Luke 17: 11-19 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.’

THE PRISONS WEEK PRAYER 13th -19 Oct 2019
Lord, you offer freedom to all people. We pray for those in prison. Break the bonds of fear and isolation that exist. Support with your love prisoners and their families and friends, prison staff and all who care. Heal those who have been wounded by the actions of others, especially the victims of crime. Help us to forgive one another, to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly together with Christ in his strength and in his Spirit, now and every day. Amen.

We have been trusted to look after something precious; guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit.We have many gifts to be looked after and used; three of them make us Christians. The first comes at our baptism when we were gifted with the Life of God; we need to guard this Life. We can’t let ourselves be influenced by the immorality that destroys the Life within us. The second great gift is the Word of God. The Bible is God’s Word; we need to guard against treating it as a self-help book. It is God telling us about Himself, His Life, and how we are to live His Life. The third great gift is the Eucharist; Jesus Christ transformed bread and wine into His Body and Blood and entrusted us with this Great Mystery. We need to guard this mystery against those elements within ourselves that can downgrade the Eucharist into a pious religious act. The Eucharist is the source and the summit of our faith. It is Jesus Christ. Jesus came for all people; He commissioned us to go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God to the whole world. We pray today for the grace to guard these gifts and to use them in proclaiming His Kingdom.

Harvest Festival donations from Dean Gibson School and the parish

Extraordinary Month of Mission: Pope Francis has declared that October 2019 will be a special month of prayer and action to strengthen and grow God’s mission and the Church. This is the work of Missio, his charity for overseas mission, supporting the Church where it is too poor to support itself, training local clergy and helping children in need.
We will have a large Missio ‘Red Box’ in church at weekend Masses throughout the month of October where you can donate any spare coins you may find around the house, in the car, in an office drawer, etc. If you would like a Missio red box to keep in your home for loose change please sign the sheet on the notice board. We have plenty of Missio prayer cards in church for this special month – please take one.

KENDAL WINTER SHELTER starts on 2nd December and Manna House is recruiting volunteers to be part of teams helping provide homeless people shelter during the winter months. Can you cook an evening meal, create entertainment, chat to guests, bake or donate food, organise a fundraiser? Volunteers also needed to sleep overnight or do breakfasts. Please take a leaflet or contact penny@manna-house.org.uk / 01539 725534.
VOLUNTEERS TRAINING DAY Saturday 9th November, 10.30am – 4.30pm

Download Bulletin 6th October 2019

Look and See! St Luke’s gospel is a gospel of compassion – the lowly being raised up. Today we are challenged by the parable of Dives and Lazarus. St Luke is not defaming those who have worked hard for their position in life, but rather challenging everyone to recognise the responsibilities their position in life demands. The Rich Man, now in hell, lifts his eyes and for the first time sees Lazarus as a person. Perhaps he’d noticed Lazarus in stinky, dirty clothes begging, as he opened his front door to welcome his dinner guest. He may have called the police to complain about the vagrant at his door. All he saw was a hungry man; and he didn’t even give him the scraps from his table. He’d never seen Lazarus because his possessions had blinded him to those around him. The first time he saw Lazarus it was too late. What do I do? Do my eyes look away if I meet someone who might be in need? Do I make rash judgments? Am I more concerned with what I have done and what they failed to do? Jesus calls us to see by having faith in Him not in our possessions or status. Today we ask Him to open our eyes.

 
Family Fast Day is Friday 4th October. On this day we fast, pray and give, so we can extend the hand of friendship to the world’s poorest people. Your donations and support will help give training, tools and resources to some of these people so they are empowered to build themselves a brighter future. We will be distributing envelopes for your donations this weekend and will be collecting them in on Sunday 6th October.

Dean Gibson School will be celebrating this Harvest Festival IN SCHOOL (not Church as previously advertised) at 3pm. Any non perishable food items that you may wish to leave for the Harvest will be donated to Kings Food Bank. Please take a flyer from church listing the items that they are most in need of. Thank you.

Download Bulletin 29th Sept 2019

Download Bulletin 22nd Sept 2019

What was lost is now found, alleluia! Today’s Gospel is about joy: a lost sheep is found, a lost coin is found and a lost son is found.  In all three cases, the sheep, coin or son could have been written off.  After all, the shepherd had 99 other sheep, the woman had nine other coins, and the father had another son!  He could have washed his hands of the son who had treated him so badly and offended everything the father stood for.  He could have decided that he just needed to be happy with the son who was faithful to him.  He couldn’t and he wouldn’t.  People who care, don’t write other people off, rather they focus on them.  God does not give up on us; He calls us by name, seeking us out individually.  He never gives up on those who have been far from the faith or from morality.  He calls us all into the joy of His Presence, the Joy of the Banquet of the Lord.  The return of those who have had been away is a time for celebration.  The cause of their leaving no longer matters.  They have returned.  The family is back together.  Therefore we need to celebrate.

WORLD WEEK FOR PEACE IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL 15– 22 September 2019         You are invited to join a silent prayer vigil in church for half an hour after the 6pm Mass on Saturday 21st September.  It is as vital as ever to pray for a just peace in the Holy Land, which some from the parish have visited on pilgrimage.  21st September is also International Peace Day.

Pax Christi Prayer 2019:  ‘From the land of two peoples and three faiths the call to prayer and reflection is essential. How we remember the needs of Palestine & Israel, how this is brought to our faith communities, how we pray for understanding are important.’ Take part in the World Week of Prayer for Palestine and Israel – each year a different theme is taken as a focus for education, prayer and action. Resources can be found here: http://bit.ly/1jrRZhU

Download Bulletin 15th Sept 2019

Download Bulletin 8th Sept 2019

At the 10am Mass next Sunday 8th September we will be joined by Fr Charlie from the Montfort community in Malawi.  Fr Charlie used to be a priest in Sitima parish, the parish that Marian and others have been to visit and worked in, but he still has close links with them.      

Come along to the THURSDAY CLUB at 2pm on 5th September for classical music, magic and quiz with Francis.  Enjoy a cup of tea and cake.  All most welcome.  

Download Bulletin 1st Sept 2019