4th Sunday of Easter 

This Week's Feast Days

Most weeks there may well be a number of feast days. We don’t necessarily celebrate them all. Some saints are more important in certain parts of the country than others and will be celebrated more on a local level, whilst other saints will be celebrated everywhere. So each week we will comment on the feast-days that we should celebrate in our regional Church.

Sunday, May 11th - 4th Sunday of Easter (C)

Monday, May 12th -   Weekday of Easter

Tuesday, May 13th -   Our Lady of Fatima

Wednesday, May 14th -   St Mattias, Apostle

Thursday, May 15th -   Weekday of Easter

Friday, May 16th -  Weekday of Easter

Saturday, 17th - Weekday of Easter

Sunday, May 18th - 5th Sunday of Easter (C)

Sunday Readings

4th Sunday of Easter (C)
Vocations Sunday

First Reading – Acts 13:14, 43-52
We must turn to the pagans.

Second Reading – Apoc 7:9, 14b-17
The Lamb will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water.

Gospel Reading – John 10:27-30
I give eternal life to the sheep that belong to me.

Psalter: Easter Week 4

Weekdays:  Easter Week 4

May - the Month of Mary

May is the month of Mary and the month where we try and pray the Rosary.
St Therese described the Rosary as a long chain that linked heaven and earth. When we pray, we hold one end and Mary holds the other.
Pope Francis said ‘The Rosary is Spiritual Medicine’ and in a tribute to St Pope John Paul II written after the Pontiff’s death in 2005, Pope Francis recounted how St John Paul prayed 15 decades of the Rosary each day, and his example has inspired Pope Francis to do the same.
Let us try and pray the Rosary during this special month of May because…’a world at prayer is a world at peace.’

We will be crowning our new statue of Mary our Blessed Mother at the new grotto in the garden of St Richards. The crowning will take place before Mass on Sunday 11th May, so please gather outside if you are able to.

A brief guide to the Rosary may be found here.

You can reflect on the rosary or make a retreat based on The Magnificat, with Jesuit Ministries on their Pray as You Go website.

Pope Francis

Photo by Ashwin Vaswani on Unsplash

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord

And let perpetual light shine upon him

May he rest in peace

Amen

A prayer in memory of Pope Francis

Online Book of Condolence
The Archdiocese have an online Book of
Condolence for you to leave a message.
Please use the following link:

https://caspar.church/condolence/index.asp?GroupID=77188

Newsletters

There are four newsletters published weekly in the Leigh area, you can access current and past editions here:

St Edmund Arrowsmith Newsletters (St Joseph's and Sacred Heart, Leigh)

St Margaret Clitherow Newsletters (Holy Family, Boothstown; St Ambrose Barlow, Astley)

St John Rigby Newsletter (Sacred Heart, Hindley Green; St Richard's, Atherton)

St Lewis, St Catherine's & All Saints Newsletters (Croft, Lowton & Golborne) (opens in new window)

( Newsletters download as pdf files in a new window.)

News Bites

• POPE FRANCIS’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MAY 2025:
  

  For working conditions
  Let us pray that through work, each person might find fulfilment, families might be sustained in dignity, and that society might be humanized.

• Congratulations
  Many congratulations to all those children in Year 4 in the area who have recently made their First Communion.
  May the Lord Bless you and keep you close all the days of your life.
• Mothers’ Prayers
  The next meeting of Mothers’ Prayers will be held on Monday 12th May at 10.30am in St Joseph’s Presbytery . All mothers and grandmothers are welcome .
• Children's Liturgy - St Ambrose
  Children's liturgy at St Ambrose will now be held on Sunday 11th May, not today, due to unforeseen circumstances.
  Good News: Thanks to new volunteers, St Ambrose Barlow Children’s Liturgy will be every week at the 11am Mass starting Sunday 8th June 2025. The exception will be when it is school half term or during the summer holidays. Parents please be aware that any children attending the Children’s Liturgy under the age of four, must be accompanied by a responsible adult age 18 or over. We look forward to welcoming the children weekly to their own Liturgy of the Word.’ NB. We would still encourage more volunteers and welcome anyone who would like to observe a session on a Sunday to see what’s involved. Thanks.
• Easter Walk
  Our Family of Parishes are organising an Easter Walk at Pennington Flash on Sunday 18th May at 2.30pm. We will meet on the Car Park. Everyone welcome
• Communion Ministers:
  We are considering returning to communion of both kinds. For this reason we need all our old Communion Ministers (who still can) back in action, and we are calling for new volunteers to be DBS checked and trained asap.
• St Ambrose Barlow Guides
  are having a bacon butty morning after 11am Mass on Sunday 18th May. Tea, coffee and juice, bacon or sausage butty, gluten free and vegetarian options available too. Butties £2, drinks 50p. This is to help offset the cost of our summer camp in August. Your continuing support is much appreciated, Thankyou, Delia and all the leaders and guides.
• St Edmund Arrowsmith Summer Fair
  Please visit this link for more information.
• Holy Family
  Tea and Coffee will be held today, Sunday 11th May. All Welcome
  

  Read more: News Bites

Mass Times In The Area

Below are the normal mass times for the churches in the area, but please check the newsletters for any changes which may occur during certain periods, e.g. funerals, holidays, feast days.

Live Simply / Laudato Si

Reflect:

Today's readings take the theme of Christ being the shepherd of his people. He cares for us, he calls us by name and we belong to him. 

Pray:
Lord, let me know clearly
The work which you are calling me to do in life.
And grant me every grace I need to answer your call
With courage and love and lasting dedication to your will.
Amen.

(Sunday Connection)

 Act
We are each called by God to do his work on Earth, to bring others closer to him, to care for each other, just as a Shepherd looks after his sheep. This week take time to pray and understand your vocation in this life. How can you life that Christian Vocation more fully? In what ways are You called?

Challenge

In the spirit of Laudato Si:

• It's been very warm recently with very little rain. Take steps now to conserve the water you use, perhaps by shortening the time you spend in the shower, or by gathering that water that runs off while waiting for the hot water to come through.
• Take time to read and consider the words of Laudato Si above. The full text of the Encyclical is available here.

• Read more: Live Simply / Laudato Si

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Assisted Dying Bill:

The Bill has been progressing through Parliament and has now completed the Committee stage. This means that it will return to the House of Commons for its Report Stage on Friday 16^th May 2025, with the Third Reading and the final vote expected on Friday 13^th June.

The revised version of the Bill, incorporating 150 adopted amendments during the Committee stage, is available on the UK Parliament website here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3774/publications. 

In an email from Michael Wheeler: 'To better understand the views of people in Worsley & Eccles - as I did before the Second Reading of this Bill - I am making it as easy as possible for people to share their thoughts with me by holding an online consultation on this important issue. You can find the consultation link here: https://forms.gle/XoeazNhKyt6u4P187. I encourage you to take part and share your thoughts.'

I will also continue to share updates and important information leading up to the final vote via email and on my social media channels:

Facebook: Michael Wheeler for Worsley & Eccles
Bluesky: @mwheelermp.bsky.social
X (Twitter): @MWheelerMP

Literature cards are available at the back of St Margaret Clitherow churches for anyone wanting to raise their concerns with the government. The cards need to be completed then returned via SPUC who in turn will send them direct to the Prime Minister as a form of lobbying against the proposed Bill.

The charity Right to Life UK has a simple online mechanism to allow people to contact their Member of Parliament and it only takes a few moments to submit a message to ask an MP to stop assisted suicide being rushed into law. It can be accessed here: 
https://righttolife.org.uk/asvote. (Sample message available)
Also, to let you know, Right to Life and Not Dead Yet UK (template letter available) are distributing postcards to parishes for the lay faithful to send to their MPs on this subject. 
A wide range of further resources on opposing assisted suicide is available here: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/opposing-assisted-suicide/
Written evidence submitted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (TIAB25)

MPs for the area:

Worsley and Eccles: Michael Wheeler - email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Leigh and Atherton: Jo Platt - email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Warrington North: Charlotte Nichols - email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Bolton West: Phil Brickell - email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Makerfield: Josh Simmons - email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

or check here: https://members.parliament.uk/

To date, all the above MPs have voted FOR Assisted Suicide

New Archbishop

Bishop John Sherrington has been announced as the new Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Originally based in the Diocese of Nottingham, he now joins us from the Diocese of Westminster.

Archbishop McMahon tendered his resignation to Pope Francis last year when he reached his 75th birthday.

The Installation as the tenth archbishop will take place in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King on Tuesday, 27 May at 12 noon.

Read more about the new Archbishop here.  

or here - Archdiocese website

Jubilee Prayer

The official Prayer allows pilgrims from all over the world to use the same words to express 
gratitude to God for the Jubilee experience and request the grace of forgiveness.

Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

Ukraine

Pope Francis
Pope Francis gave us this invitation.... ‘let us persevere in our closeness and in prayer for the dear Ukrainian people who are experiencing immense cruelty’

A Prayer for Ukraine
Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.

Amen.

(From the CAFOD website. Link opens in new tab.)

Prayer for Peace

World Day of Prayer for Peace.

The theme chosen by Pope Francis this year:
Forgive us our trespasses…grant us your peace
In a world hungry for revenge and where ‘sorry’ really does seem to be the hardest word, Pope Francis has boldly chosen  ‘forgiveness’ as the central theme for World Peace Day 2025. This is in stark contrast to the calls for ‘revenge’ and ‘an eye for an eye’ that are currently played on repeat by our politicians and amplified by the media.
Do we really have the faith to believe that when we choose to forgive then God will grant us peace?
The Pope informs us that it is only from a genuine conversion on all levels - personal, local and international - that true peace will be
able to flourish.

CAFOD News

CAFOD Myanmar Earthquake Appeal
Following the devastating earthquake in Myanmar, CAFOD is responding through the Catholic Church there to support families affected by the disaster. Your donations will provide essentials like water, food, solar lights, and mosquito nets. Please give to CAFOD’s Myanmar Earthquake Appeal in church or you can donate online at cafod.org.uk/myanmar or by calling 0303 303 3030. You can also text EARTHQUAKE to 70450 to donate £10

CAFOD's Prayer for Peace in the Middle East (Opens in a new tab.)