CHURCH
OF SAINT PETER IN CHAINS, ARDROSSAN • A Family of
Parishes • SAINT BRIDE'S CHURCH, WEST KILBRIDE
BULLETIN 20 DECEMBER 2020
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 LUKE (Luke 1:26-38)
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to
a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the House of David and the virgin's
name was Mary. He went in and said to her "Rejoice, so highly favoured!
The Lord is with you."' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked
herself what this greeting could mean but the angel said to her "Mary,
do not be afraid. You have won God's favour. Listen! You are to conceive and
bear a son and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor
David. He will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have
no end." Mary said to the angel "But how can this come about since
I am a virgin?" "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" the angel
answered "and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow
and so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too
- your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son and
she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month for nothing is impossible
to God." "'I am the handmaid of the Lord" said Mary "let
what you have said be done to me." And the angel left her.
REFLECTION
Sometimes a story is so well known we stop thinking about it - and that can
be true of the story of Jesus' birth. From early childhood, we have heard
this story and it can become too familiar. It is worth stopping this week,
if we can, and reading through it with new eyes to see where we may have missed
some of the power of God's love revealed in the coming of Jesus. Today is
a perfect example - the story of the Annunciation is so well known! So let's
just pause for a moment and listen again. It begins with a visit from an angel.
Was that 'disturbing' for Mary? How exactly did the angel appear? Or was it
just the words that were 'deeply disturbing' - and if so, why? "Rejoice,
so highly favoured!" is hardly a scary sentence! This is Mary's own recollection,
shared with Saint Luke, so years later she must still have held on to the
memory of that 'disturbing' greeting. It's important to remember this when
we get to the other end of the story, when Mary says "Let what you have
said be done to me." Sometimes we can assume it was easy for her to say
"yes" - but remember how 'deeply disturbing' this all was! It took
great faith and great courage for Mary to agree to God's plan and we should
never underestimate this. What went through her mind - the promises of the
Old Testament, coming true in her womb? How she would tell Joseph, her family
and friends? Was there concern for Elizabeth? Spend a moment, if you can,
with Mary in this moment - and allow her strength, faith and love of God to
guide you in your choices today and throughout this week.
|
Saint
Peter's - All Masses are live-streamed and
public unless otherwise stated. |
Saint
Bride's - All Masses are public
unless otherwise stated. |
|
|
Saturday
19 December |
Holy Mass at 10.00am for the
Sweeney family (Wexford) and Richard Haswell
who died recently Private Vigil Mass at 5.30pm for the Kilbane family at an anniversary and Eric and Dorothy Waters who died recently |
|
|
Sunday
20 December
Fourth Sunday of Advent |
Holy Mass at 10.30am for our parishes | Holy Mass at 12.15pm for our parishes |
|
Monday
21 December
|
Holy
Mass at 10.00am
for Gwen Body, Janet Chapman and Owen Bogue at their anniversaries |
|
|
Tuesday
22 December
|
Requiem
Mass at 10.00am for Mary
Finnigan |
Holy Mass at 10.00am |
|
Wednesday
23 December
|
Holy
Mass at 10.00am for Michael Wire and family, Anne Bull as a special
intention, Geraldine and Mickey Collins and Mary and John Finnigan who both died recently |
|
|
Thursday
24 December
Christmas Eve |
Holy
Mass at 10.00am for Mary
Madden and Esther Madden, Stephen Weideger and Charles Machetti who
both died recently and Ignatius Dougan Holy Mass at 5.30pm for William Henry and Dan Carroll who both died recently Mass at 8.30pm offered for John Clarke who died recently and the Boyle family as a special intention |
Mass of the Holy Night at 7.00pm |
|
Friday
25 December
Christmas Day |
Mass of the Nativity of the Lord at 11.00am | Mass of the Nativity of the Lord at 9.30am |
|
Saturday
26 December |
Holy Mass at 12 noon for
George McGeehan who died recently and Jessie Brown at her anniversary Private Vigil Mass at 5.30pm for Tom McKay and John Dolan at their anniversaries |
|
Saturday
19 December |
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm | |
|
Sunday
20 December
Fourth Sunday of Advent |
Holy
Mass
at 10.00am |
Holy
Mass
at 11.30am |
|
Monday
21 December
|
||
|
Tuesday
22 December
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
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Wednesday
23 December
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
|
Thursday
24 December
Christmas Eve |
Holy Mass at 5.00pm and 7.00pm | Holy Mass at 4.30pm and 7.00pm |
|
Friday
25 December
Christmas Day |
Holy Mass at 9.00am and 11.00am | Holy Mass at 9.30am and 11.00am |
|
Saturday
26 December |
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm |
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SAINT
PETER'S NOTICES
MASS
BOOKINGS REQUIEM
MASS FOR JOSEPH McKERAGHAN
|
|
SAINT
BRIDE'S NOTICES
DONATION |
| COVID
SYMPTOMS For the safety of everyone and to prevent spread of the Covid-19, please do not attend Church over Christmas if you have any unusual symptoms for example. headache, cold or flu-like symptoms. Of course, if you have any of the three classic symptoms of coronavirus - high temperature, persistent cough, loss of or change in sense of taste or smell - please self-isolate immediately and book a test. Thank you for your cooperation with all the public health measures in place. |
POPE
FRANCIS PROCLAIMS YEAR OF SAINT JOSEPH
Pope Francis announced a Year of
Saint Joseph in honour of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
saint's proclamation as patron of the universal Church. The year begins on
8 December 2020 and concludes on 8 December 2021. The decree said that Pope
Francis had established a Year of Saint Joseph so that 'every member of
the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily
in the complete fulfilment of God's will'. 'Each of us can discover in Joseph
-- the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence -- an
intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble' he wrote. 'Saint Joseph
reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable
role in the history of salvation. In his relationship to Jesus, Joseph was
the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father. He watched over him and protected
him, never leaving him to go his own way. Our world today needs fathers. It
has no use for tyrants who would domineer others as a means of compensating
for their own needs. It rejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism,
service with servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare
mentality, power with destruction. I would also like to tell you something
very personal' he said. 'I have great love for Saint Joseph because he is
a man of silence and strength. On my table I have an image of Saint Joseph
sleeping. Even when he is asleep, he is taking care of the Church! Yes! We
know that he can do that. So when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write
a little note and I put it underneath Saint Joseph so that he can dream about
it! In other words I tell him - pray for this problem!'
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.
OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES
A teacher from a primary school asked her students to write an essay about
family time and what they would like God to do for them. In the evening, while
marking the essays, she read one that made her very emotional. Oh God, tonight
I ask you something very special - make me into a television. I want to take
its place and live like the TV in my house, have my own special place and
have my family around me. I want to be taken seriously when I talk. I want
to be the centre of attention and be heard without interruptions or questions.
I want to receive the same special care that the TV receives when it is not
working. I want to have the company of my dad when he arrives home from work,
even when he is tired and I want my mum to want me when she is sad and upset,
instead of ignoring me. I want my brothers to fight to be with me. I want
to feel that the family just leaves everything aside, every now and then,
just to spend some time with me. Last but not least, make it that I can make
them all happy and entertain them. Lord, I don't ask you for much. I just
want to live like every TV! After reading it, her husband said "Who are
his parents? Poor child." She looked up at him and said "We are
his parents. Our son wrote that"!
THE BEST GIFT OF ALL
It was nearing the holiday season in Rumania, time for our orphans to hear
for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about
Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, they went
to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout
the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened.
Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing
the story, we gave the children many things to build their own manger. The
orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if
they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little
Misha sat. He looked to be about six years old and had finished his project.
As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but
two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the
boy why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of
him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat
the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas
story once, he related the happenings accurately - until he came to the part
where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib.
He made up his own ending to the story as he said "And when Maria laid
the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to
stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place
to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him - but I told him I couldn't
because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted
to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could
use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.
So I asked Jesus "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?"
- and Jesus told me "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift
anybody ever gave me." So I got into the manger and then Jesus looked
at me and he told me I could stay with him - for always." As little Misha
finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his
little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table
and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found
someone who would never abandon him, someone who would stay with him - for
always. I've learned that it's not what you have in your life but who you
have in your life that counts.
JUST FOR A LAUGH ...
Ducking into confession with a turkey in his arms, Brian said "Forgive
me, Father, for I have sinned. I stole this turkey to feed my family. Would
you take it and settle my guilt?" "Certainly not" said the
priest. "As penance, you must return it to the one from whom you stole
it." "I tried" Brian sobbed "but he refused. Oh, Father,
what should I do?" "If what you say is true, then it is all right
for you to keep it for your family." Thanking the priest, Brian hurried
off. When confession was over, the priest returned to his residence. When
he walked into the kitchen, he found that someone had stolen his turkey.
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.
STANDING
ORDERS - PLEASE THINK ABOUT IT
The parishes have taken quite a 'knock' through lockdown when public Mass
was not available for sixteen weeks. This has had a huge impact on our parishes'
finances. Could you consider taking out a Standing Order? It would be of great
benefit to our parish. Forms are available from the Parish Office and here.
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.