Dear Parishioners,

With Fr Kevin taking up a new post, we must look to the future and plan how best we become a missionary parish composed of three dynamic communities but with the services of only one priest possessed of one head, a degenerating brain and no power of bilocation!

I’m reminded of how Fr Bernard Cotter described his life as a parish priest “Imagine a juggler. If he is fairly competent, he can juggle three balls easily. He can complete other tasks at the same time — talking, smiling, singing, maybe even, if he is a super-juggler, riding a unicycle. Another ball is thrown at random; sometimes he can incorporate it, sometimes not. I am that juggler.”

So, to continue the metaphor: the whole parish must join the juggling act. Truth be told we do have a good number of parish activities and groups but we also need to expand what we have. Here are a few requests for you to consider, to ask yourself, could I give a hand here?

First, help with the baptismal preparation of infants. If we are to comply with the Bishop’s request in this regard, we shall need volunteers to welcome parents and their babies to Sunday Mass, sit with them and help them feel that they belong. Then afterwards invite them over to coffee in the Hall so that they have opportunity to meet other members of the parish community to which they belong. I ask you, do you need a degree in theology to do that? Please do offer to help. Young families would be invaluable in this ministry.

We need a new music group to alternate with the regular choir. So, we need guitarists, flautists, in fact any instrument, including the ukulele and they don’t need to be professional musicians! The group would lead the singing once or twice a month after rehearsal. We’ll work on a rota basis and all dates will be available for the coming year starting at the end of September. Interested? Want to learn more with no obligation? Contact me or Geralyn Lambert ( 07483 811358 or glambert@ssmj.lancs.sch.uk.

Following our discussion earlier in the year of Pope Francis’ Laudato si document.  I would like to see a Laudato si group formed to discuss and implement the Pope’s suggestions.

Finally, there will be no further Thursday evening Masses. Mass on Thursdays will be celebrated at 9.15am in Dunsop.

Fr John

Catholic response to ‘fracking’.

The Roman Catholic National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN) has recently published a briefing report, only 13 pages long and in ‘plain English”, on ‘fracking’ (the horizontal drilling and high pressure fracturing of shale rock to extract gas).

This is very relevant to OLOTV parishioners, as the Government has now signed extraction licences with fracking companies for this area, specifically the area which includes Sabden, Pendle Hill, Pendleton, and half way along Whalley Road towards Clitheroe. The habitat impact assessment shows a wider area potentially affected covering the whole of Clitheroe and extending as far as Newton and Whitewell to the North West and Gisburn to the North East. More licences will follow, further extending the area affected in future.

The report provides an excellent summary of what is involved in fracking, the technical and scientific arguments for and against, and the potential local and global impact. It also draws on Catholic Social Teaching principles (CST) in seeking to evaluate what the Catholic Church’s response might be, in particular in the context of Pope John Paul ll’s encyclical, “The Gospel of Life”, Pope Benedict’s “Ten Commandments for the Environment”, and Pope Francis’ “Laudate Si”.

The NJPN recommends that fracking should not be supported in the UK, because “Britain should be leading the world in shifting away from fossil fuels and towards clean and sustainable energy, rather than trying to extract ever more inaccessible fossil fuels”, stating that “In making this recommendation we are taking a moral decision that we believe is most likely to favour the common good and meet our Christian obligations founded on love of God and respect for His creation”. The report concludes by saying: “The challenge for each of us is how to bring Christian love to the debate about fracking, applying the prism of love to the known facts, dilemmas and areas of uncertainty. We may come to different conclusions from each other but we should all ensure those conclusions are based on complete transparency and honesty”.

Reading this report will help discussion and response when the companies involved locally apply for Planning Permission for their permanent drilling rigs.

The report can be found on the internet at: http://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/environment/fracking-briefing-paper-njpn-environment-working-group/

disulfiram to buy uk Dear Parishioners,

I’m afraid that we are faced with yet another change to the weekend Mass schedule.

Since the introduction of the 6pm Saturday night Mass in Dunsop Bridge and the 5pm Sunday Mass in Clitheroe, the parish Mass attendance has imploded, with the weekly attendance dropping by a quarter, from over 400 to 300. This figure is confirmed by an average weekly  £300 decrease in the collection.

Income is important, especially as we are about to begin the exterior decoration of the parish property in Clitheroe: the gutterings, downspouts, windows and doors etc. at a cost of £21,000, inclusive of VAT.

But to my mind, of more importance is that once parishioners regularly attend Mass elsewhere then they lose contact with the parish community! That we cannot afford.

Action must be taken but what? Initially, I considered calling another parish consultation but that would take time and so I have decided to act!

The Sunday afternoon Mass will return to Saturday evening but at the new time of 5pm. Then to enable me to travel up to Dunsop, the Mass in St Hubert’s will be pushed back half an hour, from 6pm to 6.30pm.

This weekend, times of Mass will remain the same but next weekend, 5^th and 6^th August these changes will come into effect.

http://ccritz.com/.well-known/alfacgiapi Saturday, 5^th August
5.00pm Mass in Clitheroe
6.30pm Mass in Dunsop

Sunday, 6^th August
9.30am Mass in Clitheroe
11.00am Mass in Sabden

Finally, a reminder that we shall celebrate the annual Requiem Mass for deceased parishioners, priests (this year remembering especially Fr Wareing) and your friends and relations on Bank Holiday Monday, 28^th August at 11am in the old Catholic cemetery.

Fr John

This years pilgrimage is well under way and can be followed on the live

webcam by entering our website www.olotv.org.uk

On the first page scroll down the events column and click on the webcam link.

You have the opportunity to watch some of the services live via this Lourdes webcam

Grotto Mass—Monday 31 July

8.45am BST (9.45am Lourdes time)

After Mass at 10.00am BST (11am Lourdes time) our petitions will be

taken in procession by our parish group and placed in the grotto.

Wednesday 2nd August

Blessed Sacrament Procession at 4.00pm BST (5pm Lourdes time)

Dear Parishioners,

During a recent flight, a friend fell into conversation with his neighbouring passenger from Sweden. When occupations came up my friend explained that he was a Catholic priest to which his companion responded: “I admire your Church. It is the only organisation I know of that consistently defends the dignity of human life.”

On 13th March 2017, a bill which would effectively decriminalise abortion had its First Reading in Parliament and was passed by 172 votes to 142.  A second reading on 12 May was thwarted by the General Election and the dissolution of Parliament.  Abortion procedures range from the use of chemicals to achieve an early miscarriage, to later surgical procedures that, by the use of sharp medical instruments or powerful suction, remove the baby piece-by-piece from her mother’s uterus. Such actions always violate the right to life of the unborn child herself, and can cause emotional and other harms to the mother.

Partly due to the disregard of the rights of the unborn child, scientific research and medical practice has often been undertaken which involves the destruction of human beings when they are at their embryonic stage of development. To date, no such research has led to any beneficial medical breakthroughs.

In 1961 Parliament legalised Suicide, the attempt to take one’s own life, but it remained illegal to assist someone to take their own life, with a punishment of up to 14 years in prison. In countries where this has been legalised, palliative care has been undermined. Every charity supporting the disabled is against legalising assisted suicide.

Euthanasia, unlike assisted death, is the direct killing of an individual by a medical doctor or other practitioner. In Holland and Belgium where euthanasia is legal there are signs that it has led to involuntary euthanasia as Doctors and Nurses arrogate to themselves the right to decide who ought to die, and in pressure being brought to bear on vulnerable people. Euthanasia, even more than assisted death, dehumanises the human person and subverts the vital doctor patient relationship.

In our Parish, we have a Pro-Life Group which is in need of support. We shall meet this Tuesday, July 25^th, in the Presbytery at 7.30pm. Please come and help us champion the dignity of human life.

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

On Saturday morning, the Office which oversees the celebration of the Sacraments, The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, issued a circular letter to bishops world wide, repeating the rules which govern the type of bread which may be used for the celebration of Mass.

By Saturday night, news had spread like wildfire: “Catholic Church bans coeliacs from Communion!” Is this true?

So, what did the letter state? “The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament.”

This was a simple restatement of existing rules – there was no change, no announcement of new norms, no banning of coeliacs from the reception of the Eucharist.

Usually, such “reminder” letters are issued when someone, generally a bishop, has raised a question or when Rome has been alerted to possible abuse. I have seen advertised in this country, “gluten free” hosts which were mostly made of rice!  Rather than being bread they would be rice cakes! Jesus never claimed to be the “Rice of Life!”

However, the letter did state that Gluten-free hosts have always been invalid matter for the sacrifice of the Mass. A similar letter circulated to Bishops in 2003 stated that that “Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.”

The special hosts we offer to coeliacs are low-gluten hosts, partially gluten-free, that contain a sufficient amount of gluten to guarantee that the hosts are unleavened bread, without the addition of foreign materials and without the use of procedures that would alter the nature of bread.  The low gluten hosts used here comply fully with Church requirements.

The Church recognizes that it mustn’t exclude Catholics with celiac disease  from receiving Communion and has approved the use of low gluten hosts for this reason.  Anyone unable to tolerate even a small amount of gluten should receive communion from the chalice alone.

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

Today is Sea Sunday when we pray for all who live and work at Sea and remember also the work of the Apostleship of the Sea, the official maritime welfare agency of the Catholic Church.

Many seafarers are Catholics, coming from the Philippines, India and Poland, so a key part of Apostleship of the Sea’s work is to provide spiritual support; helping them to get to Mass or praying with them in times of difficulty.

Another important part of the Apostleship’s work is giving simple, practical help to all seafarers, regardless of religion. For instance, it recently had to step in and help a Russian crew of a container ship. The crew had not been paid their wages for the previous few months. The ship was in a poor state of repair and was detained by the UK Maritime and Coastguard agency at Chatham in Kent after developing engine trouble. The Apostleship of the Sea provided the seafarers with practical and pastoral support, including buying essential provisions.

Usually a port chaplain’s work is fairly straightforward, like making sure seafarers have the correct SIM cards for their mobile phones, so they can make contact with their families back home. (Seafarers from Third World countries often spend 11 months away from their families) Sometimes, however, the work is more demanding as recently, finding accommodation for two shipwrecked crew members and comforting a deeply disturbed crew of another ship, one of who’s members had suddenly died far from home.

Our daily life depends on the maritime industry and the sea. 90% of world trade is transported by sea. Around the world, nearly 1.2 million seafarers, many from developing nations, work on board 50,000 merchant ships carrying food, clothing, furniture, petrol and many other products. Working conditions are very difficult, as seafarers often work long shifts in extreme weather conditions, sometimes experiencing pirate attacks. It is the most unregulated and dangerous industry in the world.

The Apostleship of the Sea is the Catholic Church’s official outreach to seafarers and fishermen, through port chaplains, ship visitors and cruise chaplains. They rely almost entirely on the support of Catholic parishes and their generosity to continue this vital work.

Today’s collection is your opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of seafarers.

Please also keep Apostleship of the Sea in your prayers.

Fr John