BULLETIN            16 SEPTEMBER 2007

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN YEAR 3


CHURCH SERVICES

Saturday 15 September

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

Sunday 16 September
Sunday Mass at 10.00 am
Sunday Mass at 12.00 noon
Monday 17 September
Mass at 10.00 am for Bridget and Mary McLellan  
Tuesday 18 September
Mass at 10.00 am for Walter Jones
Wednesday 19 September
Mass at 10.00 am for Pat Monaghan
Thursday 20 September
Mass at 7.00 pm for Jimmy McVeigh
Friday 21 September
Mass at 10.00 am for the Stewart Family  
Saturday 22 September
Mass at 10.00 am for Wilsey Shepherd  


PARISH CENTRE EVENTS

Sunday 16 September
11.00 am

Tea and Coffee after Mass

Monday 17 September
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.30 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
2.00 to 3.00 pm
5.30 to 6.30 pm
6.30 to 8.00 pm
7.00 pm
7.00 to 8.00 pm
7.30 to 9.00 pm

Nursery
Parents and Toddlers
Nursery
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Rainbows
Brownies

Saint Vincent de Paul Society  
Weight Watchers
Stevenston Musical Society

Tuesday 18 September
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
1.00 to 3.00 pm
7.00 pm
7.00 pm
7.30 pm
Nursery
Kindergarten
Nursery
Thursday Club
Saint Anne's Guild
Keep Fit
Legion of Mary
Wednesday 19 September
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
6.00 to 7.00 pm
7.00 to 9.00 pm
Nursery
Kindergarten
Nursery
Barakuda Karate
Special Religious Education (SPRED)
Thursday 20 September
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.00 am
12.30 to 3.00 pm
1.00 to 2.30 pm
11.30 to 2.30 pm
7.00 to 7.30 pm
7.30 to 9.00 pm
Nursery
Kindergarten
Nursery
Kindergarten
Key Housing
Brownies

Guides
Friday 21 September
9.00 to 11.30 am
9.30 to 11.30 am
12.30 to 2.30 pm
Nursery
Parents and Toddlers
Nursery

PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
   Margaret Currie who died recently;
   James Lawson 1992, Walter Jones 1985, Mary McLellan 2004,
   Patrick McKay 1998, Sister Pauline CP 1999, Greta Foran 2002,
   Catherine McLaughlin 1998, Rita Michelini 2002 and David Dunbar 2005
   whose anniversaries occur at this time.

SUNDAY COLLECTION
Last weekend's collection amounted to £645.68 - many thanks. Banker's Orders amount to an average of £4300 per month. Each month £4000 is repaid to the Diocese for the building loan and levy.

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 £326.44 - many thanks.


RETIRED PRIESTS' COLLECTION
The annual collection for Retired Priests will take place next weekend. Gift Aid envelopes, which are available at the stall, should be used for this collection.


CHILDREN'S LITURGY
The Children's Liturgy has resumed for two of the groups, the three to five year olds and Primaries 1 to 3. It is very important that parents volunteer to take their turn at helping with this Liturgy. After 10.00 am Mass, Annie Watt will be in the Parish Centre for those who wish to volunteer and complete the necessary Disclosure Scotland forms. Three forms of identification will be required - one with a photograph, for example, a passport or driving licence, utility bill, birth certificate or previous Disclosure Scotland Number and National Insurance Number.

THE SINGING CHILDREN OF AFRICA
The Singing Children of Africa will be performing in the Church on Sunday 14 October at 6.00 pm. Tickets costing £4 are available from the stall or Marie-Anne. Tea and coffee will be available in the Parish Centre. All proceeds from this concert will go to The Singing Children of Africa Appeal.

INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE CHURCH?
Are you thinking about becoming a Catholic? Are you just wanting to know more? Are you returning after a time away from Church? Are you just curious? The Enquiry Group meets in Saint Peter's Presbytery, on Thursday 4 October at 7.30 pm.

SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL RELIEF
Scottish International Relief (SIR) will be here this weekend to uplift your donations to SIR and sell raffle tickets for Mary's Meals
. Photographs of the last two years' visits by Scottish International Relief are on the Pictures page.

THE INNOCENTS
A box is available in the Porch for baby goods, talcum powder, lotion, bottles, shampoo and so on. Please contact Josephine if you can help.

IGNATIAN PRAYER GROUP
The Ignatian Prayer Group w
ill meet on Wednesday 3 October and Tuesday 9 October at 7.30pm and Tuesday 30 October at 2.30 pm in the Parish Centre. Anyone interested in joining would be very welcome at the prayer meetings.

CAREERS SCOTLAND
Careers Scotland's Higher Education Convention 2007 will take place in the Park Hotel, Kilmarnock on Wednesday, 19 September from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and 1.15 to 3.30 pm for pupils only and 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm to the public. The Convention gives the opportunity to talk to representatives from universities, colleges and professional organisations.

SAINT MICHAEL'S COLLEGE AND ACADEMY - 1921 TO 2007
The closing Mass for Saint Michael's, which will celebrate and give thanks for the school's achievements, will be held in the school Assembly Hall on Monday 1 October at 7.00 pm. Photographs and memorabilia commemorating the history of the school will be on display. There are still a few copies of the Saint Michael's book costing £5 at the stall.

CHILDREN'S LITURGY ADULT HELPERS
   16 September
      3 to 5 Year Olds: Frances and Maria
      Primary 1 to 3: Marko and Marieanne

   23 September
      3 to 5 Year Olds: Gayle and Frances
      Primary 1 to 3: Andrena and Theresa

THE LORD IS MY PROGRAMMER
The Lord is my programmer; I shall not crash. He installed his software on the hard disk of my heart; all of his commands are user-friendly. His directory guides me to the right choices for his name's sake. Even though I scroll through the problems of life, I will fear no bugs for He is my backup. His password protects me. He prepares a menu before me in the presence of my enemies. His help is only a keystroke away. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and my file will be merged with his and saved forever. Amen.


  Sooner or later busy people learn to write things down.  
It's the best way to capture things we are apt to forget.
The strongest memory, says an old Chinese proverb,
is weaker than the palest link.  

Hell begins on that day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have
  achieved, of all the gifts we wasted, of all that we might have done that we did not do.
  


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           Exodus 32:7-11.13-14
The Lord spoke to Moses, Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. Here is your God, Israel, they have cried, who brought you up from the land of Egypt! I can see how headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation. But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. Lord, he said, why should your wrath blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever. So the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Second Reading           Timothy 1:12-17
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Gospel           Luke 15:1-10
The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. "This man" they said "welcomes sinners and eats with them." So he spoke this parable to them: "What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours?" "Rejoice with me," he would say "I have found my sheep that was lost." In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance. Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? "Rejoice with me," she would say "I have found the drachma I lost." In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.".