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Sunday 02 February 2025

Candlemas

For over a millennium, today’s feast marked the end of the Christmas season. The forty days of Christmas that began with Midnight Mass and extended to today, Candlemas, recalling the Presentation of the baby

Jesus in the Temple, echo the Law of Moses requiring that every first-born son be redeemed by the offering of sacrifice to God. The Masses this weekend begin with a special blessing of candles to signify that Jesus is

the Light of the Nations and the Glory of His people, Israel. Our outdoor Crib that has been in place right through to today’s older commemoration of the Christmas season is finally dismantled, and our minds begin to see

Lent on the horizon just a month away.

 

As we celebrate the baby Jesus being consecrated in the Temple in Jerusalem and we receive a blessed candle, let us ask that His light shine in and through us, with the prayers of our Lady and St Joseph, too.

Father Edmund  

Outdoor Crib

The Crib will come down this coming week, as with the celebration of Candlemas, the

more ancient commemoration of

Christmastide concludes today

Holy Year 2025

Don’t forget the three promises for

2025: prayer every day, Mass every

week, Confession every month

Holy Family

Our February Catholic devotion is

to the Holy Family

St. Peter_s Square

How to Receive the Holy Year Plenary Indulgence

When we sin and repent, we can be forgiven if we are truly sorry and seek forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance. However, even when we have been forgiven by God, the reality or consequences of our sin in our lives, and in the lives of others, remain. We have the duty to make up for this by penance

Prayer Requests

Ellie O’Driscoll, Marion Andrew, Lisa Gilmore, Ella-May Ehlen, Pat,

Edna, Anne Donnelly, David Fitzgeraldson, Jean Bowles, Tony

Kemp, Pat McMahon, Margaret Kenny, Antoinette Denney, Francis

Ellis, Babies Avery and Vincent White, Christine Fernandes,

Christine Brown, Kath Leahey, Jim Shepherd, Joanne, Michael,

Sophie, Elliott, David, Karen Seymour, Mavis O’Donnell, Baby Alana,

Honora Ellis, Marie, Sheila, and Vincent Smith. Please pray for those

who have died: Peter Kirkham, Patricia Hughes, Margaret Stanford,

John Tobin, Hugh Jones, Marjorie Stubbs, Fr Michael O’Connor

Church Candles

Social Projects

I am grateful to God for the opportunity He has given us to serve our town in these ways and am very proud that so many parishioners have come forward to volunteer to play their part in these new projects.

Online Donations to the Parish

To making giving easier, please consider donating  online via the Parish Website


Thank you for your generosity!

Lourdes Roadshows

A message from Canon Christopher Matthews, the Director of the Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage:

​

In this Jubilee Year of 2025, Bishop Mark has asked that our

diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes will be our Jubilee Pilgrimage. To help raise the profile of the pilgrimage and to answer any questions your parishioners might have, we have organised a roadshow for those who are interested in joining our annual diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Our roadshow will be on 15 February 2pm-4pm St Anthony, Wythenshawe. Information and register of interest cards will be available, and members of the Lourdes Management Team will be present to answer any questions.

Diocesan Job Vacancy

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Diocese with the Shrewsbury Youth Mission Team. Further details can be found on the Diocesan website. Completed applications  should be sent to Pauline McCulloch at: recruitment@dioceseofshrewsbury.org. Closing date 21 February 2025.

Charismatic Prayer Group

Meets this Sunday evening at 5pm - all welcome for praise, prayer, and intercession.

Mobile Living Well Service

Cheshire West and Chester Living Well Service has joined up with the NHS and CWP to offer a mobile Living Well Service providing various health checks, including immunisations, blood pressure and mental health support. The bus will be located at Sutton Beeches on Monday 3 February and no appointment is required. It will be open from 10.30am – 4pm.

St Werburgh

We send our prayerful best wishes to Fr Paul Shaw and his parish of St Werburgh in Chester as they celebrate their feast day tomorrow (Monday).

Adult Confirmation/Becoming Catholic

There may be some adults in our parish who have never been Confirmed. If there are any adults who have not yet been Confirmed but would like to receive this Sacrament, please let

me know. Likewise if anyone would like to consider becoming Catholic, I am always ready to support you; this is an invitation to those who may have thought a long time about it over the years, but need some encouragement to take the step forward.

First Communion

The BBC broadcast a programme that might be of interest, following first Holy Communion families in a parish. It is available on BBC iPlayer, called simply First Communion and it may give parishioners an insight into the complexities that helping children towards their first Holy Communion raises: families who don’t

believe, families who don’t come to Mass, families who love God and are at Mass every Sunday. An interesting ‘snapshot' of the

realities of pastoral care.

Talks on the Women of the Bible

Once the talks on Luke are concluded, likely by the end of February now, we can take up the next series in the first weeks of Lent to carry us through the whole of Lent and into early Summer. The next series is, as you may recall, on the Women of the Bible, hugely significant and heroic women from the pages of the

Scriptures, beginning with Eve and working our way through the Old and New Testaments. More details to follow.

Luke Talks

This coming week we will look at two accounts which are unique to the Gospel of Luke: The Good Thief who dies next to Christ on the Cross and the Road to Emmaus. No other Gospel contains these accounts, so why does Luke include them? All welcome - Wednesday 29 January at 6.30pm, Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Centre.

Talks on the Women of the Bible

A reminder and an invitation to all those who might be considering joining the Rome pilgrimage later in the year. Places are going quite quickly now, so if you would like to know more details, please follow this link:
 

Or contact Tangney Tours directly

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