7th August 2022

Children’s Liturgy
will return in early in September. A date will be announced later.

Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist:
A rota for the weekend Masses from 6th/7th August is available from the Sacristy. If you would like to join the rota please enter your contact details on the noticeboard in the Sacristy. We would also like to re-establish a rota for our housebound to receive Communion. If you know of someone who is housebound and would appreciate receiving Communion please enter their details on the separate notice in the Sacristy, thank you.

Tea & Chat:
We got underway this week with our first Tea & Chat for over 2 years. And very successful it was too. We are grateful to St Pauls, Fairhaven, who have agreed to work with us as joint venture. The get togethers will be on Thursday afternoons (2pm – 4pm) during August, volunteers please arrive at 1pm. From September the get togethers will revert to Fridays. We are grateful to those who have signed up as volunteers already. If you think you might want to help please add your details to the list at the back of church. If you know of anyone who might benefit from a social afternoon please add their details to list on the noticeboard in the Sacristy.

Forthcoming Changes:
As you will have no-doubt heard, Fr David is to move to St Bernadette’s in Bispham in September at the request of Bishop Paul Swarbrick. Fr Peter Clarke, from St Bernadette’s, will be coming to replace him. Bishop Paul Swarbrick announced some changes for the two parishes to work more closely together in his Pastoral Letter last weekend:

One newsletter between the two parishes.
One parish advisory council at the discretion of the parish priest
A timetable of liturgies throughout the year, including Christmas and Easter, between the two Parishes, removing the necessity of bringing in other clergy or the adaptation of Mass times.
The 5.05pm Sunday evening Mass at St Joseph’s to cease at the end of July. This means that the last 5.05pm will be celebrated on Sunday 31st July.

Parish Party:
Please come along to our parish party on Friday 23rd September at Fylde Rugby Club.
Everyone is invited and there is no charge. Please see the notices on display and add your name to the list at the back of church. There will be plenty to enjoy for everyone and a lovely buffet. This is a great opportunity to come together as a parish family after the covid interlude!

Lourdes:
Fr Philip has been in touch by text to say that he has placed the petitions for both parishes at the Grotto in Lourdes. He sends his prayers and best wishes to all.

Exposition & Confessions:
Exposition & Confession will no longer be held on Saturday afternoon, but will be available instead after Mass on Tuesdays – from 10.30-11.30am.

Catholic Voice for July:
The July edition is available here. Please note the Catholic Voice do not publish an August edition, so the next paper will be September 2022.

Diocesan Pigrimage:
It is hoped to have a coach from the Deanery to join the annual pilgrimage Mass at the Diocesan Shrine at Cleator on Sunday 11th September. Details of price , timings and pick up points later. Bring your own food and drink.

Ukraine:
This weekend will be the last opportunity to donate at church to the Ukraine appeal. Any further contributions should be made through Caritas Poland. St Joseph’s Care wanted to find a way of helping the Ukrainian guests in the Fylde area. After talking to Councillor Brenda Blackshaw we decided to try and help the 60+ school children settle into their new schools. We sourced 60 Lunch boxes, water bottles, backpacks for the children to take to school. Amazingly this was all kindly donated by a company called PF Concept, Blackpool and it was Bryan Retallick and Rob Durant ,the sales director, who got it all organised. We can’t thank them enough and everything was gratefully received by the Fylde Aid for Ukraine group at Ribby Hall.

St. Joseph’s Rosary Group:
A couple of weeks ago was the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima where she appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. Her main request for them was to pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of war. St. Joseph’s group meets each week on Thursday at noon in the church and we pray and meditate on one of the Mysteries. If you, like me, wonder what the Mysteries are all about then come along and join us and discover for yourself in a prayer filled way.

Offertory Collections:
Later this year we shall need to make alternative arrangements for banking offerings as the HSBC bank is scheduled for closure. It would help greatly therefore if you would consider moving over to making your offering by standing order rather than in cash. Forms are available at the back of church if you think you might be able to help us in this way.

Gift Aid
is an arrangement that allows charities (including churches) to reclaim tax on a donation made by a UK taxpayer. This means every donation will be worth 25% more, at no extra cost to the giver. For example, with Gift Aid the charity can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated, which makes a huge difference. If you would like to support the church with Gift Aid, you simply need to complete a Gift Aid Declaration Forms are available at the back of church and should be returned via the collection baskets. A Gift Aid Declaration is the giver’s declaration that they wish for the church to reclaim tax on their gift.

Castlerigg News…We Are Hiring:
We are still looking for a few more gap year volunteers and we are now also looking for a Programme Leader – a 2-year paid post. Anyone interested can contact jack@castleriggmanor.co.uk or head to http://castleriggmanor.com/join-the-team/

Castlerigg Open Day Cancelled
The Youth Service apologise for the fact that the Open Day scheduled for July 17th at Castlerigg Manor has been postponed until later in the year.

World Youth Day Lisbon 2023:
Bookings are open. Head to http://castleriggmanor.com/World-Youth-Day-2023/ for more details. A chance to see the Pope and celebrate with literally millions of other young Catholics from around the world.

Sunday Obligation:
The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales are to re-instate the Sunday obligation from the Feast of Pentecost, Sunday 5th June. The bishops write: “We now invite all Catholics who have not yet done so to return to attending Mass in person”. The bishops also make the important point that “there will still be some members of our congregations who, for reasons of health, do not feel safe enough to return to Mass. It has always been the understanding of the Church that when the freedom of any Catholic to attend Mass in person is impeded for a serious reason, because of situations such as ill health, care for the sick or legitimate fear, this is not a breach of the Sunday Obligation”.

Coffee & Bacon Butties:
will be available in the church hall after the 9.15am Mass. Why not come and enjoy a chat.

St Joseph’s Care:
Do you know of anyone in our community who is in need or might need a little more support? Company or just someone to talk to? Someone who may, at times, need help with things? Please let us know and we can contact them. Or you can give them our St Joseph’s Care phone number so they can contact us Tel: 07840112265

Altar Servers:
We are in urgent need of more Altar Servers, young and not so young, age 8 to 80, you are invited to serve God in this wonderful way. No experience necessary, training/practising is available on Tuesday and Friday mornings at the 10am Masses or at the vigil Mass on Saturdays at 6pm or Sundays at the 5.05pm. Contact Fr. David or Pat Ormond on the number in this week’s bulletin.

St Joseph’s Facebook Page:
We now have over 300 people regularly following us on Facebook which is allowing us to reach out to those in the wider community and fulfil our parish commitment to evangelisation. In the last couple of months we have been able to help a number of people who have sought assistance through this medium.