St John the Baptist Parish Newsletter Parish Office: Sacred Heart Church, Silver Link Rd, Tamworth, B77 2EA Parish Office: 01827 769403 Parish Centre Bookings: 01827 288226 Priests: Fr Michael – michael@stjohnrctamworth.org.uk Fr Noel – noel@stjohnrctamworth.org.uk Centre Bookings: Rev Deacon Brian Cox and Mrs Nora Cox – brian.cox8@tiscali.co.uk Tel. 288226 Admin: Wendy Quinn – office@stjohnrctamworth.org.uk Gift Aid, HOT, database (Tues & Wed): Rob Breeden – robertjbreeden@googlemail.com www.stjohnrctamworth.org.uk St John’s Church in on St John St, Tamworth, B79 7EX Sixth Sunday of the Year (B) – 15th February 2015 Psalm Response: You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the joy of salvation Saturday 14th February St Cyril Sixth Sunday of the year Sunday 15th February Sixth Sunday of the year 10.30am (S.J.) Nancy Lynch 6.00pm (S.J.) Hughie McKenny – Kathleen Kearns 9.00 am (S.H.) Rose Ellen & James McKenna 10.30 am (S.J.) Maura McGee – Sarah White 12.00 noon (S.H.) Ray Russell – Ian Potter Monday 16th February Feria 10.00 am (S.J.) Communion Service th Tuesday 17 February Feria 10.00 am (S.J.) Justine Entwistle & Holy Souls (Time Change) 7.00pm (S.H.) Communion Service th Wednesday 18 February Ash Wednesday 10.00 am (S.J.) Dan Collins 7.00pm (S.H.) Nancy Lynch Thursday 19th February Thurs. after Ash 7.00am (S.H.) Megan O’Connor Wed. 10.00am (S.J.) Hughie McKenny Friday 20th February Fri. after Ash Wed. 12.30pm (S.J.) Mass for the sick and housebound of the parish 7.00pm (S.H.) Communion Service Saturday 21st February Sat. after Ash Wed. 10.30am (S.J.) Jim & Tilly Moran First Sunday of Lent 6.00pm (S.J.) Kevin Miller – Sarah White Sunday 22nd February 9.00 am (S.H.) John Spencer – Megan O’Connor Ray Howard – Micael Bolger First Sunday of Lent 10.30 am (S.J.) 12.00 noon (S.H.) Mary Gillen – Bob Liversidge Confessions at St John’s: Sat 11.00 till 11.30 am and 5.15 – 5.45 pm. Please pray for the sick: Mick Evans, Chad Williams, Steve Brindley, Finn Lynch, Teresa Woodcock, Gill Horsley, Margaret Thompson, Phil Crook, Keith Waterhouse, Mary Pullen, Kit Liversidge, Patrick O’Hara, Maggie Gordan, Noreen Doherty, Christine Lavery, Michelle Mason, Julie Orme, Nikolas Atkins, Sheila Brown, Stephen Morley, Jaden Walker, Frank Ryan, Elsie Newbold, Gillian & John Solanky, Edna Mundin, John Barrass, June Beggan, Michael Fox, Betty Meehan, Mary Miller, Sarah Gillen, Conan Teyssou, Winnie Claridge, Ann-Marie Purslow, Eileen and Vincent Murphy, Fr Mike Serrage, Janine & Philip Nolan, Margaret Fenn, Ann Bernes, Teresa Weir, Morag Deighton. Reflection: Do you know the healing power of forgiveness? The man in today’s Gospel had been crippled not only physically, but spiritually. Jesus freed him from his burden of guilt and also restored his body. The Lord is every ready to bring us healing of soul, body, and mind. Do you allow anything to keep you from Jesus? As we approach Lent let us pray: "Lord Jesus, May your healing power and love touch every area of my life -my innermost thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories. Forgive my sins and transform me in the power of your Holy Spirit that I may walk confidently in your truth and righteousness." Please pray for those whose anniversaries occur : Michael Dwyer, Denis Smith, Frederick Hassall, Frederick Davis, Michael Wyse, Stephen Fleming, Cornelius Flynn, Elizabeth Cope, Leanne McEvoy, Elizabeth Niblett, Terrence Horrels, Annie Parnell, Violet Bubb, Nellie Haiste, Laurence Vesey, Emma Flanagan, Eileen Morley, Mollie Porter, John Hawkins, Irene Darley, Christopher Byrne, Connie Eckert, Joe McEvoy, Lauren Beracroft, Irene Palmer, Geoffrey Mulvey, Esther Westley, Christopher Murphy, Clara Meakin, Catherine Russell, Dora Henson, Mary Barron, Patricia Clibbery, Mary Barron, Catherine Tipper, M Gernell, Peggy Chater, Patrick O’Gara, Rosetta Finney, Peter Dunsford, Thomas McKiernan, Ann Gibbons, Joseph Eddy, Mary Elliott, Philip Cole, Roseannia Irwin, Irene Lowry, Judith Bartram. Please pray for the Repose of the soul of Anne Marie Johnston, the funeral Mass will take place at Sacred Heart on Friday 20th February at 12.30pm. May all who are experiencing loss in their lives find consolation and peace in love of Jesus Christ. Our Journey Through Lent begins with Ash Wednesday this week. There will be a morning at St John’s at 10.00 and an evening Mass at Sacred Heart at 7.00 with the distribution of ashes. Please join us for one of these Masses so we can begin the journey together. Lent: Our personal daily prayer should be our starting point – so please use the Walk with Me booklets (these are available again this weekend). Give a donation or take one for free if you need to, but please take one. Here are 7 other opportunities to expand our spiritual horizons in Lent: 1. Soup: Lent begins in just over a week! Again we would like to offer a Fast Day lunch each Friday after 12.30 Mass. Our generous donations can make a real difference to the work of CAFOD but it also links our fasting into helping the poor. Please join us: Mass at 12.30 Soup at 1.00. 2. Early Morning Masses throughout Lent begins on Thursday 19th February at Sacred Heart and continues throughout Lent Tuesdays at St John’s, Thursdays Sacred Heart, both at 7am. Attending these Masses is a great opportunity for quiet prayer before the rush of the day begins. We also have Masses each morning at Srt John’s at 10.00 or 11.00 or 10.30 am. 3. Lenten Reflection Saturday 21st February 2015, Oscott College will be the setting for ‘Lenten Reflections’, an evening of meditations, readings and music for the season of Lent. We are delighted that during the evening, Archbishop Bernard Longley will be singing a number of seasonal pieces. A date worth putting in your diary! Please do look out for posters in your parishes or for further information please do call the college on 0121 321 5026. 4. Retreat Day for anyone engaged or interested in social action. This should be a great spiritual day taking place at Oscott College on Saturday March 21st from 10.30 till 4.30. An amazing venue and just 10 miles up the road (lifts could be arranged). See poster in Church. Cost is just £10 and you can book by going to www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk, then log on to caritas for booking form. It is being led by David McLoughlin who has spoken in our Church. If you need a lift, please contact the parish office. 5. Open Day: In Saint Joseph's Convent, Haunton on Wednesday 4th March from 10am to 4pm. Come and spend time in our convent for prayer in front of the blessed Sacrament with occasional times for guided prayer. Meet and talk with the sisters even though we are few! This day is in honour of the year dedicated to Religious Life which began in November 2015. 6. Live Simply this Lent: The Live Simply group have produced a calendar for parishioners to use during Lent. This can be used to help you to follow your Lenten Journey. The calendars will be shared out after mass. “Live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.” 7. CAFOD: Donate to our Lent appeal between Ash Wednesday (18 February) and Sunday 17 May 2015, and the UK government will match what you give, £1 for £1*. And if you set up a direct debit, your first three months will be matched! www.cafod.org.uk/Give/Lent SpREd Group: Our parish group for young people with special educational needs and learning difficulties. We aim to learn about our faith in fun filled sessions and special spREd masses. New members very welcome. (Contact Sue 251197 for more info). Meeting dates on the following Tuesdays, 6.30PM at Sacred Heart: 3rd & 24th March. Please see the flyers in Church if you know someone who might be interested. Cultural Evening: some of the loveliest events in recent years have centred on having a cultural evening. People have asked about organising one so we are calling a meeting for Tues 24th Feb at 7.00 pm at Sacred Heart. It is open to anyone interested in making sure that their culture is celebrated in food, music, costume etc At our last event we had representation from India, the Philippines, Germany, Ireland, Ghana, Italy, Scotland, Wales, England, Mexico, Poland and other nations. It was a great evening thanks to the number of people involved. Please involve yourself in this one too. YOSH – No meeting this week due to school half term, we will meet again on Thursday 26th February Parents and young member of YOSH, this is a chance to enter a Religious Poem Competition which could earn £250 for the parish. The poem can be a prayer, words for a hymn, a description of an uplifting moment, a religious experience, about a person or your church. It can be rhyming or free verse, historic, romantic, factual, or personal - anything you like, as long as there’s a religious theme. Poems, of no more than 25 lines (including blank lines) and 160 words can be emailed to YOSH leader Stephen, Stephen@LiveAndLearnwell.co.uk by the 24th February 2015. This spring Traidcraft are promoting the Big Brew! People are being encouraged to raise money through holding tea and coffee events using Fairtrade goods, including cakes and biscuits. The Big Brew events in our parish will be on the following days: Sunday 1st March at Sacred Heart, after 9am mass. This will include an opportunity to decorate your own cup cake! Sunday 8th March at St John’s, after 10:30 mass. This will include a cake raffle. Join us for a cuppa after mass and help farmers grow more, earn more and eat more.! All monies raised at these events will be doubled by the government! Bidding Prayers: During Lent, each week there will be a bidding prayer with a Live Simply focus. The prayers will be printed in The Bulletin so that you can continue to reflect on them Join us for a cuppa after mass and help farmers grow more, earn more and eat more.! Sacred Heart Flower Ladies - Would like to thank everyone for supporting their knitted items sale which raised £83.00. They have been fund raising in various ways over the past few years to pay for the church flowers. As it stands at present, they only have to ask the church to pay for flowers at Christmas and Easter. We meet every Friday morning and really enjoy making the church look good with our efforts, it’s nice to hear the positive feedback from time to time. Please remember that we can do flower stands for special occasions, memorials for anniversaries of those who have died, births, birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc. Just give us a few weeks’ notice before the required date and tell us what sort of flowers you would like. A suggested donation of £10 -15 per stand depending on the time of year and the availability of the flowers requested. You can ask any of the flower ladies or phone Val on 893808 or Brenda on 65651. Date 2015 6pm Run, for St Gabriel’s year 6 pupils – Year 6 Leavers Prom will be held in Sacred Heart on the 18th July 6pm – 9pm. Just to confirm that the prom is to be held at the Sacred Heart on 18th July 2015 at until 9pm. We will have a VIP red carpet entrance, Disco with DJ, Surf Machine, Bungee Racing Simulators, Signature Wall (in which the name of the winner will be drawn from a hat), Group Photographs, and Buffet Meal/Drinks. For more information please contact Michelle Collins Michelle1981collins@yahoo.com 07870748405 Jane Rowlands – it has recently been announced that Jane, head teacher of St Elizabeth’s school will be retiring at the end of the summer term. We would like to thank Jane for all her commitment and hard work during her time at the school and we wish her a long and happy retirement. She has done a wonderful job. Please keep St Elizabeth’s in your prayers as they go through the process of finding a replacement for Jane. The Parish AGM this year will be at Sacred Heart on Sunday April 19th at 1.00. We will provide soup and a sandwich. As usual, we will be producing an annual report for 2014. This should be ready by the end of February with an opportunity to write questions in advance of the meeting. Developing St John’s Church and Meeting Facilities: This weekend we will be showing some images of how are Church can be developed later this year. They are in response to consultation that many were involved in last year. This gave us some principles to which we have tried to work. These include: 1. Making St John’s a vibrant centre of community activity for parishioners. 2. Developing facilities for the parish for luncheon clubs, meetings, catechesis, youth work, teas/coffees after Mass, parents & toddlers etc … 3. Working with other community groups, charities, with the bereaved, people with learning disabilities, AA and other groups but 4. Making use of existing building rather than extending. 5. Not trying to duplicate facilities we have at Sacred Heart but rather to complement what we have elsewhere. If you have any constructive comments to make, please put them on the sheets provided. St Michael’s and St James, Haunton have organised a Valuation expert from Hansons, Auctioneers and Valuers to come to our Church Hall between 11.00 and 3.00pm on 21st February and invite people to come along with their collectables, art, jewellery, silver, ceramics and antiques for a valuation. There will be no entrance charge but a maximum of 4 articles at £1 per article. Drinks and light refreshments will be available. Items may be left for inclusion in appropriate Auction sale. The Catholic Directory - A new version of the Directory can now be found www.CatholicDirectory.org. You can find the nearest Church or the nearest Mass at the click of a button. Starfish: Our Starfish ‘breakfast club’ takes place at Sacred Heart from 10am till 12.00 am. Thanks to all our volunteers – more are welcome. Multiple Sclerosis (M S) Society and Tai Chi – Meet on a Tuesday at 11.30am in the Modwen room. The Tai Chi class is open to anyone. The MS Society meets for their meeting after the class at 12.30pm Irish Dancing Classes now run from the parish centre every Saturday. It is open to people of all ages. If you are interested then contact Katie Martin on kmartinacademy@aol.com or tel. 07932 359413 The Bridge Club are also keen to recruit new members – come and play the King of card games on Monday evenings at 7.00 pm. Pilates Classes – A set of exercise performed in standing, seated and lying positions. Pilates exercise can be beneficial for everyone whatever their fitness. Thursday 7pm – 8pm. £5 per session - pay as you go. Senior Citizens at Sacred Heart – Meet every Tuesday for social gatherings at 1.30am. Money Matters Envelopes 182.94 Standing Order 650.00 Loose 442.56 Total: £1275.50 2nd Collection 242.51 A.A. meeting at St John’s upper room on Mondays at 8.00 pm for people recovering from alcohol related problems. Registered Charity 234216