Third Sunday of Lent

11th March  2012 

Parish Mass Book page  154

Mass Times and Intentions

                                            6.30 pm  Vigil Ted and Doreen Burke

SUNDAY 11th March         11.00 am  People of Parish

                                                                                                                

Monday                               10.00 am  Eucharistic Service

Tuesday                            10.00 am  Fr Vincent Humfress

Wednesday                        10.00 am  Stations of the Cross

                                           6.00 pm  Lawrence & Brenda McPake

Thursday                            10.00 am  Jim Craik

Friday                               10.00 am  Fr Peter Starrs 

                                           6.30 pm  Vigil People of Parish

SUNDAY 18th March        11.00 am  Nancy Watson 

Sacrament of Reconciliation 

Saturday 5.45 pm - 6.15 pm

and at any time upon request 

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Friday 9.30 –10.00 am

Please pray for 

· all who are sick,

· and all who have died recently

· all whose anniversaries occur at this time.   

       Finance ...

Parish Offertory:  306.96

CAFOD:     £226.05                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Many thanks

L E N T

· Mass on Tuesday to Friday at 10.00 am,  

· Evening Mass on Wednesdays at 6.00 pm, 

· Stations of the Cross Wednesdays at 10.00 am, 

· The Church will be open on Friday mornings during Lent, 

· St Bede’s Penitential Service, Sunday 1st April, 4.00 pm,

There are further opportunities at:

St Aidan’s, Ashington this Sunday at 4.00 pm.

St Wilfrid’s, Blyth, 

Ss Peter & Paul, Cramlington,

· Lenten liturgy and soup, Thursdays from 12.30 pm at Trinity Church, Bedlington. Each church is being asked to provide soup for a particular day. We have been asked to  provide soup for March 15th.  Can I please have some volunteers for this?

· Purple ribbons are still available from the Narthex.  We are being asked to wear these as a witness to our faith.

First Holy Communion  liturgy next Sunday will be about ‘Offering Ourselves’.

Journey of Faith   will meet on Tuesday evening at 7.00 pm. We will be explaining the significance of the various parts of the  Easter Vigil Service. 

Parish Council  will meet on Monday (12th) at 7.00 pm.  Minutes of the last meeting  on notice board in Narthex.

Carmelites  meeting next Sunday.  All are welcome.

Co-ordinator for commission for marriage and family life

Next weekend we will welcome the Rev Deacon Peter Lavery, and his wife Pauline Lavery.  Peter is the coordinator for marriage and family life in the diocese.  Peter and Pauline will spend the afternoon with four couples who are getting married this year.  Peter will also act as a deacon next Sunday and give me a break from preaching.  Please keep our couples who are preparing for marriage in your prayers. 

CAFOD  If you have any more envelopes please put them in the collection.  Thanks to all who took part in the coffee morning at Tino’s Deli last Friday. 

Sick and Housebound

It is important that our sick and housebound feel they are part of the Church and are able to receive the sacraments, especially during Lent.  If you are aware of any sick and housebound among your family and friends who are not seeing a priest regularly could you please let me know. 

Appeal for Helpers 

As numbers have become depleted I am appealing for extra people  to help with the counting and recording of the weekend offertories.   If you could assist you would be most welcome and if we get a number of volunteers we may be able to increase the number of teams.  At the moment you would only be required once every five weeks.   Please give me your name, and contact number, if you are able to help. Thank you to all who do, or have assisted in, this ministry. 

Gift Aid

If you are no longer a tax payer please let Pat Bateman know as soon as possible.  (If you are retired, the personal tax allowance has increased to £10,500 so you may not now reach the tax threshold.)

Government Consultation on proposed changes to definition of Marriage 

At Masses this weekend, we receive a Letter from Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (copies of the letter available in the Narthex, please take a copy).  It is a statement of our Catholic faith about marriage and issued in the light of the forthcoming consultation by the Government on changing the legal definition of marriage. In the light of this letter, you are asked to consider signing the Coalition for Marriage’s online petition which can be found at www.C4M.org.uk. It reads: “I support the legal definition of marriage which is the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. I oppose any attempt to redefine it.”  The Archbishops also say that after Easter there will be a more detailed leaflet on the Government’s consultation itself, for distribution in parishes, to assist Catholics in making their own response to the consultation.