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St. Joseph's Helensburgh

41, Lomond Street, Helensburgh G84 7ET (Tel 01436-672463)

 Parish Administrator: Rev. Fr. Gregory Zungdet

E-mail: stjoseph.helensburgh@rcag.org.uk

Masses: Vigil, Saturday at 6pm;  Sunday, 11am at St. Joseph's; Sunday, 9am at St. Gildas'

Weekday Mass: Monday to Friday 10am

Confession - each day before mass or other times by arrangement. 

4th SUNDAY OF LENT: YEAR A - Laetare Sunday

MOTHERING SUNDAY

Happy Mother's Day! Mother's Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. Today, as well as thinking of our own mothers, we think of Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church - a role model for us all.

Historically, in the UK this was also a day where people returned to their "mother church" (the church they were baptized in) during Lent, and servants were given the day off to visit their mothers.

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​THE SEASON OF LENT

The fourth Sunday of Lent is often referred to as Laetare Sunday (’Rejoice Sunday’). Its name derives from the opening words of the old Latin Introit for the Mass of the day: ‘Laetare Jerusalem’ (’Rejoice with Jerusalem’: see Isaiah 66:10). We have now reached the mid-point of Lent, when traditional Lenten austerity is relaxed for a while on this Sunday, as we look forward towards Easter with great hope. So enjoy the day!

During this season of Lent a number of different services and opportunities for prayer and reflection are offered. The Season of Lent page of our website provides food for thought along with poems and prayers to use. 

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​​LENTEN REFLECTION

The Lenten Reflection will continue each Thursday in the chapel house at 2pm. Next one on Thursday 19th March - all are welcome.

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STATIONS OF THE CROSS
During Lent, each Monday Evening, at 7pm, there will be Stations of the Cross in St. Joseph's church.  Please come and join in prayer, this Lenten Devotion on the Way of the Cross.   

 

PARISH PILGRIMAGE

The parish will be embarking on a day’s pilgrimage to Schoenstatt on Saturday 28th of March. Fr. Bernard Fox of the Mill Hill Missionaries will guide us in our day of Retreat/Pilgrimage, offering two talks on a Lent- Easter theme.

We will be leaving Helensburgh at 9am and returning at 4pm. The cost will be £31 per person. If you would like to be part of this spiritual exercise please add your name to the list on the notice board.

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RETREATS

Individually Guided Retreat in daily life 22-29 March: A chance to have a retreat experience without going away by meeting a guide each day at the Ignatian Spirituality Centre, Glasgow. For more information please contact marianne.lucchesi@isc.glasgow.co.uk

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LENTEN ALMSGIVING – SCIAF

Today’s Second Collection is for SCIAF.  This year’s Collection, along with the Wee Boxes being returned, will help SCIAF to make a big change to many lives, by providing running water for the first time to people in the poorest part of Ethiopia. 

 

SCIAF WEE BOXES

Please return your Wee Box by next week if possible.  If you are a Taxpayer, we encourage you to complete the Gift Aid Declaration on the Wee Box to make your donation go even further.  Many thanks.

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WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

Grateful thanks to all who contributed to the World Day of Prayer hosted by St Joseph’s last Friday.  Members from all the local churches were joined by our own parishioners, with many of our Nigerian community in traditional dress, providing splendid colour in the church.  Grateful thanks to Father Greg, Alicia Tindal, the Choir, guest singers and organist Peter Anderson.  Special thanks to Claire Scullion for her beautiful artwork and sanctuary display.  The help of Linda Shields, fellow PPC Coffee Morning Team, and all who donated home baking was greatly appreciated.  A huge thanks to Aileen Baird and the parish volunteers who helped with the welcome, organising the tables & chairs, and Order of Service distribution.  Donations amounted to £600.05, this helping to provide practical support to the women of Nigeria who prepared this year’s World Day of Prayer, a worldwide Ecumenical Service. 

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SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION

Confirmation: For children who are in P7 or above, and not attending St. Josephs, who wish to be confirmed this year, kindly speak to Fr. Greg or Jenny after mass.

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BUY A SLATE APPEAL

As we look toward the future of our parish, we are currently raising funds to replace our roof slates. If you would like to contribute towards a slate(s), please pick up a designated envelope from the back of the church where you'll also find more information church. Your generosity will help keep our community warm and dry.

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​​DEVOTIONS

There will be Eucharistic adoration on Tuesday and Thursday this week from 9am, followed by daily mass. 

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FOOD BANK

Last month was very busy at the Food Bank with 283 Food Bags, a total of 5,082 Food Items distributed to local individuals and families experiencing financial hardship.  This was an increase of 17% on the previous month, as people had to choose between heating and eating.  The generosity of our local community enables the Food Bank provide food to all who come for help.  Grateful thanks for your ongoing support.   

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​THEOLOGY ON TAP

The next in the series of talks and fellowship for young adults, led by Fr. Ross Campbell of St. Patrick's Dumbarton,  will be on Thursday 26th March at 7pm. The theme of the next talk is "The Righteous will Live by Faith" and the group will meet in the Abbotsford Hotel in Dumbarton. For more information see our Parish Groups page.

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​GIFT AID

Boost your support for St. Joseph’s at no extra cost!

Did you know that as a registered charity, St. Joseph’s can claim an extra 25% on your donations from HMRC—at absolutely no cost to you?

How it works:   If you make a Gift Aid declaration, the Parish receives an extra 25p for every £1 you give, so for every £100 you donate over the course of the year, the Parish receives and extra £25 from HMRC ... and it doesn't cost you a penny more!

If you are a higher-rate taxpayer, you can also claim personal tax relief on the donation through your Self-Assessment return.

There is no minimum donation and no commitment to a specific amount: you simply nominate the Parish to receive the tax refund.

You can give easily via Direct Debit or by using our weekly envelopes. At the end of the year, we’ll handle the totals and the paperwork with HMRC. To get started, please see Aileen Baird to obtain the necessary forms or to ask any questions regarding the scheme.

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​​​​​​​​​WE REMEMBER IN OUR PRAYERS:​​

  • The sick, including Janice Keeper, Mgr. John Hughes, Anne Cunningham, Paul Letters, Louie Sims, Maxine Widdop, Mary Campbell, Nicola Maruyama, Sabina Kosovyck, Ian O'Donnel, Anne Kelly, Christopher Hendrick, Shaun Hendrick, Evie Hutton, Susan Callaghan, Jacqui Morton and Liz Wilson. 

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  • The recently deceased, especially:  Joan Wilson

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  • All those whose anniversaries occur about this time, especially:  Stuart John Harvey​​​

 

​​​​​​​​Please note: The 'sick list' in the bulletin is currently being reviewed and updated. If you or a family member no longer wishes to be included - or if you want a name adding - in the prayers, please give a note to Fr. Greg or email the parish address as above. Thank you

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The Archdiocese of Glasgow is a Religious Charity Number SC018140​​​​​​

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darkness to light.jpg
Healing of the Blind Man

In many commentaries on this passage in the gospel of John the writers  focus on the themes of light and dark, seeing and not seeing. It is easy to understand why. Those are two major themes throughout the book of John, and it’s seen so clearly here. And they’re beautiful metaphors. They have their place and time.

But there’s more to this story than just a brilliant use of metaphor and some dramatic irony. Instead, there’s also an important message here about listening and stories.

In this story, Jesus gives sight to a man who was born blind. At the beginning of the story, when Jesus and his disciples meet the blind man, they ask Jesus why this man was born blind. They want to know: What were the reasons—the causes—behind this man’s impairment? Who is to blame? The disciples want to know whether it was the sin of the man himself or his parents, or someone else in his family that led to his blindness. While that may seem like an odd question to us today, In first-century Palestine, it actually made a lot of sense. It was understood that impairment was a punishment from God because of a person’s sins.

Jesus, though, is uninterested in fully answering their questions. He barely gives those questions the time of day. Jesus is uninterested in finding fault and pointing fingers. It’s hard to see that in our Bibles, but in the Greek, it’s much clearer.  Our English translations say that he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.  But it doesn’t actually say that in Greek: that little phrase—the “so that” was added  later into translations.

 

According to scholars, it could actually be translated as something like this:

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. [FULLSTOP] In order that God’s works might be revealed in him, we must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”

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As we can see here, Jesus isn’t concerned with the “Why?” of the situation. Instead, Jesus is concerned with the reality of the situation. He’s concerned with the person standing in front of him. In his refusal to go into the details of how and why this man is blind, Jesus is actually doing something else. He is sneakily asking a better question. Instead of “Why” or “How come?” Jesus asks, “what now?” He asks, “In the face of this reality, what now? What can I do in the here and now to support and love the person before me?”

 

The technicalities of the disciples’ nitty gritty theological questions are not, at this moment, important. Following down that line of questioning will only get us lost in the weeds and cause us to ignore those in our midst who demand our attention. Jesus’ response, while not a question itself, helps point us to what’s really important—to our neighbours—and nudges us towards asking questions about who they are instead of what they are.

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But after Jesus cures the man, those who had known him just as the “blind beggar” are only interested in the “Why?” and the “How?” They started hounding him with all sorts of questions. Are you that same guy we’ve known for so long? What happened to you? How did this happen?? Do your parents know about this? Is this real, or are you just messing with us? And question after question, he tells them the same thing. He says, “The man named Jesus cured me; I was blind, but now I see. And that’s all there is to say!” He must have been exasperated by answering the same question over and over and over again. Verse 27 is the best example of this. You can just hear his frustration coming off the page. Verse 27 says:

They asked him how it happened, and “He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

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In this season of Lent, in this season of spiritual spring cleaning, we are called to ask ourselves those same questions posed to those Pharisees. So , let us ask ourselves: Who’s story are we not listening to? Who’s witness are we ignoring? What are the questions we should be asking? Do we have the vision—the imagination—to see the unexpected ways God is working in the world in and through our neighbours?

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Let us pray that during this Lenten season, may we tend to our own stories and the stories of others. Because God has given each of us a story—each of us is a witness—may we listen as Jesus listened. May we ask better questions. May we listen with empathy and compassion to the stories of our neighbours. May we recognize the preciousness of those stories.  And may we be sensitive to how God has worked and is currently working in the lives of our neighbours.

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Adapted from Sarah R. Mayer, Calvary Baptist Church in Hopewell, NJ.

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