1 St. Gabriel’s 140 Lawton Road, Alsager Parish Priest: Fr. Tony Grace Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 2DE PerManent Deacon: Rev. Eddie Miller Tel: 01270 877736 25th April 2021 4th Sunday of Easter www.stgabrielsalsager.org.uk St. Gabriel’s School & Playgroup, Tel: 875770 St. Thomas More Catholic High School. www.st- thomasmore.cheshire.sch.uk Vocations Sunday 2021. Saint Joseph is extraordinary, yet at the same time someone so close to our own ordinary human experiences. He did not do astonishing things, he had no unique charisms (spiritual gifts), nor did he appear special in the eyes of those who met him. He was not famous or even noteworthy: the Gospels do not report even a single word of his. Still, through his ordinary life, he accomplished something extraordinary in the eyes of God. God looks on the heart, and in Joseph he recognised the heart of a father, aBle to Be life-giving in the midst of daily routines. All vocations have this same goal: to give and renew life every day. The Lord desires to shape hearts that are open, capaBle of great initiatives, generous in self-giving, compassionate in comforting anxieties and steadfast in strengthening hopes. Vocations such as the priesthood and consecrated life greatly need these qualities. In these uncertain times, with the sufferings of the pandemic, with fears aBout the future and the very meaning of life, Joseph comes to meet us in his gentle way as one of “the saints next door”. Fidelity. The word fidelity means faithfulness – honest, lasting devotion. Joseph is the “righteous man” (Mt 1:19) who each day quietly serves God and his plans. At every particularly difficult moment in his life, he thoughtfully considered how to act, pondering things patiently. He knew that success in life is Built on constant fidelity to important decisions. He did this in his trade as a carpenter, and as a father. Any vocation matures only through daily fidelity. Pope Francis writes, “I pray that you will experience this same joy By having made God the dream of your lives, serving him in your Brothers and sisters through a fidelity that is a powerful testimony in an age of ephemeral choices and emotions that Bring no lasting joy. May Saint Joseph, protector of vocations, accompany you with his fatherly heart!” Mass Times. Saturday Vigil 24 April 6.30 pm Mass in St. Gabriel’s Church th 4 Sunday Easter 25 April 1 1.30 am Outside Mass in St. Gabriel’s School Playground, Well Lane, Alsager. Monday 26 April 7.30 pm Mass St.Gabriel’s Church. Friday 30 April 10.00 am, Mass St.Gabriel’s Church. Saturday 1 May 6.30 pm Mass in St. Gabriel’s Church Sunday 2 May 11.30 am Outside Mass in St. Gabriel’s School Playground, Well Lane, Alsager. 4th Sunday of Easter. www.pathwaystogod.org 2 Please pray for the eternal rest of the recently deceased, David RoBerts, Joyce Higginson RIP, Eileen Longmoor RIP, Theresa Pearson RIP, BaBy Gracie-Mae Green RIP, Derek Grime RIP, Valerie Parry RIP, Catherine O’Neill RIP, & those whose anniversaries occur around this time: Karen Bastiman, Catherine Bevan, Patricia Fox, Stella Lyons, Ray Chidlow,John Bagshaw, Mary Cartlidge, Peter Baker, Marjorie Turnock, Hilda Woolf. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK: Especially for Andy Lockett, Claire Woods, Dorothy Eccles, Kathleen Briggs, Trefor CampBell, Alma Plummer, Ann Stones, George Lawton, Annie Shallow, Elsie Turnock, Margaret Pearson, Peter Pulford, Betty Bostwick, Joan Phillips, Ben Thomas, Francis Dockery, Anne Connolly, Edith Greatbach, Sean Fitzpatrick, Ashton Hume, Patricia Capp, Teresa Wickham, James Todd, & all in our hospitals & nursing homes. MASS TIMES WEEK COMMENCING 24TH APRIL 2021 Saturday 24 April Mass 6.30 pm John Bagshaw (Anniv), Joyce Higginson RIP, Hilda Woolf St.GaBriel’s (Anniv), Marjorie Turnock (Anniv), John Whitfield RIP, 4th Sunday of Easter Church Margaret Pearson (sick), Andy Lockett (sick). 25 April 11.30am Margaret Whiteside RIP, Karen Bastiman (5th Anniv), St.GaBriel’s Catherine Bevan (Anniv), Terry Orford (Anniv), Marjorie Day of Special Prayer School Turnock (Anniv), Ann Stones (Sick), Ann Connolly (sick), for Vocations Playground, Well Ashton Hulme (sick). Please Bring your own Garden Lane (Mass) Chairs for Outside Mass in School Playground. Monday 26 April 7.00 am Adoration & Confession. St.GaBriel’s Cecil Humphrey Smith RIP, Church Thanksgiving for recovery of Rover 7.30 pm Kate Briggs (sick), Intentions of Emma Tuesday 27 April Mass, St. Anne’s, The Holy Souls Nantwich 10.00 am Wed 28 April No service Thursday 29 April Mass in St The sick St.Catherine of Siena Anne’s Church, Day of special prayer 10.00 am for Europe Friday 30 April 9.30 am Adoration & Confession St.Pius V 10.00 am Baby Leo Dulla (3rd Birthday), Cecil Humphrey-Smith RIP, Mass in St. Mary Cartlidge (Anniv), Ray Chidlow (3rd Anniv), Intentions Gabriel’s Church of the Bright Family Saturday 1 May Mass John Bagshaw (Anniv), Jeremy Camp RIP, Patricia Fox St. Joseph the Worker St.GaBriel’s (Anniv), Mercia Statham RIP, Margaret Pearson (sick) Day of special prayer Church 6.30 pm for human work. 11.30am Margaret Whiteside RIP, Karen Bastiman (5th Anniv), St.GaBriel’s Marjorie Turnock (Anniv) & Derek Grime RIP, John Boote 5th Sunday of Easter School (Anniv), Ann Stones (Sick), Patricia Capp (Sick) 2nd May Playground, Well Please Bring your own Garden Chairs for Outside Lane (Mass) Mass in School Playground. Please contact Fr. Tony at [email protected] for newsletter items Many thanks for your Standing Orders and Offertory envelopes, last weekend £539.59p Diocese of Shrewsbury, Registered Charity Number 234025 Parish Safeguarding Officers, Cathie & Tony Smith 01270 879961 3 St.GaBriel’s hosts an exhiBition created By Blessed Carlo Acutis, Born in London in 1991, died in Milan in 2006 aged 15, and Beatified in Assisi last OctoBer. He had a Big devotion to the Eucharist and to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; a 26-minute video is here. In the two years in which he was dying from leukaemia, he decided to assemBle a collection of the world's Eucharistic Miracles, which he put onto exhiBition panels for anyone to download, for free - you can see them all here. For more information, please go to www.carloacutis.com These Eucharistic miracles are to strengthen our faith. Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us, to increase our faith and our devotion to the Holy Eucharist. The miracles are at http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/ There is a youtube video concerning the miracles of the Blessed Sacrament documented by Blessed Carlo Acutis, a 15 year old who died of Leukemia in 2006. He was made Blessed by Pope Francis on the 11 October 2020 in Assisi. Pope Francis said that Carlo was in love with the Eucharist. He did not settle into comfortable inaction, but grasped the needs of his time because in the weakest he saw the face of Christ.” There is a film on YOUTUBE which I have attached that you may want to watch. This film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOgYiw_OZ0 is 25-minute in length of the life of newly-Blessed Carlo Acuti. The second part (minutes 6:53 - 12:05) shows the in-pew exhibition we are hosting in St.Gabriel’s now. Thank you to all who have made contributions by standing order and by dropping envelopes into the Presbytery. Your generosity is very much appreciated whilst we are unable to hold weekly collections. If you are able, you can continue to make offertory contributions via bank transfer in lieu of collections. Please contact Sue Edge, Parish Planned Giving organiser, on 01270 876090 for Bank details. We have received some requests for offertory envelopes, so we continue to post them out. We are sending them to the parishioners who have had them in the past and for whom we hold an address. Online giving to the Parish. For those Parishioners who normally give in the collection at Mass and wish to help the Parish at this time, an online donation page to allow you to donate to the Parish has been added to the Parish website. Please be aware that a minimum donation of £5 is requested if giving in this way. You can also Gift Aid your donation to help the Parish further. If you want to Gift Aid your donation, please tick the box shown on the screen even if you have previously completed a Gift Aid Declaration form in favour of the Parish for regular giving made by Offertory Envelope or Standing Order. An Online giving page has now been created for the Parish using InvestMyCommunity.com The page can be found at: https://investmycommunity.com/not-logged- donator/page/stgabrielalsagerdioceseofshrewsbury2167 For more information, please contact Sue Edge, our St. Gabriel’s parish planned giving and gift aid coordinator on 01270 876090. Thank you for your support. Attention all Gift Aid Donors. The tax year 2020/21 will be coming to an end on 5th April and the Parish will then undertake the process of claiming back the Gift Aid refunds on donations made in the tax year. We are also sending the Boxes of offertory envelopes (2021/2022) for the next year out in the post and you should have received them now. It isn't important if the box number has changed from last year, as these new numbers match the master list that is held. Anyone who wishes to contribute in 4 this manner, please get in touch with Sue Edge (Our Planned Giving Parish Co- ordinator on 01270 876090) and she will arrange to have a Box of Offertory Envelopes or standing order form sent out to you.