BULLETIN       12 APRIL 2020

EASTER SUNDAY IN YEAR 1


SERVICES AND GATHERINGS
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, public Church services and gatherings are suspended till further notice.
Father Duncan will celebrate Holy Mass privately every day and assures you of his prayers for you and your family.

WE ARE AN EASTER PEOPLE
Firstly, I want to wish everyone a very blessed and a most wonderful Easter - Happy Easter! Finally it is Easter! I love Easter! As we celebrate this special day and season we are reminded that we need to be an Easter People! That is, people who know that Jesus is alive and he is not dead and because he lives, so shall we live forever! We need to tell our faces this! Saint Augustine said we need to be an Alleluia People from the top of our heads to the bottom of our toes. We do so much during the Lenten Season to do Penance and we now need to do something that will make us grow in this most important season of Easter. Easter reminds us of the six things that every Catholic is called to do - share with others the joy of knowing Jesus Christ, pray, celebrate the sacraments regularly, love my neighbour as myself, use the gifts that I've been given wisely and forgive as I have been forgiven.
Be not afraid! These are the words that God speaks to us again and again through His Holy Word. Be not afraid. Why? Because he is with us! He is in us! We need to breathe him in and be still with him, even in the midst of all the fear and uncertainty around us. As it says on a sign in front of the Tabernacle in Saint Peter's - Be still and know that I am God! (Psalm 46:10). The Lord is calling us to hand everything over to him, to let him be God, to give him full control over our lives and our future. In his arms is our peace! I would encourage you to use this time to be with the Lord, to allow Him to hold you each day. He must be your first love, as you are his. Spend time each day with His Word - more than the news on television! There he will reveal himself to you in a very intimate way. Allow yourself to be so grateful to be able to spend time with your family. Love them, and appreciate them and treasure the time you get to spend with them, even though you might all drive each other nuts! Just think, you could have to live with me - you are blessed! If you are alone or your family is not in the area, remember that you are never alone - Jesus and the angels and saints are with you. Claim his promise - So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10) You are never alone! Okay, I am not going to lie. This is going to be a hard Easter without a physical congregation and I know it is going to be even harder for you! Do please have a look at our websites and our weekly Bulletin to keep the contact alive. There are many opportunities for the live-streaming of Holy Mass. The truth of the Resurrection at Easter lead us to the promise fulfilled that love is stronger than hate, light is stronger than darkness and life is stronger than death! In the end, Jesus wins and we win in Him! We are Easter People. Please know that you are in my daily prayers and I ask you to remember me in your daily prayers as well. I count on them! Happy Easter! God bless you.                       Father Duncan

RECENTLY DECEASED
Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of John McLaughlin. His Graveside Liturgy is on Friday 17 April 2020 at 1.00pm for close family only at Ardrossan Cemetery. May he rest in peace and rise in glory!


PARISH WEBSITES UPDATE
Due to the lockdown and all its consequences for us as a parish community, communication is becoming a real priority and a real need. At the moment, we are blessed with two websites - the original Saint Peter's website and the new parish website thanks to Colin Mulhern. Both are running and provide valuable news updates and resources for praying at home. If you can, please have a look and keep the communication going in these difficult times. The latest parish bulletin is posted on both websites. Please make it available to others. Thank you!

FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The financial support and upkeep of the Parish is also drastically affected by the present situation. Please try and hand in your Offertory envelopes to the Parish Office when you can or better still, consider taking out a Banker's Order for Saint Peter's as the social isolation will probably impact us for the next months. Banker's Order and Gift Aid Declaration forms are available in the Parish Office and on our website. If you would prefer that we email you or post the forms, please let the Parish Office know. If you require any assistance in completing the forms, please contact George at the Parish Office and he can speak to you by phone. Thank you for all you do and for your solidarity and generosity. In these difficult financial times, there is no obligation to give to the Sunday Collection. If, however, you feel able to, you can donate by text message to an account set up by the Diocese of Galloway. It is not possible to nominate a particular parish so all text-giving donations will be shared among parishes. To donate, text the word SUNDAY to 70085 followed by the number of pounds, from 1 to 20. For example, SUNDAY 5 to 70085 gives £5. This message would cost £5 plus one standard rate message charge. Thank you for all your commitment and support.

EMAIL SCAM
Some parishioners have received an email, purportedly from Father Duncan, asking for money. This is a scam. Please do not give funds to the sender. Legitimate ways to donate to the Church are by text-giving to the Diocese of Galloway, Banker's Order or sending a donation, ideally by cheque, to the Church's postal address, 1 South Crescent Road, Ardrossan, Ayrshire, KA22 8DU. Any method not mentioned on this website is fraudulent.

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY
Every day,
Father Duncan will celebrate Holy Mass privately, focusing on these Thoughts for the Day taken from a wonderful spiritual classic Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Jacques Philippe. We pray for the gift of inner peace in this time of pandemic.

A message from Father Duncan on Easter Sunday 12 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, on Easter Sunday, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish. It is essential for us to come to understand that the way to God and the perfection that is demanded of us is shorter and more efficacious, markedly easier too, when one has learned, little by little, how to conserve, in all circumstances, a profound peace of heart - because then the heart allows itself to be driven by the Holy Spirit and God is able to do more with it by His grace than the heart could do by its own effort. It is of the greatest importance that we strive to acquire and maintain an interior peace, the peace of our hearts. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Monday 13 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and Pamela Devine and Joe Howie who both died recently. The more our soul is peaceful and tranquil, the more God is reflected in it, the more His image expresses itself in us and the more His grace acts through us. On the other hand, if our soul is agitated and troubled, the grace of God is able to act only with much greater difficulty. How can I communicate this peace to others, if I myself do not have it? How can there be peace in families, in societies, between individual people, if there is no peace first in peoples' hearts? Acquiring and maintaining interior peace, which is impossible without prayer, should consequently be considered a priority for everybody, above all for those who claim to want to do good for their neighbour. Otherwise, more often than not they would simply be communicating their own restlessness and distress. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 14 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and Joseph Murray and John Mullen who both died recently. One of the most common strategies of the devil in his efforts to distance us from God and to slow our spiritual progress is to attempt to cause the loss of our interior peace. Here is what Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, one of the great spiritual masters of the 16th century, who was highly esteemed by Saint Francis de Sales, said: 'The devil does his utmost to banish peace from one's heart, because he knows that God abides in peace and it is in peace that He accomplishes great things. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Wednesday 15 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and Seamus Reilly senior and Pauline Grear who both died recently. The goodwill, the habitual determination to always say "yes" to God, in the great things as in the small, is a sine qua non for interior peace. As long as we have not acquired this determination, a certain uneasiness and sadness will not cease to abide in us - the uneasiness of not loving God as much as He invites us to love Him, and the sadness of still not having given all things to God. Because the man who has given his will to God has, in a certain fashion, already given Him everything. We cannot truly be at peace as long as our hearts have not found their unity and our hearts cannot be unified until all our desires are subordinated to the desire to love God, to please Him and to do His will. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Thursday 16 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish, Michael MacLean and John McLaughlin who both died recently. In order that abandonment might be authentic and engender peace, it must be total. We must put everything, without exception, into the hands of God, not seeking any longer to manage or to 'save' ourselves by our own means - not in the material domain, nor the emotional, nor the spiritual. We cannot divide human existence into various sectors - certain sectors where it would be legitimate to surrender ourselves to God with confidence and others where, on the contrary, we feel we must manage exclusively on our own. And one thing we know well - all reality that we have not surrendered to God, that we choose to manage by ourselves without giving carte blanche to God, will continue to make us more or less uneasy. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Friday 17 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish, Bridget McLellan at her anniversary and John Craig who died recently. Abandonment inevitably requires an element of renunciation and it is this that is most difficult for us. We have a natural tendency to cling to a whole host of things - material goods, affections, desires, projects et cetera and it costs us terribly to let go of our grip, because we have the impression that we will lose ourselves in the process, that we will die. Saint John of the Cross expresses this same truth in other terms - All things were given to me from the moment when I no longer sought them. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Saturday 18 April 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for Andrena Donnelly and George McDowall who both died recently. With regard to what we have just considered, it is important to know how to unmask a frequent and very clever trick of the devil to trouble and discourage us. Faced with certain goods that we possess - a material good, a friendship, an activity that we enjoy, et cetera - the devil, in an effort to prevent us from abandoning ourselves to God, causes us to imagine that if we put everything in God's hands, God will effectively take everything and 'ruin' everything in our lives! And this arouses a sense of terror that completely paralyses us. But we must not fall into this trap. Very frequently, on the contrary, the Lord asks only an attitude of detachment at the level of the heart, a disposition to give Him everything. But He doesn't necessarily 'take' everything. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.

NOT EVERYTHING IS CANCELLED
Not everything is cancelled.
Sun is not cancelled.
Spring is not cancelled.
Friendships are not cancelled.
Love is not cancelled.
Reading is not cancelled.
Affection is not cancelled.
Music is not cancelled.
Imagination is not cancelled.
Kindness is not cancelled.
Conversations are not cancelled.
Hope is not cancelled.
Prayer is not cancelled.
Easter is not cancelled

A CORONAVIRUS POEM
Someone called Vivienne from Spain wrote the poem.
The earth whispered but you did not hear.
The earth spoke but you did not listen.
The earth screamed but you turned her off - and so I was born.
I was not born to punish you. I was born to awaken you.
The earth cried out for help.
Massive flooding - but you didn't listen.
Burning fires - but you didn't listen.
Strong hurricanes - but you didn't listen.
Terrifying tornadoes - but you didn't listen.
You still don't listen to the earth when ocean animals are dying due to pollutants in the waters.
Glaciers melting at an alarming rate. Severe drought.
You didn't listen to how much negativity the earth is receiving.
Non-stop wars. Non-stop greed.
You just kept going on with your life no matter how much hate there was.
No matter how many killings daily.
It was more important to get that latest iPhone than worry about what the earth was trying to tell you.
But now I am here and I've made the world stop in its tracks.
I've made you finally listen. I've made you take refuge.
I've made you stop thinking about materialistic things.
Now you are like the earth - you are only worried about your survival.
How does that feel?
I give you fever as the fires burn on earth.
I give you respiratory issues as pollution filled the earth's air.
I give you weakness as the earth weakens every day.
I took away your comforts, your outings.
The things you would use to forget about the planet and its pain.
And I made the world stop.
And now China has better air quality.
Skies are clear blue because factories are not spewing pollution unto the earth's air.
The water in Venice is clean because the gondola boats that pollute the water are not being used.
You are having to take time to reflect on what is important in your life.
Again, I am not here to punish you. I am here to awaken you.
When all this is over and I am gone, please remember these moments.
Listen to the earth. Listen to your soul.
Stop polluting the earth. Stop fighting amongst each other.
Stop caring about materialistic things and start loving your neighbours.
Start caring about the earth and all its creatures. Start believing in a Creator.
Because next time I may come back even stronger.
               Signed Coronavirus

PRAYER DURING A PANDEMIC
May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or paying their rent.
May we who have flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbours. Amen.                           Cameron Bell

JUST FOR A LAUGH …
An American photographer on holiday was inside Westminster Abbey taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read £10000 per call. The American, being intrigued, asked a minister who was strolling by what the telephone was used for. The minister replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for £10000 you could talk to God. The American thanked the priest and went along his way. Next stop was in Lincoln. There, at the cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he had seen in London and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and for £10000 he could talk to God. "Okay, thank you" said the American. He then travelled to York, Durham and Liverpool. In every cathedral he saw the same golden telephone with the same £10000 per call sign under it. The American, upon leaving the north of England decided to travel to Scotland to see if the Scots had the same phone. he arrived at Saint Peter's in Ardrossan and again, as he entered the Church, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read 50 pence per call. The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Father, I've travelled all over England and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to heaven but in England the price was £10000 per call. Why is it only 50 pence here?" The priest smiled and answered "You're in Scotland now, son - it's a local call."

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.

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.