Hello again.
As I write there is a deluge outside, so it must be school holidays still. We hope everyone concerned had a restful break. Thanks to the parents who registered their children for First Holy Communion. There are now seven. You will be contacted about arrangements for lessons, sharing that privilege of continuing to introduce your child to Jesus. We will do all we can to help you.
This weekend is the happy celebration of All Saints – not just our patron saints or the more famous ones, but all those souls judged by God to be enjoying heaven in everlasting bliss. We praise and bless them all. In the book of Revelation we read of John’s vision of those who suffered martyrdom: a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe, and language. In John’s first letter, he says we are children of God, and in the future we shall be like Him. The gospel from the Sermon on the Mount lists the kind of people, the pure, the peacemakers, the gentle, the merciful, etc. whose reward will be great in heaven.
On Tuesday we commemorate all those preparing to enter heaven, the Holy Souls. We will try to remember the names of all those whose funerals have taken place in the last two years, pay tribute to them for their faith and holiness, and commend their souls to God’s mercy. There will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament here at St Winefride’s on Tuesday at 7.00pm followed by a Memorial Mass at 7.30pm.
There will also be Mass on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings at 9.15am. It is the feast of our parish patron on November 3rd, but we can swap the dates, with St Charles Borromeo on Wednesday and celebrate St Winefride on Thursday 4th November with the coffee morning afterwards. Do come along.
Mass intentions have been offered for a special intention (Slattery), for Michael Clayton, G. P. Barnes, Bernard Roges, and Beryl Spivey.
A reminder that on-line copies of The Universe are available by subscription; on the notice board are details of how to obtain it, price £20 for 13 copies.
We are trying to re-establish our music for the Saturday evening Mass, and would like to increase our numbers if possible. If there are any musicians (grade 4+) who would be interested in joining the music group, please contact Annette Bourke (753321).
Before Covid, we used to collect gifts for distribution through St Joseph’s Family Centre in Warrington to more needy families locally. It became more difficult, and food parcels were replaced by shopping vouchers. This year there will again be vouchers, and you can donate to this on https://cafdonate.org/18286. But there will also be gift parcels, and we would welcome donations of non-essential items such as selection boxes, chocolates, biscuits, and luxury toilet gift sets. A container will appear in the church porch for these later. Please, will anyone offer to take these things to a storage centre in Long Lane Business Park in Warrington? Please let me know.
Any offerings for Mission Sunday (late from last week) can be placed in the special envelopes and put in the main collection today. Many thanks.
Fr Tony