Dear Parishioners,
The Forum met a week last Wednesday in Sabden.
With Dunsop Bridge a part of the family it was decided that all future meetings would convene in Clitheroe to save Dunsop parishioners travelling 15 miles to Sabden and vice versa. So we shall next meet in Clitheroe after Easter on Wednesday 6th April.
Forum also voted in favour of the proposal to celebrate a Children’s Mass on Christmas Eve at 4pm in Sts Michael and John’s. Hopefully this will prove to be a more suitable time for young families and also reduce the pressure on the 6pm Mass. The 8pm Mass will be celebrated in Sabden and on Christmas Day morning Mass will be celebrated in St Hubert’s at 9am and in Clitheroe at 10am.
Also discussed was the irritation of some parishioners at the frequency of retiring collections (so named because these are taken as you leave church). 18 of the collections are compulsory and taken in every Catholic Church in England & Wales. Occasionally another collection may be added in response to a particular need or emergency. What is important to bear in mind is that you are not obliged to give to retiring collections. These collections are not compulsory but an opportunity to support some charities important to the church.
In this Year of Mercy there will be a Reconciliation service in St Michael and St John’s on Tuesday 15th March at 6.30pm during which children from St Hubert’s will join Sts Michael & John’s pupils to make what most of us remember as their First Confession. Children at St Mary’s will make their First Reconciliation in Sabden the following evening, 16th March, at 6pm.
Just look at what we found while planning the refurbishment of the Confessional: two stained glass windows. These will be opened up when work begins.
The Church runs an excellent internship scheme that provides recently graduated Catholics with an intensive experience of political and social action in a spiritual context. This year it is offering up to eight internships, including placements with Christian MPs at Westminster; a parliamentary support role within the Bishops’ Conference Secretariat; with the Catholic Agencies CAFOD and CSAN in social action and public policy roles; and a media and communications internship in Archbishop’s House, Westminster.
Applications close soon but there is still time to apply. To learn more: http://faithinpolitics.org.uk
Fr John