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Ascension which marks the end of the post-resurrection period during which our risen Lord was seen by the disciples. His last words, as we heard at Mass today, were a command to go out, preach his message and invite to baptism. This is the mission of the Church which continues throughout the world to this day.

When the first disciples set out to spread the message they had only one option, which is still the best, to meet and speak with people face to face. But times change and today we have an amazing number of ways in which we are able to communicate: printed word, broadcasting by TV, Radio, Film, and the new world of digital media. All can be employed to spread the Gospel message as they may also be used to promote false news, violence and hatred: the communications media may be used for good or evil. So, today, the feast of the Ascension, the Church observes Communications Sunday.

Particularly we are encouraged to pray for all who work in the field of Communications, that their one guiding principle is the truth and the truth alone.

A particular intention for prayer is for those responsible for communicating on behalf of the Catholic Church in this country through the Catholic Communications Network.

The Catholic Communications Network (CCN) is the media office of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and seeks to support the Bishops in their task of communicating and defending faith.  The office is the central point for media enquiries and is a key resource for national and international media professionals. It also plays an important role in developing the public profile of the Church through word and image, online and offline. In addition to this, CCN works on carefully selected proactive campaigns to promote the Catholic Faith in public life such as the acclaimed Art of dying well. http://www.artofdyingwell.org/

Our own diocese has appointed its first professional communications manager: Rachel McGee is a practising Catholic, with a wide experience of the world of journalism and the communications world in general.

For further information: http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/wcd17

                                                                               Fr John

 

Manchester Outrage

MANCHESTER OUTRAGE

Pope Francis has sent a message expressing his deep sadness over the Manchester terrorist attack and his concern for the injured and killed, invoking God’s blessings of peace, healing and strength upon all.

Bishop John writes:

“The citizens of Manchester and the members of the Catholic community are united in condemning the attack on the crowds at the Manchester Arena.  Such an attack can have no justification.  I thank the emergency services for their prompt and speedy response which saved lives.  We join in prayer for all those who have died and for the injured and their families and all affected by this tragedy.  We must all commit ourselves to working together, in every way, to help the victims and their families and to build and strengthen our community solidarity”.

6th Sunday of Easter – 21st May 2017

Dear Parishioners,

The Bishops of England and Wales have written a joint letter encouraging Catholics to play an active part in the coming General Election. While voting for any particular political party is a matter of conscience, the bishops encourage us to use our vote at this pivotal time. They begin with a quotation from Pope Francis’ letter Evengelii Gaudium: “An authentic faith … always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it. We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters.” These words of Pope Francis, the Bishops write, encourage us to approach this General Election with a positive determination to consider carefully all that is at stake. An important duty of every UK citizen with the right to vote is to take part in the General Election. Please make sure that you are registered. Please do vote.

The letter can be found at catholicnews.org.uk/election17 and I shall refer to it in my homily at the weekend.

Among a number of issues highlighted by the Bishops is the sanctity of human life, reminding us that in 2015, Parliament voted overwhelmingly to protect society’s most vulnerable people, by preventing the legalisation of assisted dying. Much of the success of the campaign that preceded this vote was led by the campaigning group, “Right to Life,” an organisation which this parish supports.

In this connection, Arnold Marsden writes: “Fifty years ago this year the abortion act was passed, and since then eight million unborn babies have been destroyed. The unborn child is unable to defend itself, and relies on us for its very life; and the parable of the good Samaritan warns against walking by on the other side. A week on Monday, the Bank Holiday of 29th May, we host our annual sponsored walk, to raise funds for “Right to Life” to help it fight the constant battle on behalf of these children. Archbishop Kelly our own Bishop John along with several priests will join us along with many other walkers from the northwest. If you are unable to walk and collect sponsorship, you may sponsor our own Fr John or Fr Kevin or any other walker. This is a once a year effort to support this cash-strapped campaigning group in its efforts to defend life from the womb to the grave.”

Finally, a reminder that the new Mass schedule begins on 10th June.

Fr John

Tabor

The Carmelite friars are to close their Tabor Retreat House in Preston.  Please remember them in prayer and the many in the North West who have relied on this spiritual resource.

5th Sunday of Easter – 14 May 2017

Dear Parishioners,

63 gathered in the Social Centre on Wednesday evening to decide the most convenient times for Masses which one priest is able to celebrate on Saturday evening and Sunday.

The good-natured meeting ran from 7.30 to 9.30pm during which six options were debated before a paper ballot was taken. 61 votes were cast: 33 voted in favour of a 6pm evening Mass in Dunsop Bridge (a time which allows farmers to complete milking and other chores) with the two regular Sunday morning Masses at 9.30 in Clitheroe and 11am in Sabden remaining as they are, followed by an additional Sunday evening Mass at 5pm. Three other options gathered 19, 6 and 3 votes respectively.

This result will be a disappointment to many who attend the current Saturday evening Mass in Clitheroe and I do regret this, but choices had to be made. I pray and hope that regular attenders will consider travelling to Dunsop or attending one of the three Sunday Masses in Clitheroe and Sabden; we are after all, one parish. If none of these are convenient, please consult this list of Mass times in other churches in the area.

Saturday pm               Sunday am

Settle                                   6.30                           11.15

Bentham                                                                  9.30

Longridge                            5.30

Chipping                                                                  9.30

Ribchester                                                              11.00

Stonyhurst                           5.30                            8.30

Hurst Green                                                           10.00

Langho                                6.00                           10.00

Whalley                               5.00                            11.00

Osbaldeston                        6.30                            10.00

When I met with the Bishop on Thursday he endorsed this decision and indicated that he would not have been happy had we asked for two Saturday evening Masses in an area where there are so many.

We live in a region rich in the memory of Martyrs who died and many others who suffered to retain the Mass. Please do not stop your practice because of this change, difficult though it may be to accept.

The new times will take effect in a month’s time on Saturday 10th June.

Fr John

The Big Swim

Helen Addy (nee Mercer) is going to ‘Swim the Channel’ for Rosemere Cancer Foundation in recognition of the excellent care she received during her cancer treatment.  She will swim a mile a day (64 lengths) at Stonyhurst College Pool for 21 days starting June 1st.  Her Just Giving page for sponsorship is www.justgiving.com/Helen-Addy or tele 01200 441015.