BULLETIN 6
APRIL 2008
THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER IN YEAR 1
CHURCH SERVICES
Saturday
5 April | Confession
on request from 4.30 to 5.15 pm |
Sunday
6 April | Sunday
Mass at 10.00 am Sunday Mass at 12.00 noon |
Monday
7 April | Mass at 10.00 am for Patricia McGuffie |
Tuesday
8 April | Mass at 10.00 am for Cecil Tracey |
Wednesday
9 April | Mass at 10.00 am for Margaret Sweeney |
Thursday
10 April | Mass at 7.00 pm for Archie and Jane McFarlane |
Friday
11 April | Mass at 10.00 am for Bessie Murphy |
Saturday
12 April | Mass at 10.00 am for Mary Strain |
PARISH
CENTRE EVENTS
Saturday
5 April | 8.00 pm |
Private Party |
Sunday
6 April | 10.00
am 10.00 am 11.00 am |
Children's
Liturgy |
Monday
7 April | 7.00
pm 7.00 to 8 00 pm |
Saint
Vincent de Paul Society |
Tuesday
8 April | 11.00
am 7.00 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm | Legion
of Mary Keep Fit Saint Anne's Guild Ignatian Prayer Group |
Wednesday
9 April | 7.00
pm 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm | Burakudo
Karate Club Special Religious Development (SPRED) |
Thursday
10 April | 9.00
to 11.30 am 9.30 to 11.00 am 12.30 to 3.00 pm 1.00 to 4.00 pm 2.00 to 3.00 pm | Nursery Kindergarten Nursery Key Housing Cardiac Rehabilitation |
Friday
11 April | 10.00 to 4.00 pm | Key Housing |
PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
Jimmy Hamilton, Brenda
Simons and Elizabeth Jenkins who died recently;
Frank Grogan,
Mary Tinney 2004, Father Jim Boyd SCJ 2002, Andrew Coldwell 1994,
Father
John Collins 2002, Michael Mulligan 1982, David McLaren 2006
and Helen Theresa Magee 2000 whose anniversaries occur at
this time and
Alastair Quirk and Laura Bernert who
were married recently.
SUNDAY COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection
amounted to £618.02 - many thanks. Banker's Orders amount to an average
of £4300 per month.
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.
PARISH
CENTRE COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection for the Parish Centre amounted
to £332.27 - many thanks.
LENT
SCIAF BOXES
Please return Boxes
for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) to the stall.
SCHOOL HOLIDAY
Schools are on holiday. Teachers return on Monday 22 April
and pupils on Tuesday 23 April.
MUSIC MINISTRY DAY
A Music Ministry
day will be held on Saturday 12 April at Saint Margaret's Cathedral, Ayr at 10.00
am for a 10.30 am start to 3.30 pm. The day will be led by Noel Donnelly, who
has been actively involved in Catholic music for many years and is well known
as a composer and liturgist. The day will be informal with plenty of opportunities
for meeting with other musicians. We will be looking at music for the Liturgy
of the Word and for the Eucharist and also at plainsong. The day will end with
sung Vespers of Our Lady. For further information please contact Michael McCulloch.
INSTALLATION
OF THE NEW CANONS
Canon
Matt and the other
three new Canons will be installed in Saint
Margaret's Cathedral, Ayr
at Mass on Thursday 24 April at 7.30 pm. A bus will be arranged. Names should
be put on the list available soon at the stall by 14 April, please. A celebration
party will take place in the Parish Centre on Friday 25 April at 7.30 pm. Tickets,
costing £10, will be available from Monday 7 April. The 12 noon Mass on
Sunday 27 will mark the celebration and it will be followed by an 'Open House'
in the Parish Centre. Soup, rolls on sausage, tea, coffee, snacks will be available
till 4 pm.
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. There will be a bar. Tickets cost £2.50 and are
available from Janette McMurdo or the stall.
SAINT
VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY
We have been asked to assist in the collection
of toiletries for the Saint
Vincent de Paul Society's Ozanam Centre. A box to receive donations of all
kinds of toiletries is available in the porch.
HMS
DASHER
The HMS Dasher
Memorial Service will take place this Sunday at 11.00 in the Sunken Gardens. Tea
and coffee will be served in the Parish Centre afterwards for all those taking
part. Tea and coffee will be served after 10.00 am Mass as usual.
FATHER
JOHN Maendeleo
Father
John Maendeleo has emailed to thank everyone for their Easter greetings and
sympathy on the death of his uncle. Father
John is well and has not yet received his next appointment.
THE
INNOCENTS
A box is available in the porch for donations of baby goods, talcum
powder, shampoo and so on. For more information, please contact Josephine.
DIOCESE
OF GALLOWAY NEWSLETTER
The Diocese of Galloway Easter Newsletter is available
at the stall. Please take one.
SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN
There was a teacher who
was helping one of her nursery children put his boots on. He asked for help and
she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want
to go on. When the second boot was finally on, she had worked up a sweat. She
almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong
feet." She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling
the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together
they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced"These
aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather than scream"Why didn't you
say so?" like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the
ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mum
made me wear them." The teacher didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She
mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She then said "Now,
where are your gloves?" He said "I stuffed them in the toes of my boots.".
2007
ACCOUNTS
The
accounts show that during 2007 the total income of the parish, less £2738,
went straight out again. We met our obligations of £1200 per month to the
Diocese; we paid the monthly 'mortgage' of £3000 on the Parish Centre; we
paid the wages of the Parish Secretary, the Housekeeper, the contract for financial
and book-keeping services as well as the care-taking and cleaning of the Parish
Centre and other fees of £4360 per month. In all, that is a total of £8560
per month we have to find before looking at ordinary running costs of the Church,
Parish Centre and house. Running costs - heating, lighting, Council Tax, water
rates and so on - increased as for everyone else. We met them and have checked
and rechecked gas, electricity and phone service providers to get the best deal.
We have changed the photocopying contract and continue to look at costs. There
is nothing left in the kitty for repairs, renewals and expected rising costs.
I have been told that we should think about changing the heating boiler in the
Church! We might get more heat and lower running costs. A harsh winter has played
havoc with the roof, doors and windows of the Church and Parish Centre but there
is no money at present to do more than emergency repairs. These are done as we
go along. However, necessary improvements must continue. Health and Safety regulations
are constantly changing and we must follow the rules. The Church doors are being
renewed. A donation to help with this has been received and some insurance money
is being investigated. An induction loop system, for those who use hearing aids,
is ordered and being fitted in the Parish Centre within the next few weeks. This
provision has been overlooked till now. The Centre heating will need to be looked
at soon. The Church windows are badly in need of renewal. Grants from Heritage
Funds are being investigated. The Accounts point to your generous support of the
Parish but without a one off repayment of £8000 from the Diocese for secretarial
services we would be in the red. We are now living beyond our means. Every special
collection - and you are generous to them all - decreases our weekly income since
they take the place of the second Collection we use for the servicing of the debt.
Gift Aid, a very important part of our income, means that every pound you put
in the collection, if you have signed a gift aid form, is worth £1.28 to
the Parish. The fundraising 50-50 Club is a welcome but essential part of the
meeting our Parish expenses. The rental from the Nursery is used to help with
the debt repayment but it runs with minimum profit. Expenditure will have to be
looked at yet again, as you have to do at home and we will need to find some savings.
If a little more income can be found - a bit more in the collections and some
more fundraising - we can manage, but only just! The Parish Finance Committee
will help me to identify the necessary savings we shall have to make and perhaps
some other sources of income.
INCOME |
2007 |
2006 |
Collections |
£ |
£ |
Sunday
Collections | 38349 |
39107 |
Bankers
Orders | 38885 |
38747 |
Inland
Revenue Gift Aid | 12990 |
12487 |
90224 |
90341 | |
Building Fund | ||
Sunday
Collections | 16329 |
17058 |
Bankers
Orders | 12963 |
12916 |
Donations |
500 |
500 |
Inland
Revenue Gift Aid |
4330 |
4162 |
34122 |
34636 | |
Fees,
Stall, Candles and Advertising |
11640 |
9144 |
Bank
Interest | 908 |
801 |
50/50
Club | 2000 |
2000 |
Special
Collections | 7567 |
7047 |
Insurance
Claims | 153 |
43009 |
Specified
Donations | 0 |
0 |
Blessed
Sacrament Altar | 3940 |
2950 |
Fund
Raising | 12030 |
0 |
Parish
Centre | 18160 |
13750 |
56396 |
78671 | |
TOTAL INCOME | 180743 |
203648 |
EXPENDITURE | ||
House
Management | 17013 |
17013 |
Church
Management | 10837 |
10837 |
Blessed
Sacrament Altar |
0 | |
Parish
Centre | 20460 |
20146 |
Salaries
and Supply Costs | 28750 |
23270 |
Council
Tax, Telephone and Insurance |
11405 |
10128 |
Grounds
and Security | 4832 |
7106 |
Stall |
3346 |
2861 |
Administration
Expenses | 6586 |
4603 |
Office
Equipment | 4849 |
9645 |
Travelling
Expenses | 2199 |
3053 |
Parish
Development and Education |
2400 |
4350 |
Special
Collections | 7565 |
7616 |
Donation |
100 | |
Diocesan
Loan | 36000 |
36000 |
Diocesan
Levy | 12000 |
12000 |
Fees
and Subscriptions | 78 |
3735 |
Miscellaneous |
0 |
0 |
Insurance
Replacements | 0 |
46606 |
TOTAL EXPENDITURE | 178005 |
218969 |
DEFICIT / SURPLUS |
2738 |
-15321 |
BALANCE SHEET | 2007 |
2006 |
I |
£ |
£ |
Opening
Balance 1 January | 25192 |
40513 |
Income |
180743 |
203648 |
less
Expenditure | 178005 |
218969 |
27930 |
25192 | |
B | ||
Reonciled
Bank Balance |
27930 |
25192 |
B | ||
Diocesan
Loan Balance Outstanding |
216000 |
252000 |
Saints
can have a past and sinners can have a future. |
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
Acts
2:14.22-33
On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed
the crowd in a loud voice: Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus
the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and
signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This
man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge
of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but
God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible
for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him: I saw the Lord before
me always, for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart was
glad and my tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest in the hope that
you will not abandon my soul to Hades nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through
your presence. Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead
and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that
God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne,
what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the
one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption.
God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised
to the heights by God's right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit,
who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.
Second
Reading
1
Peter 1:17-21
If you are acknowledging as your Father one who has no favourites
and judges every one according to what he has done, you must be scrupulously careful
as long as you are living away from your home. Remember, the ransom that was paid
to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid
in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood
of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who, though known since before
the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, for
your sake. Through him you now have faith in God, who raised him from the dead
and gave him glory for that very reason – so that you would have faith and hope
in God.
Gospel
Luke
24:13-35
Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called
Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that
had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by
their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them,
"What matters are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped short,
their faces downcast. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, "You
must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that
have been happening there these last few days." "What things?"
he asked. "All about Jesus of Nazareth" they answered "who proved
he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of
the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to
be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would
be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by
since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went
to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came
back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some
of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had
reported, but of him they saw nothing." Then he said to them, "You foolish
men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained
that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?" Then, starting
with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages
throughout the scriptures that were about himself. When they drew near to the
village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him
to stay with them. "It is nearly evening" they said "and the day
is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them
at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed
it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished
from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn
within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?'
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven
assembled together with their companions, who said to them, "Yes, it is true.
The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then they told their story
of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking
of bread.