Parish Priest Fr John McElhone 0191 2623820 Resident Priest: Fr Pat O’Connell Deacon: Frank Forde email: [email protected] www.wallsend-aidettes.co.uk Our Lady and St Aidan & St Bernadette’s Parish Communities 15th February 2015 6th Week of the Year P A R I S H N E W S Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. The forty days of Lent (Sundays are not included in the count) are set aside so that we may prepare for the great feast of Easter by observing a period of prayer, fasting and attentiveness to the needs of the poor. During the Ash Wednesday Mass, ashes will be placed upon our foreheads as a reminder to us of the shortness of our lives and of the call of God to love the Lord our God with the whole of our being and our neighbour as ourselves. An exciting season or a season of drudgery? It will all depend on our approach. Water Aid and CAFOD will benefit from the Government's decision to increase their charity’s fundraising efforts during Lent up to a maximum of £5m. Let’s look firstly at WaterAid’s campaign. We are invited to turn our small change into clean water so as to transform the future for families in villages like Ashalta who suffer diarrhoea and water related diseases because of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. All that is required is a jam jar and a willingness on our part to help people around the world get clean water and somewhere safe to go to the toilet. Can you imagine what life would be like for us if our homes lacked those basic facilities? Interested? Ask me a for a jar sleeve for the inside of the jar.! Fairtrade Fortnight presents us with the ideal opportunity to review practice in our parishes. Over 7000 parishes from a range of denominations have worked to have their support of Fairtrade officially recognised by achieving Fairtrade Church status. What is that we commit to? 1) Using Fairtrade tea and coffee after services and in all meetings for which we have responsibility. 2) moving forward on using Fairtrade products such as sugar, biscuits and fruit, 3) promoting Fairtrade awareness throughout the year and encouraging parishioners to buy Fairtrade products whenever they visit the supermarkets. So how do we score in each of these three areas? The poorest in our world would love to know. Now that the conversation has opened in relation to the 150th anniversary of the formation of St Aidan’s Parish in 1865 (1st meeting last Tuesday evening) the hope is that all parishioners will join in and make this an event to be remembered. The only thing that has been placed on the calendar so far is a concelebrated Mass of Thanksgiving at which the Bishop will preside and that will take place on Friday 2nd October. Many other themed events are planned, so if you want to be part of the planning group, please let me know. w/c 16th February St Aidan’s St Bernadette’s Mon 10.30am Funeral Mass for Hannah Forde Tues 10.00am Kwang Ying Wong Wed 7.00pm Michael Baitey Thurs 10.00am Fri 9.30am Saturday 6.30pm Sunday 10.00am Mary Hutchinson Mary Josephine Leonard Special Intention (BF) People of the Parish 9.30am Winnie and John Kerrigan 11.15am Eileen Henry Please pray for those who are ill and/or housebound: Vera Brady, Ann Marie Moon, Jim Glachan, Sheila McCashin, Winnie Shaw, Catherine Smith, Rachel McGilligan, Martin Summerly, Kathleen Durie and diocesan priests who are ill. The Season of Lent is an ideal time to think about those who are in need. We thank those who generously contribute to the Food Bank each week and invite ones like myself who occasionally forget to include additional items for the bank to give themselves a nudge and start up the practice again throughout the coming season of self denial. The recent social event held at St Bernadette’s Centre to benefit the Alzheimer's Society realised £290. Rose Kearns who organised the night, would like to thank all who supported the night. Prominent during Pope Francis’ tour of the Philippines was the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle who will be visiting St Mary’s Cathedral on Monday 9th March. He will preside at the 12.05pm Mass and will also speak at an evening celebration on the same day at 7pm. Cardinal Tagle is an inspiring communicator and is well respected for his involvement in many social issues and his work among the poor. The Newman Association will be hosting a discussion at the Immaculate Heart Church, West Monkseaton on Wednesday 25th February at 2pm. The two topics for discussion are as follows: “What will we do if we run out of priests?” and secondly “Keeping faith in retirement— coping with anarchy in old age.” All welcome. It was great to meet a group of parishioners out walking down the coast last Monday morning. They intend to keep the group going and would welcome the company of anyone who loves being out in the fresh air and fresh it was last Monday! If you would like to join them, please meet up outside the Playhouse in Whitley Bay at around 11am. I guess a mobile contact number would be useful in case you can’t see others, so here goes: Ellen 07954434410 The money raised for CAFOD over the next three months will attract matched funding from the government up to the sum of £5m. The constant call throughout the season of Lent will be to lead simpler lives and be especially attentive to the cries of the neediest. Let’s be both positive and generous in our response.