God, our loving Father, we thank you for blessing our parish WELCOME WITAMY KAABO BEMVINDO with all we need to respond to our vocation to be a parish in our community. THE PARISH OF OUR LADY AND ST. , HEYWOOD, We thank you for all our parish members who, in response to your call, SUNDAY 7th JUNE 2020, partner parish St. Martin’s, Ganye, Nigeria give of themselves so freely to enrich our parish life St Joseph’s Presbytery, Mary St, OL10 1EG Tel: 01706 369777 in ways of love and service. Fr Paul Daly [email protected] Pour out afresh the gifts of your Spirit upon each of us that we may be inspired Fr Bob Hayes [email protected] to serve you in new and creative ways as missionary disciples, bringing your Light to the world. Parish Office Monday 9am-1pm We ask your blessing as we journey together in hope through Christ Our Lord. AMEN Please try to come to the parish office during office hours or email [email protected] This Week’s : Mon: Bl. William Fitzherbert, Archbishop of York and peacemak- er. Bl. William Day, monk at the London Charterhouse, martyred under Henry VIII. Some Masses are live on Our Lady and St. Joseph’s Parish, Hey- wood, facebook page. Tue: St. Ephrem, born in Nisibis (present day Turkey) in 306, Watch without being a FB member; google Our Lady and St. Jo- and ordained deacon, was famous as a writer of homilies, po- seph’s Parish, Heywood, Facebook, and click on the link. ems and hymns for the liturgy; he was called “The Harp of the Holy Spirit”. He died in 373. St Columba or Colm Cille, www.catholicheywood.com Twitter @CatholicHeywood was born in Donegal c.521 and died at Iona in 597. Before Instagram catholicheywood leaving Ireland he founded monasteries at Derry, Durrow and (Facebook) Our Lady and St. Joseph’s Parish Heywood possibly Kells. His main foundation was Iona, from where he www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk converted much of Western Scotland, and his followers took the Gospel to Northern England. He was a poet and scribe as THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Church not open well as spiritual guide. Bl. Robert Salt, martyr of the London Mass at 9am (not livestreamed) Mass in Polish, livestreamed 4pm Charterhouse MONDAY Church not open Holy Hour 8am-Mass 9am, not livestreamed (no livestreamed Mass this evening) Thu: St. , born in Cyprus, a companion of St. Paul in his journeys before returning to Cyprus to preach the Gos- TUESDAY St. Ephrem, St. Columba Church not open pel. His name means ‘son of encouragement.’ Holy Hour 8am-Mass 9am, not livestreamed Livestreamed Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 6pm, followed by Mass 6.30pm Fri: St. Eskil, English monk and bishop in Norway, was stoned Churches Together in Heywood meeting, via Zoom, 7.30pm to death in 1080 for disrupting a pagan ritual. WEDNESDAY Church not open

A Poem for Trinity by Malcolm Guite Holy Hour 8am-Mass 9am, not livestreamed Sat: St. , born Lisbon Livestreamed Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 6pm, followed by Mass 6.30pm In the Beginning, not in time or space, 1195, inspired by the Franciscan martys in Learning more about our Faith, livestreamed on Facebook 7.15-7.45pm Morocco joined the order; though he hoped But in the quick before both space and time, to preach in Africa, he ended up in Italy, be- THURSDAY BARNABAS Church not open In Life, in Love, in co-inherent Grace, coming a great preacher and theologian. Holy Hour 8am-Mass 9am, not livestreamed He died in Padua in 1231, aged 36. Livestreamed Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 6pm, followed by Mass 6.30pm In three in one and one in three, in rhyme, FRIDAY Abstinence from meat Church not open In music, in the whole creation story, Holy Hour 8.am-Mass 9am, not livestreamed In His own image, His imagination, Livestreamed Exposition of the Bl Sacrament 6pm, followed by Mass 6.30pm The Triune Poet makes us for His glory, SATURDAY St. ANTHONY OF PADUA Church not open And makes us each the other’s inspiration. Mass at 9am (not livestreamed) He calls us out of darkness, chaos, chance, Livestreamed Exposition of the Bl Sacrament 10am-12noon and 3pm-Benediction at 5.30pm To improvise a music of our own, First Mass of Sunday 6.30pm livestreamed To sing the chord that calls us to the dance, SUNDAY THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRISTI Three notes resounding from a single tone, (Corpus Christi) Church not open To sing the End in whom we all begin; Mass at 9am (not livestreamed) Livestreamed Mass at 11am & Exposition of the Our God beyond, beside us and within. Bl Sacrament 3pm- Benediction at 5.30pm If you wonder if Catechism of the from previous page God is calling The children of our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final persever- you into His ance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with his Catholic Church, grace in communion with Jesus. Keeping the same rule of life, believers share the "blessed or are open to hope" of those whom the divine mercy gathers into the "holy city, the new Jerusalem, com- the possibility, ing down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." contact Fr. Paul. The grace of the Spirit confers on us the righteous- We can start to ness of God. Uniting us by faith and Baptism to the Pas- explore this to- sion and Resurrection of Christ, the Spirit makes us shar- gether even in ers in his life. these days of Lockdown with an Alpha Course online. This course is primarily aimed Like conversion, justification has two aspects. Moved at people who are ‘wondering’ or ‘searching’ for faith, maybe in a heightened way in these by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and strange times. If you know anyone, invite them along and come with them. We hope to so accepts forgiveness and righteousness from on high. start on Wednesday 24th June, 7.15pm-8.30am. If you would like to take part email Justification includes remission of sins, sanctification, Fr. Paul [email protected] to register. and renewal of the inner person. Justification has been merited for us by the Passion Next Sunday 14th June is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). We of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms are looking at holding Quarant’ Ore livestreamed. Volunteers will be asked to sign up for us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has an hour’s adoration. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in church but, if churches for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent haven’t reopened, you will be praying from your home. work of God's mercy.

Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted Churches Together in Heywood will meet on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm by zoom. sons. It introduces us into the intimacy of the Trinitarian life.

The divine initiative in the work of grace precedes, prepares, and elicits the free re- Together with time, talent, treasure Many thanks for your generosity last Sunday sponse of man. Grace responds to the deepest yearnings of human freedom, calls freedom £256 (GiftAid) & £126.62(Loose), £105 (Buildings Fund) as well as £40 in Standing Or- to cooperate with it, and perfects freedom. ders. Please post your offerings through the Presbytery Door (Hind Hill St). Please take Sanctifying grace is the gratuitous gift of his life that God makes to us; it is infused by out a Standing Order or ask how to do it; email the parish office. the Holy Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it.

Sanctifying grace makes us "pleasing to God." Charisms, special graces of the Holy Alternatively you can donate via the Diocese of Salford website. Click on the site Spirit, are oriented to sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk and in the top right corner you will see a button Church. God also acts through many actual graces, to be distinguished from habitual grace marked DONATE. Click on that, scroll down to where you are asked to enter the which is permanent in us. parish name and go from there. It takes a matter of seconds and will help us out We can have merit in God's sight only because of God's free plan to associate man with tremendously. the work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and sec-

ondly to man's collaboration. Man's merit is due to God. In difficult times it is charities that take a severe hit as people are unable to donate as The grace of the Holy Spirit can confer true merit on us, by virtue of our adoptive filia- generously as they usually do. Remember that our parish is part of a charity and relies on tion, and in accordance with God's the generosity of people like yourselves. gratuitous justice. Charity is the

principal source of merit in us be- The ’s prayer for June: That all who suffer may find fore God. their way in life, allowing themselves to be touched by the No one can merit the initial Heart of Jesus. grace which is at the origin of con- version. Moved by the Holy Spirit, Let us pray for the people of the parish of St. Bernadette, we can merit for ourselves and for Withington, for Fr. Colin Wright, their parish priest, for Loreto others all the graces needed to at- High School, and for the Marist Sisters. tain eternal life, as well as neces- sary temporal goods. For all who live on Dunrobin Cl, Dunblane Gr and Dunoon Cl. All Christians are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the For all with Coronavirus, for Sylvia McNally and all the sick perfection of charity. Christian per- fection has but one limit, that of For James Gaskill, John McCaffrey, Serena Galligan, Atty San- having none. tos Terceno, Mini Naldo and all who have died recently togeth- If any one would come after er with George Fish, Josephine Green, Alice Haworth, Yvonne me, let him deny himself, take up Morrison, Annie Connolly and all remembered at this time. his cross and follow me.

Pope Francis to From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2010-29) young people (Christus vivit 190- Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace 4) You do not have to of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit agree with everything and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our adults say or approv- sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. ing all their actions. A Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God's young person should wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the always have a critical grace we need for meritorious actions. spirit. St Basil the Great encouraged the The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us young to esteem the to Christ in active love, ensures the quality of our acts and consequently their classical Greek au- merit before God and before men. the saints have always had a lively awareness that their thors, but accept only merits were pure grace. whatever good they could teach. It is being After earth's exile, I hope to go and enjoy you in the fatherland, but I do not want to lay open to receiving a up merits for heaven. I want to work for your love alone.... In the evening of this life, I wisdom passed down shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. from generation to generation, wisdom familiar with human weakness and not deserving to All our justice is blemished in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice vanish before the novelties of consumer society and the market. and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself. The world has never benefited, nor will it ever benefit, from a rupture between genera- We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him. For those whom tions. That is the siren song of a future without roots and origins. It is the lie that would he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might have you believe that only what is new is good and beautiful. When intergenerational rela- be the first-born among many brethren. and those whom he predestined he also called; tionships exist, a collective memory is present in communities, as each generation takes and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. up the teachings of its predecessors and in turn bequeaths a legacy to its successors. In this way, they provide frames of reference for firmly establishing a new society. As the old All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to saying goes: “If the young had knowledge and the old strength, there would be nothing the perfection of charity. All are called to holiness: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is they could not accomplish”. perfect." The prophecy of contains a verse that ex- To reach this perfection the faithful presses this nicely: “I will pour out my Spirit should use the strength dealt out to upon all flesh, and your sons and your daugh- them by Christ's gift, so that doing ters shall prophesy, and your young men shall the will of the Father in everything, see visions, and your old men shall dream they may wholeheartedly devote dreams”. When young and old alike are open themselves to the glory of God and to the Holy Spirit, they make a wonderful to the service of their neighbour. combination. The old dream dreams, and the Thus the holiness of the People of young see visions. How do the two comple- God will grow in fruitful abundance, ment one another? as is clearly shown in the history of the Church through the lives of so The elderly have dreams built up of memories many saints. and images that bear the mark of their long experience. If young people sink roots in Spiritual progress tends toward ev- those dreams, they can peer into the future; er more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in they can have visions that broaden their horizons and show them new paths. But if the el- the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the derly do not dream, young people lose clear sight of the horizon. mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the Perhaps our parents have preserved a memory that can help us imagine the dream our sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all. grandparents dreamed for us. All of us, even before our birth, received, as a blessing from our grandparents, a dream filled with love and hope, the dream of a better life. Even if not The way of perfection passes through the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation our grandparents, surely some of our great-grandparents had that happy dream as they and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the mortification that leads to living in the contemplated their children and then grandchildren in the cradle. The very first dream of peace and joy of the Beatitudes: He who climbs never stops going from beginning to be- all is the creative dream of God our Father, which precedes and accompanies the lives of ginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already all his children. The memory of this blessing that extends from generation to generation is knows. a precious legacy that we should keep alive so that we too can pass it on.

May marked 100 years since the birth of Karol Wojtyła, Pope St. John Paul II. on the Amazon & Care for our Earth (Querida Amazona 60-5) We will revisit his speeches during his Pastoral Visit to Great Britain in 1982, with his homily at Mass in Westminster Cathedral, continued from last week. The Church, with her broad spiritual experience, renewed appreciation of creation, concern for justice, option for the poor, educational tradition and history of becoming incarnate in With these sentiments, I am especially glad to do what Peter did in the early Church. I shall so many different cultures throughout the world, desires to contribute to the protection administer Baptism here this morning and meditate with you on its meaning. and growth of the Amazon region. This leads to the next dream.

In a mysterious but real way, there is repeated and re-presented in this hallowed place that The Church is called to journey alongside the people of the Amazon region. The journey moment of the early Church’s life when, as we have read in the Acts of the Apostles, “Peter continues, and missionary efforts, if they are to develop a Church with an Amazonian face, stood with the Eleven and addressed them in a loud voice” concerning the need to be bap- need to grow in a culture of encounter towards “a multifaceted harmony”. But for this in- tized and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a result many “received his word” and carnation of the Church and the Gospel to be possible, the great missionary proclamation were baptized, being added to the number of the household of the living God. must continue to resound.

Through Baptism we are incorporated into Christ . We accept his promise and his commands. Recognizing the many problems and needs that cry out from the heart of the Amazon region, we can re- The meaning of Baptism is reflected in the symbolism of the sacramental rite. Water, wash- spond beginning with organizations, technical re- ing over us, speaks of the redeeming power of Christ’s suffering, death and Resurrection, sources, opportunities for discussion and political pro- washing away the inheritance of sin, delivering us from a kingdom of light and love. By Bap- grammes: all these can be part of the solution. Yet as tism we are indeed immersed into the death of Christ - baptized, as Saint Paul says, into his Christians, we cannot set aside the call to faith that death - so as to rise with him in his Resurrection. The anointing of our heads with oil signi- we have received from the Gospel. In our desire to fies how we are strengthened in the power of Christ and become living temples of the Holy struggle side by side with everyone, we are not Spirit. ashamed of Christ. Those who have encountered him, who live as his friends and identify with his message, We are on the eve of Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit who descends on us at Baptism . must speak of him and bring to others his offer of new One of the finest passages in the Pentecost liturgy was written by an Englishman, Stephen life: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”. Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury. In six short, vivid lines he calls the Holy Spirit to work in us: An authentic option for the poor and the abandoned, Wash what is unclean. while motivating us to liberate them from material Water what is parched. poverty and to defend their rights, also involves invit- Heal what is diseased. ing them to a friendship with the Lord that can elevate Bend what is rigid. and dignify them. How sad it would be if they were to Warm what is cold. receive from us a body of teachings or a moral code, but not the great message of salva- Straighten what is crooked. tion, the missionary appeal that speaks to the heart and gives meaning to everything else

in life. Nor can we be content with a social message. If we devote our lives to their ser- Most of the ills of our age or of vice, to working for the justice and dignity that they deserve, we cannot conceal the fact any age can be brought under that we do so because we see Christ in them and because we acknowledge the immense that prayer. It reflects a dignity that they have received from God, the Father who loves them with boundless love. boundless confidence in the power of the Spirit whom it in- They have a right to hear the Gospel, and above all that first proclamation, the kerygma , vokes. which is “the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in differ- ent ways, the one which we must announce one way or another”. It proclaims a God who Through Baptism we are incorporated into the Church . The minister, our parents and god- parents sign us with the sign of the Cross, Christ’s proud infinitely loves every man and woman and has revealed this love fully in Jesus Christ, cru- cified for us and risen in our lives. That message, expressed in a variety of ways, must standard. This shows that it is the whole assembly of the faith- ful, the whole community of Christ, that supports us in the constantly resound in the Amazon region. Without that impassioned proclamation, every ecclesial structure would become just another NGO and we would not follow the command new life of faith and obedience that follows from our Baptism, our new birth in Christ. given us by Christ: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation”.

In Baptism we are drawn into the community of faith. We be- Any project for growth in the Christian life needs to be centred continually on this mes- come part of the pilgrim People of God which, in all time and sage, for “all Christian formation consists of entering more deeply into the kerygma”. The in all places, goes forward in hope towards the fulfilment of fundamental response to this message, when it leads to a personal encounter with the the “promise”. It is our task to take our place responsibly and Lord, is fraternal charity, “the new commandment, the first and the greatest of the com- lovingly beside those who, from the beginning, “remained mandments, and the one that best identifies us as Christ’s disciples”. Indeed, the kerygma faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to and fraternal charity constitute the great synthesis of the whole content of the Gospel, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers”. be proclaimed unceasingly in the Amazon region. That is what shaped the lives of the great evangelizers of America, like St Turibius of Mogrovejo or St .