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St. Alban’s Monthly News
The monthly magazine of St. Alban’s Parish, Macclesfield
Issue No. 138
January 2015
“We aim to be a loving Catholic community in Macclesfield, assisted by prayer and
the sacraments, proclaiming God’s Word, serving all in need.”
"Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters"
The Pope’s New Year Message
The Pope’s message for January 1st the World Day of
Peace is a cry against the injustice of slavery in all its
forms. The essence is:
Many people think that slavery is a thing of the past. In
fact, this social plague remains all too real in today's
world. Too many children of God are denied dignity as
human beings. Peace can only exist when each human
being recognizes every other person as a brother or
sister with the same dignity.
Too many abominable forms of slavery persist in
today's world: human trafficking, trade in migrants and
prostitutes, exploitation, slave labour, and the
enslavement of women and children.
Shamefully, individuals and groups around the world
profit from this slavery. They take advantage of the
world's many conflicts, of the economic crisis and of
corruption in order to carry out their evil. Slavery is a
terrible open wound on the contemporary social body, a
fatal running sore on the flesh of Christ!
To counter slavery effectively, above all, the inviolable
dignity of every person must be recognized. Moreover,
this recognition must be anchored solidly in fraternity.
Fraternity requires us to reject any inequality which
would allow one person to enslave another. It demands
instead that we act everywhere with proximity and
generosity, thus leading to liberation and inclusion for
everyone.
Our purpose is to build a civilization based on the equal
dignity of every person without discrimination. To
achieve this will also require the commitment of the
media, of education and of culture to a renewed society
pledged to freedom, justice and therefore peace.
For more and the full text click on http://
www.catholicnews.org.uk/Home/News/World-Day-ofPeace
Peace is more than the absence of war.
One striking feature of the Pope’s messages over the
years – 2015 marks the 48th in the series- is that they are
not focused on war. They are mainly about justice.
We think of the peace between the European powers
which we have enjoyed since the end of World War II.
We wish each other “peace” during Mass. We sometimes sing a hymn with the word Shalom, meaning, in
shorthand, peace. This is the word of the Gospel and it
is so much richer.
This Hebrew word means completeness, wholeness,
health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility,
prosperity, perfectness,
fullness, rest, harmony, the
absence of agitation or
discord. In Biblical
revelation, peace is much
more than the simple
absence of war, it represents the fullness of life.
For more details:
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/peace/
Peace Sunday.
January 18th is the Sunday set aside by the English
Bishops for the celebration of the World Day of Peace.
On Wednesday 21st there will be a talk organised by the
J&P Group on “Blessed are the Peacemakers ” at 8pm
in the Parish Centre. The speaker will be Matt Jeziorski
of Pax Christi. All welcome.
Keith Taylor
St Alban’s Monthly News
Page 2
PARISH ROSARY FOR PEACE.
Every Wednesday evening before mass,
at 6.40 pm.
Together we CAN make a difference,
All welcome.
HOLY FATHER’S
PRAYER INTENTIONS
for JANUARY
BURNS NIGHT
In Parish Centre on
Saturday
31/1/15 at 7.30pm
Haggis, Neaps and tatties provided.
Bring your own bottle.
Piper performing and Scottish dancing lead.
All welcome
See poster in porch for further details/prices
Any queries contact Mary 426219
Universal:
“That those from diverse religious traditions and all
people of good will may work together for peace”.
For Evangelization:
That in this year dedicated to consecrated life,
religious men and women may rediscover the joy
of following Christ and strive to serve the poor
with zeal.
Baptisms
Jessica Rowe
Thomas Robert Snow
Then Contact Margaret on 07881 895540
Deaths
Monthly News Editor : Phil Read Shaw
Tel: 828152 Email: [email protected]
Contributions welcome from all groups and individuals
in the Parish. Copy deadline: last Monday of the month.
Advertising contact: Keith Taylor Tel: 429915
Email: [email protected] Rates £6.00 per single
insertion. (width 6cms by depth 4cms.)
(£30.00 for six months.)
St Alban’s Website: This month’s and last month’s
editions of the Monthly News are available at
http://www.stalbanmacc.org.uk
St Alban’s Monthly News is printed by
MAIL BOXES ETC
1 Silk House, Park Green, Macclesfield SK11 7QJ
Tel 429900 Email: [email protected]
Charles Fergus Lowe
Lowe
Ann May Bennett
Marriages
Jonathan Carl Duffy
& Samantha Sarah O'Brien
Anders Bergalund
& Valencia Constanza Munoz
St Alban’s Monthly News
Home Groups
Thanks are due to all who designed the
programme, hosted and led the groups and
participated in the programme. Watch out for
more information about future home groups in
the New Year.
It seems that the National Bishops’ Conference is
wishing to help parishes like ours in translating
Pope Francis’s words into action. Read the short
article below introducing their Proclaim 15
initiative.
Page 3
CAFOD
Fun Run
at Bollington
There were 160 people who joined in
the fun on the day after Boxing Day.
The weather was bright and course quite
safe in spite of overnight snow and low
Proclaim ‘15:
New National Initiative in 2015
to Support Parish Evangelisation
‘Proclaim ’15:
BUILDING MISSIONARY PARISHES’
is the name of a new National Bishops’
initiative being launched in 2015 to support the
development of parish evangelisation. It is
inspired by Pope Francis’ writings and has
five parts which include:
The provision of
free parish small group materials;
the organisation of a National Catholic
Evangelisation Conference in Birmingham
on 11 July 2015 for 850 evangelisation
representatives from across England
and Wales;
An invitation to parishes to host a parish
Prayer Vigil on the night of 11 July 2015 with
free prayer materials provided.
The invitation to dioceses, deaneries and
parishes to have their own Proclaim ’15
event in autumn 2015;
The publication of new evangelisation
resources as a fruit of the National Conference
to equip local evangelisers.
Please do get involved in what is a significant
new step in service of the proclamation of the
Gospel in your area. More information will be
available in our newsletter over the coming
months.
Website:
www.catholicnews.org.uk/proclaim15
Chris Pike
The runners and walkers all enjoyed
themselves from the time when they
started their warmup seen here.
All this before the formal start by
Cllr Amanda Stott, Town Mayor of Bollington
seen here with our very own Fr Paschal who
went on to complete the course in fine style.
At the time of going to press the total raised
for CAFOD’s work in Gaza Syria and Syria has
topped £3,000.
Thanks to all concerned,
Keith Taylor
St Alban’s Monthly News
Page 4
THE BOOK FOR
JANUARY
at
St Alban’s
Livesimply challenges us to respond to God’s call
to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the
poor.
As we start a new year and think about how we
can make resolutions to live our lives in the way
that God wants us to, we are encouraged to take
time to pray and reflect on the messages in this
Livesimply Creed.
Located in the Parish Library.
“Biographies ” - Spine Number: 31
MAN FROM A FAR
COUNTRY
BY
Mary Craig
We believe in God
who gave us a world to share
in friendship, equality and peace.
We believe in God
who created all people and our world out of love.
We recognise that the world is unequal and unjust
and that we are individually and collectively responsible for being good stewards
and for working with hope and love
to restore God’s kingdom on earth.
We believe in Christ, living, suffering, dying and
rising, the life force in the whole of creation.
This is a very readable account of the life of
Karol Wojtyla up to his election to the papacy.
His personal story has been interwoven with
We believe in one world, one people, fed from one
table.
National, political and social events in Poland
We believe that we are all vital parts of Christ’s
body,
reflecting his love,
by and through our actions, compassion, attitudes
and choices.
and in Europe and gives us the true picture of
We believe we are God’s instruments through
which by faith, prayer and action we will change
the world.
We believe in a God of love,
who calls all of us to listen to each other,
to actively share and treat each other as equals in
humility and hope.
We believe that within God’s circle of love, faith
and trust we all share in a worldwide hunger for
justice
as brothers and sisters in Christ.
(Written by a group of CAFOD volunteers)
Let us pray that we are able to live as 1 John
3:v18 guides us, when he says: “My children, our
love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active” and make Livesimply a more
active part of our personal, family and parish lives
not only a good and holy man, but a very rare
and exceptional human being.
Silvia
St Alban’s Monthly News
Page 5
Church Schools Voluntary
Academy Trust Set to Grow
All Hallows Catholic College in Macclesfield
is hoping to be joined by three more schools,
which are applying for permission to consult
on becoming voluntary Academies.
The three schools are all members of a
Church school partnership made up of
Catholic and Anglican schools, which work
closely with each other and All Hallows, as
the progression secondary school.
The Catholic primary schools applying to
consult on academy status are: St Alban’s
(Macclesfield), St Mary’s (Congleton) and
St Paul’s (Poynton). The schools will benefit
from the Government primary chain grant,
which will help them establish new ways of
working together and as part of the trust. The
aim of the trust, which is known as the Holy
Family Catholic Academy Trust, is to
strengthen partnership working and to ensure
high quality Church school education is
provided for children from ages 3-19.
The picture shows the Head teachers
as follows:Head of St Paul’s
Nora Armstrong,
Principal of All Hallows Catholic College
Tony Billings,
Head of St Mary’s Congleton
Sasha Humphries and
Head of St Alban’s
Teresa Cook.
Notes
Head of St Mary’s, Sacha Humphries said
‘This is a natural progression for us, we
already work closely with the All Hallows
Learning Community and are fully convinced
of the possibilities from entering into a more
formal partnership with each other.’
Nora Armstrong Boyle, Head of St Paul’s said
‘We have been exploring the idea of becoming
a voluntary academy for some time and we
think the diocesan multi-academy trust model
is right for us.’
Teresa Cooke Head of St Alban’s agreed
saying
‘Since becoming Head of St Alban’s we have
really benefitted from the support we give to
each other and our sense of shared purpose.’
Tony Billings, Principal of All Hallows said ‘
We are really looking forward to the possibility
of being joined by others in an arrangement
which will make partnership working for the
community we serve secure for the future.
All Hallows was the first member to establish
and join the Holy Family of Nazareth Multi
Academy Trust in January 2013.
The timescale for consultation and conversion
will be set by the individual governing bodies
of each school with the primary hoping to
convert to academy status before the end of
this academic year.
The Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury
approves a multi-academy trust model for
academy conversion, which ensures families
of schools work together as equals and for
the benefit of the whole of the communities
they serve.
All four schools have good or outstanding
ratings in Ofsted inspections – a requirement
for becoming ‘converter’ academies.
Converter academies are known as
‘voluntary’ academies in Catholic education.
St Alban’s Monthly News
Page 6
The Joy of the Gospel
Home Group Feedback
Our Autumn/Advent home groups attracted
88 participants, meeting in 11 different homes
across the parish. The material we used, based on
Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii
Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) was inspirational
and challenging to all of us. We were encouraged
by Pope Francis to “a renewed personal encounter
with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting
him encounter us … and to do this unfailingly
every day.”
In this way we can be filled by a new found
joy that others may sense and want to share. The
home group meetings provided a lovely opportunity for parishioners to share their faith with others
and to learn from each other.
Many commented on how enriching the
home group experience was, in making friends, in a
warm, open and accepting community. Comments
made by participants included:
•
I enjoyed the whole experience; the text is
fantastic and inspiring; the discussion was an
important part of the experience for me.
•
Wonderful, open, supportive fellow
Christians, willing to share and listen to each
other; TJoTG is a stunning document; the
structure of the materials, its preparation and
the format to trigger our discussion were all
superb – Thank you.
•
It was a very worthwhile experience; Very
interesting and important; Being here
reminded me that I need to keep exploring
my faith and to put more effort into living my
faith; also made me realise that I need to live
more joyfully.
•
Interesting to be able to share mutual
enthusiasm about Pope Francis’ way of
“being Pope”. Trust being built up within
group members, as we “step out in courage”
to share our own experiences.
•
Very warm welcome from hosts. BEST hospitality offered – food, mulled wine, tea and
coffee!!
•
Could we have more homilies on the
Kerygma, so we can have confidence in
talking of the basics of our faith to friends
who enquire.
•
The whole experience has been challenging
and helped me to question certain mores.
•
The highlights for me were the ways people
opened up to share their experience of their
faith which sparked some new insights and
opened fresh avenues of thought.
•
Listening and learning from other Christians
made me want to read the Gospels and read
“The Joy of the Gospel” which I bought.
•
Home groups are becoming increasingly
important in the building up of community
and for me the opportunity to deepen faith
and widen knowledge and understanding of
the Gospel – Good News!
•
READING a Papal Encyclical!! Unlikely that
I’d have done this by myself.
•
Home groups are a great concept and I really
enjoy being involved.
Chris Pike
St Alban’s Monthly News
Visit to The Rowans Care Centre
By X-Seed 14 December 2014
I was so VERY pleased that 13 young members
of X-Seed Youth Group ( Frankie Slater, Matthew
Brooks, Daniel Hulme, George Jackson, Miguel
Donor, Alex and Charlotte Siedlecka, Stephen
Hughes, Abbey Marchington, Katie Millward, Joshua
Carey, and Emma and Sam Tapp) were all able to
come on 14 December to The Rowans Nursing
Home, to decorate a Christmas Tree and sing carols
together with the old people living there.
The Rowans Care Centre, where late Deacon
Michael Ullman was looked after during the last
years of his life, is not an easy place to visit.
Most of the residents are quite advanced in the
physical deterioration of both their bodies and minds
and the first impact is quite challenging, if not a
trifle scary.
However, there were still enough smiling faces
around, and we all gradually relaxed as the
decoration of the Christmas tree got under way
and Liz Tomlinson struggled around trying to give
X-Seeders some background Christmas music, while
they were busy at work on the tree. Liz didn’t quite
succeed with the music, but the tree looked
wonderful all the same.
It was Carol singing time next, and I felt so
proud, when responding to Liz’s suggestion each
one of the young people got near one of the older
people to help them sing, using the enlarged print
lyrics we had prepared for some of the most
traditional carols. The sound was wonderful.
Besides the success of the tree decoration, the
excellent music by Stephen and Miguel, and the
carol singing by all, the highlights for me were:
- Eric (91) deaf, but lip reading and still singing the
carols. He also told Stephen that he couldn't hear his
playing, but could tell from the movement of his
fingers what a good player he is. And he shook
Stephen's hand, as well as Miguel's, the guitarist.
- John (also 91), who was celebrating his 68th
Wedding anniversary that very same day, when he
started crying as we sang him 'Happy Anniversary to
you...’ He then went on to tell us the secret of his
successful relationship: 'It is sharing. Always share:
the good things and the problems. Don't keep anything to yourself. Share!
Well, in the light of what Pope Francis asks us
to do: Share the joy of the Gospel, I think that
X-Seeders with their youth, their voices, their
care, and their gentleness towards the older
people (including me) really exceeded themselves
in answering Pope Francis' call.
Very well done! I felt very happy for everybody!
Cecilia
Page 7
Thank you for taking us Cecilia to The Rowans.
It was quite the experience! Like you say, at first it
was a rather scary thought, but as the time went on
it was rather relaxing and nice to share the
experience with the older people.
My highlight was actually meeting Veronica, or
as the people there call her, Vicky, who explained to
me how she used to be part of Saint Albans parish
but had to stop going to church because of her
illness.
She explained to me she keeps going
because of the Lord, and that she thought it was
lovely we all went to share the experience with her.
It really touched me so thank you for taking us.
Daniel Hulme.
X-Seed at The Rowans
Visiting the old people in The Rowans Care
Centre was a new experience for us. We enjoyed
meeting the old people, decorating the Christmas
Tree and making Christmas special for them. We
hope we did that, and they certainly enjoyed the
Christmas carols.
Sam and I sat next to a lovely lady who
enjoyed joining in with the carols and keeping up
with the lyrics. The lady kept saying what a
gentleman Sam was, as he was giving out the sheets
and collecting them back in.
When we were leaving a few of the old
people got upset, and one man got emotional
because it was his wedding anniversary that very
day. It made us feel grateful for what we have got,
and helps us to not take things for granted.
We hope we can go again another day and
spend more time chatting to the residents about
what life was like for them when they were young.
Pam, Emma and Sam Tapp
Page 8
St Alban’s Monthly News
St Alban’s
Mums and Toddlers Group
enjoyed their Christmas party and a
surprise visit from Santa
Mary Loughran, chairperson of the St Albans
Social Committee, presented a cheque for £550
to the Chairman of the Just Drop In centre,
Bruce Taylor, on Duke St in Macclesfield on
10/12/14, along with the Chief Officer of JDI
Ann Wright.
Funds were raised by the parish, at the annual
St Albans Hog Roast, and donated to Just Drop
In. The money was used to purchase and
display window vinyls to advertise the services
offered at JDI.
JDI is a charity offering support, guidance,
advocacy and counselling to young people aged
between 12-25yrs old.
There were 3,000 visits, made by 150 young
people last year, who were seeking help or simply a safe and friendly place to go.
Call by and see the new window vinyls, outside
JDI, which we all contributed to, and which
have made a striking difference.
New volunteers are always welcome.
Many thanks.
Mary
St Alban’s Monthly News
Conversion;
a
Threshold or a Process
Like so many others in the parish, five of us met
one evening for the last of our Advent meetings to
appreciate what Pope Francis is saying to us in his
exhortation ‘The Joy of the Gospel’. We started by
focusing on he huge ‘Yes’ that Our Lady said at the
Annunciation by listening to xx singing the Hail
Mary and listening to Luke account. Then we
prayed Michel Quoist’s prayer ‘Help me to say
‘Yes’’. During the evening we referred back to the
passage where God says:
I need your ‘Yes’ just as I needed Mary’s
‘Yes’.
You have asked for my approval, you have
asked for my support; you have wanted to
interest me in your work.
But don’t you see son/daughter, that you
were reversing the roles.
I have watched you; I have seen your
good-will, but I want more than you.
You will no longer do your own works,
but the will of your Father in Heaven.
We reflected on the issue of whether most
Catholics are still at an early, essentially passive
stage of spiritual development, that is they are not
yet active disciples of Christ. For many of us,
when we were growing up, being a Catholic meant
going to church on Sunday and not eating meat on
Friday. One convert pointed out that when she
worked or Social Services in Birmingham, the
Catholics were exemporally in looking after their
own, some thought that since Vatican II we had
become intellectual Catholics to the detriment of
reaching out to the marginalised and some thought
that, compared to St Michaels, St Alban’s was reticent in embracing the homeless project. We agreed
that we had some way to go in embracing the
Church’s teaching on social justice
We reflected on those that had experienced a
conversion such as St Paul and St Ignatius of
Loyola and that raised a question that kept reoccurring all evening; Is conversion a threshold in which
a person moves from being passive to being active
or, for most of us, is it a process in which we strive
to listen to God better and open ourselves to His
will more. Then we reflected on the five stages of
Page 9
requires trust, just has the Apostles trusted when
they left their livelihoods.
When reflecting on spiritual curiosity, we were
very conscious of the combined pitfalls of doing
little exploration of the gospels from one Mass to
the next and when we hear the familiar texts they
make little impact because they are so familiar.
One reflected on the fact that every three years he
hears ‘Let the dead bury the dead’, goes ‘Ouch.
What did Jesus mean by that?’ and does nothing to
discern an answer until it’s hear again in three
years’ time.
We all recognised the great challenge in spiritual
openness to handing our lives to God. Some, for
whom life is currently a challenge, found the
prospect of greater expectations daunting. All
found ‘letting go’ hard and we recalled the part in
Michel Quoist’s prayer You will no longer do your
own works, but the will of your Father in Heaven
and how that should resonate when we say ‘Thy
will be done.’
That brought us to spiritual seeking, the threshold
in which a person moves from being passive to
being active and, once again, the question of
whether conversion is a threshold or a process. For
most of us it is a process, which is ongoing.
We spent the last half an hour reflecting on we
thought the response of our parish should be to the
‘Joy of the Gospel’. Some thought that the
response should be personal; an increased effort to
tell those in our lives about Jesus and to make a
personal commitment to reaching out to the
marginalised. Our values should show out in the
workplace so others ask ‘Why did you do that?’
Others thought we should also ‘drop our nets’ and
follow Jesus as a Church. We dreamt of a Church
where ‘going out’ was the focus of many of our
Sunday Masses. We recalled the time in 1998
when Canon Harry said ‘I want a Millennium
Project that will show the face of Jesus to the
people of Macclesfield and in 2001 the drop-in
centre for young people ‘Just Drop-in’ opened.
There was one thing on which we all agreed;
Pope Francis is giving us a gentle kick to get
closer to Jesus and reach out to the marginalised.
Mark & Liz Dutton
St Alban’s Monthly News
Page 10
The Sacraments of First Forgiveness
and First Holy Communion 2015
MEDJUGORJE PILGRIMAGE
2015
“II am the Living Bread which has come down from
Heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live Forever”
It is now that time of the year when St. Alban’s parish invite
children and their parents to undertake the preparation programme for First Sacraments. It is a parish based
programme of preparation, where our teachers and parish
catechists work closely with the family of children who are
starting their sacramental faith journey. Eligibility of
children is from the ages of 7 (those not attending a local
catholic school) and St. Alban’s Primary school from year 3
are eligible to receive the Sacraments of First Forgiveness
and First Holy Communion.
The next parent meeting will be on Thursday 15th
January at 7.30pm in the parish centre, where the main
theme for parents is the preparation for First Forgiveness for
their children, an introduction to the “I Belong” book which
all children will be expected to work through. Of course
catechists and teachers are always available to
support and work with parents and children. Fr. Peter our
parish priest, is supported by Fr. Paschal attending the
parents meetings, where parents questions, and dilemma’s in
matter of faith and spiritual concerns can be aired and answered. Debate and discussion is always lively, thought
provoking where our spiritual lives are involved. Children
progress well through our First Sacraments programme,
settings are interactive for children as well as parents. A
child’s spiritual development is nurtured toward an understanding of the teachings of Jesus and those of our Church.
Last but not least, for those children who do not attend a
Catholic School, our parish provides a separate sessions,
which start on Saturday 17th January at 5pm in the parish
centre. A team of catechists will be there to meet children
and parents – but do come and meet us first on 15th January.
Further information available from the parish office
or contact Carla on 01625 828152 or email:
.
[email protected]
•
•
•
•
Important dates for your diaries :
Parents Meeting
7.30pm – Thursday 15th January (Parish Centre)
Saturday Group
(children not attending Catholic School)
Programme starts
Saturday 17th January at 5pm-6pm (Parish Centre)
Enrolment Mass
for Children making their First Sacraments in 2015
Sunday 18th January at 9.30 am Mass – St. Alban’s
Enrolment forms will be available from
St. Alban’s Primary school, the parents meeting and
in church from 18th January .
Carla. R-S
Our Lady Queen of Peace
.
Before announcing the names of the 20 new cardinals
he will create on February 14, Pope Francis used his
Sunday Angelus address to continue the reflection on
peace, Mary and the Church that he began during a
Mass on January 1 marking the feast of Mary, Mother
of God, and the World Day of Prayer for Peace.
“Peace is not just an absence of war, but the general
condition of the person who is in harmony with him or
herself, in harmony with nature and in harmony with
others,” he said during the Angelus address. Everyone
says they want peace, Pope Francis said, but they continue to make war, even on a small scale. “How many
families, how many communities — even parishes —
are at war,” he said.
Describing Mary as the “queen of peace,” the Pope
said that during her earthly life she knew difficulty,
“but she never lost her peace of heart, a fruit of having
abandoned herself with trust to the mercy of God. We
ask Mary, our tender mother, to point the whole world
to the sure path of love and peace.”
Peace is a gift that comes through prayer and through
small daily efforts to sow harmony in one’s family,
parish and community, Pope Francis said. He added:
“At the beginning of this new year, we are all called to
reignite in our hearts a spark of hope, which must be
translated into concrete works of peace: You don’t get
along with that person? Make peace. In your home?
Make peace. In the community? Make peace.
At work? Make peace.”
The parish, led by Fr Peter, will be undertaking a
pilgrimage to Medjugorje later this year.
The dates are Tues 22nd to Tues 29th Sept 2015
The cost is £539
Please let me know if you are interested in
joining us. Phil Tel: 828152
St Alban’s Monthly News
Advent/Christmas Blessings
On Saturday, 13th December a Day of Renewal
was held in St Alban's Parish Centre; it was led
by Shrewsbury Diocesan Service Team in
collaboration with St Alban's Parish Council
and prayer groups in the parish.
The title of the day was "Be Free in the Lord"
and the day itself was a condensed version of the
residential weekend held at Pantasaph Friary at
the beginning of November.
Once again the speakers were "ordinary" people 3 of whom were from this parish: Gyorgy Zorenyi,
Phil Read-Shaw and myself; the fourth speaker
was Mona Kruppa, a member of the Wrexham
DST, who had travelled especially from North
Wales to be with us; our topics were-
Page 11
Throughout the day our singing and praise was led
beautifully by Gyorgy and Jeremy- helping us all to
open our hearts and minds to God in prayer and praise another great blessing ! The whole day was full of love
and joy and peace; there were a few tears at times but
only as hearts were moved by the presence and power
of the Lord moving amongst us with his Healing touch.
The day was a wonderful uplifting and inspiring
experience and a great preparation for Christmas....along with the Advent Vigil; the wonderful
Home Groups (the best yet); the Reconciliation Service,
as moving as ever; the Sunday Mass with prayers for
healing of the sick;
Singing Carols in the Market Place (wet & cold - but
still good!);the Christmas Tree Festival at the United
Reformed Church with a tree entered by St Alban's;
The Christmas Wrap, in which more of our
parishioners than ever took part this year;
You are significant )
You are secure
) in
You are accepted ) the Lord
You are complete )
and the only way we could each speak about
any of these was by simply sharing our own
experiences of how God has worked in our lives,
often in unexpected and surprising ways and
about the effect that has made on and in our
lives- and how, because of that, each one of us
has been set free in different ways.
In 1975 Pope Paul VI made the powerful
comment that "modern man listens more willingly
to witnesses than to teachers and, if he does listen
to teachers, it is because they are witnesses"...
& that was all that we were trying to do - give
witness/share our testimony;
personal testimony/witness is always very
powerful, especially when it is given by "ordinary"
people.
After the morning talks we went over to church for
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and many of
us took the opportunity to go to the Sacrament of
Reconciliation which was followed by a beautiful
Mass shared with St Alban's Fellowship Group.
During lunch we had great fun chatting with
people, catching up with old friends and meeting
some new ones and lots of mini-testimonies were
shared.
Carol Concerts by St Alban's Primary School and
All Hallows College; the lovely Carols by Candlelight;
the beautiful decorations in church and, of course, all
the Masses and all the meetings of the various prayer
groups in the parish as well as St Alban's involvement
in the Initiative to help the homeless all made this surely
one of the most meaningful and fruitful Advents yet and
were all a wonderful preparation for Christmas!
A lot of time and effort went into making everything
the very best that it could be and many, many thanks
are owed to everyone who worked so hard to bring
that about; Thank you!
After taking part in the preparations, I wasn't actually
able to be at St Alban's for any of the Christmas Masses
as I was away at my daughter's but I know from friends
that the Christmas Masses were again very well
attended and a real celebration of the Joy of Christmas
- and although I was in another parish (St Mary's,
Horwich), my Advent preparations at St Alban's made
it possible for me to enter fully into the Christmas
celebration there, knowing that we were all united in
the Spirit of Christmas Joy and Thanksgiving,
wherever we were:
"Glory to God in the highest & peace to His people on
earth" Alleluia!
Catherine Mossey
Page 12
St Alban’s Monthly News
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