Saint Charles Swinton
Parish Newsletter
8 November 2015
Thirty-second Year in Ordinary Time.
Page 154 in Mass Book.
Remembrance –
of our Loved Ones
Dwelling with us Still
At any given time, most of the world
believes that death isn’t final, that some
form of immortality exists. Most people
believe that those who have died still exist
in some state, in some modality, in some
place, in some heaven or hell, however that
might be conceived.
As Christians, this is our belief: We
believe that the dead are still alive, still
themselves and, very importantly, still in
a living, conscious, and loving relationship
with us and with each other. That’s our
common concept of heaven and, however
simplistic its popular expression at times,
it is wonderfully correct. That’s exactly
what Christian faith and Christian dogma,
not to mention deep intuitive experience,
invite us to. After death we live on,
conscious, self-conscious, in communication
with others who have died before us, in
communion with those we left behind on
earth, and in communion with the divine
itself. Two interpenetrating biblical images
can help serve as an entry-point for our
understanding of this. Both come from the
Gospels.
The Gospels say that at the instant of
Jesus’ death, the veil of the temple was
torn in two from top to bottom; and the
earth shook and the rocks were split. The
tombs were opened, and many bodies of
the saints who had fallen asleep were
raised. (Matthew 27, 50-52) The Gospels
then go on to tell us that on the morning of
the Resurrection several women came to
Jesus’ grave to anoint his dead body with
embalming spices, but rather than finding
his dead body, they meet instead an empty
grave and two angels who challenge them
with words to this effect: Why are you
looking for a live person in a cemetery? He
isn’t here. He’s alive and you can find him in
Galilee. (Luke 24, 5) What’s contained in
these images?
As Christians, we believe that we are
given eternal life through Jesus’
death. Among other images, the Gospels
express that in this metaphor: Jesus
death, they tell us, “opened the tombs” and
emptied graveyards. For this reason,
Christians have never had a huge cult
around cemeteries. continued over…..…
The Coming
Week…….
Thursday 12
November
Sunday
8 November
Martyr. A saint of the Ukraine,
Mass 6.00pm (Saturday)
8.45am. 11.00am
Remembrance Sunday.
November is the month of the
Holy Souls, when we remember our
deceased loved one in our prayers
and Masses.
As always, you can do this in a very
explicit way by listing their names
on one of the lists you can find at
the back of church and placing them
in the basket on the altar where they
will stay during the month.
Monday 9 November
Dedication of the Lateran
Basilica. This is the cathedral of the
Pope as Bishop of Rome. It is called “The
mother and Head of all the Churches of
the City and the world”.
8.30am Mass.
Saint Josaphat, Bishop and
honoured for his work for the unity of the
Church. Born in 1580 he became
archbishop of Polotsk. He worked to end
the tensions between the Latin and
Byzantine Rites in his diocese but was
killed in a religious riot in 1623.
8.30am Mass
Friday
13 November
8.30am Mass
Saturday 14
November
9.00am Mass in Cemetery.
11.30am – 12noon
Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Sunday
15 November
Thirty Third Sunday of
Ordinary Time.
6.30pm Ecumenical Worship.
This month in Holy Rood church.
**************************************
Tuesday 10 November
Further ahead ………
and doctor of the Church.
14&15/ 21&22
November
Saint Leo the Great, Pope
He became Pope in 440 and helped to
protect Rome during times of invasion
His teachings on the meaning of the
Incarnation are at the heart of our
understanding of it.
8.30am Mass
7.30pm. Concert fundraiser for
Francis House in Moorside Club
featuring Jimmy Cricket. More
details overleaf.
Wednesday
11 November
9.15am Mass in school, Year
6. All welcome.
7.30pm RCIA (“Growing in the
Faith”) “We are people who
Celebrate God’s Word”
In this session we will explore how God’s
Word in the Scriptures is so central to our
lives as Christians, both in our worship
and in our personal lives of prayer.
The UCM will be holding their
Christmas Sale at the back of
church.
Weekend 21/22
November.
Sacramental Programme
celebration Unit 2.
Friday 27 November.
7.30pm Annual Mass for
deceased of the parish.
Saturday 28 November
United Reformed church, Worsley
Road invite you to their Christmas
Fair. 10.30am – 3.00pm
Sunday 29 November
First Sunday of Advent.
As Christians, we don’t do much in the
way of spiritual practices around our
cemeteries. Why? Because we
believe all those graves are empty. Our
loved ones aren’t there and aren’t to be
found there. They’re with Jesus, in
“Galilee”.
What’s “Galilee”, in terms of a biblical
image? In the Gospels, Galilee is more
than a place on a map; it’s also a place
inside the Spirit, God’s Spirit and our own.
In the Gospels, Galilee is the place where,
for the most part, the good things happen.
It’s the place where the disciples first
meet Jesus, where they fall in love with
him, where they commit themselves to him,
and where miracles happen. Galilee is the
place where Jesus invites us to walk on
water. Galilee is the place where the
disciples’ souls enlarge and thrive.
And that is also a place for each of our
deceased loved ones. In each of their lives,
there was a Galilee, a place where their
persons and souls were most alive, where
their lives radiated the energy and
exuberance of the divine. When we look at
the life of a loved one who has died we
need to ask: Where was she most alive?
What qualities did she, most-uniquely,
embody and bring into a room? Where did
she lift my spirit and make me want to be a
better person?
Name those things and you will have
named you’re your loved one’s Galilee –
and you will also have named the Galilee of
the Gospels, namely, that place in the
heart where Jesus invites you to meet him.
And that is too where you will meet your
loved ones in the communion of saints.
Don’t look for a live person in a cemetery.
She’s not there. She’s in Galilee. Meet her
there.
And the “Galilee” of our loved ones can
also be found inside our own
“Galilee”. There’s a deep place inside the
heart, inside faith, hope, and charity, were
everyone, living or deceased, is met.
Ronald Rolheiser OMI – reflection on
this year’s feast of All Saints.
Jimmy Cricket
comes to Swinton…
Parish social evening/concert
featuring Jimmy Cricket to take place
at Moorside Social Club on
Tuesday 10 November, tickets
£8.00.
The proceeds will be for Francis
House children’s hospice.
This is in collaboration with
promoter Jim Nicholas who many of
you know is a long time fundraiser.
Tickets are now on sale and I am
sure you will want to support this
cause that is very much part of the
work of the diocese for children and
their families in need of care during
a critical time of their lives.
*************************************
Mary and Joseph
“Road Trip”!?
Last year Mary and Joseph enjoyed
their visits around the parish so
much that they have decided to
come back and do it all over again!
If you are willing to host Mary,
Joseph and their donkey on their
journey to Bethlehem,
can you please sign up on the list
at the back of church.
Some slots have been allocated to
various organisations and the
families of the Sacramental
Programme but there are a good
number of places still available.
***************************
Advent in the
Precinct.
Churches Together on Swinton and
Pendlebury have over the past years
have had a “Prayer Station” in
Swinton Precinct on the Saturdays of
Advent. This year we are only going
to be able to have one Saturday – 12
December, 10.00am – 2.00pm.
The good news is that Asda have
allowed us to use their foyer and we
are incorporating an exhibition of
cribs, including our own “Travelling
Nativity”
As always, volunteers welcome for
a slot.
Churches Effort for
Refugee Crisis.
Greater Manchester Churches
Together are producing a single
“Echoes of Love” to raise money for
the refugee crisis.
If you would like to be part of this
amazing opportunity to join the
choir for this single and the live
concert - they are looking for choir
volunteers for the 70-100 piece
choir. This will involve a rehearsal on
10 November at 7.00pm and the
recording on 17 November at
6.30pm, both in Manchester
Cathedral.
To register for this please visit
www.gmct.net.
There will be concert on 9 December
when the single will be launched and
available More details on posters or
visit above website.
*************************************
Poppies
are now available at
the back of church, courtesy of our
uniformed organisations. Please
leave money in box provided.
***************************
Prayer Sponsors….
As always, the children of the
Sacramental Programme invite you
to accompany them in their journey
towards First Communion as a
Prayer Sponsor. The sponsor cards
will be available next week.
***************************
Sister Marie Therese FMSJ
RIP
The Franciscan Missionaries of
Saint Joseph have announced the
death of Sister Marie Therese on
3 November, May she rest in
peace. Sister was based in
Worsley before moving to
the care-community in
Blackburn.
You can read an obituary notice
in the porch.
A member of Churches Together in Swinton and Pendlebury
Parish Priest: Rev Mgr Paul F Smith STL   0161 794 1089   paulsmith@saintcharles.freeserve.co.uk website: www.stcharlesswinton.co.uk
MASS TIMES
Saturday: 6.00 pm (First Mass of Sunday)
Sunday
 8.45 am (Church Parade every second
Sunday of the month)
 11.00 am (with children's Liturgy of the
Word)
Registered Charity No. 250037
SACRAMENT OF
RECONCILIATION
Saturdays: 11.30 am to 12.00 noon
and after evening Mass
BAPTISMS
By appointment. Parents are expected to
attend a course of preparation.
Monday to Friday: usually 8.30 am
Holy Days
7.30 pm (eve), 8.30 am
WEDDINGS
Six months notice is normally required.
Saint Vincent de Paul Society
Monthly as announced
Union of Catholic Mothers
First and third Tuesdays at 7.15pm
Beaver Scouts
Mondays in school at 6.00pm
Cub Scouts
Tuesdays in school at 6.00 pm
Brownies
Wednesdays in school at 6.00 pm
Rainbows
Thursdays in school at 6.00 pm
If you would like to receive this weekly newsletter by e-mail please give me your e-mail address.
Our condolences go to the
sisters and to her many friends
around this area and beyond.
“The Laity”
Retiring?!
In my 20-some years as a Jesuit, it
seems like I’ve been a part of endless
conversations about “collaboration with the
laity.” As our numbers have decreased, and
our awareness has grown that we are alone
neither in our commitment nor our value to
our ministries, the topic of collaboration
has become a constant and important topic.
But over time something about the term
has come to rub me the wrong way. In
part, it is that sometimes when we talk
about collaboration, we do it with a “we
really need to get on that” sort of flavor,
like it’s an option rather than a long ago
decided fact, or as though, despite all of
the data in front of us, we’re still basically
the senior partners calling the shots in our
institutions. Our imaginations haven’t yet
caught up with the truth of our reality.
But I think the bigger problem for me
might be our continued use in the church
of the term “the laity.” The concept of
the “lay person” is hundreds of years old.
It refers to someone who does not have a
certain skill or is not a member of a
particular profession. So within the Code
of Canon Law we read that “By divine
institution, there are among the Christian
faithful in the Church sacred ministers
who in law are also called clerics; the other
members of the Christian faithful are
called lay persons” (Canon 207, 1).
It’s a strange thing to call the vast
majority of believers “the other
members” of the church. It’s to say that
what is of primary value is the priesthood,
though in point of fact that is just one of
the many vocations of believers. And more
than that it is to say the most basic
characteristic or most relevant quality of
Catholics lies in what they are not, or in
what they lack
Truly, if we wish to talk about roles or
vocations in the church, the proper
categories are not “priest” and “layperson”
but “priest,” “reader,” “usher,” “teacher,”
“parent,” “eucharistic minister,” “hospital
chaplain,” “music minister,” etc. The
documents of Vatican II surmise as much,
saying Catholics who are not ordained “are
in their own way made sharers in the
priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions
of Christ; and they carry out for their own
part the mission of the whole Christian
people in the Church and in the world”
(“Lumen Gentium,” 31).
And should we want a catch-all term for
Catholics, Vatican II offers a rich
alternative, “the People of God.” As coined
in “Lumen Gentium,” “the People of God”
imagines Catholics as people with unique
individual vocations but on a shared journey
and mission. More than that the term
reminds us (in a way that “lay person”
forgets) that at the heart of our faith is
not any one group or vocation, but God.
There can be a temptation in myself and I
think in other Jesuits at times to see
ourselves like super heroes; saving the city
is up to us. But the fact is today we are not
alone in our work but parts of bigger
groups invested in our mission and, more
than that, in the coming of the Kingdom of
God.
Rather than broader shoulders to carry
the weight ourselves, today perhaps we
should be praying for a greater faith in
God to fulfill what He has begun, and
awareness of the many people through
whom He is doing so. Rather than
“collaboration with the laity,” today it’s for
us to help enable collaboration and
discernment amongst the people of God, of
which we are one of many blessed parts.
Jim McDermott SJ
in “America” periodical.
A member of Churches Together in Swinton and Pendlebury
Parish Priest: Rev Mgr Paul F Smith STL   0161 794 1089   paulsmith@saintcharles.freeserve.co.uk website: www.stcharlesswinton.co.uk
MASS TIMES
Saturday: 6.00 pm (First Mass of Sunday)
Sunday
 8.45 am (Church Parade every second
Sunday of the month)
 11.00 am (with children's Liturgy of the
Word)
Registered Charity No. 250037
SACRAMENT OF
RECONCILIATION
Saturdays: 11.30 am to 12.00 noon
and after evening Mass
BAPTISMS
By appointment. Parents are expected to
attend a course of preparation.
Monday to Friday: usually 8.30 am
Holy Days
7.30 pm (eve), 8.30 am
WEDDINGS
Six months notice is normally required.
Saint Vincent de Paul Society
Monthly as announced
Union of Catholic Mothers
First and third Tuesdays at 7.15pm
Beaver Scouts
Mondays in school at 6.00pm
Cub Scouts
Tuesdays in school at 6.00 pm
Brownies
Wednesdays in school at 6.00 pm
Rainbows
Thursdays in school at 6.00 pm
If you would like to receive this weekly newsletter by e-mail please give me your e-mail address.
.
A member of Churches Together in Swinton and Pendlebury
Parish Priest: Rev Mgr Paul F Smith STL   0161 794 1089   paulsmith@saintcharles.freeserve.co.uk website: www.stcharlesswinton.co.uk
MASS TIMES
Saturday: 6.00 pm (First Mass of Sunday)
Sunday
 8.45 am (Church Parade every second
Sunday of the month)
 11.00 am (with children's Liturgy of the
Word)
Registered Charity No. 250037
SACRAMENT OF
RECONCILIATION
Saturdays: 11.30 am to 12.00 noon
and after evening Mass
BAPTISMS
By appointment. Parents are expected to
attend a course of preparation.
Monday to Friday: usually 8.30 am
Holy Days
7.30 pm (eve), 8.30 am
WEDDINGS
Six months notice is normally required.
Saint Vincent de Paul Society
Monthly as announced
Union of Catholic Mothers
First and third Tuesdays at 7.15pm
Beaver Scouts
Mondays in school at 6.00pm
Cub Scouts
Tuesdays in school at 6.00 pm
Brownies
Wednesdays in school at 6.00 pm
Rainbows
Thursdays in school at 6.00 pm
If you would like to receive this weekly newsletter by e-mail please give me your e-mail address.