READINGS FOR 13 SEPTEMBER
1^st Reading: Sirach 27:30-28:7  Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
Psalm 103: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in mercy.
2^nd Reading: Romans 14:7-9, Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:21-35, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

POPE’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER
For the care of water
For a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.

SAINTS / FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK
14 September – Exhaltation of the Cross
15 September – Our Lady of Sorrows
16 September – St Cornelius / St Cyprian
17 September – St Hildegard / St Robert Bellarmine
19 September – St Theodore / St Januarius

SPECIAL COLLECTION THIS WEEK: Education Sunday

SPECIAL COLLECTION NEXT WEEK (20 SEPT):  Evangelii Gaudium (Home Missions)
Home Mission and World Mission prayer cards and booklets are available for everyone in the porch.  Please ask a welcome.

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY: Friday 2 October (Feast of Guardian Angels)
Envelopes will be available 27 September for collection on 4 October.

BAPTISM TODAY
It’s a wonderful occasion to be able to welcome Joe and Chloe’s little girl Dahlia Jennifer (Dollie) into our faith community during Mass this morning.  A blessing for the whole parish!  Please remember Dahlia and her family in your prayers.

COFFEE MORNING LAST WEEK
Thank you to Joanne and Diane for the delicious cakes and bakes, to Rebecca for the raffle and to Paul and his karate class for putting out chairs and tables.  Finally a big thank you to all our parishioners for coming along to support and to enjoy a bit of friendly company.  Kind donations: £69.05.  Thank you.
The next Coffee Morning will be after Mass on 4 October.

1^st COMMUNION PREPARATION BEGINS TODAY
Preparation sessions start today for the new intake of 1^st Communion children after 10am Mass next Sunday.  We’re looking forward to welcoming the children and their families, as they start their spiritual instruction, ready for making their 1^st Holy Communion next June.

THE RISE OF THE MACHINES – A Day of Reflection: Saturday 26 September at Ince Blundell
Please see the fliers in the porch with details of the Day: Christian Believing in the Time of AI.
For further details / queries: ring 07754 812915.

ARCHDIOCESAN ANNUAL COUNTING AT MASS
We are required to keep a tally of Mass numbers each Sunday for the next four weeks: 20 and 27 September, 4 and 11 October – and submit them to the Archdiocese.  A good turnout each week would look most impressive!

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHLOE
Our heartfelt congratulations on the recent academic success of Chloe Goldfarb, who was awarded her BA in Business Law at the University of Lincoln recently.  And of course, congratulations to all who have enjoyed academic success this summer.

FAMILY OF PARISHES – SCENARIOS & OPEN MEETINGS UPDATE
Meetings have been on-going within our Family of Parishes since our ‘open meeting’ in church last March, regarding the various future scenarios.  Our parish reps, John O’Hare and Diane Mackley, will be providing an update on 4 October (in line with our other FoP communities), ready for our next phase of consultations with all parishioners.  These consultations will be on Wednesday 14 October at St Mary’s High School, Leyland (7pm to 9pm) and Saturday 17 October at All Hallows school (10am to 12 noon).  Parishioners are warmly invited to attend just one of these open meetings.  Your views are important – no decisions can be made without this consultation – so please make every effort to attend one of these meetings, if you can.

CURRY EVENING – SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER
Tickets, £10 available from any member of the Social Committee.  Please see Vivienne if you have any dietary requirements / queries.

BLISTER PACKS: PILLS & TABLETS RECYCLED
Please use the labelled box in the porch  for your pill / tablet blisters packs, so that we can collect and recycle properly.  Currently, they cannot be recycled in our blue council bins.  Thank you to those who are already donating!

HYMN BOOK AMNESTY
It’s so easy to walk out of church and find you’re still clutching a hymn book!  Please can you have a look at home / in the car and check for any ‘strays’.  No one will be looking when you bring them back to church.  Many thanks!

WELCOMERS NEEDED 
We would love to expand our rota of welcomers, so please don’t be shy!  Have a chat with Father or Diane after Mass, if you’d like to find out a bit more, and see if it’s something that might interest you.

MASS INTENTIONS
Mass intentions are welcome, not just for our dear departed, but for any other occasion eg in thanksgiving, A successful outcome (exams / operation), wedding / anniversary blessings. Please write your name and intention, with the preferred date – if applicable – on a piece of paper and place in an envelope, along with your offering, either in the weekly offertory basket or through the presbytery door.  Every effort will be made to find a date as close as possible.

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES / GIFT AID / STANDING ORDERS!
If you are a taxpayer then you can easily help the parish to claim 25% extra on top of every donation you make – and it won’t cost you a penny!  Eg: a donation of £10 per week would result in £12.50 going to the church. If you are able to use gift aid, please collect a form from the porch on your way out today, and return it to the Parish Office asap. 
If you are a taxpayer who makes regular cash donations, please consider using an offertory envelope instead of just placing your ‘loose’ donations in the basket. This is really important: it can bring in more than £1000 to the church every year, as we’ll be able to claim gift aid directly on every donation you make.  It won’t cost you anything at all, but it will make a huge difference to our finances.
Please contact the Parish Office if you’d like to use envelopes – they are free! 
Even better – you can donate ‘painlessly’ each month by setting up a standing order with your bank.  Forms are available in the porch.

PRAYERFUL REFLECTION BEFORE MASS
Some of our parishioners who like to pray and have a few moments of quiet reflection before the start of Mass.  And of course, we have every opportunity to have a chat and catch-up after Mass. 
Our monthly coffee mornings provide an ideal occasion for this! 

VOTIVE CANDLES
People have been asking how much they should donate for a votive candle.  Fr John is happy to leave it to your discretion, as all donations will be gratefully received – whenever they are made.

GLUTEN FREE SACRAMENT AVAILABLE
Please indicate to Fr John if you need to receive a gf host when you come to receive communion.

ST IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA: The Loving Generosity of Christ
He is generous to exhaustion and what is most wonderful is that he gives himself thus entirely, not once only but every
day, if we wish it.  Every fresh Communion is a new gift, which Jesus Christ makes of himself.