THIS TUESDAY EVENING: See purple A5 leaflets on tables at back.

This Tuesday we have another of our Pro-Life orientation evenings in the annexe at 7:30 pm – 9pm. Why bother coming? Because the absolute value of human life is at the heart of the Catholic faith and, we believe, of all true morality and happiness –and it is increasingly under serious threat in our country. For instance see the below summaries of two newspaper articles which reflect two strong current strains of the anti-life mentality in our culture today:

BRITISH BISHOP LEAVES AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
and says it is "Very Difficult" for Catholics to Remain Members

Bishop Michael Evans of East Anglia has joined other Catholics in withdrawing his membership of Amnesty International, due to their new policy in support of abortion.
A recently released press release stated that Amnesty “affirmed the organization's (new) policy on selected aspects of abortion -- to support the decriminalization of abortion, to ensure women have access to health care when complications arise from abortion, and to defend women's access to abortion, within reasonable gestational limits, when their health or human rights are in danger …"

"The Catholic Church," Bishop Evans explained, "has no desire for women who have been through the trauma of abortion to be punished; they need compassion & healing Women who suffer complications after an abortion should … receive quality care.

"But our proper indignation regarding pervasive violence against women should not cloud our judgment about our duty to protect the most vulnerable and defenceless form of human life" from violence.… "Very regretfully," the British prelate said, "I will be ending my 31-year membership of Amnesty International." (adapted from Zenit.org)

“DON’T KILL ME, DOCTOR,” IS A FREQUENT PLEA
N.B.: There has been a cultural and legal shift toward euthanasia and disrespect toward the elderly in Britain: “The Dutch legalised mercy killing (in 2002) … There are tales of a doctor who agreed to bring forward the “mercy killing” of a terminally ill patient just so that the patient’s grandson wouldn’t have to worry about disruptions to his holiday plans. Dutch doctors lightly swap anecdotes like this …. Many Dutch people are now so afraid of being dispatched against their will that they carry a “credo card” in their wallet saying “don’t kill me, doctor”. … each case is supposedly vetted by a team consisting of a doctor, a lawyer and a social worker. But these teams spend a mere four minutes on average adjudicating each case. (from The Week’s summary of a Der Spiegel article)

MUTUAL INTRODUCTIONS (again)

About a year ago we had a successful weekend of mutual introductions of people who had started working in the parish or become significantly more involved than before. We had the impression that quite a few people who hadn’t met before did so. We’re hoping that might happen this weekend. This time, to focus our time of mutual introductions, we are formally introducing members of our parish forum. Many of you will know some of them, most will probably not know all of them. So do say hello. But also take the chance to say hello to anyone else in the same congregation, even the same bench you have not met before.

The members of the Parish Forum will have name stickers on. Each takes part in our bi-annual Forum meeting where we receive reports from each group and reflect about key issues in the parish. Each member coordinates a section of the report gathering. So today you can meet:

Francis Holly (Social Life groups)
Maria Doherty (Youth Group groups)
Michael Jarmulowicz (Adult Formation groups)
Kathy MacKen (Parish Support groups)
Bill Page (Spiritual Life groups)
Ann Sheehan (Secretary)
Brigid Hegarty (Community support groups – though she can’t be here this w/e)

CHILDREN’S LITURGY THIS WEEK.
At the 10:30 am Mass we will take the children into the sacristy for their own liturgy of the Word. To follow up upon what has been done here is something you can do at home:

Give your children opportunities to ask and receive and give forgiveness. Encourage them to say “Please forgive me for….”and “I forgive you,” perhaps showing affection. When children don’t ask and give forgiveness in the right way, remind them of the Prodigal Son story and invite them to “re-enact” the scene.

GETTING MORE INVOLVED

Next Sunday it will be possible to meet members of our Parish forum. There is a representative for each of the below areas of the Parish:

Parish Support: Groups primarily offering practical support to priests and parishioners
Community Support: Groups offering spiritual&other support to parishioners&non-parishioners
Spiritual Life: Groups whose primary focus is Liturgical and extra-liturgical prayer.
Social Life: Groups whose primary focus is supporting the socializing of parishioners.
Youth Formation: Reaching out to youngsters to support growth in knowledge&love of God
Adult Formation: Reaching out to adults to support their growth in knowledge and love of God


N.B. All groups needs extra support, but we are aware particularly of the below needs:

• Volunteer leaders for our Aged 11-13 Friday evening Youth Club are needed
• People to help with ushering during our bi-weekly 10:30 am Mass children’s liturgy.Our Church cleaners need more monthly volunteers.
• People to help the Social events committee sell tickets outside Church
• Our Wednesday (p.m.) Group’ is looking for someone to help coordinate it – salso for more over-55’s to meet for tea and bingo.
• Our Pioneers Abstinence Association is hoping to raise its profile among teenagers.
• Magdala, our parish magazine, needs more help and more writers.
• Our Sunday morning Coffee rota needs more names.
• Our 10:30 Choir needs more singers and flute &/or violin players.
• Our developing 12 noon choir needs more singers

CHILDREN’S LITURGY NEXT WEEK.

Next week at the 10:30 am Mass we will take the children into the sacristy for their own liturgy of the Word. To help them prepare for this here is something you can do at home:

Give your children opportunities to ask and receive and give forgiveness. Encourage them to say “Please forgive me for….”and “I forgive you,” perhaps showing affection. When children don’t ask and give forgiveness in the right way, remind them of the Prodigal Son story and invite them to “re-enact” the scene.