Parish NEwsletter

Each week a Parish newsletter is written and distributed at Sunday Mass. 

Misplaced your copy or unable to attend this week? Look no further, the newletter is below!

PARISH PRIEST. Fr. Bernard Forshaw. 645 3996 st.annes@hotmail.co.uk

RETIRED PRIEST. Fr. Paschal Byrne. 644 7530. mppbryne7@gmail.com

PARISH WEB SITE: www.stlukesbebington.co.uk

PARISH SAFEGUARDING OFFICERS

K. Woodward 343 945 6267.

4th SUNDAY of EASTER

Mass Intentions Today. M. Bousen. Next Sunday. Eileen McDonald. 22nd May. Intentions of Richie Phillips.

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON: The merciful love of the Lord fills the earth; by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, alleluia.

RESPONSE TO THE PSALM. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION: Alleluia, alleluia! I am the good shepherd says the Lord: I know my own sheep and my own know me. Alleluia!

COMMUNION ANTIPHON: The Good Shepherd has risen, who laid down his life for his sheep and willingly died for his flock, alleluia.

THIS WEEKS READER: Laurence Tottle. NEXT WEEKS READER. Bea Porter.

FOOD BANK.

Many thanks for all the goods donated to the food bank. We also had £60 in cash donations.

NEXT WEEKS SERVICES.

Fr. Paschal will be saying the 9.15am Mass on Tuesday at St. John’s.

Fr. David Peters R.I.P.

Served as assistant Priest at St. John’s New Ferry from 1963-1965, and from 1966-1972 at Our Lady’s Birkenhead also as assistant Priest.

The Funeral Vigil Mass is at Holy Family Church, Sale Moor on Monday 9th May at 7.00pm and at 11.30am on Tuesday 10th May. May he rest in peace.

R.I.P.

Please remember in your prayers Lena Robinson, one of our long-time parishioners, who has died peacefully in West Kirby Nursing Home. Please remember also her family and many friends. Her Funeral will take place at St. Werburgh’s Church, Birkenhead on the 23rd May at 11.00am.

POVERTY CHALLENGE.

Following the pandemic, many households now also face new hardships as prices rise. Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), the Catholic agency addressing poverty and injustice in England and Wales has released a free new booklet to increase awareness of Catholic Social Teaching on poverty and to inform local responses. Please take a moment to read and encourage groups and individuals to engage with it. Download from www.csan.org.uk

GOOD THINGS CAN COME IN SMALL PACKAGES.

Good things can come in small packages. Today's brief reading carries quite a punch. It teaches us all we need to know about prayer; That's in the quiet and solitude of prayer that we most effectively hear the Lord's voice. For sure, in the hustle and bustle of daily life and through the pangs of conscience the Lord prompts, urges and guides us, but it's primarily in prayer that we, his sheep hear his voice.

The practise of taking time out to be still with the Lord is in decline and it has become fashionable these days to speak of one’s whole life being a prayer: We can be too busy to carve out space in our busy schedules to pray so we offer up the prayers as we move through our day. God is so much part and parcel of life that spontaneous, intimate chat becomes second nature. While no one can deny the importance of having an ongoing conversation with the Lord through the course of our day, the wise advice of centuries of Avila speaks down the centuries to us today: we are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in his presence in a very different sense.

Once the real problems we have concerning prayer is deciding to carve out the time. When we have so much to do the idea of taking time out to pray can seem impractical and unreasonable. The benefits and blessings of prayer, however, far outweigh the very real and very pressing demands of our frantic and frenetic schedules, as the Holy Spirit will reveal to us, if we allow him to. It's the gentle voice of the spirit who invites us into God's presence so that we can be renewed and refreshed in body and spirit. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who's dedicated service to the poor was rooted in prayer and the Eucharist, said, prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing Gods gift of himself.

“I have so much to do today that I must spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.”

John Wesley.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

We should give meaning to life and not wait for life to give us meaning.