PARISH OF OSCAR ROMERO SEAFORTH AND WATERLOO Worshiping in Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Edmund of Canterbury churches Serving the Catholic Community formerly served by the Parishes of Our Lady Star of the Sea, St Thomas of Canterbury and St Edmund of Canterbury Liverpool Archdiocesan Trustees Inc. Registered Charity No. 232709 Parish Priest: Rev. Dominic Curran: 1 Crescent Road, Seaforth Village, Liverpool, L21 4LJ Office Phone: 0151 928 2338 Parish e-mail: [email protected] 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Fr. Dominic’s Desk: Sunday of the Word of God As the Word of God is one of the two central points of our Sunday worship; the Liturgy of the Word, it may seem strange that we celebrate a Sunday of the Word of God, but I feel it is essential. I heard an experienced priest say sadly that ‘most Catholics would rather hear quotes from , and bishops, the current news, or funny stories, if they are to pay attention’. The problem is that this leaves us vulnerable to taking lines of scripture out of context, or being duped by people who tell us what it means. The Scriptures are the story of God’s relationship with God’s people, it is the story of salvation, but as with any story there are steps forward and there are steps backwards. We need to have an understanding to the trajectory, the direction of travel of the Scriptures to understand them, for them to truly be living scriptures, for them to truly be the Word of God. Then we can see how the two-steps-backwards texts, in the scriptures, give us an even deeper urgency to go forwards and a much deeper understanding when we get there. So, we need to be serious about the Scriptures but not be literal: Throughout history people have substituted being literal with being serious about the scriptures, they are not the same. Literalism does not take the text seriously at all! It often, if not always, avoids the real impact of the scriptures. Literalism reduces the scriptures to historical examples, and miraculous happenings. Real biblical revelation on the other hand invites us into a genuinely new experience. It is an invitation to a new set of eyes, a new way to see the world, yet we have reduced the bible to a bunch of ideas about which we can be right or wrong. The Bible illuminates our human experience through struggling with it. It is not a substitute for human experience but an invitation into the struggle itself. We, humanity, come to consciousness by struggle, we remain largely unconscious, asleep as it were, if we avoid all conflicts, dilemmas, paradoxes, inconsistencies, or contradictions. The bible is full of conflicts, paradoxes, and historical inaccuracies. It is precisely in learning to struggle with these seeming paradoxes that we grow up, not by avoiding them with glib one-sentence answers. So, on this Sunday of the Word of God I invite you all to a renewed relationship with the scriptures through prayer, through study and through reflection. To allow the scriptures to challenge you, to comfort you, to call you out of yourself and reconnect you with the Body of Christ, to reconnect you with God, to reconnect you with the great story of God and God’s people that you are part of. So we move from being people of quick and easy answers to instead be humble searchers for God and truth.

Thought by Saint Oscar Romero: All that passes. What does not pass away is love, which means using your wealth, your assets, your profession for the service of others. What does not pass away is the joy of sharing and feeling ourselves sisters and brothers of all humanity. (3rd Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B, 1979)

Mother On 22nd January 2021, the Holy See declared Mother Elizabeth Prout, foundress of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, to be Venerable. The Holy Father in an audience with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints authorised the same Congregation to promulgate a decree recognising the heroic virtues of this . Mother Elizabeth Prout is buried in the archdiocese and it was in the archdiocese that her sainthood cause was opened in 1994. Mother Elizabeth Prout made a significant contribution to the Church and the people of and further afield in education and healthcare, and the Sisters of the Congregation that she founded continue to show the care of the for those in need. This will be joyful news for the Cross and Passion family, and I am sure that our prayers as an archdiocese are with them as Mother Elizabeth Prout is recognised in this way. Let’s pray also that the Shrine at Sutton will be a place of prayer for her eventual canonisation. A Short History: Elizabeth Prout was born in Shrewsbury, England, in 1820. Her parents baptised her in the Anglican Church. In her early twenties she became a Catholic. Elizabeth moved to Manchester in 1849. There, touched by the misery and deprivation of the poor, she and a few companions came together to form a community to help the voiceless, downtrodden workers in the large industrial towns of nineteenth-century England. The community was directed and helped by two , Father Gaudentius Rossi and Father Ignatius Spencer. The rule was based on that of St Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists. Elizabeth recognised that the Passion of Jesus is the great sign of God’s love reaching out to those in pain. Now known as Mother Mary , Elizabeth continued to meet the challenges presented to her in her life of suffering, and to grow in solidarity with the crucified of the world. She died on 11th January 1864 at Sutton, St Helens, Lancashire. Her body, together with that of Blessed C.P. and Father Ignatius Spencer C.P., lies in the shrine of St Anne’s Church, Sutton. People gather around the shrine annually to commemorate their lives. To repeat myself from Last week: We stay open with limited public Masses to help those of us who struggle mentally, emotionally or spiritually without the connection and communion that we receive, when we come together to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, at the Sunday Mass. If you can maintain your mental, emotional and spiritual health staying at home and joining in spiritual communion with us, then until we begin to come out of the current lockdown, I feel this is the better option. Having said this if people keep to the rules, maintain distance between themselves and others not of their household, wear masks, not lowering them for any reason other than to receive communion, and only move when going to their benches and to communion, then I feel we can stay open safely. If at any point I feel that the risk of people transmitting this awful disease is greater than the benefits to our most spiritually, emotionally, and mentally vulnerable members is then we will stop public worship like many other parishes. The end is in sight with the rolling out of the vaccine, but we need to keep safe till, everyone who can receive the vaccine has had it. Please keep safe and be assured of my prayers for each and every one of you.

Resp. Psalm: Lord, make me know your ways. Gospel Alleluia, alleluia! The kingdom of God is close at hand: repent, Acclamation: and believe the Good News. Alleluia! Funerals coming up: Attendance at Funerals are strictly limited to 30 people, we list here the Funerals taking place this week so we can pray for the family and friends of the deceased and join them in praying for their loved ones, if you have not received a personal invite from the family to be one the 30 please do not attend as the tier 2 rules apply outside church for people’s proximity: • Thurs 28th Jan, 1:00pm: Funeral Service for George Colton at Star of the Sea • Fri 29th Jan, 10:15am: Requiem Mass for Robert Thompson at Star of the Sea

Note on Mass intentions: At this time it is increasingly difficult to celebrate Mass intentions on a specific day and in a specific church. With live-streamed Masses, it is easier for people to ‘attend’ Mass at either church building, and so from now on Mass intentions will be celebrated across both churches. If you would like a Mass intention celebrated in a specific building, I am afraid that it may have to wait to be celebrated until the pandemic is over. These are strange times and we can’t do everything we would wish to do, but a Mass intention offered at a live-streamed Mass is just as valid as one at a public Mass and is just as valid whichever building it is offered in. We will still try and keep as close to specific dates asked for the priest’s Mass intention. Please bear with us during this time, as we all do our best. ALTAR WINE/BREADS: (£10 donation given in memory of a loved one) January: Chris Bolger, February: Anonymous, MASS & LITURGY TIMES 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Vigil Mass for 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Saturday 23rd January 2021) 4:00 pm OLSS Church People of the Parish 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday 24th January 2021) 9:45 am St. Edmunds Win and Bill Caloe Feast of The Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle. (Monday 25th January 2021) Live Streamed only from Pat Billington 10:00 am St. Edmunds Memoria of Saints Timothy & Titus, Bishops. (Tuesday 26th January 2021) Live-Streamed only from 8:30 am Thanks for all Marie Davies Friends Our Lady Star of the Sea Wednesday of Week 3 in Ordinary Time. (Wednesday 27th January 2021) Live-Streamed only from Leo Cunningham (LD) 8:30 am Our Lady Star of the Sea Memoria of St , Priest, Doctor (Thursday 28th January 2021) Live Streamed only from 10:00 am George and Mary Lawlor St. Edmunds Friday of Week 3 in Ordinary Time. (Friday 29th January 2021) Live-Streamed only from Peggy Timpson (LD) 8:30 am Our Lady Star of the Sea 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Vigil Mass for 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Saturday 30th January 2021) 4:00 pm OLSS Church People of the Parish 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday 31st January 2021) 9:45 am St. Edmunds Gerry Murphy

ENROLLED IN PARISH MASS ASSOCIATION: Winifred Lea PLEASE REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR: Sick: All the sick of the parishes, their relatives, friends and all those caring for them. Lately Dead: Fr. James Matthews, Fr. Gerard Britt, Sue Sankey, Susan Davies, George Colton, Robert Thompson, Anniversary: George Lawlor,