WORD: GROWING IN FAITH;

KNOWING OUR FAITH RCIA/Journey in Faith continues on

WEDNESDAY 2nd May at 7pm. IF GOD

IS CALLING YOU TO THE CHURCH speak to

Fr. Paul or Fr. Michael.

The next Baptism meeting is this Sunday

29th April at 6pm in St. Joseph’s Presbytery.

Together with time, tal-

ent, treasure; Body of Christ for Heywood & be-

yond Thank you for your kind

support: GiftAid £559.30:

Loose £420.82: Developing

World Fund £59.20, and the

Priests’ Training Fund £245.60.

This weekend there is a retiring

collection for the Buildings

Fund.

The Car Park on Emmott Close,

off Mary St, across from

church, is now open on Sunday

mornings from 9am until

12.30pm for parishioners and

visitors to church.

Much to Fr. Paul’s surprise,

some parishioners are saying

that they read in the parish

newsletter on Easter Sunday

that this year Christmas Day

has been transferred to Janu-

ary 9th!! All Fr. Paul wishes to

add is that this year Easter

Sunday was on 1st April!! Any

dodgy notices in that day’s

newsletter should be interpret-

ed accord to the conventions of

April Fools’ Day!!

Ministers for 5th/6th May

6.30pm 9.30am 11am

Reader: S Gibson P Bell D Doyle

Reader: B Brown K Walmsley G Hennon

EM P Greenall L Mather B Doyle

EM A Haymes E McGarry L Graham

EM K Brown S Robertson D Tierney

EM P Caffrey

EM J Horrocks

EM G Casey

Children’s Liturgy: N Davies and S Fitzsimons

This week’s feasts: Mon: St. Pius V, a Dominican friar who became Pope in 1566, and began a reform of the church, by the Council of Trent; among his works was the first systematic renewal of the liturgy, creation of seminaries for training priests and a catechism of the Catholic faith. He died in 1572. St. Erconwald, seventh century founder of Barking monastery, Bishop of London. Bl. William Southerne, from Stafford, was arrested saying Mass. He was executed in 1618 at Newcastle under Lyme.

Tue: St. Joseph the Worker, carpenter of Nazareth, is the patron saint of all workers. St. Asaph succeeded St. Kentigern as Bishop of Llanelwy upon the latter’s return to Strathclyde. Llanelwy, in English, is now called St. Asaph.

Wed: St. Athanasius, foremost in the fight against Arianism, was bishop of Alexandria. Vilified and exiled several times, he died in 373. Bl. William Tirry, born in Cork in 1608, became an Augustinian friar and returned to Ireland in 1641, becoming Prior of the Austin Friars at Skreen. The same year marked the beginning of the Cromwellian persecution in Ireland. He was executed on this say in 1654. Thu: Ss Philip and James: Philip, born in Bethsaida, disciple of John the Baptist, became a follower of Christ. James, son of Alphaeus, cousin of the Lord, ruled the

Church at Jerusalem, wrote a Letter, martyred in 62. St. Conleth, chaplain to St. Brigid, died in 519 attacked by wolves in the forests of Leinster on the way to Rome.

Fri: The English Martyrs: On this day in 1535 there died at Tyburn 3 Carthusian monks, the first of many martyrs. Of these martyrs, 42 have been canonised and a

further 242 declared blessed, but the number of those who died on the scaffold, perished in prison or suffered harsh persecution for their faith in the course of a century

and a half cannot now be reckoned. They came from every walk of life; there are among them rich and poor, married and single, women and men. They are remem-

bered for the example they gave of constancy in their faith, and courage in the face of persecution.

Sat: Bl. Edmund Rice, a successful businessman in Ireland, lost his wife in an accident which also left his daughter severely disabled. He devoted the rest of his

life to the education of the poor, founding two orders of Christian brothers for that purpose. He died in 1844.

Pope Francis has now been confirmed as coming to

Dublin in August for the World Meeting of Families

and there are still some places available to accompa-

ny Bishop John and Fr. Paul to Dublin.

DEPARTURE DATE: 21 Aug 2018

RETURN DATE: 27 Aug 2018 No: DAYS: 7

COST PER PERSON: £690.00 Adults, £545 children 4 – 12

COST INCLUDES:

•All travel by luxury air-conditioned coach.

•Return ferry crossing Holyhead – Dublin.

•6 nights dinner, bed & breakfast at the 4* Hotel Plaza

•Attendance to the 3 day congress + guaranteed ticket for

the festival of families and ticket for the final Mass with

Pope Francis

•Coach transfers in Ireland to/from the event.

Please see Fr. Paul if you are interested.

The Diocesan Trustees have formally agreed

to the demolition of Our Lady’s Church and

Presbytery and the statutory process has begun.

Demolition is planned to start at the end of June.

If you have not already had the chance to

come to Mass in Our Lady and St. Paul’s Primary

School and see the Stations of the Cross and the

statues of Our Lady and St. Paul in their new

home, please do so.

Discussions are taking place to see if the

cleared site can be used to the benefit of the

school.

CAFOD CORNER How wonderful, Lord Jesus, you came back

You suffered death but conquered it

You laid in the tomb but on the third day

You rose again

O joyful day, Lord Jesus, when you returned

You are the resurrection, our hope and our life

O glorious and victorious Redeemer

Help us not to be afraid of death

For we must pass through it to see you face to face

And on the last day we will rise again

For you said so

Let us rejoice and praise you

Our Blessed and triumphant Lord

On this happy, joyful feast.

Amen. Diana Sutherland/CAFOD

The SVP group, which works to support the needy

in our town, meets on Wednesday 9th May at

6.30pm in the presbytery.

MARK TIME We will be hearing The

Gospel according to Mark

at Sunday Mass for much of

this year.

Fr Chris Lough will

lead an introduction to this

earliest and shortest of the

Gospels, outlining some of

the main themes and ideas

to look out for over the

coming weeks and months.

There will also be an opportunity to

work in a relaxed way with some of the sto-

ries that Mark sets before us.

On Tuesday 8th May 2018 Sacred

Heart Parish Centre, Kingsway, Rochdale

OL16 5BX from 7.30 to 9.00 pm.

All welcome. Refreshments available from

7.00 pm. There is no charge for the even-

ing. Ample parking.

christopher.lough@dioceseofsalford.org.uk

0161 370 1615

WORSHIP; MEETING JESUS IN WORD AND SACRAMENT

Next Sunday, May Sunday, the statue of Our Lady will be

crowned at the beginning of the 9.30am Mass

The Diocese of Salford Pilgrimage to Walsingham led by Bishop John on

Saturday 5th May 2018. There are still some spaces available on the

Rochdale Coach, picking up from Rochdale parishes around 7am

returning around 10pm. The cost is £20. To book contact Mr Turner

T: 01706 710 025. The Pilgrimage includes – Procession, Reconciliation,Mass.

Please note that from this year the Ascension will be celebrated on the Thurs-

day rather than the Sunday and is still a Holy Day of Obligation on which Catho-

lics should attend Mass. This year it is Thursday 10th May (this is not a late

April Fool!!)

Sw. Msza w niedzielę 13 maja o 16:00

Bishop John invites young people to a

PENTECOST YOUTH CELEBRATION on SUNDAY 20TH MAY 2-6pm

at SALFORD CATHEDRAL. The Keynote Speaker is Fr Ged Kelly.

The Friars/Sisters of the Renewal will be present.

Mass (and Confirmation) at 5:30pm with Bishop John.

For information email Lorraine.Leonard@dioceseofsalford.org.uk

OUR LADY & ST. JOSEPH, HEYWOOD partner with St. Joseph’s, Numan, Nigeria

Parish Priest: Fr. Paul Daly, paul.daly@dioceseofsalford.org.uk

Ass’t Priest: Fr. Michael Deas michael.deas@dioceseofsalford.org.uk

St. Joseph’s Presbytery, Mary St, OL10 1EG Tel: 01706 369777 www.catholicheywood.com www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk

Date Mass, other Services and Parish Events Time

29th April 2018

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Mass

Mass

Baptism Preparation Meeting (in presbytery)

9.30am

11am

6pm

MONDAY

St. Pius V Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Mass

9am

9.30am

TUESDAY

St. Joseph the Worker Service of Word and Communion

9.30am

WEDNESDAY

St. Athanasius

Service of Word and Communion

RCIA/Journey in Faith (Presbytery)

9.30am

7pm

THURSDAY

SS PHILIP AND JAMES

Requiem Mass for Kathleen Roach

Legion of Mary (presbytery)

9.15am

6.30pm

FRIDAY (ABSTINENCE)

THE ENGLISH MARTYRS

Requiem Mass for Noreen Taylor 10am

SATURDAY

Confessions and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Mass, followed by Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Baptism of Eliza Tunney

Baptism of Natan Tuzik

Confessions

Mass

11am

12noon

1pm

2pm

6pm

6.30pm

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Mass

Mass

9.30am

11am

God our loving Father, we thank you for blessing

our parish with all that we need to respond to our

vocation to be a missionary parish in our locality.

We thank you for all our parish members who,

in response to your call, give of themselves so

freely to enrich our parish life in the ways of love

and service.

We ask you now to pour out afresh the gifts of

your Spirit upon each one of us that we may be in-

spired to serve you in new and creative ways as

missionary disciples, bringing your light to the

world. We ask your blessing upon us as we journey

together in hope, through Christ our Lord, AMEN

The Pope’s prayer for April: That economists may

have courage to reject any economy of exclusion and to

open new paths.

For all who live or work on Cherwell Ave, Derby St,

Derby Dr.

In our Diocesan Cycle of Prayer let us pray for the

people of the parishes of St. Mary’s, Eccles, with Fr.

Robert Livesey, and the Holy Cross, St. Matthew and St.

Gilbert, Eccles, with Fr. Martin Collins. We pray for their

parish primary schools and St. Patrick’s College. May we

be rooted in Jesus, the True Vine, and so produce a rich

harvest.

For the residents of Beech House and Kenneth Bray and

all the sick

For Kathleen Roach, Noreen Taylor, and all who died re-

cently and for Donald Heap, Annie Fielding, George Bell,

Eliyamma Joseph and all we remember at this time.

I am the Vine, a sonnet by Malcolm Guite

How might it feel to be part of the vine?

Not just to see the vineyard from afar

Or even pluck the clusters, press the wine,

But to be grafted in, to feel the stir

Of inward sap that rises from our root,

Himself deep planted in the ground of Love,

To feel a leaf unfold a tender shoot,

As tendrils curled unfurl, as branches give

A little to the swelling of the grape,

In gradual perfection, round and full,

To bear within oneself the joy and hope

Of God’s good vintage, till it’s ripe and whole.

What might it mean to bide and to abide

In such rich love as makes the poor heart glad? https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com

Pope Francis on the Environment (Laudato sii 221-31) Various faith convictions help enrich the meaning of conversion, including

awareness that each creature reflects something of God and has a message to convey, and the security that Christ has taken to himself

this material world and, risen, is intimately present to each being, surrounding it with affection, penetrating with light. There is the

recognition that God created the world, writing into it order and dynamism that humans have no right to ignore. In the Gospel Jesus

says of the birds of the air “not one of them is forgotten before God”. How can we mistreat them or cause them harm? I ask all Chris-

tians to recognize and live fully this dimension of their conversion. May the power and light of grace be evident in our relationship to

other creatures and the world around us. We nurture that sublime fraternity with all creation which Francis of Assisi radiantly embodied.

Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative

lifestyle, capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption. We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different

religious traditions and in the Bible, that “less is more”. Constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us cher-

ishing each thing and each moment. To be serenely present to each reality, however small, opens us to much greater horizons of under-

standing and personal fulfilment. Christian spirituality proposes growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It

is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, be grateful for the opportunities which life affords

us, be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack. This implies avoiding the dynamic of

dominion and the mere accumulation of pleasures.

Such sobriety, when lived freely and consciously, is liberating. It is not a lesser life or one lived with less intensity. On the contra-

ry, it is a way of living life to the full. In reality, those who enjoy more and live better each moment are those who have given up dipping

here and there, always on the look-out for what they do not have. They experience what it means to appreciate each person and each

thing, learning familiarity with the simplest things and how to enjoy them. So they are able to shed unsatisfied needs, reducing their ob-

sessiveness and weariness. Even living on little, they can live a lot, above all when they cultivate other pleasures and find satisfaction in

fraternal encounters, in service, in developing their gifts, in music and art, in contact with nature, in prayer. Happiness means knowing

how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer.

Sobriety and humility were not favourably regarded in the last century. When there is general breakdown in the exercise of a cer-

tain virtue in personal and social life, it causes a number of imbalances, including environmental ones. It is no longer enough to speak

only of the integrity of ecosystems. We have to speak of the integrity of human life, the need to promote and unify all the great values.

Once we lose our humility, and become enthralled with the possibility of limitless mastery over everything, we harm society and the en-

vironment. It is not easy to promote this healthy humility or happy sobriety when we consider ourselves autonomous, when we exclude

God from our lives or replace him with our own ego, and think that our subjective feelings can define what is right and what is wrong.

No one can cultivate a sober, satisfying life without being at peace with themself. Adequate understanding of spirituality consists

in filling out what we mean by peace, which is much more than the absence of war. Inner peace is related to care for ecology and for the

common good because, lived out authentically, it is reflected in a balanced lifestyle together with a capacity for wonder which takes us

to a deeper understanding of life. Nature is filled with words of love; how can we listen to them amid constant noise, interminable, nerve

-wracking distractions, or the cult of appearances? People sense a profound imbalance driving them to frenetic activity and making them

feel busy, in a constant hurry which leads them to ride rough-shod over everything around them. This affects how they treat the environ-

ment. An integral ecology includes taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and

contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us, whose presence “must not be contrived but found, uncovered”.

We are speaking of an attitude of the heart, one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, capable of being fully present to some-

one without thinking of what comes next, accepting each moment as a gift from God to be lived to the full. Jesus taught this attitude

when he invited us to contemplate the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, or seeing the rich young man and knowing his restless-

ness, “he looked at him with love”. He was completely present to everyone and everything, showing us the way to overcome that un-

healthy anxiety which makes us superficial, aggressive, compulsive consumers.

This attitude is shown when we give thanks to God before and after meals. I ask all believers to return to this beautiful and mean-

ingful custom. That brief moment of blessing reminds us of our dependence on God for life, strengthens our gratitude for the gifts of

creation, acknowledges those who by their labours provide us with these goods and reaffirms our solidarity with those in greatest need.

Care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion. Jesus reminded us that we

have God as our common Father, this making us brothers and sisters. Fraternal love can only be gratuitous; it can never be a means of

repaying others for what they have done or will do for us. That is why it is possible to love our enemies. This same gratuitousness in-

spires us to love and accept the wind, sun and clouds, even though we cannot control them. We can speak of a “universal fraternity”.

We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and being

good and decent are worth it. We have had enough of immorality, mockery of ethics, goodness, faith and honesty. It is time to

acknowledge that light-hearted superficiality has done us no good. When the foundations of social life are corroded, what ensues are

battles over conflicting interests, new forms of violence and brutality, obstacles to the growth of a culture of care for the environment.

St Therese of Lisieux invites us to practise the little way of love, not to miss out on a kind word, smile or any small gesture which

sows peace and friendship. An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploita-

tion and selfishness. In the end, a world of exacerbated consumption is at the same time a world which mistreats life in all its forms.

Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political, and makes itself felt in every action that seeks to

build a better world. Love for society and commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not

only relationships between individuals but also “macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones”. That is why the Church set

before the world the ideal of a “civilization of love”. Social love is the key to authentic development: “To make society more human,

more worthy of the human person, love in social life – political, economic and cultural – must be given renewed value, becoming the

constant and highest norm for all activity”. Along with the importance of little everyday gestures, social love moves us to devise larger

strategies to halt environmental degradation and to encourage a “culture of care” which permeates all of society. When we feel that God

is calling us to intervene with others in these social dynamics, we should realize that this too is part of our spirituality, which is an exer-

cise of charity and, as such, matures and sanctifies us.