28th Sunday of the Year
Dear Parishioners
True disciples of Jesus Christ live in an attitude of gratitude, not entitlement. They do not think of the blessings they have received as things they deserve or have earned. There are others with less blessings who are just as good and just as beloved as we are. When we live in gratitude, we understand that God has given us gifts to share with others.
Jesus heals all ten lepers in the gospel read in our churches this weekend, telling them that their faith was essential to this healing. They believe his word and are made clean. But nine of them don’t seem to realize that this healing is a gift from God. Only the Samaritan, who worships differently than the Jews, returns to give thanks.
In a similar way, it can be easy for us to forget that we receive gifts from God every day. We can take our faith for granted. We go to Mass without really thinking about what we are doing. We think that we are deserving of salvation because of the good things we do. But salvation is a free gift from God, it is not earned. So let us, like the leper who returned to give thanks, thank God for all he does for us every day.
May God bless us all.
Fr Patterson
An Information Evening focused on Cafod’s campaign to “Fix the Food System
has been arranged by our Third World Group for this Thursday, 13th October at 6.30pm in St. Patrick’s parish centre when Mark Maughan, Cafod’s Community Participation Co-ordinator in the Diocese, will speak about Cafod’s current campaign to “Fix the Food system,” and share his experience of time he has recently spent in the Sudan.
All around the world, including here at home, families are finding it harder to put food on the table. In northern Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan, four years of drought has resulted in twenty million people fighting for survival. Schools are closed and people are forced to keep moving to find places where food is available. Pope Francis reminds us that as Catholics we are called to care for the world’s most vulnerable people; it is our commitment to them that is a mark of our faith.
Please note this is an awareness evening and not a fundraising event!
Mass Intentions
Fr. Patterson will celebrate Mass for the following Intentions during the coming week. With the exception of Wednesday and Friday all Masses and Services are open to everyone to attend.
- Monday – No Mass
- Tuesday: 10.00 in St. Patrick’s Church – Gerard McCabe
- Wednesday – (Private Mass) Private Intention
- Thursday: 10.00 in St. Patrick’s Church – Funeral Service for John Rutter
- Friday: (Private Mass) – Fr. Dermott Donnelly
- Saturday: 6pm in St. Alban’s Church – Service of the Word with Holy Communion
- Sunday: 10am0 in St. Patrick’s Church: Paul Hughes
Mass to view on line
Mass is live streamed from our Cathedral on a Sunday. Visit the Cathedral website.
Alternatively, you may like to follow Mass from the Holy Name, Jesmond. Visit the website for Mass times this week.
When you are unable to celebrate Mass in Church, you may wish to make this act of spiritual communion:-
Lord Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
Please keep in your prayers:
- all our parishioners who are sick, housebound or in hospital
- all those near and dear to us whose memories we cherish at this time and,
- John Rutter who has died. “Receive Lord into tranquillity and peace the soul of your servant whom you have called from this life. May he be taken up into glory with your Son in whose great mystery of love we are all united. Amen
A Prayer for those who have died from Covid
Gracious God, as we remember before you all those people who have died from the coronavirus, surround us and all who mourn with your compassion. Be gentle with us in our grief, protect us from despair and give us grace to persevere and face the future with hope. We make this prayer in Jesus Christ our risen Lord. Amen.
A Prayer for Carers, Nurses and Doctors
Lord Jesus, who healed the sick and gave them new life, be with doctors, nurses and carers, as they act as agents of your healing touch. In desperate times, keep them strong yet loving; and when their work is done, be with them in their weariness and in their tears. Amen.
A Prayer for Ukraine
Father, hold the people of Ukraine deep in your heart. Protect them from violence, political gamesmanship and from being used and abused. Give the nations of the world the courage and wisdom to stand up for justice and the courage to care generously. Take from us those traits that see us pursuing our own needs and wants before those of others. Teach us to live in love, dignity and respect, following your ways. We ask this in your name and for your sake. Amen
A Prayer for Prisoners’ Sunday
Father in Heaven, you sent your Son to bring light into the darkness of our hearts and minds. May his light shine upon the sinner, the prisoner, the suffering, and the outcast. We commend to your protection all who need that light today, especially those who are in prison, separated from their families and loved ones. We pray that, following your Son’s command, those who minister to prisoners, will be enlivened by the power of the Holy Spirit. Bring the light of Christ once more into all their lives, so that they may experience your love for them always.
Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons
Each week Bishop Barron offers a Sunday sermon.
Refreshments after Mass will be available every week from 2nd October
Thanks to a few more offers of help and the generosity of our existing volunteers, we will be able to offer refreshments in St. Patrick’s parish centre after Mass every Sunday commencing this Sunday, 2nd October, 2022.
There is always scope for more help, so if you would like to join the rota to make tea and coffee, please contact Maureen Hodgson.
What Catholics believe and why.
If you would like to know more about what Catholics believe, perhaps with a view to considering becoming a member of the Catholic Church, you may be interested in a series of talks which are taking place in St. Patrick’s parish centre on Tuesday evenings from 7pm. If you need more information please contact Alan on 07976402023.
News from our School
Next Wednesday, 12th October, from 3.15pm – 5pm (weather permitting) we are holding a session for volunteers to carry out a few improvements to our school grounds and are calling on everyone in our School family to give of their time and talents to help. If you feel you don’t have a particular talent, your muscles, ideas or networking skills would be very much appreciated.
If anyone has links with local businesses who may be prepared to donate materials or expertise we’d be happy to hear from you. We are always very grateful for the generous response of our families and hope that you feel able to come and join in the ‘fun’. The more, the merrier!
If you can help, please telephone the school office on 0191 469 3251 to sign up or for further information.
Might God be calling you to be a priest?
The Vocations Team extends an invitation to men aged 18+, who might be thinking about a vocation the the Priesthood, to an enquirers evening. The evenings will take place at the Cloister Cafe, St Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle, on: Tuesday, 25th October, 2022 and Tuesday, 6th December, 2022. The evenings start at 6pm with a period of prayer, talk/discussion, followed by a meal together, finishing around 8pm. If you would like to attend, or for more information, please contact the Vocations Promoter – Fr Shaun Purdy vocationspromoter@diocesehn.org.uk or by telephoning 01670 812 200.
All are welcome
Everyone is welcome to join us for the celebration of Mass in St. Patrick’s and St. Alban’s churches. In recent times, it has been a joy to welcome people of other faiths or none who have come to join us in worship.
Currently, only baptised Catholic people are able to receive Holy Communion and we ask that when you approach the altar you extend your hands towards the minister who will place the sacred host in your hand which you should then consume immediately before returning to your place.
If you are not a Catholic or are indisposed to receive Holy Communion, you are invited to come forward at the appropriate time and receive a blessing, indicating your desire by folding an arm across your chest.
Paper £20.00 and £50.00 notes
As of last Friday, 30th September, the paper £20.00 and £50.00 notes cease to be legal tender. It would be greatly appreciated if you would not use them for your offerings.
Please consider making your weekly offering by Standing Order
To relieve the pressure on our “Counting Teams” in both St. Alban’s and St. Patrick’s, it would be greatly appreciated if parishioners would consider making their offering to either St. Alban’s or St. Patrick’s by Standing Order. The details you require to set up a standing order can be found below. If you would like to help by join a counting team, please contact Terry or Christine Harbron for St. Alban’s or Maureen Hodgson for St. Patrick’s.
St Alban’s HSBC bank account name: DHN Pelaw St Alban, Sort code: 40-34-18, Account No: 92010984
St Patrick’s HSBC bank account name: DHN Felling St Patrick, Sort code: 40-34-18, Account No: 52010453
If you are a tax payer and are not a member of the parish gift aid scheme, please consider joining the scheme, it costs you nothing and the parish benefits by being able to reclaim the tax you have already paid on your offering. The parish receives 25p of every £1.00 you give from HMRC. All that is required, is for you to complete a simple form which does not involve you disclosing any personal financial information and is held securely by the Diocesan Finance Office. To obtain a form, or for more information, please email John, our Gift Aid organiser for both St. Alban’s and St. Patrick’s at stpatrick.giftaid@outlook.com.
St. Alban’s Church.
St. Alban’s Church is open for a Vigil Mass on Saturdays at 6pm. Parishioners are asked to enter and leave the church by the main doors only. Following advice from the Diocesan Health and Safety Officer, the side door should only be used as an emergency exit.
Following Bishop Robert’s advice, with the current level of help we have available to us, and now with the rising cost of gas and electricity, the churchwill remain closed during the week for all services. Bishop Robert has asked Fr. Patterson to continue to review the situation and meet with him later in the year.
At the same time, Fr. Patterson is exploring with our school the possibility of celebrating Mass on a Wednesday morning in St. Alban’s Room in the school which will enable parishioners and some of our children to come together for prayer. Please keep an eye on the Newsletter for more information.
Parking in our church car parks
Please remember that the Trustees of the Diocese cannot accept responsibility for injury, loss or damage to third party property, vehicles and their contents whilst left in the church car parks.
ZOE fortnightly update – Is it a cold, the flu or Covid?
In his video this week, Professor Tim Spector shares the latest on COVID rates namely that they’re rising again according to their Health Study data. He encourages everyone who is eligible to book a Covid Autumn Booster vaccination.
This weeks data from the Office of National Statistics may also be of interest to you, showing the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus has risen in England where the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 1,105,400 , equating to 2.03% of the population, or around 1 in 50 people.
Please get vaccinated – Covid Autumn Booster and Flu Vaccinations are now being offered
The Catholic Church continues to promote the participation of everyone in the Covid vaccination programme as part of its mitigation of virus transmission in church and ancillary buildings. Pope Francis also urges us to do so.
A seasonal Covid-19 booster (autumn booster) for people aged 65 years old and over, frontline health and social care workers, those at higher risk or who are pregnant, and people who have or live with someone who has a weakened immune system can now be booked online at book or manage a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination – NHS (www.nhs.uk) or by telephoning 119.
