BULLETIN          24 FEBRUARY 2008

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT IN YEAR 1


CHURCH SERVICE
S

Saturday 23 February

Confession on request from 4.30 to 5.15 pm
Vigil Mass at 5.30 pm

Sunday 24 February
Sunday Mass at 10.00 am
Sunday Mass at 12.00 noon
Monday 25 February
Mass at 10.00 am for a special intention
Tuesday 26 February
Requiem Mass at 10.00 am for John Dolan
Wednesday 27 February
Mass at 10.00 am for Joe Maloney
Thursday 28 February
Mass at 7.00 pm for Peter McCall
Friday 29 February
Mass at 10.00 pm for Bridget O'Neill
Saturday 1 March
Mass at 10.00 am for Alice Campbell


PARISH CENTRE EVENTS

Sunday 24 February
10.00 am
10.00 am
1.00 to 4.00 pm

Children's Liturgy
Sacramental Preparation
Tea and Coffee after Mass

Monday 25 February
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.30 am
12.30 to 2.30 pm
7.00 pm
7.00 to 8 00 pm

Nursery
Parents and Toddlers
Nursery
Saint Vincent de Paul Society  
Weight Watchers

Tuesday 26 February
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
2.00 pm
1.00 to 3.00 pm
7.00 pm
7.00 pm
Nursery
Kindergarten
Nursery
Legion of Mary
Nursery
Ignatian Prayer Group
Thursday Club
Saint Anne's Guild
Keep Fit
Wednesday 27 February
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
6.00 to 7.00 pm
7.30 to 9.00 pm
Nursery
Kindergarten
Nursery
Barakuda Karate
Special Religious Education (SPRED)
Thursday 28 February
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
2.00 to 3.00 pm
Nursery
Kindergarten
Nursery
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Friday 29 February
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.30 am
12.30 to 2.30 pm
8.00 pm
Nursery
Parents and Toddlers
Nursery
Race Night

PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
   Cecil Tracey who died recently;
   Margaret Mary Adamson 2005, Brian Griffin 1980,  James Smith 1986,
   Canon Michael O'Connor 1966, Father James Coyle 1975, Maureen McIlhatton 1993,
   John Moore 2000, Agnes Delahunt 1944, Elizabeth Delahunt 1976,
   William John Dorian 1935, Frank Clark 1959, Betty Burns 2006,
   Odina Carrino, Mennotti Carrino, Paul Gerard Brown 1986,
   Frances Hackett 1997, Father Charles Barclay 2001 and Margaret Dolan
   whose anniversaries occur at this time and
   Jasmine Anne Montgomery and Samuel John Couper who were baptised recently.

SUNDAY COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection amounted to £697.18 - many thanks. Banker's Orders amount to an average of £4300 per month. Each month £4200 is repaid to the Diocese for the building loan and levy.

BANKER'S ORDERS
Paying your collection by monthly or quarterly banker's order makes money handling much safer. Banker's Order forms are available in the porch.

CHURCH STUDENTS COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection for Church Students amounted to £453.15 - many thanks.

LENT EXTRA
Copies of Lent Extra are available at the stall. A donation of £1 would be appreciated.

LENT SCIAF BOXES
Boxes for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) Lenten appeal are available at the stall. Please take one home with you and return it at the end of Lent.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Stations of the Cross will be said during Lent each Friday at 9.40 am.

SAINT MATTHEW'S ACADEMY
Mass will be celebrated
in Saint. Matthew's Academy every Friday at 12.50 pm.

RACE NIGHT
The annual Race Night in memory of Larry Kernahan will take place in the Parish Centre on Friday 29 February at 8.00 pm. Tickets are available from Esther, cost £2.50 and include light supper. All money raised goes to the Pilgrimage Trust Group 207. Donations of money, bottles and raffle prizes would be very much appreciated by Esther. Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

INSTALLATION OF CANONS
Bishop Cunningham has announced that Canons Michael Farrington of Dumfries, Pat Keegans of Ayr, Matt McManus of Ardrossan and Pat McSorley of Prestwick will be installed at the Cathedral in Ayr at Mass celebrated on Thursday 24 April 2008.

MÄNNERENSEMBLE UNERHÖRT
Männerensemble Unerhört, a choir from Osterspai in Germany will sing at the 5.30 pm Vigil Mass on Saturday 3 May, then join local artistes in an evening of Scottish and German music and song in the Parish Centre. More details will be given nearer the time.

CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING DAY
All those who have not received up to date child protection training are invited to attend a session in the Parish Centre on Sunday 9 March from 2.30 to 4.00 pm.

ENQUIRERS' RETREAT
Have you ever considered life as a priest in Scotland? Is this an idea that has been at the back of your mind for some time? Is it time to spend just a few hours exploring the Lord's call? The Priests for Scotland programme, an initiative of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, is hosting an enquirers' retreat. The purpose of this overnight experience is simply to bring like-minded individuals together for prayer, reflection and relaxation. The offer to come and join us is made at no cost and without obligation, simply come and see. Make a note in your diary for 29th February - 1st March. Who knows what you might discover about yourself and the direction in which the Lord wants to lead you. For the venue and more information please contact the Director of Priests for Scotland on 0141 554 6936. You may also find it helpful to visit the website www.PriestsForScotland.org.uk.

SAINT PETER'S SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL
Saint Peter's School Parent Council meets in the school on Tuesday at 7.00 pm.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER
A World Day of Prayer service will take place on Friday 7 March at 2.00 pm in the Park Church.


THE BURNING BUSH
George W Bush, in an airport lobby, noticed a man in a long, flowing, white robe with a long,
flowing, white beard and long, flowing, white hair. The man had a staff in one hand and some
stone tablets under the other arm. George W, struck by the man's appearance, approached
him and asked "Aren't you Moses?" The man ignored George W and stared at the ceiling.
George W, unaccustomed to being ignored, positioned himself more directly in the man's view
and asked again, "Aren't you Moses?" The man continued staring at the ceiling. George W then
tugged at the man's sleeve and asked once again "Aren't you Moses?" The man finally responded
in an irritated voice "Yes I am." George W asked him why he ignored him and the man replied
"The last time I spoke to a Bush I had to spend forty years in the desert.".


  The Church exists, not only to comfort the disturbed, but also to disturb the comfortable.  

  The actions of today can save the embarrassments of tomorrow.  

  People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said
but they will always remember how you made them feel.  


READINGS
The readings for this weekend's Masses are shown below in English. They are available in eleven other languages
including French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish by clicking on this link.

First Reading           Exodus 17:3-7
Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses. Why did you bring us out of Egypt? they said. Was it so that I should die of thirst, my children too, and my cattle? Moses appealed to the Lord. How am I to deal with this people? he said. A little more and they will stone me! The Lord said to Moses, Take with you some of the elders of Israel and move on to the forefront of the people; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the river, and go. I shall be standing before you there on the rock, at Horeb. You must strike the rock, and water will flow from it for the people to drink. This is what Moses did, in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah because of the grumbling of the sons of Israel and because they put the Lord to the test by saying, Is the Lord with us, or not?

Second Reading           Romans 5:1-2.5-8
Through our Lord Jesus Christ by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God's glory. This hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man - though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die - but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

Gospel           John 4:5-15.19-26.39-42
Jesus came to the Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?" - Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus replied: "If you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you: Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water." "You have no bucket, sir," she answered and the well is deep: how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?" Jesus replied: "Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again: but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life." "Sir," said the woman, "give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty and never have to come here again to draw water." "I see you are a prophet, sir" said the woman. "Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said: "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know; for salvation comes from the Jews. But the hour will come - in fact it is here already -when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants.God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth. "The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah - that is, Christ - is coming; and when he comes he will tell us everything." "I who am speaking to you," said Jesus "I am he." Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman's testimony when she said, "He told me all I have ever done", so, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe; and they said to the woman, "Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world."