The Feast of All Saints
Dear Parishioners
We all have a part to play
Last week the Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, spoke of how we all have a part to play in helping to reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in our communities. He warned that we must not be complacent and asked people to take more responsibility and to follow the Government guidance thinking about others around us.
On the eve of the COP26 talks in Glasgow, Pope Francis, speaking from the Vatican for BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, expressed a similar view. He talked of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and economic difficulties, and urged the world to respond to them with vision and radical decisions, so as not to “waste opportunities” that the current challenges present.
Pope Francis evoked the need for “a renewed sense of shared responsibility for our world”, adding that “each of us – whoever and wherever we may be – can play our own part in changing our collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change and the degradation of our common home.
In response, perhaps we could say the following prayer during the COP26 talks:
Loving God, we praise your name with all you have created. You are present in the whole universe, and in the smallest of creatures. We acknowledge the responsibilities you have placed upon us as stewards of your creation. May the Holy Spirit inspire all political leaders at COP26 as they seek to embrace the changes needed to foster a more sustainable society. Instil in them the courage and gentleness to implement fairer solutions for the poorest and most vulnerable, and commit their nations to the care of Our Common Home. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.
We are still doing all we can to ensure St. Patrick’s Church is as Covid safe as we can make it in keeping with Bishop Robert’s instruction. Sanitising your hands, social distancing, the wearing of face coverings, cleaning the church after each celebration and the maximum capacity of 70 for funerals and Mass are still in place. Thanks to our volunteer stewards we continue to celebrate Mass on Tuesdays at 10.00 and on Sundays at 10.30.
We do not at present breach our capacity for the celebration of Mass on Sundays, so there is no longer a need for you to book a place in advance, nor does the Government require you to provide Test and Trace details.
As we must continue to clean the church after each celebration, the rear of the church will remain closed to reduce the demands on our stewards who sanitise the benches after you leave. Could you help as a steward on a rota basis, either during the week or over a weekend? Please get in touch if you can.
As the number of new cases in Gateshead has risen to 1104 in the last seven days, please do all you can to be cautious in your everyday life choices which not only affect ourselves, but impact on others too, including the NHS on which we all rely at times.
Statistics show that the uptake of the Covid vaccine in our region has slowed considerably, so it is important for us all to do what we can to encourage people we know to consider being vaccinated if they haven’t already done so. Pope Francis urges us to do so in this video message. Please accept your invitation for a “Booster jab” when you receive it and do consider having a flu jab too.
Please pray for our fellow parishioners and all those in our community who have recently tested positive for Covid-19, and please continue to look after one another.
May God bless you and your loved ones and may he protect us from all harm.
Fr. Patterson
Mass to view online
Mass is live streamed from our Cathedral on Sunday at 11.30 am.
Alternatively, you may like to follow Mass from the Holy Name, Jesmond celebrated live at 10am on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 4pm. These Masses may also be viewed later.
Mass Intentions for the coming week
With the exception of Sunday and Tuesday, Fr. Patterson will celebrate Mass privately during the week remembering the following Intentions. Bishop Robert asks that Face coverings should still be worn in our churches.
- Monday – Billy Knowles
- Tuesday: 10.00 in St. Patrick’s Church – For all our Deceased Parishioners
- Wednesday – Funeral Service for Kenneth Bell – by invitation only. Covid restrictions apply
- Thursday -The sick, their families, NHS staff & Care Workers
- Friday – Annie and John Donald
- Saturday – Fr. Patterson’s intentions
- Sunday: 10.30 in St. Patrick’s Church – For the intentions of all our parishioners
When you are unable to celebrate Mass with us 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.
In case you are not aware, a parish priest is obliged to celebrate Mass for the “Intentions of the Parishioners” every Sunday or Holyday, which prevents him from fulfilling personal intentions on those occasions
Please keep in your prayers this week:
- all our parishioners who are sick, housebound or in hospital and Fr. Kevin Daly who is ill and,
- all those near and dear to us whose memories we cherish at this time especially Father White.
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 time to pray
Please join together in prayer for the 140,392 people who have died in our country from the coronavirus. (Friday’s figure):
Gracious God, as we remember before you the thousands 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 those who are afraid
God of all hope we call on you today.
We pray for those who are living in fear:
Fear of Covid-19, fear for loved ones, fear of what the future holds.
May your Spirit give us a sense of calmness and peace. Amen
A prayer for the people of Afghanistan
May those who are fleeing, find sanctuary,
may those who are staying, find safety,
may those who are fighting, find peace,
may those whose hearts are breaking, find comfort,
may those who see no future, find hope.
Remembering those who died since the Pandemic began
Since the Pandemic began, the ways in which we have been able to say goodbye to our loved ones and to celebrate their funerals, whether they died with the Coronavirus or of other causes, have been severely restricted.
Bishop Robert has asked us to dedicate the month of November to remembering them all.
In their memory, our shared parish Mass will be celebrated
on Tuesday, 2nd November at 10am, the Feast of All Souls.
Fr. Patterson will include in this Mass the names of all those parishioners, of whom he is aware, who have died during the period of the pandemic since March, 2020. If you wish the names of any other people from our community who have died during that time to be included, please forward their names to Fr. Patterson no later than Monday, 1st November- ideally by email to felling.stpatrick@rcdhn.org.uk. They will then be entered into our Parish Book of Remembrance.
The names will also be taken to St Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle where they will be remembered during a Requiem Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert on Saturday 27th November at 11am. It is hoped parishioners will be welcome to attend this Mass subject to the Covid restrictions in place at the time.
An Ongoing Appeal from our Diocesan Justice and Peace Refugee Project
Father Patterson continues to be most grateful to the generous response we are receiving to this appeal. The project supports on average 300 clients each week, who all receive a bag of food. 102 of them are destitute and also receive a supermarket voucher.
If you are able to bring donations of rice, sugar, biscuits and toiletries as well as tinned fish in oil and tins of tomatoes and chick peas to St. Patrick’s Church before Mass on Tuesdays or Sundays, they may be left on the table to your right as you enter the Church. Please note: baked beans and tinned meat are not required.
Synod Questions
If there are any further comments pertaining the the Synod Questions which Fr. Patterson emailed to you last Monday, please let him have them by this coming Monday, 1st November at felling.stpatrick@rcdhn.org.uk or drop them through the presbytery letterbox.
Thank you
Father Patterson extends his gratitude to those who made donations to St. Patrick’s Church, totalling £150.00, in memory of Pat Smith on the occasion of her Funeral Mass last week. Thank you.
St. Patrick’s Boundary Wall.
The work of rebuilding the southern boundary wall of St. Patrick’s Church with Caxton House using the original stone, at a cost of £25,000, is progressing well.
Fr. Patterson is very grateful for a donation of £40.00 received during the week towards the cost. Should you wish to make a donation it may be placed in the box at the front of the church or put through the presbytery letterbox. Alternatively you may choose to make a donation by Bank transfer for which you will require the following details: Account name: DHN Felling St Patrick; Sort code: 40-34-18; Account No: 52010453. Donations. Thank you.
Your ongoing financial support is welcomed and needed
Fr. Patterson continues to be grateful for your offerings during these difficult times and is especially grateful to those parishioners who regularly contribute to parish funds by standing order helping us meet the regular financial commitments of our churches.
You may bring your envelopes to Mass on Tuesdays or Sundays or drop them through the presbytery letterbox. For security reason, envelopes should not be put through the letterbox of St. Alban’s Presbytery.
The parish is still able to reclaim the tax from Gift Aided offertory contributions made by bank transfer. It would be helpful to enter your name and Gift Aid envelope number as the reference when making the transfer.
The details for bank transfers/standing orders and cheques are as follows:
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
The Catholic Universe
This newspaper, which went into administration during the Summer after 160 years, has been replaced by an online subscription digital publication under a new name, “The Universe Catholic Weekly.” It will be topical, controversial, stimulating and packed with news, opinion and features. You can receive a weekly edition on line for £20.00 a quarter paid simply and directly to the publisher. For more information as to how to subscribe, visit the Universe Catholic Weekly website.
Respect for one another – Be aware of personal space and personal choice.
We have lived through a lot since the pandemic started so let us be kind and respect one another. Be aware of personal space and personal choice. Some people might not be ready to hug, kiss, shake hands or reduce social distance. Don’t assume what people are comfortable with. Instead, ask them and respect their personal choices.
We are still in need of more volunteers
If we are going to be able to reopen St. Alban’s Church and fully reopen St. Patrick’s Church and parish centre once all the Covid restrictions have been removed, Fr. Patterson needs your help and support to fulfil the roles outlined in our shared parish Roadmap which was circulated at the beginning of May. If you do not have a copy, please email felling.stpatrick@rcdhn.org.uk or telephone 0191 495 2277 and one will be sent to you.
Currently we do not have sufficient offers of help and support to be able to reopen St. Alban’s Church
and will be struggling to fully reopen St. Patrick’s Church and parish centre when the Covid restrictions are lifted.
New Diocesan Website
A new Diocesan website was launched last Friday.
The new website has a modern design and easy-to-use navigation including search facilities, providing a much more user-friendly experience. There are also advanced accessibility tools for users with additional needs such as translation, read aloud text and sensory support options.
Addressing a myth about “doubled jabbed people.”
Double jabbed people are catching Covid and passing it on to those they live with, warn experts who have studied UK household cases.
Individuals who have had two vaccine doses can be just as infectious as those who have not been jabbed. Even if they have no or few symptoms, the chance of them transmitting the virus to other unvaccinated housemates is about two in five, or 38%.
Vaccines do an excellent job of preventing serious Covid illness and deaths, but are less good at stopping infections, particularly since the emergence of the more infectious Delta variant which is dominant in the UK. And over time, the protection offered by vaccines wanes and needs boosting with further doses.
Could COVID cases exceed 100,000 per day? – Zoe Covid weekly update
Professor Tim Spector’s talks this week about the high numbers of cases, almost reaching 100,000 per day. He also offers some advice to protect our health system yourself and those around you this winter in the absence of government action. He compares the UK to the international scene, and how we’re looking against our neighbours. We’ve seen in previous waves that people decide to do things themselves when they see the situation around them isn’t so good, so Tim’s hoping that people will act sensibly again and try to drive down the virus as they have done before.
He continues to remind us that as well as the “classic symptoms” of Covid, (a high temperature, a new continuous cough or a loss or change to your sense of taste or smell), there are more symptoms emerging, namely a headache accompanied by a runny nose, sore throat, sneezing and a cough. It may just be a summer cold, but check it out by taking a Lateral Flow Test. These kits are available from the local chemist, are free of charge and simple to use. Check out the Zoe blog Do I have Covid or a cold?
Parish News by Email
If you are aware of parishioners who would like to receive the Newsletter and other news from the parish by email, please ask them to email Fr. Patterson at felling.stpatrick@rcdhn.org.uk and they will be added to our contact list.
