St Clare's News Edition 4

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DIDN’T THEY DO WELL?

Fr LoughranWho? Everyone concerned with the celebration of the Easter Triduum. The Church calls the week before Easter ‘Holy Week’, some liturgist call it the Great Week; and it is towards the end of the week that we celebrate the Triduum, those three days which actually form a continuum of celebration. That is to say that Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday meld into one celebration over three days; one links into the other like a seamless garment. Together they tell the great story of our redemption; the story of the Last Supper, the Passion of Jesus and his Resurrection are brought before us in word and deed and song. This is a Sacramental celebration of our Lord’s victory over the powers of darkness.

So many people where part of these celebrations: the servers, the readers and ministers, the musicians and singers, the cleaners and sacristans, the launderers and seamstresses, the ministers and clergy, the florists and caterers. Lots of people in hidden and obvious ways combined to make this a blessed celebration. And this is as it should be; everyone has his or her part to play. And we should not underestimate the importance of just ‘being there.’ That prayerful attitude in church, joining in the singing and taking part with all our hearts. Thank you.

Thank you too, to our boys and girls in the top class at school who, just before they broke up for Easter, put on the most delicate Passion Play and told the story to the younger children at an assembly on the last afternoon. It was  very moving: the innocence of the children telling the story of suffering and death of Jesus, and the great joy of the resurrection. Thank you boys and girls and thank you to our teachers.


IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR

First Confessions, First Holy Communion and Confirmations are all on the horizon. Well, to be accurate First Confession have been and gone. The boys and girls and their parents and catechists came to church on the Saturday prior to Palm Sunday and, in a setting of the Liturgy of the Word, the children made their First Confession. Father Loughran and Father Smith were on hand to administer God’s loving mercy to these little ones.

It can be hard to gauge when is the right time for a child to make his or her First Confession. Some think that the present age is too young (and they may be right). The decision is left to the parents. The advice given is: does your child know the difference between right and wrong? If they do, then generally, they are ready for Confession.

That Saturday was a busy day, for it was also on that day that the boys and girls who are preparing for Confirmation went with their parents, catechist and Fr Loughran to the Shrine of our Lady and Fernyhalgh for a Day of Recollection. They began with Mass in the St Mary’s Church and then proceeded to the Shrine for a packed lunch. In the afternoon the boys and girls had their usual lesson with Mrs Cywinski and the parents spent time with Fr Loughran teasing out the meaning of Confirmation and other Christian topics. In the Garden Room the parents watches some of the dramatic presentations which the boys and girls had rapidly put together showing the various Gifts of the Spirit. The afternoon concluded with a Prayer Service in the Martyr’s Chapel.

So now we look forward to the great celebrations of First Holy Communion and Confirmation in May which will be one of the first engagements of our new Bishop after his installation on May 1st.

 


THROUGH THE REGISTERS

Since the last edition of this Newsletter the following have had funerals conducted by the clergy from St Clare’s, and we send our condolences to their families:

 

James Woodruff 2.3.09; Joseph Moss 10.3.09; Emily Chibulu 18.3.09; Douglas Middlemiss 20.3.09; Richard Penswick 21.3.09; Clifford Critchley 29.3.09 & Mary Scanlan 23.4.09.

 

May their souls and the souls of all the Faithful Departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

We send our best wishes and congratulations to Rachael Thomson & Kieran Daire who were Confirmed at the Easter Vigil.


ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX

A great event is about to overtake our diocese. The relics of St Therese are to visit Lancaster cathedral for a short period in September. Wherever in the world the relics have gone great blessings have flowed. Already much interest has been shown, indeed, several parishes from Scotland have indicated that they will be sending coaches. The Cathedral have worked very hard to put on a very full programme which can be viewed at www.lancastercathedral.org.uk

 

St. Therese was a Carmelite sister who died at the age of 24. During her time in religion Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as the Little Flower, never left her convent but her fervent desire was to go to the Missions. In death her body has travelled throughout the world sealing her position as Patron of the Missions. In the next couple of weeks a parish plan will be announced explaining the ways we can take part in this special event.


www.saintclares.co.uk

 

Yes, this is our parish website address and in recent weeks the website has undergone an up-grading courtesy of our Webmaster Jonathan Day. It is well worth a visit on a regular basis, keeping you up to date with all the parish activities and events.


PARISH ADVISORY GROUP

The inaugural meeting was held on March 29th at which general hopes and aspirations for the parish were discussed. The Group looked at the Parish Aims following the Fit for Mission? Review. And how to move these forward. The mission to ‘love’ was explored and it was agreed that this should be the underpinning of all that the Parish aims at.  And one key element was on-going education. This was to be a key theme for the next meeting.

PARISH FABRIC & FINANCE GROUP

The on-going difficulty with subsidence in certain areas of the plant was again topic of discussion and a new firm of drain surveyors has been contacted and the work carried out. The report is awaited. With diocesan permission, it is hoped that the work on the new heating system for the Parish Hall can be done during the spring half term holiday. Another topic of discussion was the cleanliness of the Parish Hall. This is to be monitored and thought given to employing a cleaner

PARISH SOCIAL GROUP

Sunday 26th April St George’s Dinner, Friday 15th May Bingo @ St Clare’s Parish Hall, Tuesday 26th May  Parish Lunch, Sunday 7th June Jacobs Join & BBQ. Lunch Friday 19th June Barn Dance/ Ceildhi evening @ Corpus Christi Sports College, Sunday 28th June Joint PTFA/Parish Summer Fair, Tuesday 28th July Parish Lunch. I believe that some of these events and dates have yet to be confirmed.

OTHER GROUPS

The other groups in the Parish are continuing to go quietly about their business: the SVP, the Children’s Liturgy, the church cleaners, the prayer group, the uniformed groups, youth group, parent and toddlers and others unmentioned. Thank to all of them.  


FIT FOR MISSION?

As a consequence of the Fit For Mission? Review new configuration of parishes has come about (there are probably more to come!), below are some of the clergy moves which inevitably go with this process.