BULLETIN   14 APRIL 2019

PALM SUNDAY IN YEAR 3



CHURCH SERVICES
Saturday 13 April  

Our Lady's Day for Lent
Holy Mass at 10.00am for Anne and Andrew Murphy
Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord
Vigil Mass at 5.30am for Christopher McManus A

Sunday 14 April  

Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord
Sunday Mass with the blessing and distribution of Palms at 10.30am for Saint Peter's congregation

Monday 15 April  

Holy Mass at 9.00am for John McCormick RD

Tuesday 16 April  

Holy Mass at 9.00am for Jim Lynn RD, Francis McEvoy junior A and William Main A

Wednesday 17 April  

Requiem Mass at 10.00am for Patricia Brady

Thursday 18 April  

Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper
Holy Mass with Washing of Feet at 7.00pm for Liz Hughes

Friday 19 April  

Good Friday
Children's Way of the Cross at 12 noon
Good Friday Liturgy at 3.00pm

Saturday 20 April  

Holy Saturday
Solemn Easter Vigil Mass at 8.30pm for Agnes Madine (East Kilbride) RD

  

Abbreviations - A anniversary, MM month's mind, RD recently deceased, SI special intention

The Holy Mass intention list is just over two weeks ahead. Please notify anniversaries as early as you can. Thanks.
Any changes to the above times caused, for example, by a funeral will be notified on the home page of this website.


SAINT MARY'S AND SAINT JOHN'S CHURCH SERVICES
 
Saturday 13 April  
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm
Holy Mass at 10.00am
Sunday 14 April  
Sunday Mass at 10.00am

Sunday Mass at 11.30am

Monday 15 April  
Holy Mass at 10.00am Holy Mass at 10.00am
Tuesday 16 April  
Holy Mass at 10.00am Holy Mass at 10.00am
Wednesday 17 April  
Holy Mass at 10.00am Holy Mass at 10.00am
Thursday 18 April  
  Holy Thursday Mass at 7.00pm
Friday 19 April  
Good Friday Liturgy at 3.00pm Service of the Word at 10.00am
Saturday 20 April  
  Morning Prayer Service at 10.00am
Easter Vigil Mass at 8.30pm
 
PARISH CENTRE EVENTS
Sunday 14 April  

11.30am

Tea and Coffee after Holy Mass

Monday 15 April  

5.30 to 6.30pm
6.30 to 7.30pm
7.00pm

Rainbows
Brownies
Saint Vincent de Paul Society

Tuesday 16 April  
9.00 to 11.00am
5.00 to 8.00pm

Cardiac Rehabilitation
Irish Dancing

Wednesday 17 April  

1.00 to 3.00pm

Knit and Knatter


PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
John McCormick, Jim Lynn, Kathleen Dean, Liz Hughes, Agnes Madine and Patricia Brady who died recently;
Janie Clark 2010, James McKibben 2002, Margaret Spencer 1954, Ann McEvoy 1980, Kathleen O'Donnell 2011, Francis Joseph Smith 1999, Jean Taylor 2006, Cliff Atkey 2000, Arthur Jenkins 2015, Jean Robertson 2009, Mary Ann Walsh 1955, Noelle Collins 2007, Francis Coulter 1976, Marie McCarroll 1982, Rosina McPeake, William McPeake, William Main 2007, Robert Tracy 2004, Margaret Lesley Cahill 2018, Marie Louise McCarroll 1982, James McCool 2009, Jane Tumilty 1983, Margaret Kelly 2011, Agnes McCann 1970, Phyllis Poole 2015, Mary McKay 1980, Rosina Millar 1999, Annie Paton 2009, Ellen Smith 2009 and Charles Spencer 1969 whose anniversaries occur at this time and those who are sick.
If deceased members of your family are not on our anniversary list, please tell Father Duncan
, the parish office or contact WebsiteAuthor@SaintPeterinChains.net.

SUNDAY MASS TIMES
Sunday Mass times in Saint Peter's are 5.30pm Vigil and 10.30am. Sunday Mass times in other local parishes can be seen here.

SACRAMENT OF FORGIVENESS
The Sacrament of Forgiveness is celebrated on Saturdays between 4.45 and 5.15 pm and at other times on request.

READERS
Next weekend's readers are Katrina Pollock at 5.30pm and Alfie Agostini at 10.30am.

ALTAR SERVERS
Next weekend's altar servers are Group 1 at 5.30pm and Group 3 at 10.30am.


MUSIC MINISTRY
Next weekend's musicians are the choir at 8.30pm and Catherine Kerr and Catherine Boyd at 10.30am.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY
Next week's Children's Liturgy helpers are Jacqueline Waugh for the pre-fives, Frances Gemmell for Primaries 1, 2 and 3 and Maria Paterson-Kidd and Emma Paterson for Primary 4.

FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA
First Saturday devotions will take place on the first Saturday of every month after the 10.00am Holy Mass. The devotions take about half an hour. All are welcome!

DIOCESAN CHRISM MASS
We have teamed with Saint Mary's Church in Largs to organise a coach that will take us to the special Chrism Mass at Saint Margaret's Cathedral, Ayr on Tuesday of Holy Week, 16 April. The Mass begins with Bishop Nolan at 7.30pm. The coach will leave Saint Peter's Car Park at 6.15pm prompt. If you would like to come along, please put your name on the list at Betty's Stall. Thank you!

ECUMENICAL PRAYER SERVICE AT SAINT PETER'S
Different Churches in Ardrossan host a special short Prayer Service for the Holy Week. Saint Peter's will host the first on Monday 15 April at 7.00pm. Please come along if you can and make this Holy Week special.

PROGRAMME FOR THE HOLY WEEK AND EASTER
Please make sure you get the Card with the times of Masses and Services during the Holy Week and Easter at Saint Peter's before you leave Church today. You are welcome to take a Card for neighbours and family members to invite them to the Greatest Week of our Faith. The Card also has the details of the Prayer Services organised by the Ardrossan Churches.

RECEPTION INTO THE CHURCH
Sincere congratulations to Jaquie Macdonald and Rebecca Macdonald who will be baptised and received into full communion with the Church on Easter Sunday. We wish them every grace and joy and God's richest blessing.

REQUIEM MASS FOR PATRICIA BRADY
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of Patricia Brady who died aged 86 years. Her Requiem Mass on Wednesday 17 April at 10.00am, will be followed by her cremation at Holmsford Bridge Crematorium, Dreghorn. May she rest in peace and rise in glory!

COMMUNION ON THE MOON
Forty-two years ago, two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon - but what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. I'm talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine. And a few years ago I had the privilege of meeting him myself. I asked him about it and he confirmed the story to me, and I wrote about in my book Everything You Always Wanted To Know About God But Were Afraid to Ask. Buzz Aldrin took Communion with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement "This is the Lunar Module pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way." He then ended radio communication and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John and he took communion. Here is his own account of what happened "In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit... Apart from me you can do nothing.' "I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute, they had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly. "I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquillity. It was interesting for me to think - the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements." And of course, it's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon - and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the 'Love that moves the sun and other stars'. How many of you knew this? Too bad this type of news doesn't travel as fast as the bad news does.

REFLECTION FOR PALM SUNDAY
Man, a mere speck in the universe, considered equality with God something at which to grasp. That pride is at the core of sin. In the famous hymn from Paul's letter to the Philippians, we find God's surprising response to our pride. Christ, although he was God, did not consider equality with God something at which to grasp. Rather, he emptied himself and came as a servant. He humbled himself even unto death, death on a cross (see Phil 2:6-8). Christ humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross, to show us that God is not who we thought he was. You see, through the original deception, we came to conceive of God as a tyrant who wanted to dominate us and keep us from the satisfaction of our desires. We came to doubt the gift of God, as Blessed John Paul II once put it. It's no coincidence that the Bible presents the original sin through the symbolism of eating. Our hearts are hungry. Through the cross we rediscover beyond all doubt that God is a loving Father who wants to provide for us, who wants to feed us, who wants to satisfy our hunger beyond our wildest imaginings. Christ's entire mission is to save us from the lie that the satisfaction of our fundamental hunger is up to us. And to what length he goes! "You don't believe in 'the gift' of God?" Christ asks. "This is my body given for you; this is my blood shed for you." And his flesh is real food; his blood is real drink (see Jn 6:55). Christ comes as finest wheat to be 'ground into flour' and 'baked into bread' for us to eat unto satiation. He comes as the juiciest grapes to be crushed in the 'wine press' so that we might drink his gift unto intoxication. "Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (Jn 6:35). We needn't grasp at fulfilment of our hunger. Bread from heaven has been freely offered us. It is for this reason that Christ humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross.
                       Christopher West



THE HOLY WEEK BEGINS
It is so important to know that none of our efforts to know, love and serve Christ a little bit more during this Lent has been wasted. This is what our faith tells us. Pope Francis explains "… involves knowing with certitude that all those who entrust themselves to God in love will bear good fruit (cf Jn 15:5). This fruitfulness is often invisible, elusive and unquantifiable. We can know quite well that our lives will be fruitful, without claiming to know how, or where or when. We may be sure that none of our acts of love will be lost, nor any of our acts of sincere concern for others. No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is wasted." (EG 279) So, as Holy Week begins, let's renew the focus of our hearts. Let's recommit ourselves to keeping Christ in the centre - of everything. Let's look forward to continuing to journey together throughout this Holy Week and Easter Season.

200 CLUB PARISH SHARE
Special thanks to all the members of the 200 Club. The Club was able to give a donation to the Parish of £2000. Sincere thanks for all the support and generosity!


HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED ADOPTION?
Have you ever considered adoption
as a way to grow your family? Could you provide a loving, stable family environment for a child who needs a forever home? If you would like to find out more about the adoption process, please visit www.StMargaretsAdoption.org.uk,contact us on 0141 332 8371 or email Info@StMargaretsAdoption.org.uk.

IN AND AROUND THE CHURCH
Sincere thanks for all the hard work being done recently. New plants have been arranged in the Church gardens and the garden doors have been re-painted. Thank you!

KNIT AND KNATTER
The Knit and Knatter group meets every Wednesday in the Parish Centre from 1.00 to 3.00pm except on 24 April.

NEW PARISH WEBSITE
The new website for Saint Peter's is almost ready for launching. A lot of hard work has been put into getting it read - so watch this space! It is coming very soon!

NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES
To comply with the recent changes to Data Protection Act, Saint Peter's has two new email addresses. If you are contacting the Parish Office, please use Ardrossan@GallowayDiocese.org.uk. If you wish to contact Father Duncan personally, then use Duncan.McVicar@GallowayDiocese.org.uk - thanks!

HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY
If a member of your family or a friend is sick, please let us know and give us the details. Deacon Bill Corbett (01292 521208, 07904 248948, Rev.BillCorbett@btinternet.com) is the chaplain to Crosshouse Hospital and is assisted by the priest on call each week.

FINANCES
Bankers Orders for the Parish and Parish Centre amount to £3500 per month. We are grateful for your generous support in collections. If you can manage a little more from time to time, it would be a great help. A Standing Order would make the handling of money so much easier. Have you signed a Gift Aid form? If you are a taxpayer the Church would get 25p added to every £1 you donate.

COLLECTIONS
Last weekend's Offertory collection amounted to £542.68 and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) collection to £834.67 - thanks very much.

SCOTTISH CATHOLIC INTERNATIONAL AID FUND (SCIAF) LENTEN APPEAL 2019
The retiring collection this weekend is for the work and apostolate of SCIAF. Please give generously if you can. Thank you!

SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL COLLECTION THIS LENT
The
Saint Vincent de Paul Society usually collects toiletries for homeless people at the Ozanam Centre, Glasgow, during Lent. There is a box in the porch. Please be as generous as you can. Thank you!

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES
Please collect your new Offertory envelopes at Betty's stall today. If you would like to use the envelopes for your contributions to the Parish, please speak to Margaret or George. Thanks!

SUNDAY TEAS
Tea and coffee will
not be served after the 10.30am Mass next Sunday in the Parish Centre by Maria Boyle's team.

GIFT AID
The Inland Revenue now requires us to use a new style of Gift Aid form. These are available at the back of the Church and on the parish website. If you pay tax, please complete the new form and return it to the box provided. This allows us to provide the additional information required on the Gift Aid claim. Gift Aid is a vital source of income. All that is needed is that you pay tax. You simply declare that you give funds to the Church. We do the rest. Why not sign a form today? We get back an extra 25p for every £1 you give the Church in your weekly collection or by way of a donation. There is no need to cancel or renew it. We simply claim in the income we receive.

VISITORS
Are you visiting us for Holy Mass? Please know that you are very welcome. During the 10.30 am Holy Mass outwith holidays, there is a Children’s Liturgy provided for preschool children, children in Primaries 1 to 3 and a Sacramental Programme for children in Primary 4. After the 10.30 am Holy Mass, tea, coffee cakes and buns are available in the Parish Centre. At both of our weekend Holy Masses, we have a second collection for Church maintenance.


ADVERTISER SUPPORT
Our advertisers would welcome your support. We are grateful for their continuing sponsorship. We are grateful for the support of Mr and Mrs Sohal, Nisa Stores, Glasgow Street for the weekly donation of tea, coffee and milk for the Sunday teas.

PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS - MISSION STATEMENT
The Catholic Church in Scotland is concerned with the lives, safety, wholeness and well-being of each individual person within God's purpose for everyone. It seeks to safeguard the welfare of people of all ages who are involved in whatever capacity
with the Church and its organisations. As a Church community, we accept that it is the responsibility of all of us, ordained, professed, paid and voluntary members, to work together to prevent the physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect of children, young people and vulnerable adults.