Dear Parishioners,

Please remember in your prayers Bishop John Arnold who tomorrow, Monday 8^th December, will be installed the eleventh Bishop of Salford.

Bishop John Arnold

Bishop John was born in Sheffield in 1953, schooled in the Midlands and after reading Law at Oxford for a short time practiced as Barrister in London before deciding that his vocation lay in the priesthood.
He was ordained for Westminster Archdiocese in 1983 where he served as a hospital chaplain and on the staff of Westminster Cathedral before being appointed Parish priest of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St George in Enfield. After 8 years he returned to Westminster to take up the reigns as Chancellor and Vicar General before being ordained an auxiliary bishop in 2006.
So he comes to us with a wealth of experience and ready to face the many challenges that the decreasing number of diocesan clergy and demographic changes present.
We wish him many years in the service of the Lord and assure him of our prayerful support in this new calling.

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

As the world moves into shopping overdrive we shoudn’t forget that Advent is primarily a time in which to prepare ourselves spiritually to celebrate the great feast of Christmas. How? Pope Francis has commented: “In their daily routine, St. Joseph, together with Mary, shared a single common centre of attention: Jesus. They accompany and nurture the growth of the Son of God made man for us with commitment and tenderness, reflecting on everything that has happened. In the Gospels, St. Luke twice emphasizes the attitude of Mary which is also that of St. Joseph: she “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart”. To listen to the Lord, we must learn to contemplate, feel his constant presence in our lives, and we must stop and converse with him, give him space in prayer. Each of us should ask ourselves, “How much space do I give to the Lord? Do I stop to talk with him?” Ever since we were children, our parents have taught us to start and end the day with a prayer, to teach us to feel that the friendship and the love of God accompany us. Let us remember the Lord more in our daily life, especially this Advent!”

Walk with Me booklets are on sale (£1) to help you put aside a short period each day for quiet reflection and prayer.

Two years ago, I introduced you to Olive Aid. This is a charity which helps all Palestinians who have lost their olive trees, usually their only source of income, to the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on the West bank and that dreadful security wall. Olive trees are precious: just twenty trees can sustain a family for a year. Olive Aid is a self-help project run by Bethlehem’s Catholic University (most of whose students are Muslim) which provides needy families with 3 year old olive saplings. Christian and Muslim alike are helped but the project particularly aims to stem the emigration of Christian families who suffer the most in the conflict. Today, Christians in Bethlehem constitute less than 15% of the population. Fifty years ago, Christians living in the birthplace of Jesus made up more than 70% of the population. You can buy a tree for £25. For details see me or go to www.oliveaid.com It is a Christmas Charity that I support and a number of parishioners have joined with me over the past couple of years in buying trees.

Finally, now is the time to consider whom you will invite to Come Home for Christmas. Invite a friend or relation who may have slipped from practice to join you at Mass and come home for Christmas. (Watch a short video at www.catholicscomehome.org)

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday in Clitheroe our First Communion children join us for Mass before going over to the school to learn about prayer while their parents join me to reflect on prayer in family life. In Sabden this session will be on Saturday morning. Then at next Sunday’s masses in both churches the children return to celebrate prayer in their lives and for the first time the new Youth choir will lead the singing in Clitheroe.

The Parish Forum meets on Wednesday when a new chair will be elected. The constitution states: The forum is chaired by a parishioner elected by the forum to serve for three years. He/she may not serve for two consecutive periods. So we shall thank Peter White who has carried the torch well for the past three years and invite him to fulfil his final task and supervise the election of his successor. Margaret Donnelly, the secretary, has also completed a three year term but, unlike the chair, may stand again for election.

Many parishioners may remember when baptisms were conferred on Sunday afternoon at around 3 o’clock in most churches and the congregations consisted of maybe a dozen close family and friends. Times have changed and now the majority of baptisms are attended by congregations of 50 or more with relatives travelling considerable distances and are usually followed by a family party. Mid-afternoon is considered rather late to accommodate this and so we baptise at 12noon. While Fr Frankie is here this doesn’t present an insuperable problem but increasingly Sundays are becoming more congested and, of course, Fr Frankie is only here for another two years at the very most. So for Clitheroe, I propose to move Baptisms to 12.30 on Saturdays. Saturday has an evening Mass so the noon Eucharistic service, which is attended by fewer and fewer, will cease but Exposition, Reconciliation and the Rosary will continue.
Another development is the increasingly frequent requests for more than two Godparents: 6 is not unknown! Church regulations envisage either a single or two Godparents. If there are two, they may be of one or either gender.
The Godparents task is an important one. They are to take an interest in the child’s spiritual development and help the parents with this responsibility. So, for instance, if parents can’t bring a child to Mass then the Godparent should! Church regulation is that at least one Godparent must be a practising Catholic and the other at least a baptised Christian. Sadly, experience is that when there are more than two Godparents they are unlikely to take a real interest in the child.
So come along for a lively debate on Wednesday.

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

The Ebola appeal will remain open for the next couple of weeks. Donations may be left in the collection boxes at the back of church, though notes should be handed in directly.

Now, news from two parishioners supporting charities.

TRAFFIK JAM
The Traffik Jam concert was an enormous success with well over 200 in attendance and everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves. The concert made £2,211.00 for the Medaille Trust. A full report and pictures will appear on the Parish website. Thank you all, Anthony Brown

RAY OF LIGHT
In 2010 I visited Musami Mission in Zimbabwe, which has been run by the Jesuits since the 1920s. During my visit I was taken to the Mbare district of Harare, one of the most impoverished and violent districts of any city in the world. Amongst the multiple horrors I witnessed – most too gruelling to recount here – was a seven year old curled up in a doorway covered in polythene, two tiny sisters rummaging through refuse for scraps and a ten year old attempting to sell empty plastic bottles at the roadside with an infant on her hip and a toddler by the hand. These are the orphans of Africa’s AIDS epidemic. Every child’s face I looked into on that afternoon became the face of my son, or my nephew. I imagined the mothers of these children, dying in fear for their futures. Never before had the words ‘there but for the grace of God’ rung so true.
I have remained in touch with those I briefly worked with at Musami, one of whom was Patricia Vetutete. Patricia too had been shocked by what we witnessed in Mbare, but despite her own poverty, she decided to help. With my assistance and that of Jackie Robinson an experienced charity worker and my sister the charity Ray of Light was born.
The money we raise is delivered by Jesuit missions in Zimbabwe, and we have no overheads. Every penny we raise goes directly to the neediest children. It costs £160 to clothe, feed and educate a child for a year. Four of Ray of Light’s children have sponsors who will pay that sum until their education is complete. Sponsorship gives a child the confidence that she or he can complete his/her education, but any donation helps. Since 2011 it has put 17 street children in fulltime education. Ray of Light will be awarded registered charity status when it is able to £5,000 in a single year. As you leave church, please take a leaflet and for more information wvisit www.rayoflightafrica.org.
Thank you, Catherine Robinson.

                                                             Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

I must first thank parishioners and both our primary schools for the Spiritual Bouquet and the many cards, cakes, gifts and well wishes you so generously gave me on Sunday (the actual day!) for my 70^th birthday. What a great surprise it was and never before have I received so many and such huge birthday cards! It was a most affirming experience and I am grateful to you all.

In response to the emergency appeal to help fight the dreadful Ebola epidemic that is raging through some West African counties and to prevent its further spread, there will be a retiring collection for those who wish to contribute to CAFOD’s work in the area.

Next Sunday is Remembrance Day and so, as last year, Mass will be delayed for half an hour in Sabden to allow parishioners to join the local community for a short Remembrance service at the village cenotaph. Mass will begin at 11.30am.
With the centenary of WWI in mind, Peter and Susan White spent two days restoring the war memorial chapel in St Michael and St John’s. The panelling has been cleaned, re-gilded where necessary, polished, and the two missing names of Pte E Snape and L’cpl D Moon have been added to the memorial Roll of Honour. In addition the icon of La Madonna della Strada (Our Lady of the Way) was cleaned and re-gilded.

At 7.30pm on Tuesday there will be an interfaith meeting in the Presbytery during which we will not be talking theology nor, for that matter, politics! This will be, hopefully, the first of a number of gatherings where folk from the various Churches in Clitheroe meet with members of the Muslim community to talk about life and so come to know each other a little better. We begin on Tuesday by discussing the various customs and religious rituals that surround birth and the new-born in our communities. Surely, everyone is an expert on that? The meeting will end by 9pm. Then in future gatherings we’ll look at childhood, adolescence, marriage, old age, and plenty more before arriving at death and burial. So do come along. If we are too many for the Presbytery (which I doubt) we’ll move to the parish centre.

Finally, again this weekend and after both Masses in Clitheroe Ann Harkin our parish’s Safeguarding Representative will be on hand to answer questions and deal with any other matters regarding safeguarding. Eucharistic Ministers who depart church immediately with Holy Communion may leave name and telephone number and Ann will contact them later.

 Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

Bishop Arnold will be installed as Bishop of Salford on Monday December 8^th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, at 11am. The great and the good of the civic and ecumenical scenes will be there, the Cathedral will be packed but there are two places reserved, and also at the reception, for parishioners from Our Lady of the Valley. If you would like to attend then please contact me within the coming 5 days. If there are more than two, I shall place all names in a hat and draw two names.

As you are probably aware the Catholic Church in England and Wales has adopted a common policy for all dioceses as it continues to move towards creating “a culture of safeguarding where all are safe from harm and abuse”. The reality today is that our Church provides one of the safest environments in the country for children and vulnerable adults. But all procedures can be improved and that is what safeguarding is about.
Ann Harkin (and much to my relief and gratitude) has agreed to be the parish’s Safeguarding Representative.She writes:

“On the practical side, we need to do a little bit of “catching up” on clearances to make sure that our parish is up to date with all who have contact with children or vulnerable adults in its many and varied activities. I’ll ‘steal’ a room in the Presbytery this and next weekend after both Saturday and Sunday Masses, to answer questions and queries, to provide forms (nothing too difficult!) to those who require them and check completed forms with you before forwarding them to the diocesan office.
If you are a Eucharistic Minister or have regular contact through with children or vulnerable adults through any parish related group, please come and see me. Two exceptions are SVP and Scout Association members who have their own approved procedures.
The bulk of volunteers reside in Clitheroe and most already have an enhanced disclosure certificate but if you are in doubt then please do pop in and see me.
As soon as I have finished in Clitheroe I will visit St Mary’s Sabden, again on a Sunday after Mass.
Finally, thank you all who have already contacted me.”

Please do respond to Anne’s appeal and if you have any doubts or questions, please speak to her or to me.

Fr John

http://philldiscgolf.com//wp-content/king.php Dear Parishioners,
In today’s Gospel we hear that Jesus didn’t carry money in his purse. So, when asked a question about paying taxes to the occupying Romans he asked to see the coin with which the tax was paid. He knew it would be a Roman coin! A clever move. But of interest today, World Mission Sunday, is the detail that Jesus was empty-handed as he preached his message to the Jews. So, he commanded his disciples to go out to the whole world and rely on the generosity of others, just as missionaries today leave everything to go and share their faith, often with people living in poverty. Today we are asked to remember missionaries in our prayers and to support them by giving to the retiring collection.
Last week our First Communion children began their preparation which will help them over the coming months to grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Today they and their parents publically commit themselves to this programme that will lead them through First Reconciliation (Confession), Confirmation and on to First Holy Communion. Please remember them and their parents in your prayers.

You may notice in the procession to the altar that we have what appears to be a new and rather splendid Book of the Gospels. In fact, it is the old one that was beginning to fall apart but now has been beautifully restored and rebound at the expense of an anonymous donor.

In the recent Parish Forum it was decided that families be invited to take up the offertory gifts at Sunday Mass. So, if you and your family are invited to present the gifts then please don’t be shy.
Also at Forum Barbara Mason introduced a five day Parish Mission to help us prepare for Advent. Beginning on the feast of Christ the King, Sunday 23rd November, it will run each evening from 7.30 to 9pm until Friday. Please do consider joining us and pencil the dates in your diary. Full details will be published later.

I gather that quite a number of parishioners wrote objecting to a proposed generic chaplaincy service in NHS hospitals. The replies received may not have directly addressed the writers concerns but show that they have been noted. Such letters do matter.

The war memorial in St Michael & John’s is to be renovated by Peter White and two names will be added: Edward Snape from WWI and David Moon killed in Northern Ireland in 1972. RIP

http://rodneymills.com/weqtweo/the-clash-ukulele.html Fr John