YEAR OF THE WORD
A PRAYER FOR OUR READERS Praise to you, Lord God, King of the universe. I praise and thank you for calling me to proclaim your Word to your beloved people. Open the hearts of all who worship with us so that they may hear your voice when I read. Let nothing in my life or manner disturb your people or close their hearts to the action of your Spirit. Cleanse my heart and mind, and open my lips so that I may proclaim your Word for all to hear. All praise to you, heavenly Father, Through the Lord Jesus In the Holy Spirit, now and forever Prayer for Healing
by Saint Padre Pio Heavenly Father I thank you for loving me. I thank you for sending your Son our Lord Jesus Christ to the world to save me and set me free. I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me. Loving Father touch me now with your healing hands, for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul and spirit. Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son Our Lord Jesus Christ from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. Cast anything out that should not be in me. Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells. Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infections by the power of Jesus's precious blood. Let the fire of your healing love pass through my entire body to heal and make new cells to replace any damaged areas so that my body will perform properly the way you created it to function. Touch also my mind and my emotions even the deepest recesses of my heart. Saturate my entire being with your presence, love, joy and peace and draw me even closer to you every moment of my life. And Father fill me with your Holy Spirit and empower me to do your work so that my life will bring glory and honour to your holy name. I ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen 
The Worship Area in the new St Vincent's Mission Hub. Sunday Mass is at 5pm. Weekday masses are Mon, Thurs and Fri at 12.15pm. Tuesday at 5pm.
WHAT ST VINCENT'S MISSION HUB IS LOOKING LIKE FROM SOLLY STREET.
LOVING JESUS AND KEEPING HIS WORD
At election time we see where the various candidates stand for different things in the hope people would vote for them. But all we have to go on is their words and we know from previous election promises that the gap between saying something and actually carrying it out can be very wide indeed. In election manifestos words often come cheap. If you remember from last Sunday’s gospel Jesus asks us to love one another but today He talks about our love for Him. He emphasises that it is only those who actually keep His words who can lay claim to loving Him. In this sense it’s not reduced to a sort of woolly emotionalism often divorced from real life situations. In another part of the gospel Jesus says that the keepers of His Word have their faith built on solid rock whereas the shirkers built it on shifting sands. Now in order to interpret the word of Jesus in the bible correctly we need the guidance of the Church which is the mouthpiece of Christ. For instance the bible says nothing directly about civil partnerships which some Christians agree with and even associate them with genuine love. But the Catholic Church has said a definite no to them and warned people about equating them with married relationships. If Jesus asks us to keep His word then we need to be absolutely sure that what we’re hearing is the word of truth. We see an example of this in the first reading today where the church in Jerusalem was given the final say on areas of disagreement. Jesus says: “anyone who hears you (i.e. the Church), hears me. We are entitled to hear the authentic Word of God in order for us to make a correct response in love. However, having heard the true message we can’t just pick and choose which words of Christ and His Church we’ll obey while skipping over the rest. That's far from loving God. We saw in the first reading today where certain men from Judea were changing the word of God to suit their own agenda. In response Paul and Barnabas, guided by the Holy Spirit, had some stern words for them. We can easily be tempted to change the Word of God and whittle down its demands. We thereby create our own gospel where we can conveniently leave out the inconvenient. Jesus says today: “those who do not love me do not keep my words” and that means all of them without exception especially the more challenging ones. There is nothing as annoying as someone who consistently fails to keep their word. But God never gives up on us. By obeying His Word as transmitted through Scripture and Tradition we show that our faith is built on rock and our love for Him authentic - based on ultimate Truth. |
NORMAL MASS TIMES AT ST VINCENT'S SHEFFIELD
(See Bulletin opposite for any changes) SUNDAY: 9.30 am and 6 pm MONDAY: On First Monday of every month and Bank Holidays Mass is said at St Michael's Chapel, Rivelin Valley Road S6 5GL at 10.30am. It is for all the Dead of the cemetery. TUESDAY: 9.30 am WEDNESDAY: 7.00 pm (school holidays 9.30 am) THURSDAY: 9.30 am FRIDAY: 9.30 am 
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St Michael's cemetery chapel in Sheffield
COVID-19 Pandemic
Receiving Holy Communion In these troubled and troubling times, the question of the reception of Holy Communion is naturally upper most in some people’s minds. C920 makes it clear that once admitted to Holy Communion a Catholic is only obliged to receive this at least once a year. The preferable time for this is during Easter but the canon notes that for a good reason this obligation can be fulfilled at any time of year. For this reason the directive of C935 is to be observed in this Diocese, i.e. it is not lawful for anyone to keep the Blessed Eucharist in personal custody or to carry it around unless there is an urgent pastoral need and the prescription of the Diocesan Bishop gives permission. Even at this time, if it is desirable for anyone to receive viaticum or the Sacrament of the Sick, this can be arranged taking account of current health care advice. CLOSURE OF CHURCHES
Following the instruction that the Prime Minister gave last night, there has been an inconsistent message from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding the opening of churches. In the published guidelines, it states that "places of worship should remain open for solitary prayer" The instruction is very clear on the occasions when someone can leave home - shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible - one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk or cycle - alone or with members of your household - any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person - travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home. None of these four specific reasons for leaving home concur with visiting of a church for solitary prayer. In addition, keeping churches open could undermine the desire of the Government for people to remain at home, the very fact of them being open may draw people out of their homes, many of which would be the most vulnerable to infection. Prof Jim McManus has spoken with a senior civil servant and it was quite clear they just had not thought through the issues of infection and security of churches and when he made these points clear, they were appalled and agreed they had made a mistake. Keeping churches open send an utterly inconsistent message and therefore they must be closed for the benefit of others and stopping infection. Canon Christopher Thomas, Bishops' Conference of England and Wales Poem for Lent 5A - by Fr Paddy
There was a man called Lazarus Who at Bethany did dwell With Mary and with Martha Whom Jesus loved so well The sisters sent a message To Jesus miles away The man you love is ill Please come and don't delay But the Lord was in no hurry To reach Bethany on time Stayed put for two more days 'Twas all in God's design But Lazarus was resting They failed to understand That Lazarus was dead It's all as God had planned. Already in the tomb For four long days already Young Martha was in tears As was her sister Mary If Jesus had come at once Laz sure would still be here But the Lord will bring new life And prevent us shed a tear Jesus said to Mary Where is he laid to rest They took him to the tomb He was terribly distressed Said Jesus to the crowd Please take the stone away But Martha did object He'll smell of his decay Jesus with hands uplifted And voice upraised he said Come forth from the tomb of death You are no longer dead The dead man did emerge For everyone to see Said Jesus to the crowd Unbind him, set him free Said Jesus to the Jews I'm the Resurrection and the life If you believe in me Death will be put to flight. |
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