BULLETIN                                13 APRIL 2008

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER IN
YEAR 1


CHURCH SERVICES

Saturday 12 April

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

Sunday 13 April
Sunday Mass at 10.00 am
Sunday Mass at 12.00 noon
Monday 14 April
Mass at 10.00 am for Tom McKay
Tuesday 15 April
Mass at 10.00 am for Francis Smith
Wednesday 16 April
Mass at 10.00 am for Charles Kelly
Thursday 17 April
Mass at 7.00 pm for Rena Scullion 
Friday 18 April
Mass at 10.00 am for Hugh Henry
Saturday 19 April
Mass at 10.00 am for John Dolan


PARISH CENTRE EVENTS

Sunday 13 April
10.00 am
10.00 am
11.00 am

Children's Liturgy
Sacramental Preparation
Tea and Coffee after Mass

Monday 14 April
7.00 pm
7.00 to 8 00 pm

Saint Vincent de Paul Society  
Weight Watchers

Tuesday 15 April
11.00 am
1.00 to 3.00 pm
7.00 pm
7.00 pm
Legion of Mary
Thursday Club
Saint Anne's Guild
Keep Fit
Wednesday 16 April
7.00 pm
7.30 pm
Burakudo Karate Club
Ignatian Prayer Group  
Thursday 17 April
2.00 to 3.00 pmCardiac Rehabilitation

PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
   Alistair Campbell (Kibirnie), Thomas McLaughlin (Saltcoats), Charles Kelly
   and Monsignor John O'Farrell who died recently and
   Pope John Paul II 2004, David Walsh 1962, James McKibben 2002, Ann McEvoy 1980,
   Francis Joseph Smith 1999, Jean Taylor 2006, Cliff Atkey 2000, Mary Ann Walsh 1955,
   Francis Coulter 1976, Marie McCarroll 1982, Robert Tracy 1940, Jane Tumilty 1983
   and William Main 2007 whose anniversaries occur at this time.

SUNDAY COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection amounted to £907.11. We are grateful for your generous support of the Parish. Banker's Orders amount to an average of £4300 per month.

BANKER'S ORDERS, GIFT AID AND WILLS
Have you thought of using a Bankers Order? It assists us with the safe handling of cash. Have you signed a Gift Aid Form? If you pay tax, then every £1 you give to the Parish is worth £1.28 to us. Would you consider remembering Saint Peter's in your will?

PARISH CENTRE COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection for the Parish Centre amounted to £567.68 - many thanks.

VOCATIONS
The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood. There is a Letter from Bishop Cuningham on our need for priests. Please pray for vocations to the priesthood and Religious Life.

LENT SCIAF BOXES
Please return Boxe
s 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.

INSTALLATION OF CANON McMANUS
The Installation of New Canons takes place on Thursday 24 April in Saint Margaret's Cathedral, Ayr during 7.30 pm Mass. A bus will leave here at 6.00 pm. The bus list is at the stall. A suggested donation to help with cost is £5.

'CANONISATION' PARTY
There will be a 'Canonisation' Party in the Parish Centre on Friday 25 April at 7 pm for 7.15 pm. There will be a musical welcome from Saint Matthew's Academy pupils followed by a meal at 8.00 pm. Tickets are now on sale at £10. Numbers are limited.

'CANONISATION' PARTY CONTINUED
The Party will continue on Sunday 27 April in the Parish Centre after the 12 noon Mass till 4.00 pm. Soup, rolls and snacks will be available. This is a chance to meet and chat.

THANKS
Canon Matt offers the thanks of the Parish to Greta McGreevy who has managed the Parish Centre bookings so faithfully for years and years. The bookings are now being handled by Michael and Fiona.

LEGACY
Saint Peter's Parish,
the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and the Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust have been included in the will of the late Tom McKay.

SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY COFFEE MORNING 
TheSaint Peter's Conference of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society is holding a Coffee Morning on Saturday 17 May. There will be various stalls on the day as well as a prize raffle. Donations for any of the stalls - baking, books, bric à brac - as well as prizes for the raffle will be most welcome and can be notified to any member of the Conference. This year, the Conference plans to donate the proceeds of the Coffee Morning to the Ozanam Centre for the Homeless in Glasgow. The Centre is named after Blessed Frederic Ozanam who founded the Society and is supported by Our Lady of the Wayside Special Works Conference in Glasgow. As always, we ask for your generous support for this event and we hope with your help to bring real practical assistance and Christian love and solidarity to the many men and women in need who use the Centre.

SAINT PETER'S PARISH CENTRE
To book the Centre please contact Michael or Fiona. Because of licensing laws the Centre is not available for eighteenth or twenty-first birthday parties. The fees for 2008 are:
   Evening function including use of kitchen - £100
   Drinks licence fee - £25
   Daytime functions, parties and so on - £15 per hour
   Groups - as arranged with organiser
   Parish Groups - a donation is welcome
   Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, our best funders - fund-raising events as at present
   Funeral catering - as arranged and booked by the funeral director

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 th
e stall.

3TFM
3TFM local radio station will begin full time broadcasting from Monday to Friday on April 19 on 103.1 FM. Please support our local radio station. If you would like to be involved or to know more, please phone Lewis on 604612 for information. Saint Peter's will have a slot on 'Thought for the Day' from time to time.

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.

SCOTTISH CATHOLIC INTERNATIONAL AID FUND (SCIAF) BOXES
Please continue to use SCIAF boxes throughout the year or make a box of your own. Please hand in any donations for forwarding to SCIAF for our poorest brothers and sisters.

THE BULLETIN
Please accept apologies for the loss of some usual features. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

 

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.

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd with a loud voice: The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, What must we do, brothers? You must repent, Peter answered and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself. He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, Save yourselves from this perverse generation. They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

A Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter
The merit, in the sight of God, is in bearing punishment patiently when you are punished after doing your duty. This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and left an example for you to follow the way he took. He had not done anything wrong, and there had been no perjury in his mouth. He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was tortured he made no threats but he put his trust in the righteous judge. He was bearing our faults in his own body on the cross, so that we might die to our faults and live for holiness; through his wounds you have been healed. You had gone astray like sheep but now you have come back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said: "I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers." Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them. So Jesus spoke to them again: "I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold. All others who have come are thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.".