MASS INTENTIONS THIS WEEK – Both parishes

Parishioners

Holy Souls NDL

LATEST UP-DATE
OUR LADY’S and Ss PETER & PAUL’S – Both churches are now closed for public worship. They will be opening for private prayer on Sundays only, as from 15 November. Social distancing rules apply and you must wear a mask.

This Week
Ministry	E. Minister	Reader
Saturday
Sunday

Next Week
Ministry	E. Minister	Reader
Saturday
Sunday

JOINT NEWSLETTER

THE CLOSING OF OUR CHURCHES & OPENING FOR PRIVATE PRAYER
The latest restrictions announced by the government last weekend mean that our churches can no longer open for services / masses. Weddings and funerals can still take place, subject to specific guidelines.
However, we are able to open for private prayer each week as from next weekend (Sundays only), as follows:
Sunday 15 November – Our Lady’s Tarleton: 9.15am to 10.15am
Ss Peter & Paul, Mawdesley: 11am to 12 noon
Our volunteer stewards will be on hand to help with sanitising and to guide you to your place.
You will not be required to book in advance (unlike for Mass), but you must wear a face mask at all times and keep socially distanced. Please note that the main doors will be left open to allow for proper ventilation – you may wish to dress warmly!

MASS ON SUNDAYS
Don’t forget that Masses will continue to be live-streamed and televised for many months yet, so you can still take part in Sunday worship and the Act of Spiritual Communion will continue to be an important part of people’s worship for the foreseeable future. Please remember that the Sunday obligation remains lifted. This is especially important for those over 70 and those with underlying health issues, who may be wary of attending public events.
If you have any queries or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

READINGS FOR 8 NOVEMBER
1st Reading: Wisdom 6: 12-16, Wisdom is found by those who look for her
Psalm 62: For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God
2nd Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus.
Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13, Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming. Alleluia!
Communion antiphon: The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose, near restful waters he leads me.

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION FROM ‘OUR FAITH ON SUNDAY’ – 8 NOVEMBER
The ‘bridegroom’, of course, is Christ, through whom God has made his ‘marriage covenant’ of love with us, the ‘bridesmaids’. It is a covenant of mutual friendship: ‘You are my friends’, Jesus says and his love is proved in that he ‘laid down his life’ for us and there is ‘no greater love than that’.
‘If you keep my commandments’, Jesus say, ‘you will remain in my love’.
Some of the bridesmaids have come to the wedding bringing no spare oil; even today, something well-oiled represents something in good working order. The lack of oil represents something missing in the ‘covenant relationship’ of a baptised person with Christ. ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’, Jesus says and in St Mark’s gospel, Jesus lists the Ten Commandments as the way to eternal life.
Yet failure to keep the commandments does not in itself constitute the ‘lack of oil’; it is failure to repent, the refusal to admit wrong, as the ‘foolish bridesmaids’ seemed not to have acknowledged their fault – and the man at another wedding refused to explain why he ‘had no wedding garment’.

THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL REFLECTION FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE
This reflection is from Fr Simon Gore, Director of Animate Youth.
I will open up with a confession: It does not take a lot for me to get annoyed. Small random things can get me muttering to myself. The list of things that regularly annoy me is far too long to list here, but one that is a bit relevant to today’s Gospel is that I am a terrible sleeper. It takes me ages to get to sleep. I toss and turn and then get annoyed when I can’t get to sleep. This might happen when I am travelling and I look around and see people fast asleep on the plane, or coach, or train seat next to me. I know they will be ready and fresh for the next day, whilst I will be stumbling around looking for another caffeine hit to get me through the day! This gets me even more annoyed! Eventually though, although it will always take me a long time, sleep will come. It is inevitable. We all need sleep and we all do sleep.
So, when we look at the Gospel reading today it pays to remind ourselves of the fact that sleep is a natural part of life. Yes, we all need sleep, and if we wait long enough, we will fall asleep. This is what happens to the bridesmaids in the story today. They waited and time passed, and nature took its course and they fell asleep. And all the bridesmaids fall asleep. So the Gospel cannot be reprimanding them for doing what is natural. The wise, as well as the foolish, all fell asleep. Therefore, the issue Jesus is driving at cannot be the natural falling asleep of the bridesmaids. Rather, the issue is the contrast Jesus draws between the wise and the foolish, and how they deal with falling asleep. It is how ready and prepared they are for the time when they have to wake from their slumbers. What separates the wise from the foolish is that the wise know they might fall asleep and are prepared for that eventuality and have a back-up supply of oil. The foolish are completely unprepared when their initial supply of oil runs out. To me, this makes a lot of sense.
Last week we had the Feast of All Saints, and I reflected that even the great saints were not perfect during their time on earth. None of us are without sin. In the same way we might think that there are times when we all fall asleep in our faith. We have known joy, we have known celebration, we have known ‘the wedding’; but life cannot always be lived on the mountain top. The bridegroom does not appear as we might want him to appear. God does not do what we want, when we might want it to happen. Life takes its toll on us. Events happen and our faith life might grow drowsy. Maybe even our faith falls into a deep sleep! There are probably times for all of us when our faith life falls into, at least, a little snooze. There may be no reason for that. It may just happen without us even realising. This is much like our suddenly feeling shattered mid-way through an afternoon and dropping off. Similarly, for no reason at all we might just drift or drop off a little in our faith. We stop praying as regularly. Maybe our prayers become a little more perfunctory. There are any number of ways in which our faith can just slip into a little nap. And I think the Gospel might be reminding us that this is not unnatural. We cannot live in the highs of the wedding feast every day. The distinction between the wise and foolish is not their sleep. They all fell asleep.
The distinction is what happened after the sleep. Those who were wise had enough oil put aside to reignite their lamps when they were called upon. Their relationship with the groom was so strong that they were prepared. They had been preparing in the background. They knew they had been given a privileged position and they took it seriously. They fell asleep, as we all do; but when they woke, as we all do, they were ready and able to welcome the groom. The relationship with the groom is not harmed by falling asleep. When they awaken, they are able to carry on as before. The groom is so pleased with this and invites them into his home. The relationship grows even stronger. There is no lingering animosity between groom and bridesmaid. The foolish, on the other hand, have no such store behind them. They awaken from their slumber but are doomed to walk in the darkness. They have not spent time preparing for the inevitable fall into sleep. They have not taken their position seriously. It is almost as if they think it is just simply theirs by right. Consequently, when the time comes, the groom does not recognise them. Maybe they are not as close to him as they thought! Perhaps they once were friends, but that relationship has weakened over time. I think we all know guests at weddings who fall into that category. Take the example of our best mates from school days that we have let drift away, by not keeping in touch. Maybe they have been the same with us. But the groom has made one more effort and asked them to be a part of his life again. He has given them a special invitation to be close to him.
Sadly, the foolish bridesmaids do not take the invitation seriously. They do not really care for him. They are happy to accept the good things that come their way; the invitation to the wedding and the position of pre-eminence as the one of the bridesmaids.
But that relationship is superficial. They take what they want and what makes them happy. Yet there is no depth there. They do not care enough about the groom to ensure a longer lasting relationship. The groom can understand and forgive them all for falling asleep. However, the wise were wise because they cherished and loved the groom. The foolish, on the other hand remained foolish because they choose to care more for themselves than for the groom.

PRAYER INTENTIONS THIS WEEK
That the Church may be strengthened in holiness and solidarity,
Lord, in your mercy…
We pray for those people who are caring for those who are confused and frightened during this period of crisis, that they may be comforted, guided and strengthened by the Spirit
Lord, in your mercy….
We pray for all those who have lost their lives in conflicts and wars, on this Remembrance Sunday, as well as remembering those whose anniversaries occur around this time.
Of your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of John Redmond RIP
Lord, in your mercy…

POPE’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR NOVEMBER: We pray that the progress of robotics and artificial intelligence may always serve mankind.

THE ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.

OFFERTORY DONATIONS DURING THE LOCKDOWN
Many thanks to generous parishioners who have sent in donations to our churches. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated.
Instead of putting money in offertory envelopes each week, those who are able to make an offering are asked to complete a Standing Order Mandate for your bank, from either your parish office. We can email the document to you, if you wish, so that you can print off, complete and send to your bank.
Alternatively, you may still wish to write a cheque (payable to either ‘Our Lady Help of Christians Church’ or ‘Ss Peter & Paul Church Mawdesley’) and post to the presbytery with a covering letter and one offertory envelope for gift aid purposes.
Donating by text / online: Please check the May Newsletters and use the links provided

MASSES ONLINE WILL CONTINUE TO BE STREAMED INDEFINITELY
Locally, there is St Clare’s, Sharoe Green Lane, Fulwood: www.saintclares.co.uk which streams Mass daily at 10am. Please follow the easy links on the website.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en Pope Francis
https://www.churchservices.tv/whats-on-now/ Great selection of Masses and other Church services https://www.lourdes-france.org/en/tv-lourdes/ Mass and daily at 2pm, the Rosary in English
https://www.livemass.org Extraordinary Form (1962 Missal)
Use the website links to EWTN, those who have Sky can tune in on Channel 588, or the Archdiocese to access daily Masses
On the radio: Catholic Radio Channel 0147
Also, you may wish to try the Pray as you Go phone app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.foxcode.prayasyougo&hl=en

PRAYERS from the Archdiocese, for Stations of the Cross etc: https://www.liverpoolcatholicresources.com/

Please email the Parish Office with details of any other online services you know of that may help parishioners at this very difficult time. We will try to include them in next week’s Newsletter.

SYNOD 2020 – PARISHIONERS’ CONSULTATION by EMAIL / POST : The Synod Office has prepared proposals on the four themes identified by the Synod that are based on the responses made by parishioners across the Archdiocese during the last year. The Archdiocese is inviting everyone to take part in a further consultation process and therefore asks that you study the proposals on each sheet and then mark (with a tick / cross / highlighter pen) those proposals that you particularly agree with. Many thanks to parishioners who have already been returning their sheets (we’d done Themes 1 and 2). Due to the new lockdown, these proposals will now be emailed out to everyone (or posted) so that everyone has the opportunity to make their views known. Please return all the sheets that you’ve marked up to either presbytery by 23 November at the latest, so that we can collate them all and give a final report to the Synod Office. You don’t need to reurn them every week – it makes sense to keep them all together and return in one envelope. Please make sure your voice is heard!
You can of course do this on line directly via the Synod Office at www.synod2020.co.uk

JOINT PARISH CALENDAR – PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ORDERS: please start placing your orders (email or phone) for the calendars: the proceeds will be split between our two parishes and the amazing work done by Mary’s Meals, to feed children in undeveloped countries, so we’d like to sell as many of these high-quality calendars as possible
Price: £10 each (cheques payable to ‘Our Lady Help of Christians’ or ‘Ss Peter & Paul, Mawdesley’).

CONGRATULATIONS! To 7-year old Rebecca Barron who won the Cover Competition with her beautiful view of our local canals. Thank you to all those who voted, too! And well done to all our parishioners who sent in their photos of ‘All Things Bright & Beautiful’ – they are most impressive and will surely uplift us all during the coming year.

HARVEST SEASON / PARISH FOODBANK: A huge THANK YOU to everyone who generously donated a lovely variety of foodstuffs. They have been taken to St Mary’s Foodbank in Leyland. The volunteers couldn’t get over how generous everyone – from both our parishes – have been.

THANK YOU FROM CAFOD: CAFOD have written to thank parishioners for their kind donations as a consequence of October’s Family Fast Day: Our Lady’s raised £62 and Ss Peter & Paul’s raised £91 – truly impressive amounts which will make a huge difference. Sr Modeasther is currently distributing foods and essentials to 300 vulnerable families at St Michael’s Catholic Parish in Kiberia, Kenya. This includes a food basket with maize flour, wheat flour and cooking oil as well as face masks, bars of soap and sanitisers.

ORDER TRAIDCRAFT CHRISTMAS CARDS: Cards can be viewed online: https://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/christmas/charity-christmas-cards

HELP DURING OUR 2nd NATIONAL LOCKDOWN: As we enter a second national lockdown, which is expected to be much shorter than the first, let’s continue to look out for one another, especially for those who are isolated or have particular needs. If you need help, or know someone who does, please contact us – there are many parishioners who are willing to help out. Don’t be stuck and don’t suffer in silence!

You can find details of current measures on Lancashire County Council’s website https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/coronavirus-updates/coronavirus-restrictions-in-lancashire/. Further information can be found on the Government website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/

No mixing of households indoors or outdoors (1 person only, in an open space). It is essential to continue to observe the ‘basics’: hand hygiene, face masks, social-distancing, at all times.

The Council webpage also has guidance and the link to the application form for residents who have been asked the self-isolate by NHS Track and Trace and could be entitled to financial support. Please share with members of your household who you think may be entitled to this financial support:
https://www.westlancs.gov.uk/more/emergencies/coronavirus/track-and-trace-support-payment.aspx

HELP IS AT HAND! Don’t forget that local volunteers from Hesketh Bank and Tarleton Helpers stand ready to help anyone who needs support – with errands, shopping, collecting prescriptions – and friendly telephone calls for those who are feeling isolated. Please call Rev. Dave Dickinson (Co-ordinator), at All Saints Church on 01772 814458. Also see the latest issue of the local newsletter ‘Helping Hands’ (Issue 4 will be out soon) for lots of help, advice and useful contact details.

The NHS National Volunteer Responder Programme is still running until at least December – go to https://nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk/services for further information

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES OR NEED ANY HELP, PLEASE CONTACT FR ANDERS AT THE PRESBYTERY IN TARLETON ON 01772 812242, OR EMAIL EITHER OFFICE.

WITH EVERY BLESSING FOR THE COMING WEEK

OLHC

OLHC

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