Weekend Message Feb 18

Our Lady of Victories & St. Alphonsus,    Lutterworth

St. Pius X,   Narborough

 

 

Dear friends,

 

How could our parishes improve our care for our members who are unable to join with us in our regular worshipping community because of the lasting effects of the pandemic?

 

The ‘pre-synod’ discussions before Christmas raised this issue and some suggestions were made. For our care for our brothers and sisters to be more effective, volunteers will be needed. Can you help in one of the following ways?

 

• Regular (once a month) telephone contact with those who are unable to join us at Mass at present. The suggestion was that a group of telephonists would be needed.

 

• Regular visits to our members who are elderly, ill, or housebound.

 

• Join the parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul or other ‘outreach’ groups.

 

Please let me know if you are able and willing to help in any of these ways.

 

How could our two parishes work together in caring for those less fortunate? A vision for our two parishes, suggested by a number of people in our discussions for the forthcoming Synod in Rome, was that we work together better in our care for others, and in doing so, develop our community spirit. Our Lord calls on us all to share the blessings we have received with others, and in so doing we are witnessing to Christ and to our faith in his Resurrection in a very practical way.

I have recently received two suggestions for putting this vision into practice.

• Lutterworth & Villages Foodbank: Our two parishes have been supporting the foodbank generously for eight years. This is always a difficult time of year for many poor families, and steeply rising fuel costs are making this much worse. The foodbank has these shortages which it would be delighted if we could help to fill:

Soap         Hand Wash   Shampoo       Pasta Sauce             Pasta Snacks

Coffee      Hot Chocolate          Tinned Rice Pudding          Rice Snacks

Tinned Meat (not corned beef)                        Tinned Potatoes       Instant Mash

Tinned Soup       Tinned Spaghetti     Tinned Custard        Breakfast Cereal

All donations can be left in either of the two Churches.

• Lenten Lunch (proceeds to CAFOD): 12th March, 11.00 – 13.00. Entrance fee £3.50, which covers either soup and a roll, or bacon or sausage roll. Hot drink and a piece of cake, there will be a raffle ticket given included in the entrance price. Raffle prizes gratefully received. More details to follow.

 

• Tools With A Mission. “We have a mission to empower people in Africa living in extreme poverty to create their own livelihoods. We do this by sending trade kits full of tools that are used in skills training centres, offering the trainees a way to put poverty in the past for good and begin their own sustainable careers.”

The charity has collectors in the Leicester area. They are looking for:

agricultural tools, builders’ tools, carpenters’ tools, electricians’ tools, motor mechanic’s tools, plumbers’ tools, power tools, sewing machines, knitting machines, haberdashery, fully working IT equipment (minimum Windows 7), and Bibles in modern English.

They are unable to take broken tools (but will sharpen and clean off rust), lawn rakes, long handled shears, lawnmowers, printers, scanners, typewriters, disability aids, clothes and shoes, bikes, books, embroidery and curtain materials, or kitchen tools.

A member of our congregation, Veronica Smyth, is the local collecting point for TWAM and her garage holds all donations until there is sufficient for the area rep to take them to the headquarters. Any items could be brought to either of the Churches for Father John to take to Mrs. Smyth for onward collection.

• The above suggestions are in addition to the Christmas parcels for the Seafarers’ Mission at Immingham, which have been organized for many years by Messrs Curry and Wesley and others from St. Mary’s, South Wigston, to which our parishes contributed last Christmas, and will be pleased to contribute again in the future; and Mary’s Meals, to which both parishes will contribute again this year, to add to the hundreds of backpacks which we have already sent.

Future Plans Bishop Patrick’s plan for the future of the Diocese involves a number of structural changes. Among all of these, he suggests that our two parishes would merge and become one parish. This would make no difference to the number of Churches (two) and the number of weekend Masses (four) which are currently celebrated in those two Churches. There would still be one parish priest for the whole area, as there is now. The major changes are that there would only be one Bank account instead of two, one parish finance committee instead of two, and one parish committee for the merged parish. The parish would also have a new name, and would still have a parish priest. Bishop Patrick has not yet asked for our comments on the proposals, but we need to think about them to be ready for the time when we are asked for our opinion.

Synod Preparation Following the recent deanery discussion of the Synodal Journey, the next phase is the visit to the Cathedral on Tuesday 22 February 2022 from 7 – 8.15 pm. The diocesan guidelines suggest that we come to the Cathedral as a deanery group. Two representatives are required from each parish. Please let Father John know if you would like to represent the parishes at the Cathedral on the evening of Tuesday 22^nd February.

Government Easing of Plan B restrictions In response, and after consulting the insurers, the Bishops of England and Wales have updated their guidance for the use of Churches and other places of worship and for the use of parish halls.

• All are encouraged to be fully vaccinated (double vaccination and booster).
• All (except those who are exempt) are still required to wear masks or face coverings, to protect themselves and others.
• We are now permitted to sing; however, masks or face coverings must be worn during singing.
• Hand sanitizers must still be used on entry into the Church or hall.
• The windows must be open for ventilation whenever the Church or hall is being used by a number of people.
• It is no longer necessary to take the names of all who attend (and advance booking is also not needed).
• Holy water may be provided at the entrance once again – but needs to be refreshed at least once a week.
• Anyone who feels unwell or tests positive for covid-19 should not attend Church or any social activity in the parish.

Please think very carefully about whether you should attend Church if you are feeling unwell; and please do not attend if you may be infectious or if you have been in contact with anyone who has had a positive Covid test.

Please let me know if there are other measures which we should adopt, or if any of these measures are unclear.

This Sunday is the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C). 

Confessions: I will hear confessions from 9 until 9.30am on Saturdays at St. Pius X, Narborough; and from 4.30pm to 5.00pm on the first Saturday of the month at Our Lady of Victories & St. Alphonsus, Lutterworth.

At St. Pius X, Narborough:

Times of Mass for next weekend:

• 10am Saturday 26^th February;
• 9.30am Sunday 27^th;
• 10am Monday 28^th.
• 9am & 7.30pm Ash Wednesday 2^nd March.

 

At Our Lady of Victories & St. Alphonsus, Lutterworth:

Mass will also be celebrated on Thursday morning at 10.30am. We are grateful to Father Maloney for agreeing to celebrate this Mass.

Times of Mass next Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday:

• 5.30pm on Saturday 26^th February;
• 11am on Sunday 27^th;
• 10.30am Tuesday 1^st March
• 10.30am & 6pm Ash Wednesday 2^nd March;
• 10.30am Thursday 3^rd.

 

At Narborough the intentions for Mass this week will be Saturday (19^th) Vernon & Marian Mercano RIP; Sunday (20^th) Deceased friends & relations of J&R Rampton; Monday (21^st) Deceased friends & relations of M&M Biddle. Wednesday Michael Hart RIP; Thursday Michael Mears RIP. Next weekend Saturday (26^th) Terry Barber RIP; Sunday (27^th) Deceased friends & relations of K&M O’Connor; Monday (28^th) Bernadette Martin RIP.

 

At Lutterworth the intentions for Mass will be: Saturday (19^th) Holy Souls; Sunday (13^th) People of the Parishes; Tuesday (22^nd) Holy Souls; Thursday (24^th) Holy Souls.

Next Saturday (26^th) Holy Souls; Sunday (27^th) People of the Parishes; Tuesday (1^st March) Holy Souls; Thursday (2^nd) Holy Souls.

 

Prayers for the living and the dead:

 

Please pray for Marie Almey, Philip Jacques, Ian Benson, Mario Maneggio, Father Isidore Clarke OP, Brigid Davies, Vincent Roe, and for all who have died recently.

 

Please also pray for Beulah Blomfield, Diana Coughlin, Tony Thorlby, Hayley & Kaci Dunnill, John Southern, Monica Teeling, Peggy Merrell, Jane Bolsover, Suzanne Foxon, Jim Oxley, John Burns-Sweeney, Tom McDermott, Dave Knapper, Teresa Maugham, Mary Dunne, and Juanita Zaman and for all who are ill.

 

Please let me know of any others who have died, or anyone who is ill and asks for prayers.

 

Woman’s World Day of Prayer  Friday 4th March 22, 11am at  All Saints Church. Narborough.

 

English Martyrs’ School  Mr. Matthew Calen, who has been deputy principal and, since Christmas, has been acting Principal, has now been appointed Principal of the school. Congratulations to him, and we look forward to working with him in the future.

 

St. Patrick’s Day Bishop Patrick McKinney will celebrate Mass on St. Patrick’s Day at 11am, Thursday 17^th March, at St. Patrick’s Church, Beaumont Leys Lane, Leicester. LE4 2BD. All are welcome to attend.

 

Confirmation: Please will all those who wish to be confirmed collect a book from me to help with preparation.

 

Social Activities: can resume. However, “It is strongly recommended that a risk assessment for both the activity and the space is completed for the gathering.”

Scrabble Group: Mondays 2pm – 4 pm  for relaxed scrabble. At Lutterworth Catholic Church Hall. No winners, beginners welcome, just fun playing scrabble; cake and hot drink. Please contact Jo 01455 554298.

Evergreens: Bingo on Tuesdays from 1.30 pm until 4pm approx., in St. Pius X  Narborough Parish Hall. Entry £1. All welcome.

Next weekend is the Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Parish Priest’s contact details address 52 Leicester Road, Narborough. Leicester. LE19 2DF; telephone (0116) 2863676; email johnhadley1971@gmail.com

Reminders from previous weeks:

 

Home Visits, including Confession, Holy Communion, Sacrament of Anointing,  for housebound people: These are now permitted, but anyone visiting a housebound person (whether to administer Holy Communion or just a visit) should not visit anyone else during the same morning or afternoon. Visits should be short (in order to minimize the likelihood of passing on an infection) and hand sanitization must be used before and after the visit. If you would like a home visit, or know anyone who would like to be visited, please let Father John know. Please also let Father John know if anyone wishes to make confession or would like to receive the sacrament of anointing for the sick.

Financial matters:

 

Standing Orders: I will provide the parish Bank details to anyone who would like to donate by Standing Order or similar electronic means – many of you already do so (and I am very grateful indeed). I can provide standing order mandates for anyone who wishes – please just ask.

 

Gift Aid: I have copies of the form to complete, so if you are a taxpayer and would like the tax paid on your contributions to be given to the parish, please ask me for a form.

 

Recycling Textiles: At the moment the firm are no longer collecting in the Leicester area and has no plans to restart collections here. I hope to have better news soon.

 

**Important notice concerning car parking** Please park in the Church car parks whenever possible. If that is not possible, for whatever reason, please ensure that you are not causing an obstruction of the roadway or driveways to properties, and please remember that homeowners may wish to park outside their own homes. Please exercise Christian Charity when parking your car.

 

With my prayers for your wellbeing and salvation, Father John