Year of Faith: Handing on Your Faith

O Lord, who are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; pour your spirit upon the Church and on our families that we may introduce you anew to succeeding generations.

Help us to bear effective witness to the truth of your Gospel, so that all who look to us might catch something of the beauty of your presence and the kindliness of your everlasting care.

HANDING ON YOUR FAITH

“From its beginning Christianity has been characterised as a movement of tradition.  When most Catholics are asked what tradition means, they tend to say it’s something you hold onto, something you keep.  The primary meaning of the word is the opposite:  not something we keep but something we pass on. 

When St Paul summarises his preaching to the Corinthians he tells them:  “I taught you what I had been taught myself” (1Corinthians 15.:3).  That is tradition in action.  When we don’t want to lose what we love, we hand it over.  Otherwise when we die there will be a double funeral—for us and for what we love.

Christianity is a generation away from extinction: if we do not hand over what we believe and love to a new generation, Christianity will be reduced to a museum piece, a memory of what people used to believe and practice.  Christianity has always depended on people passing on their faith, so that others might share the life they cherish.

At the end of this Year of Faith we are challenged to share our belief with our families, our friends, and all we meet.”

Fr O’Mahony will return here on 31st October and will offer us an opportunity to experience a weekend workshop/ retreat over Friday evening, Saturday 10:30am–3:00pm and a Holy Hour on Sunday afternoon.

The theme is “Prayer and developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”.

The presentation will involve input on methods of prayer, prayer times, shared reflection on prayer, guided meditations and preaching at Mass.

A list is on display at the back of the church to give a sense of the numbers of people drawn to such a retreat experience for one or more of the sessions.

We look forward to welcoming him for the third time to the parish to help us mark the close of the Year of Faith and focus again on the New Evangelisation.

The Children’s Liturgy Group: our leaders have already committed themselves to developing and deepening the experience of children of primary school age of their faith beginning in Advent.

Our community needs to take this more seriously than ever before. Existing leaders and all interested in helping them are invited to meet with Fr. Ness and Deacon John in the library at 3pm on Sunday 10th November.

During midweek evenings in Advent in 40 minute sessions the parish clergy will offer parents the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the Sacraments in advance of next year’s celebration of each of the three Sacraments -  First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and especially Confirmation  -  which is to be Parish centred and celebrated by the parish priest pending the appointment of a bishop for this Diocese.

The celebration of (Sunday) Mass is the source and summit of all prayer.

Nothing more clearly and wonderfully defines who we are as Catholics. Mass has always been at the very heart and centre of our belief and practice and of our sacramental life.

As a community we will shortly consider whether to link participation at Sunday  Mass  directly to the celebration of sacraments by the children of the Parish as in St. Joseph’s Blantyre, St. Ignatius Wishaw and St. Peter’s Hamilton, to see if this may find general approval here.

Reading Ministry: Lectorate 

All ministers of the Word are invited to attend a meeting in the Church with Deacon John McGarry on Wednesday 30th October at 7:00pm to plan an evening of reflection and prayer on this essential ministry of proclaiming (rather than reading) the Word of God for the community.

At all our Sunday liturgies there should be three lectors  -  one to proclaim the Old Testament Reading and the Psalm if it is not sung, one for the New Testament Reading and one for the Prayers of Intercession.

If you consider that you are called into this Ministry and would like to take part, please come to the meeting.  

The Bulletin

The Bulletin is an essential element of communication and conscious of the detail it routinely carries we want to produce it in much larger 4 page A3 rather than 4 page A4 as at present.

The printing equipment needed for this will cost approximately £1500 but it is necessary to improve the presentation for the Parish so we have ordered this from our trusted supplier on a six week delivery.

All and any assistance with this extraordinary expenditure will be greatly appreciated as in recent times we were helped by donations to meet the cost of the organ, the new hymn books, the provision of Sr. Sheila’s Garden, the loop control unit and the provision of parties for the children.

Notices for the bulletin can be handed in to the Chapel House or emailed to bulletin@sbek.org. Under the new arrangements for printing the bulletin, to ensure inclusion in each weekend’s bulletin, the deadline for receipt of notices is Thursday lunchtime.

Fr. Denis McBride  -  Year of Faith Diary—November.