CHURCH
OF SAINT PETER IN CHAINS, ARDROSSAN • A Family of
Parishes • SAINT BRIDE'S CHURCH, WEST KILBRIDE
Meeting people where they are - leading them to where God calls them
to be!
BULLETIN 11 APRIL 2021
SERVICES
AND GATHERINGS
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, public Church services and gatherings
are limited till further notice. Father
Duncan
will live-stream Holy Mass every day and assures you of his prayers for you
and your family.
A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN (John 20:19-31)
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were
closed in the room where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came
and stood among them. He said to them "Peace be with you" and showed
them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they
saw the Lord and he said to them again "'Peace be with you. As the Father
sent me, so am I sending you." After saying this, he breathed on them
and said "Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven. For those whose sins you retain, they are retained."
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when
Jesus came. When the disciples said "We have seen the Lord", he
answered "Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and
can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into
his side, I refuse to believe." Eight days later the disciples were in
the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed but Jesus
came in and stood among them. "Peace be with you" he said. Then
he spoke to Thomas "Put your finger here. Look, here are my hands. Give
me your hand. Put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe." Thomas
replied "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him "You believe
because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe."
There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw but they
are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing this you may have
life through his name.
REFLECTION
Faith is about believing what we cannot see. It is a step into the dark,
an act of trust. Think about the ways in which we trust and believe in each
other every day. As family and friends, we do not always demand proof but
go on trust. Today's celebration invites us to think about how much we trust
Jesus - how much we believe in what we cannot prove! The world around us
may think this foolish, may demand proof like Saint Thomas did. Let us step
into the dark with the risen Lord and let our faith and love and kindness
help others to believe.
THE LORD'S DAY AT HOME
If you are housebound or self-isolating at this time, please use these prayers
to unite yourself with the worship of the Universal Church, and your own
parish, this Sunday. If alone, read or say these prayers quietly to yourself.
If with another, or in a family, someone should read the Gospel and others
respond. It might be suitable to find a special, quiet place at home for
your Sunday prayers.
SAINT
PETER'S AND SAINT BRIDE'S CHURCH SERVICES
|
Saint
Peter's
All services are live-streamed and public by booking unless otherwise stated. |
Saint
Bride's Church, West Kilbride
All services are public by booking unless otherwise stated. |
|
|
Saturday
10 April |
Vigil Mass at 5.30pm for the special intentions of Elizabeth McCrae and Margaret Swiertz and Felix Hamill at his anniversary | |
|
Sunday
11 April
Second Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday |
Holy Mass at 10.30am for our parishes | Holy Mass at 12.15pm |
|
Monday
12 April
|
Holy Mass 10.00am for Phyllis Poole and Ann McEwan at their anniversaries | |
|
Tuesday
13 April
|
Funeral
Service at 10.00am for Sally and Frank McKane |
Holy Mass at 10.00am |
|
Wednesday
14 April
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am for Hilda O'Toole at her anniversary and the special intentions of the Farrell family | |
|
Thursday
15 April
|
Holy
Mass at 10.00am for Cathie Slimman and Peter Callender who both died
recently Private |
|
|
Friday
16 April
|
Holy
Mass at 10.00am for Robert Ferguson and Michael McCann who both died
recently |
Holy Mass at 12 noon |
|
Saturday
17 April |
Vigil
Mass at 5.30pm for Pat Logan and James Watt who both died recently
and Terry McCabe and Philomena Doherty at their anniversaries |
|
|
Father
Duncan
is assisted by the retired priest, Father Gerry Hamill.
|
|
Saint
Mary's Church, Saltcoats
All services are live-streamed and public by booking unless otherwise stated. |
Saint
John’s Church, Stevenston
All services are live-streamed and public by booking unless otherwise stated. |
|
|
Saturday
10 April |
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm | |
|
Sunday
11 April
Second of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday |
Holy
Mass
at 10.00am |
Holy
Mass
at 11.30am |
|
Monday
12 April
|
||
|
Tuesday
13 April
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
|
Wednesday
14 April
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
|
Thursday
15 April
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
|
Friday
16 April
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
|
Saturday
17 April |
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm | |
|
Canon
Martin Poland is assisted by Father Benjamin Mkeri and Canon
Matt McManus who is retired.
|
||
PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
Jim Boyle and Annie Watt;
Pat Logan, Jim Watt, Cathie Slimman, Sally and Frank McKane, Rebecca Sinclair,
Peter Callender, Robert Ferguson, Michael McCann and Lee Dodds who died
recently;
David McLaren 2006, Jim Roxburgh 2014, Father
Gabriel Kigozi 2011, Helen Theresa Magee 2000, George Monaghan 2004,
Phyllis Poole 2015, Father David Barr 2012, Thomas Clarke 2019, Martha Lynas
2009, Jessie Stevens 2000, David Walsh 1962, Janie Clark 2010, James McKibben
2002, Margaret Spencer 1954, Ann McEvoy 1980, John McLaughlin 2020, Kathleen
O'Donnell 2011, Francis Joseph Smith 1999, Jean Taylor 2006, Cliff Atkey
2000, Arthur Jenkins 2015, Francis McEvoy junior, Jean Robertson 2009, Mary
Ann Walsh 1955, Noelle Collins 2007, Francis Coulter 1976, Marie McCarroll
1982, Rosina McPeake and William McPeake 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. If members
of your family or friends are in need of our prayers, please tell Father
Duncan or the parish office.
FEED YOUR SOUL - RENEWING OUR PARISH COMMUNITIES
Every person, prompted by the disquiet that dwells within his heart, by
way of the sincere search for the meaning of his existence, is able to understand
himself fully in Christ. You have made us for yourself and our hearts are
restless till they rest in you. When a human being comes within God's reach,
he or she is called to respond. The Christian faith is, first of all, the
welcoming of God's love revealed in Jesus Christ, sincere adherence to his
person and the free decision to follow him. We believe Jesus when we accept
his word and his testimony because he is truthful. We believe in Jesus when
we personally welcome him into our lives and journey towards him, clinging
to him in love and following in his footsteps along the way, on a dynamic
journey that lasts a whole lifetime. To believe is an adherence of the heart,
of the mind and of action. The faith of the disciple of Christ is kindled,
sustained and transmitted only in the communion of ecclesial faith where
the 'I believe' of Baptism is married to the 'we believe' of the whole Church.
Every believer joins the community of disciples and makes the Church's faith
their own." Directory
of Catechism 17-23
|
SAINT
PETER'S NOTICES
MASS
BOOKINGS |
|
SAINT
BRIDE'S NOTICES
MASS
BOOKINGS |
PRAYER
FOR SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in this Holy Sacrament of the altar.
I love you above all things and I passionately desire to receive you into
my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come spiritually
into my soul so that I may unite myself wholly to you now and forever. Amen.
THOUGHTS
FOR EASTER
A person resurrecting from the dead does not just appear by chance to
anyone. He appears to particular people, for specific reasons. Otherwise,
the appearance would be simply like showing off a new suit to the general
public. Jesus appeared first of all to Mary of Magdala. She was one of
the few people who stood by him as he died of crucifixion - so Jesus rewarded
her with his first appearance as a new man. Not because, as some twitter,
there was a romantic relationship between them. She called him Teacher
not Sweetheart. Jesus then appeared to Pete because he was the chief apostle
and because Jesus knew that Peter needed attention. Later, in his difficult
job as leader of the Church, Peter would be doubted by insiders and pilloried
by outsiders. He had to be assured of the unique support of his Lord.
Jesus later appeared to the disciples as a group. This was also a necessary
encounter. They had not been totally loyal in their friendship. Jesus
also appeared to a couple of disciples who had given up too soon, had
left the city and were on their way back to their old lives. Jesus appeared
to them first as a stranger in order to gauge their real attitudes, so
he would know how to help them. We don't know if Jesus appeared privately
to his mother but we can imagine that he did. He had to tell her how much
she taught him, how often he thought of her, how the memory of her love
kept him going when nothing else could. Jesus appears to everyone in a
different way because each person is uniquely different. How does he appear
to you?
EASTER BUTTERFLY
As
a butterfly soared overhead, one caterpillar said to the other "You'll
never get me up in one of those things." Yet for every caterpillar
the time comes when the urge to eat and grow subsides and he instinctively
begins to form a chrysalis around himself. The chrysalis hardens and you'd
think for all the world that the caterpillar is dead - but one spring
morning, the life inside the chrysalis begins to writhe, the top cracks
open and a beautifully formed butterfly emerges. For hours it will stand
stretching and drying its wings, moving them slowly up and down, up and
down - and then, before you know it, the butterfly glides aloft, effortlessly
riding the currents of the air, alighting on flower after gorgeous flower,
as if to show off its vivid colours to the bright blossoms. Somehow, the
miracle of the butterfly never loses its fascination for us. Perhaps because
the butterfly is a living parable of the promise of resurrection. On Easter
morning, the disciples saw Jesus' graveclothes lying on the cold slab
still wrapped round and round his body. Only the body was gone, much like
an empty chrysalis deserted by a butterfly who has left to soar free.
"He is risen as he said" an angel told the incredulous disciples.
Later that day, he appeared to the disciples and then, over the course
of the next few weeks, to as many as five hundred people at one time.
Even Doubting Thomas didn't doubt for long that Jesus was really risen
from the dead. What do we Christians say in the face of death? There are
many mysteries - but two things we know for sure. Firstly, death is an
enemy. Away with the sentimentality that vainly seeks to disguise death's
insult! But secondly, and more importantly, Jesus' resurrection from the
grave is God's proof to us that death is not the end. The empty tomb and
Jesus' Spirit within us testify that Easter morning is God's triumph over
death - and ultimately, Jesus promised, God will raise from the dead us
who believe in His Son. Why do Christians gather on Easter morning? To
show off their fine clothes or give a ritual tip of the hat to religion?
God forbid! Rather we gather to celebrate Jesus' victory over death itself
- for since he is our Lord and our Saviour, His victory is our victory.
In celebrating his resurrection we celebrate our own assurance of ultimate
triumph over death. Join us this Easter as we celebrate life - and if
you look closely on this Easter morning, you might even see a butterfly
alight on the flowers.
JUST
FOR A LAUGH ...
A well-worn £5 note and a similarly distressed £20 note arrived
at the Bank of Scotland to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor
belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation. The £20 note reminisced
about its travels all over the city. "I've had a pretty good life"
the twenty proclaimed. "I've been to the Glasgow Shopping Mall, the
finest restaurants in Ayrshire, performances in the Concert Hall and even
a cruise to the Caribbean." "Wow!" said the £5 note.
"You've really had an exciting life!" "So tell me"
says the twenty "where have you been throughout your lifetime?"
The £5 note replies "Oh, I've been to the Catholic Church,
the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church ..." The £20 note
interrupts "What's a Church?"
SAFEGUARDING TRAINING FOR PARISH VOLUNTEERS
Looking ahead to when we may be able to resume normal worship and return
to parish ministries, it will be necessary for all parish volunteers to
complete their second safeguarding induction training session, if they
require a Protecting Vulnerable Groups certificate to carry out their
ministries. The diocesan trainers strongly recommend that as many volunteers
as possible attend this training session online, from the comfort and
safety of their own homes, during this current lockdown. To book a place
in an online session at a convenient time for you, please visit www.GallowayDiocese.org.uk/safeguarding-calendar,
which will be regularly updated with available dates and times. If you
are unsure whether you need to attend, please contact your Parish Safeguarding
Coordinator. Many volunteers have already attended either in-person immediately
before the pandemic, or online during it. Thank you for your commitment
to your parishes.
SUPPORT OUR PARISHES THIS LENT
Our Parish Communities of Saint
Bride's and Saint Peter's work tirelessly to share the Good News of
Jesus Christ in a culture bent on pushing God to the margins. During this
penitential season, we strip ourselves of worldly attachments and rededicate
ourselves to repentance, prayer, fasting and almsgiving. To that end,
we ask that you prayerfully consider making a Standing Order to aid our
critical mission. We give a sincere word of thanks to all our parishioners
who have done so in the last couple of weeks. It is already making a big
difference. As a Catholic charity, we rely on your support to sustain
our ministry. Each year, our efforts help many people to come to a closer
knowledge of Jesus Christ and to deepen their relationship with him in
the Church. Please consider a regular Standing Order so that we can continue
to proclaim Christ in the culture in new and engaging ways. Forms are
available from the Parish Office and here.
Thank you.
SUNDAY OBLIGATION
Sunday obligation to attend Holy Mass remains suspended for the time being
and availability is restricted for those wishing to attend. Some of our
parishioners are working during the week and can only attend at the weekend.
Therefore, to make Holy Mass available to everyone we would be grateful
if you wish to attend Mass and are able to attend on a weekday please
do so, leaving seats for those parishioners working during the week. Thank
you.
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.