Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 4th August, 2024. Cycle B
St John the Evangelist
128 Bebington Road,
New Ferry, CH62 5BJ
Diocese of Shrewsbury (reg. charity 234025)
Parish Priest: Fr Mario Ashuikeka
Deacon: Revd Michael Daly Phone: 0151 645 3314
Email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Websites http://www.stjohntheevangelistnewferry.com
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 4th August, 2024. Cycle B
FAITH IN FOCUS: MIXED MOTIVES
Have you ever wondered why people practise the religion they do? Take Christianity, for example. The essence of Christianity is love of God through love of neighbour. In other words to be a Christian is to put others always before yourself. It means being at the service of whomever is in need.
It’s not rocket science to see that this approach to life is going to cause Christians a good deal of inconvenience, not to mention suffering and hardship at times. That’s why one of Christianity’s mottoes is about carrying your cross.
A more natural way of life would be to feather your own nest, to make sure that you are well provided for and comfortable and then, to think about helping others.
So why do we do what we do? Some people think that religion is a sort of insurance policy that they take out to give themselves a soft landing in the afterlife. At best we can say that they see this way of living as qualifying them for eternal life. Their motivation is the reward of heaven.
Other individuals have ulterior motives for practising their religion. Sometimes these are harmless, like enjoying the company of other people or feeling good after a good Church sing-along. Not so helpful ulterior motives could be the desire to be seen as part of the religious community for social reasons, to get votes in an election or to increase the sales of your ironmongery business. This is to use religion for other purposes.
Of course, there are folk who espouse Christianity because they are absolutely convinced by the teaching of Jesus; it makes sense of life here and now and it offers the best chance of living life to the full. They can see the wisdom of it all and can appreciate what God is promising on both sides of the grave.
In today’s gospel Jesus looks at the crowd and sees all the above types of people: those who believe because they have seen the signs and those who believe because they have had all the bread they wanted to eat.
Which are you?
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ENTRANCE ANTIPHON: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me! You are my rescuer, my help; O Lord, do not delay.
RESPONSE TO THE PSALM: The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION: Alleluia, alleluia! I am the way, the Truth and the \life, says the Lord; no one can come to the Father except through me. Alleluia!
COMMUNION ANTIPHON: You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.
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FRIDAY IS A DAY OF SPECIAL PRAYER FOR EUROPE
PLEASE NOTE: Fr Mario will be away throughout August until the first week of September. Some of the priests who help us will also be on holiday. As a result, Weekend Masses will remain the same, but Weekday Masses will be as follows:
St Anne’s: Every Wednesday at 12 noon
St John’s: Every Friday at 9:15am.
Assumption Mass will be at St Anne’s Church, 7pm.
Devotions/Adoration: Saturday Morning Devotions will be prayed in Church (the Rosary, Divine Mercy & Divine Praises) from 10:30am-11:30am. There will be no Confessions during August.
Last Weeks’ Offertory Collection: amounted to £462.25p. Many thanks for your continued support.
Apostleship of the Sea (Sea Sunday) combined collection from St John’s and St Luke’s amounted to £280 including £87 Gift Aid. Thank you for your continued generosity to all the retiring collections.
If you have any queries regarding parish matters or if you wish to arrange a Baptism, Wedding or Funeral please contact Fr Mario on 0151-645 3996. You can also get in touch with Carol Dalziel on 07808975011 or Ann Murray on 07745490279 regarding general parish queries.
SJE’s Parish Safeguarding Officer is Celia Daly, who can be contacted on 0151-645 9256 on all safeguarding matters.
Mass Intentions If you would like to have a Mass said for your own or someone else’s intentions , fill in one of the Mass offering envelopes at the back of Church, place a donation in it & put it through the Presbytery letterbox. Please give at least three weeks’ notice as we are receiving a large number of requests for particular dates and days.
Due to the reduction in weekly Masses throughout August, it will not be possible to celebrate Mass on a number of dates requested and the intentions will be placed as near as possible to those dates. I hope you will understand. Many thanks. Ann
In Memoriam: Please pray all the faithful departed that they may rest in the peace of Christ.
Children's Liturgy – takes place during the 9.30am Mass. All are most welcome.
Sunday Morning Teas continue on the first Sunday of each month. Come along for tea/coffee & biscuits whilst enjoying a chat. There will be no teas in August. Sunday 1st SEPTEMBER is the next date.
Wirral Foodbank Appeal: Please help to support our local Foodbank as much as you can with both food & funds. All items urgently needed are listed on the notice board at the back of church. Thank you.
Other Social Activities: We would like some volunteers to join our group to help to arrange various social activities this year. Please ring/text Diane Baylis on 07946916338.
Confirmation 2024 for St John’s & St Anne’s will be held at St Anne’s on Wednesday 27th November at 7.00pm. We would like to invite all young people in Year 7 and above for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Preparation will begin in September. Please speak to Fr Mario and/or contact St John's by email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com if you would like to receive this special Sacrament.
Face book: St John’s now has a new Face book page which will advertise Mass times & information on various church events. Please ‘like,’ follow & share to make this page more widely known & relevant. To find our page, search on Facebook for St John the Evangelist New Ferry
St John's Altar Servers: We are looking for some more altar servers for our Masses & special occasions. Any boy or girl who has made their First Holy Communion is eligible to become an altar server. If interested, please have a word with Fr Mario or make contact through the parish email stjohntheevangelist@gmail.com Parents, grandparents & parishioners -please encourage our young people to become involved in this important ministry.
National Eucharistic Congress at Oscott on Saturday 14th September. We have been allocated a limited number of tickets to this event & all attendees, including clergy, must arrive by coach. The Diocese has paid for the tickets & asks that parishes with parishioners attending make a donation towards the cost of the coach. It is hoped that the coach will pick up at three or four locations within the diocese (depending on attendees). The full programme for Adoremus can be found on the poster displayed at the back of church.
Wirral Coastal Walk: Orbis/3rd World Eyesight: If you sponsored Richard Williams for the above walk could you please leave your sponsorship money on the table at the back of church, in the box provided & tick "paid" against your name. Richard will be calling shortly to collect the sponsorship money. He expresses his thanks for all your support.
Walking Shrewsbury Diocese - Fundraising for SVP Holiday Homes and Youth Camps. Kate Birkenhead (SVP Officer for the Shrewsbury Diocese) and her partner Colin will be walking the whole of the Shrewsbury Diocese: 200 plus miles from New Brighton on The Wirral to Ludlow in South Shropshire, via South Manchester, raising money for our local St Vincent De Paul Society Children’s Camps and Holiday homes. They will take 2 weeks in July/August to complete the walk. All money raised will go towards funding these vital initiatives. https://giving.give-star.com/online/saint-vincent-de-paul-society-england-and-wales/kate-and-colin-are-walking-the-length-and-breadth-of-shrewsbury-diocese
Pilgrim’s Progress to Rome, an eight-day trek in Autumn 2025, is a charity fundraising challenge organised by the charity Life. Life supports women in unexpected and crisis pregnancies and those women experiencing pregnancy loss. Life are calling all those with “an adventurous spirit and a compassionate heart”, to email emilytraynor@lifecharity.org.uk to receive more information.
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Saturday 3rd 10.30am Devotions – Rosary, Divine Mercy & Divine Praises
5.00pm Royston Lowes B.day Annv.
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 4th 9.30am Thanksgiving (Nayoni)
7.30pm Prayer Meeting
Monday 5th NO MASS TODAY
Tuesday 6th NO MASS TODAY
7.00pm Novena
Wednesday 7th 12 Noon MASS AT ST ANNE’S ONLY
Thursday 8th NO MASS TODAY
Friday 9th 9.15am MASS AT ST JOHN’S ONLY
Anthony Lawrence Baptista 5th Annv.
Saturday 10th 10.30am Devotions – Rosary, Divine Mercy & Divine Praises
5.00pm St John’s & St Luke’s Parishioners
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 11th 9.30am Jim & Nora McCaffery Rem RIP
3.00pm Benediction
7.30pm Prayer Meeting
Weekend Masses - Please note that the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed immediately before each Mass. Please use this as a time for prayer & quiet devotion. Please enter the church quietly & remain so. Thank you.
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ST ANNE’S WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday 3rd 6.30pm Lee Layfield
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 4th 11.00am For Grandparents & Elderly Members of the Congregation
Monday 5th 12 Noon No Mass today
Tuesday 6th 12 Noon No Mass today
Wednesday 7th 12.Noon Emmanuel Jose Mamczur RIP
Thursday 8th No Mass today
Friday 9th No Mass today
Saturday 10th 6.30pm Wilfred White Anniv.
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 11th 11.00am Deceased members of Petris Family
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Pope Francis's Intentions for August
We pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and for the common good, especially caring for the poor and those who have lost their jobs.
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