Dear Parishioners
There was an air of celebration in Salford Cathedral last Sunday when, Bishop Brain welcomed five parishioners together with the Elect and Catechumens from around Salford diocese who are completing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and will be received into the Church at Easter. The Elect are those who will be baptised, their title indicating that it is God who has called them, who has elected them, to seek Baptism and join the family of God. Catechumens are those who have already been baptised in another Church but who now wish to join the Catholic community. Our elect are Brent, Becky and Benjamin Kelly and Lauren Bate who with catechumen Tom Clay will be baptised and received into the Church during the Easter Vigil service next month.
This week in an important week for our children in both Clitheroe and Sabden who will receive the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. (First Confessions as we oldies knew it) Parishioners, family and friends are encouraged to come along to both offer their support and also take this opportunity to experience God’s love, mercy and reconciliation for themselves. The service begins in St Mary’s Sabden at 7pm on Tuesday and at 7.30pm in St Michael and St John’s on Wednesday.
Please do remember to pray for Fr Peter Birmingham who began a course of chemotherapy last Friday. He is unable to receive visitors but has received many cards and assurances of prayer.
The Pro-Life Committee met this week and arranged the dates for two important annual events. The first is the Day of prayer which will be in three weeks on Saturday 5th April beginning with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 9am and continuing until the evening Mass. There is ‘watching list’ at the back of the church for you to sign and so ensure that there are at least two or three people in church throughout the day. The watching slots are only half an hour, so please do consider during Lent giving a half hour to the Lord. There was a cohort of parishioners who could be relied on in the past but many have now become housebound or have gone to the Lord – people such as Peter and Teresa Tomlinson, to mention only two!
The second event is the Right to Life sponsored Walk on which we are joined by Lord David Alton and some MPs. It will take place on the Spring Bank Holiday, 26th May.
Fr John