The Parish Bulletin 3rd SUNDAY OF ESTER

Sunday 18 April

3rd SUNDAY OF EASTER 2nd Collection for Fabric Repairs

Mass 09.00 Live Stream Mass 11.00

Mass 12.30 Polish Mass 17.00

Mass 18.30 Monday 19 April

3rd Week in Easter

Mass 10.00 Mass 18.00

Tuesday 20 April

3rd Week in Easter

+ Funeral Mass + Margaret Harrison + R.I.P. +

Mass 10.00

Live Stream - Funeral Mass 12.00

Wednesday 21 April

Memorial of St Anselm Mass 12.30

Thursday 22 April

3rd Week in Easter CHRISM MASS AT ABERDEEN

Mass 10.00

Friday 23 April

Memorial of St George Mass 12.30

Saturday 24 April

3rd Week in Easter Confessions 10.00 Mass 10.00 Vigil 21.30

Sunday 25 April

4th SUNDAY OF EASTER 2nd Collection for Fabric Repairs

Mass 09.00 Live Stream Mass 11.00

Mass 12.30 Polish Mass 17.00

Mass 18.30

St. Mary’s, Inverness 30 Huntly Street, Inverness, IV3 5PR.

Tel: 01463 233519 www.stmarysinverness.co.uk

Email: stmarysinverness@btinternet.com

We invite you to WATCH ONLINE

Mass from St Mary’s FACEBOOK

Sunday at 11:00

Mass Readings: 1stReading: Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19 Psalm: 4: 2, 4, 7, 9 2ndReading: 1 John 2: 1-5 Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48 Gospel: John 9:1-41

An Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,

come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there

and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.

Dear friends, The wise old preacher of the Hebrew scriptures, in the Book Ecclesiastes, speaks of the different times and phases of our common human experience. Sagacious, and not without certain astringent humour. Qoheleth, writing towards the end of his life and looking back, makes his wry observations.

“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (ESV). The Hebrew word translated here and throughout Ecclesiastes is qoheleth, a word also meaning “collector” or “convener.” We know that the Preacher/Qoheleth was a collector of sayings, and observations based on experience. Perhaps one of the most well-known is the passage that deals with the balanced, cyclical nature of life where Qoheleth says that there is a proper time for everything: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

~~ From Fr James ~~

a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” He juxtaposes opposites: fourteen pairs of contrasting activities as examples of how life consists of various seasons. The timing of our activities is important. A key to this passage is found a few verses later: “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The proper activity at the right time, bringing about God’s purposes, is a beautiful part of God’s overall plan. There is food for thought if we think about that in a moment of prayer- are we doing as we should be doing? There is much wisdom in the saying, “There is a time for everything, / and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

So we might agree that there is a time to Lock-down and a time to Open-up.

There is a time to withdraw and a time to meet There are times to pray, and times to enact the prayer

There have been times to be a solitary prayerful Catholic, and there are times to witness and be involved as a Catholic participant in the world in which we live, a time to be of service, a time to be at the Liturgy- sharing in our Common Life in Christ.

We have relied on many gifts and skills, our own and the talented contributions of others. The last year has been for many a time of dying, and grieving, for others it has been a time of serving and grafting- so many people working in so many different ways to bring some order into the chaos engendered by the Pandemic. For each of us there have been new challenges and opportunities, times for packing-up in some ways, and to be picking-up in

others. Together we have, as it were, woven a tapestry of life. Being alive in God’s world is being aware too of our transitory nature and the tenderness and fragility of each human being, yet all part of an interconnected whole.

Now is a time for beginning to emerge, blinking perhaps, into the early

summer sun-light. New days, longer days, beckon us, making connections, beginning the faith inspired approach to reaching out more positively to ensure that everyone is welcome. We hope and pray that where there was discord, now there may be concord.

As a Catholic Community of persevering Faith, we are supported and given

direction by the unwavering Hope in God’s goodness, as ‘God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year’. God’s purpose is always dynamic Love, the creative urgency that has initiated and sustains our existence in the harmony of our being alive in His world. We want to rejoice and be refreshed by the loveliness of others, and the landscapes around us. Yet we are aware that for all the Love, for all the beauty of Creation there are the terrible afflictions with which we have blighted our beautiful planet- do we not weep for the wreckage of plastic waste, of animals enmeshed, of waters polluted and the earth wasted?

When the sight of the rubbish and garbage of our ‘greedy take-away-waste-aways’, seers our vision we can return to poetic reflection- a time to refresh the soul. None better than with Gerard Manley Hopkins, the Jesuit poet :

“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-- Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.”

The weeks ahead will see changes in national, local and Parish life. We

are beginning to approach the renewal of life together. In this we will need all the resources of Faith. Please pray for your clergy, the religious sisters, and all who work so assiduously to promote and sustain the life of the Parish.

May the remaining days of April bring each of us refreshing vigour so

that we may approach Mary’s Month of May with prayerful hearts and the very best intentions.

All good wishes, Aye Fr James

Following the receipt of the March bank statement, we are now able to provide an update of our present financial situation for our No. 1 working account.

Balance as of 26/02/21 £1,004.59 Income Offertory 1,507 Direct Debit & Standing Orders 1,980 Cash donations 680 Clergy Support 495 Clergy support for Stratherrick Masses 1,815 Bible Alive 16 Piety Stall 10 Payment from DDL for Convent rent 2,000 Payment from DDL for Convent Gas Bill 131.10 Reimbursement from Fr. Bell 12 HMRC furlough payments 1,781.32 Total Income £10,427.42

Expenditure Diocesan Expenses 2,390 Power Costs 1,097.59 Council Tax 74 Office Expenses 729 Insurance 170.43 Church expense (Catholic directory, Gift aid envelopes and Cleaning materials) 249.36 House expense (Cleaning materials, TVLicence) 39.46 Provisions 546.86 Hospitality 30.92 Salaries 3,658.63 Total Expenditure £8,986.25 Balance as of 31/03/21 £2,445.76

As of 31/03/21 our No.2 Account for Fabric has a balance of £5,435.28, along with a small balance

of £580.43 for General expenses.

We are extremely grateful for the many who have maintained their offertory contributions and those

who have sent in cash donations over the last few difficult months to enable us to maintain a

working balance in both our No. 1 and No. 2 Accounts.

Please consider creating a Regular Standing Order or Direct Debit. This is the easiest way of

maintaining your regular contributions. Information can be obtained from Carol MacLean, or leave

a message with your contact details by phoning or emailing the Parish office. Telephone 01463

233519.

If you are a UK taxpayer and have not yet considered helping the Parish by signing up for the Gift

Aid Scheme, we ask that you think about this. It costs you nothing, but the parish receives 25p for

every £1 you contribute, no matter how small your contribution. Details can be obtained from Carol

MacLean, the Gift Aid Organiser or the Parish office.

~~PARISH FINANCES~~

Please continue to pray for vocations to the Priesthood; Deacons Christopher and Malachy,and for our Seminarian Aidan Matheson and for the students

from Vietnam Anh&Quynh.

Please contact the Parish Office if you require a visit or know of anyone who

is sick, housebound or in hospital and wishes a visit and or Holy Communion.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Sacrament of Baptism Weddings

We are now able to participate in these Sacraments: please contact the Clergy for

Detail

+ Sick + + Christopher Brown + Mary Cumming + Kate Fraser + George Taylor + Maureen Rattray + Florian Alvaran +

+ Ian Cameron + Leslie Allan + Evelyn Farry + Catherine Stewart + Louise Hendry + Hilary Smith + Mary Grant + + Leslie Murray + Sabrina MacAllen + James Connelly + Ruth & John Huggett + Louise Bestau + Emmy MacNicol +

+ Claude & Hilary Hayward + Patrick Daniel Finnerty + Joyce Connelly + Margaret Carr + + Ann Cameron + Stewart MacLennan + Alexandra (Sandra) MacDonald + Isobel Kelly + Winifred Kelly + + Roddy Corbett + Tommy Robertson + Brian Lamond + Hazel Collins + Lynne Williams + Tom Gillan +

+ Marjory Trace + Ian Mackenzie + Rena Mackintosh + Mary Macdonald + + Dale Swanson + Mary Mackinnon + Eilidh Gillespie + John and Mary Bell+ Mary Fraser + Helen Mulgrew +

+ Brian Kearney + Andrew + Norah Hardie +

+ Anniversaries + + Esther Bell + Jennie MacKenzie + Annie MacDonald + Andrew MacKintosh + Thomas MacDonald +

+ Catherine Curran + Jean Cumming + Sheila Shewan + Maja Kalinowska + Marion Morrison + + Zygmunt Krause + Margaret MacKenzie + Catherine Jackson + Patricia Scott + Theresa Munro +

+ Margaret Kane + Elizabeth Junor + Donald Grant + Ian Kennedy + Donald Ward + Margaret Ann Reid +

R.I.P. + Margaret Harrison +

Fr. James Bell Parish Priest 01463 233519&

07841758409 Fr. Andrzej Niski Priest for

Polish Community

01463 233519

Fr. Dominic Nwaigwe

Assistant Priest 01463 233519

Dcn. Patrick Darbyshire

Parish Deacon &

Prison Chaplain

01463 233519

PJ Fąferek Parish Office 01463 233519

Carol MacLean Finance & Gift Aid Organiser

01463 233519

Christine Cameron Safeguarding Officer

01463 233519

Daughters of Divine Love Convent (Sr. Grace)

01463 718690

St Joseph’s Primary School 231837

~~FOR YOUR PRAYERS~~

~~CONTACT DETAILS~~

~~SICK OR HOSPITAL VISITS~~

Pope Francis – Pontifex Twitter

/ ST.FAUSTINA’SDIARY.

INDULGENCE PRAYER BY ST. POPE PIUS X

O Joseph, virgin father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray for us daily to the same Jesus, the Son of God, that, armed with the weapons of His grace, we may fight as we ought during life, and be crowned by Him at the moment of our death. Amen.

Parish of the R. C Diocese of Aberdeen Charitable Trust. A Registered Scottish Charity No SC005122

Even death trembles when a Christian prays, because it knows that everyone who prays has an ally who is stronger than it: the Risen Lord.

Mydaughter,donottireofproclaimingMymercy.InthiswayyouwillrefreshthisHeartofMine,whichburnswithaflameofpityforsinners.

TellMyprieststhathardenedsinnerswillrepentonhearingtheirwordswhentheyspeakaboutMyunfathomablemercy,aboutthecompassion,

IhavefortheminMyHeart.TopriestswhoproclaimandextolMymercy,Iwillgivewondrouspower;Iwillanointtheirwordsandtouchtheheartsofthoseto

whomtheywillspeak.

Diary:-1521.