St Bede's Catholic Church

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Dear Parishioners and Families of the Parish,

We celebrate the great solemnity of Pentecost! I pray that the Holy Spirit will come down upon you and fill you with His gifts. I pray we receive especially this year the gift of courage for this challenging time. With restrictions slowly being lifted I also hope that we can go out from our 'upper rooms' and transmit the Gospel to those around us.

We had hoped that the churches would have re-opened by now, at least for private devotions. Our Archbishop has written strong words to the Prime Minster this week urging him in justice and in respect for our religious liberty to allow the re-opening of the churches (click here). He reminds the Prime Minster of the essential nature of the spiritual good. When non-essential places are re-opening and people are taking some risks for all sorts of other activities, it is unacceptable that the churches remain closed. Let's work and pray so that the situation changes soon.

Let's keep our schools in our prayers in the coming days as they begin to re-open. Let's pray for staff and children and their families. We pray that they may be safe and may also be freed from anxieties and any distress.

Remember I am available by telephone (if you miss us just leave a message), email, meetings on my 6.30 pm walkabouts (with suitable social distancing!), live-streaming Masses/devotions and Zoom conferences, meditations and prayers. We estimate that we are reaching with our 'live-streaming masses' over 2000 people each week (the majority locally but some from other countries - in fact every continent!). If you haven't joined us so far then simply follow this link: Live Streamed Mass

On Wednesday evening once again I'm inviting families in the parish and beyond to join me at 5.30pm to talk together. The theme this week is about the Holy Trinity and sacred music. I'm asking families to prepare a picture or find a hymn or motet. I'd like children to find facts connected with sacred music (who is the Patron saint of musicians) and the Blessed Trinity. The Zoom address for this is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83409016893?pwd=T0U1WS9UNXZHQXkzN0dPSXM1ZndYZz09
The password is - 325319

Tomorrow, Saturday (30th May,) at 11am, I invite you to join me on Zoom for a 30 minute meditation on 'Our Lady and Pentecost'. I'm giving this meditation for our Sisters at the convent but would like to invite parishioners to join too. Here is the invitation code: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86017982076

On Sunday at 6 pm I invite you to join us for a parish Rosary. This is the month of May and I really want us to honour Our Lady together. Please join me on Zoom to pray interactively (with voices recorded), or follow more privately on the Website (please note this page will not be available until 5 pm), Facebook, Vimeo or Twitter. Last week we estimated 200 participants. Let's try to make 250 this week. When we pray together it is very powerful and efficacious. Remember how the disciples were gathered with Our lady at Pentecost. This will be the final online rosary as the month of may ends. The Zoom invitation link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87422619088

Please note that there is no 'live stream' Latin Mass at 11am this Sunday. People are encouraged to join the Mass at Warrington with Fr Armand de Mallory, formerly at St Bede's (http://livemass.net/warrington). On Friday Fr Marcus will celebrate the traditional Latin Mass 'live streamed' at 9.45am as part of the Octave of Pentecost.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped the parish financially (and when things are so difficult for you too). We have been are facing some very big parish bills with insufficient funds to pay for them (as collections have ceased). Thank you to those who helped out especially last week. It is important that St Bede's stays afloat during this time and remains fully viable when we re-open. These will be challenging times for many parishes and we know that some may be closed. Below are some ways to continue to help. I'm also attaching a pre-filled standing order form that you can complete and send back to us or direct to the diocese.

Clapham Park Pledge Form (PDF)

Clapham Park Pledge Form (Word Docx)

I wish you and your families every blessing for Pentecost and I assure you of my prayers. The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a month to grow in divine charity. We'll have chance to reflect upon that next week as well as on Trinity Sunday. All the priests send their greetings. Let's continue together to pray for those who are sick and suffering and those who have died during this time.

In Christo per Mariam,

Fr Marcus