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 9 MAY 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 15:9-17)
Jesus said to his disciples "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved
you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my
love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.
This is my commandment - love one another as I have loved you. A man can have
no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends
if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more because
a servant does not know his master's business. I call you friends because
I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did
not choose me - no, I chose you and I commissioned you to go out and to bear
fruit, fruit that will last and then the Father will give you anything you
ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another."
REFLECTION
In recent Sundays we have been exploring our relationship with the risen
Lord Jesus. We have seen ourselves as sheep of his flock and branches of
his vine but today he presents to us a wonderful new image and title - we
are his friends. The friendship of Jesus is a gift that we cannot overvalue.
Like a true friend, he wants to be close to us, to share our lives, our
worries and our celebrations. He wants to help us when we need help. The
friendship of Jesus explains the cross. No one could have greater love than
to put themselves in the place of a friend facing danger or death. Jesus
does this for us. How do we respond to the friendship of Jesus? By simply
doing what he asks of us - keeping his commandments.
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
8 May |
Vigil Mass at 5.30pm for Ian McCormick and Helen McGee at their anniversaries | |
Sunday
9 May
Sixth Sunday of Easter |
Holy Mass at 10.30am for our parishes | Holy Mass at 12.15pm |
Monday
10 May
|
Holy Mass 10.00am for Winnie McMillan who died recently and the special intention of Jean McLellan | |
Tuesday
11 May
|
Requiem
Mass at 10.00am for Rosa Carrino |
Holy Mass at 10.00am |
Wednesday
12 May
|
Votive
Mass of Saint Joseph at 10.00am for Kathleen Fraser at her six months
mind and the special intention of the Lawrence family |
|
Thursday
13 May
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord |
Holy
Mass at 10.00am for Bridget McAvinia at her anniversary Holy Mass at 7.00pm for all Souls in Purgatory |
Holy Mass at 12 noon |
Friday
14 May
Feast of Saint Matthias |
Holy
Mass at 10.00am for James Timmons at his anniversary and the special
intentions of the Lawrence family |
Holy Mass at 12 noon |
Saturday
15 May |
Vigil Mass at 5.30pm for John Cairns and Rosa Carrino who both died recently | |
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
15 May |
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm | |
Sunday
9 May
Sixth Sunday of Easter |
Holy
Mass
at 10.00am |
Holy
Mass
at 11.30am |
Monday
10 May
|
||
Tuesday
11 May
|
Holy Mass at 10.00am | Online Mass at 1.30pm |
Wednesday
12 May
|
Holy
Mass at 10.00am Holy Mass at 7.00pm |
|
Thursday
13 May
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord |
Holy
Mass at 9.30am Holy Mass at 7.00pm |
Holy Mass at 11.00am |
Friday
14 May
Feast of Saint Matthias |
Holy Mass at 10.00am | |
Saturday
15 May |
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, Annie Watt, Bill Holden and Valerie Bickers;
Winnie McMillan, Rosa Carrino, John Cairns and Benet Brodie who died recently;
Mary Kelly 2013, John McCracken 1949, Thomas McDermott 2017, Joe Moran 2008,
Elizabeth Hendry 1987, Frank Nils Matthews 2003, Ian McCormick 2019, Josephine
Mulligan 2008, Angela Murray 1991, Thomas Algeo 2013, Robert Ferguson 2005,
Nicholas McIntee 2004, Francis Moran 1999, Theresa Smith 1997, Matthew Black
2015, Stan Wilson 2017, William James Connelly 2012, Les Dorrian 2009, Mary
McFarlane 2004, Anthony Bale 2017 and Charles Campbell 2008 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.
DON'T FORGET THE DAY OF THE LORD
Vibrant is a word which seems to have characterised so many of our parishes
throughout the pandemic. What will be the pace of our emerging from this
pandemic remains as yet unclear. What is clear is the challenge we face
of bringing our communities and the practice of the faith to a still greater
expression and strength. There seem to be three distinct groups.
• There are the fearful and weary, anxious about coming
into the enclosed spaces of our Churches and those who have simply lost
the habit of coming to Church. Personal contact, clear reassurance, and
sensitive invitations will all be needed.
• There are those who will have reassessed their pattern
of life and priorities. The practice of faith within the community of the
Catholic Church may not be among those priorities. A gap may have opened
up, or widened, between the spiritual dimension of their lives and any communal
expression of that spiritual quest. They represent a particular focus and
concern for our outreach. c)
• There are those whom we might describe as the 'Covid
curious', those who have come into contact with the Catholic Church through
our presence on the internet - a contact we may be able to develop through
our continuing presence across diverse media platforms. In facing these
challenges, we are endowed with veritable treasures which serve to resource
and enrich us.
The greatest treasure is, of course, the sacramental life of the Church,
and, pre-eminently, the Eucharist. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the
lifeblood of the Church. It requires our active participation and, to be
fully celebrated, our physical presence. At this moment, then, we need to
have in our sights the need to restore to its rightful centrality in our
lives the Sunday Mass, encouraging each to take his or her place once again
in the assembly of our brothers and sisters. We face the task of seeking
to nurture the sense of Sunday as 'a weekly gift from God to his people',
and something we cannot do without; to see Sunday as the soul of the week,
as giving light and meaning to all the responsibilities we live out each
day; to see the Sunday Eucharist as food for the unique mission with which
we have been endowed. In the time to come we can do no better than to rekindle
in our hearts, foster and encourage, a yearning for the Real Presence of
the Lord and the practice of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, a gift
so deeply appreciated in these times of lockdown. This is such an important
focus for our task in the coming months.
SAINT
PETER'S NOTICES
REQUIEM
MASS FOR ROSA CARRINO |
SAINT
BRIDE'S NOTICES
SACRAMENT
OF BAPTISM |
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.
MAY
MARATHON OF PRAYER FOR AN END TO THE PANDEMIC
Pope Francis invites Catholics
and Marian Shrines around the world to dedicate the month of May to a
marathon of prayer for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative,
behind which the Pope has thrown his support, involves thirty Marian Shrines
from various parts of the world. It takes place under the theme 'The whole
Church was fervently praying to God' which recalls a verse in the Book
of Acts (12:5). After more than a year, and with the world still in the
grips of the pandemic, the Pope and the Church around the world are once
again leading the way in imploring God for an end to the suffering which
so many people are forced to bear.
MARY WE CROWN YOU
When we speak about Crowning Our Lady it means that we recognise that
she is our Queen in heaven - by virtue of her relationship to Jesus Christ,
our Saviour and the Universal King, and by virtue of the mission that
God gave her in life for the salvation of the world. In Holy Scripture,
amongst those who receive the 'crown of life and glory'(James 1,12; 1
Peter 5,4; Revelation 2,10), Mary is the first and the most prominent.
Often she is compared to the woman with the 'crown of twelve stars upon
her head'(Revelation 12,1). In our Tradition of Faith, the role of Mary
in our Salvation, was often described with the symbol of the crown and
the title 'Queen'. In past cultures where 'kings' and queens were common
figures, it seemed much more obvious that Christ and Mary would be symbolised
through 'royal' symbols The Crown of Mary became the sign for her care,
her protection, her intercession and also her mission to bring us closer
to God. Our Crowning today at the beginning of May is a consequence of
our striving to be witnesses of Christ and instruments in Our Lady's hands
for a better world. Through recognising and celebrating Mary as a Queen,
we can find it easier to celebrate Christ as our King and Lord. The Crowning
of Mary should not be understood just as an expression of piety. It is
also a sign of our efforts and striving to live and build the Kingdom
of God here and now. When we crown Mary today, what are we saying? We
are asking her to make us witnesses, we are asking her to give us the
grace to build the Kingdom of Jesus everywhere, amongst our young people,
in our families, in our homes, in our country and we are asking her to
use us as her instruments to establish more and more the 'civilisation
of love'. When we crown Mary, we are also seeing in her the ideal for
women today. She is the woman who God raised up in an original way - see
Luke 1,52. Crowning Mary means to value properly the 'genius of womanhood'
and the dignity of women in general, but also to recognise the individual
dignity of Mary, the Mother of God. Mary's mission is to take us to God
and to help us experience God in our daily lives of faith. By Crowning
Mary we are making a step towards God in our own lives and we are becoming
more aware of God's presence in our lives and in our families. Is not
our Church a Family? Doesn't she have the mission to spread and grow more
and more in the world? The Church has Mary as the great Mother of the
People but she is also a Queen standing beside Christ the King. Again
today, we may look upon the Queen of the Universe - and shouldn't that
fill us with a great and deep joy? We are able to offer Mary again, as
our Mother and Queen, a Crown. We want to crown her and we are allowed
to crown her as the Mother and Queen of the world!"
JUST
FOR A LAUGH ...
A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination and
looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out
of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an
old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mummy,
look what I found" the boy called out. "What have you got there,
dear?" his mother asked. With astonishment in the young boy's voice,
he answered "I think it's Adam's suit!"
ASCENSION THURSDAY THIS WEEK
This coming Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension, where we begin
the traditional Novena to the Holy Spirit for Pentecost. Mass at Saint
Bride's is at at 12 noon. Masses at Saint Peter's are at 10.00am and
7.00pm. We ask the Holy Spirit to free us from the 'scourge of half-heartedness,
guide us in the teaching of Christ and enkindle in us the spirit of the
apostles and martyrs'. This is the prayer that we can say from Ascension
Day to Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them
the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created
and you will renew the face of the earth. Lord, by the light of the Holy
Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit
help us to relish what is right and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
EMERGENCY ON-CALL
Father
Duncan is on the emergency on-call for our hospitals
from this Sunday for a week. Please keep all those in hospital at this
time in your thoughts and prayers.
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.