2nd Week in Lent

LENTEN DEANERY STATION MASSES

3rd March, Our Lady’s, Moorside;

10th March, Holy Family, Limeside;

17th March, St. Patrick’s, Oldham;

24th March, St. Aidan and Oswald’s, Royton

All these Masses will be at 7pm. I would ask our different choirs to take note of the Mass here at St. Patrick’s on 17th March. The bishop will say the Mass and preach. I would hope that they will all play their part in the usual fashion.

R.C.I.A – The next meeting for those joining the Church at Easter will be on March 1st, at 4pm in the Presbytery meeting room.

Come and join us in a unique oppertunity to find out and discuss

the finances of the Parish, and how it works with the diocese.

There are two meetings planned.  See below.

Sat 6/Sun 7 – Leaflet 1 

Tues 9   - 1st Meeting, 6.30 tea/coffee 6.45 start – 8pm end. 

Wed 18 - 2nd Meeting 6.30 tea/coffee 6.45 start – 8pm end. 

Sat 21/Sun 22 - Leaflet 3  

Week 1 

1. Welcome & Prayer   

2. Ice breaker - What does my parish mean to me?    

3. Before we start – housekeeping/the ‘car park’ board to park questions  

4. Overall aim –H ow do you put your your Parish on a firmer financial footing? The theme of this week’s session is: Our parish, our responsibility. 

5. Engagement Activity - Q. How do we steward our parish for the next generation? What does good stewardship look like? What do we want to see in place? How do we want our parish to grow? 

6. Before you leave, I want to share two big numbers with you; total income last year and total costs last year  

7. Next week we will look more closely at those numbers and how they are made up. 

8. A cheeky question before we finish, for you to reflect on over the next week: Think back to 20 years ago. How much money did you put in the plate or envelopes every week?   

Week 2 

1. Welcome & Prayer   

2. Ice breaker     

3. Before we start – housekeeping/the ‘car park’ board to park questions. 

4. Overall aim of these meetings is to look at: How do you put your Parish on a firmer financial footing? Last week we explored what our parish, our responsibility might mean. This week we are going to look at what practical stewardship could look like.  

5. Let’s start by looking at costs - Cost Table.    

6. What do we anticipate our costs for 2026 will be? 

7. Will our costs be roughly the same? 

8. How will we plan for our stewardship of our buildings?  Have we any big costs this year or in 2027 or 28 we need to be saving for now? 

9. Did our discussion last week point to other investment needs for the future? 

10. And now my favourite question.  How are we going to meet our parish/stewardship costs and resource this mission focused work? Let's look at our sources of income (table) 

11. How can we increase our income? There are some things we can do relatively easily that will make a very big difference to overing Parish costs 

12. Gift Aid 

13. Standing orders 

14. Contactless giving machines up and running 

15. Spread awareness throughout the parish of this shared responsibility  

16. What actions can we take to secure longer term change? 

• How we can build on each of those income streams 

• What action we can take to build on the 'What next' ideas we began to develop last week (ensuring this does not all fall into Fr Deas' inbox.) 

• Last question; will you commit to reviewing what you can give to support the parish, and if you can, how you give it? 

Stations of the Cross

Every Friday during Lent, at 6pm, both in Sacred Heart Uppermill, and St Joseph’s Mossley.

R.C.I.A.

May I ask your prayers please for those who will be joining     the Church at the Easter Vigil, in just a few weeks time, there are quite a few again this year, and I am sure they would appreciate knowing the community is offering prayerds on their behalf.

THE NUN’S ARE COMNG!! – One day only!

 A group of nuns from Belaruse will be in St Joseph’s Church after Mass THIS Tuesday.  They are selling items of piety, made by their congrigation.  Why not come along and see if you might find that unique gift you have been looking for, while at the same time helping to suport their convent and mission.

Children’s Liturgy

Beginning THIS Saturday, and each Saturday from now on, we will be offering a children’s liturgy to any children that would like to join in. When Fr. Jim asks the children to come forward, simply follow Eileen into the meeting room!

Have you ever thought about….??

The Permanent Diaconate 'A Come and See' Event
Could you be called to serve the church as a Permanent Deacon? If you are a Catholic man interested in learning more about the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Salford, please come along to our ‘Come and See’ event. This is a chance to discuss and learn more about the ministry.
This event takes place between 10:00am - 2:00pm on Saturday 7 March at St Mary’s Church Hall Burnley, BB10 4AU. There is a Mass at 9:30am for those that wish to attend.
For more information about the Diaconate, please email diaconate@dioceseofsalford.org.uk or visit the diocesan website here: www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/faith/vocations/permanent-diaconate/ 

For those who may be interested…

These are the details for the requiem of Fr. Bob Morrow

Fr Morrow’s body will be received into Guardian Angels, Bury, for concelebrated Mass at 7.00pm on Tuesday 10th March. Bishop John will celebrate the Requiem Mass at Guardian Angels on Wednesday 11th March at 12:00noon followed by cremation at Blackley.

Knit, crochet and sewing group

Meets every Wednesday at St. Joseph’s Mossley, from 9:30 am – 12 noon.  Why not join us and flex your creativity? No matter what your experience………

100 Club Winners

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  ANNUAL QUIZ FOR CAFOD This will take place on Friday 13th March from 7pm. Tickets out next weekend.

We have received a lovely letter from Cafod thanking us for our donation of £292.09 following the sale of Christmas cards and the ‘One card for all’.

Stations of the Cross - A meditative garden for St. Joseph’s School

We are planning to create a meditation garden, based on the Stations of the Cross, for the children at school.  This will be a place of prayer, meditation, reflection and gentle

outdoor teaching.

The cost will be about £3000 to complete this work, and we are looking for help.

If you are able sponsor a part of the garden, or make a contribution, of any size, towards the cost, we would be most grateful.

Please speak with Fr. Jim.

Thanks to those who have already donated something towards this cause.

Online Gospel Readings During Lent
During the Lenten period, there will be a series of gospel readings taking place every Tuesday and delivered online by various speakers including Fr Michael Deas, with the final reading to be given by Bishop John Arnold ahead of Palm Sunday.

For more information, please visit the diocesan website: 

https://dioceseofsalford.org.uk/online-readings-for-lent/

VOLUNTEERS URGENTLY NEEDED !!! Are you able to give a bit of time to support this year's Confirmation preparation programme at St. Edward's - a short series of evening meetings for secondary students, starting in March? Volunteers would simply be required to register student attendance, and then provide low-key supervision from the back of church to ensure safeguarding compliance. Please let Fr. Callum know ASAP if you are able to help. callum.brown491@gmail.com

TIMES AND PLACES FOR LENT COURSE Week commencing 23rd February for 5 weeks

Tuesdays at Greenfield Methodist 1.30 – 3.00pm Rev B Christopher & Sue Titmuss to lead

Wednesdays at St Anne’s Lydgate 8.00 – 9.30pm Rev Hilary Edgerton & V Stocker to lead

Thursdays at Delph Methodist 1.30-3.00pm Rev K McNally to lead

Thursdays at Ebenezer 7.30 – 9.00pm Audrey Lee and John Rosedale to lead

                                                Fridays at Uppermill Methodist Centre 10 – 11am. Members of the group to lead

Uppermill

POSTAGE STAMPS

Many thanks to all who donate stamps. We have had a lovely letter from Willow Wood Hospice which is on the notice board in the porch.

A Reminder – The Wednesday Word

The Wednesday WORD is a resource for you to use at home. The idea is that you spend some time working through the readings for the following Sunday, it is put together by a Jesuit priest who will lead you through the readings as well as giving insights into the readings.

See the buton on the top of this page .

Sunday Morning Coffee

Every Week after Sunday Mass, we have coffee for about half an hour. Please come and join us if you are able.  It's a great time to catch up and have a chat.

A reminder – on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, there is half an our of Exposition of The Blessed Sacrament, if you can join us that would be wonderful. If you are unable to come to church but would like to join in this prayer time, it is live streamed – please go to the web site and follow the link to the live streaming.

A reminder.

Exposition in Mossley at 9:30am, before Mass on Tuesday and Thurday

      Exposition in Uppermill, every day at 9:30am

Monday No Mass

Tue – Expo. 9:30am. 10.00am Mass

Wednesday Mass 10 am

Thursday Expo. 9:30am. 10.00am Mass

Friday Mass 10 am

Saturday Mass 10 am Sacred Heart only

Weekend Masses

Saturday 12.15pm Mossley:

Saturday 6:00pm Uppermill

Sunday 9:30am  Uppermill

Sunday 11:00am Mossley

Baptism and Weddings by appointment.

Masses received this week.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE

         FOLLOWING INTENTIONS.        

Lately Dead

Fr Bob Morrow

Bridget Cooper

Peter Dyson

Francis Mason

Anniversaries

Lawrence Hayden (Bir mem)

James McKune Tara Dyson, George Newton, Gerard Short

Special Intentions

George Brierley (VS)

Dave & AnnMarie Bennett

Simon Abbott (Birthday)

For all those on the RCIA and will join the Church at Easter!

Betty McKenzie

Karla Howerth

Veronica Hankinson