BULLETIN                                   14 JANUARY 2018

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME IN YEAR 2


CHURCH SERVICES
Saturday 13 January  

Feast of Saint Kentigern or Mungo
Holy Mass at 10.00am for John Butcher and Tommy Greechan
Vigil Mass of Sunday at 5.30pm for Kathleen and Mary Cane and William Twigg

Sunday 14 January  

Second Sunday of Year 2
Sunday Mass at 10.30am for the congregation

Monday 15 January  

Holy Mass at 10.00am for Jim Boyle and John Tyler

Tuesday 16 January  

Holy Mass at 10.00am for Harry and Myriame Sammons and Janette Keegans

Wednesday 17 January  

Memorial of Saint Anthony of the Desert
Holy Mass at 10.00am for John Welsh and John Fisher

Thursday 18 January  

Holy Mass at 10.00am for Paul Sheridan

Friday 19 January  

Holy Mass at 10.00am for Veronica Fisher

Saturday 20 January  

Our Lady's Day
Holy Mass at 10.00am for Harry Higgins
Vigil Mass of Sunday at 5.30pm for Gerry Brown

The Holy Mass intention list is just over two weeks ahead. Please notify anniversaries as early as you can. Thanks.
Any changes to the above times caused, for example, by a funeral will be notified on the home page of this website.


SAINT MARY'S AND SAINT JOHN'S CHURCH SERVICES
 
Saturday 13 January  
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm

Holy Mass at 10.00am

Sunday 14 January  
Sunday Mass at 10.00am

Sunday Mass at 11.30am

Monday 15 January  
Requiem Mass at 10.00am Service at 10.00am
Tuesday 16 January  
Holy Mass at 10.00am Service at 10.00am
Wednesday 17 January  
  Holy Mass at 10.00am
Thursday 18 January  
Service at 10.00am Requiem Mass at 10.00am
Friday 19 January  
Requiem Mass at 10.00am Service at 10.00am
Saturday 20 January  
Vigil Mass at 4.30pm

Holy Mass at 10.00am


PARISH CENTRE EVENTS
Sunday 14 January  

11.30am

Tea and Coffee after Holy Mass

Monday 15 January  
9.30 to 11.30am
5.30 to 6.30pm
6.30 to 8.00pm
7.30 pm

Parents and Toddlers
Rainbows
Brownies
Saint Vincent de Paul Society

Tuesday 16 January  
9.00 to 11.00am

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Wednesday 17 January  
Thursday 18 January  
6.00 to 7.30pm
7.30 to 9.00pm

Brownies
Guides

Friday 19 January  
9.30 to 11.30am Parents and Toddlers

PRAYERS
Please remember in your prayers:
Harry Higgins (Airdrie), Veronica Fisher (Greenock), Paul Sheridan, Janette Keegans, James Robertson and William McLaughlin who died recently;
Mary Guilfoyle 2005, Ishbel McCarroll 1983, Monica McDonald 1997, David Stirling 2004, Mary Coulter 1978, David Magee 2014, Peter McCarroll 1940, Elizabeth Walsh 2005, David Gallagher 2011, Mary Boyce Gillies 2012, Theresa McDermott 2000, George Agostini 2006, Maureen McKenzie 2014, Janis McSkimming 2010, James Murray 1972, Rena Scullion 2008, Canon Michael Farrington 2009, Margaret McLaughlan 2005, Thelma Carrick 2005, Annie Boyle O'Hare 1967, Celio Staffieri 2017, Mary Catherine Teggart 1999, Thomas West 2005, Bessie Brown 1982, Peggy Gray 2010, Addie Hissey 2009 and Margaret McMillan 2009 whose anniversaries occur at this time and those who are sick.
If deceased members of your family are not on our anniversary list, please tell Father Duncan
, the parish office or contact WebsiteAuthor@SaintPeterinChains.net.

SUNDAY MASS TIMES
Sunday Mass times in Saint Peter's are 5.30 pm Vigil and 10.30 am. Sunday Holy Mass times in other local parishes can be seen here.

SACRAMENT OF FORGIVENESS
The Sacrament of Forgiveness is celebrated on Saturdays between 4.45 and 5.15 pm and at other times on request.

HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY
If a member of your family or a friend is sick, please let us know and give us the details. Deacon Bill Corbett (01292 521208, 07904 248948, Rev.BillCorbett@btinternet.com) is the chaplain to Crosshouse Hospital and is assisted by the priest on call each week.

FINANCES
Bankers Orders for the Parish and Parish Centre amount to £3500 per month. We are grateful for your generous support in collections. If you can manage a little more from time to time, it would be a great help. A Standing Order would make the handling of money so much easier. Have you signed a Gift Aid form? If you are a taxpayer the Church would get 25p added to every £1 you donate.

COLLECTIONS
Last weekend's Offertory collection amounted to £574.68 and the Justice and Peace collection to £317.03 - thanks.

GIFT AID
The Inland Revenue now requires us to use a new style of Gift Aid form. These are available at the back of the Church and on the parish website. If you pay tax, please complete the new form and return it to the box provided. This allows us to provide the additional information required on the Gift Aid claim. Gift Aid is a vital source of income. All that is needed is that you pay tax. You simply declare that you give funds to the Church. We do the rest. Why not sign a form today? We get back an extra 25p for every £1 you give the Church in your weekly collection or by way of a donation. There is no need to cancel or renew it. We simply claim in the income we receive.


PARISH RECORDS
Our parish records are covered by the Data Protection Act and are for parish use only. We cannot give out phone numbers or addresses. Please help us to keep our records up to date using the cards provided.

READERS
Next weekend's readers are Harry Sammons at 5.30pm and Peter Brawley at 10.30am.

ALTAR SERVERS
Next weekend's altar servers are Group 1 at 5.30pm and Group 4 at 10.30am.


MUSIC MINISTRY
Next weekend's musicians are the choir at 5.30pm and Catherine Kerr and Catherine Boyd at 10.30am.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY
Next week's Children's Liturgy helpers are Emily Tarbet for the pre-fives, Frances Gemmell and Gayle Paterson for Primaries 1, 2 and 3 and Emma Paterson for Primary 4.

SUNDAY TEAS
Tea and coffee will be served after the 10.30am Mass next Sunday in the Parish Centre by Sharon McLaughlin's team. Can you help? We are in need of some additional volunteers to form a team or would be interested in forming a team to help with the Sunday morning teas and coffees. If you are interested, please contact the Parish Office on 464063.

WHAT IS ORDINARY TIME?
The Sundays of the major seasons of the year are distinguished by their relationship to the Solemnities of Christmas and Easter. The rhythm of these liturgical seasons reflects the rhythm of life with its celebrations and its seasons of growth. Ordinary Time, meaning ordered or numbered time, is celebrated in two segments - from the Monday following the Baptism of Our Lord to Ash Wednesday and from Pentecost Monday to the First Sunday of Advent. This makes it the longest season of the Liturgical Year. The Church counts thirty-three or thirty-four Sundays of Ordinary Time, 60% of the Church's calendar, inviting us to meditate upon the whole mystery of Christ - his life, miracles and teachings - in the light of his Resurrection. The vestments for Ordinary Time are usually green, the colour of hope and growth. The season of Ordinary Time helps us to meditate on the mighty works of God through Jesus Christ. It is a time to grow in our faith in response to God's invitation to follow Jesus to the cross. We have a challenge to make our ordinary days extraordinary!


POPE FRANCIS' INTENTION FOR JANUARY 2018
Pope Francis's intention for January 2018 is for Religious Minorities in Asia - that Christians and other religious minorities in Asian countries may be able to practise their faith in full freedom.

PRAYER FOR THE BEGINNING OF A NEW YEAR
My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire and I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.             Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

UPDATE ON THE CHURCH MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS
We have a few damp parts particularly on the shore side windows. They have been measured for moisture twice and are definitely drying out. The repairs measures seem to have worked fine. Soon, we will take away the damaged plaster and repaint and also replace the bricks in the choir loft and repaint. Your weekly contributions to the Maintenance Fund are making this work possible.

IMPROVING EVERY TINY THING BY ONE PERCENT
No British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France but as the new General Manager and Performance Director for Team Sky, Great Britain's professional cycling team, David Brailsford was asked to change that. His approach was simple. Brailsford believed in a concept that he referred to as the 'aggregation of marginal gains'.He explained it as 'the one percent margin for improvement in everything you do'.His belief was that if you improved every area related to cycling by just one percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement. They started by optimising the things you might expect - the nutrition of riders, their weekly training program, the ergonomics of the bike seat and the weight of the tyres - but Brailsford and his team didn't stop there. They searched for one percent improvements in tiny areas that were overlooked by almost everyone else - discovering the pillow that offered the best sleep and taking it with them to hotels, testing for the most effective type of massage gel, and teaching riders the best way to wash their hands to avoid infection. They searched for one percent improvements everywhere. Brailsford believed that if they could successfully execute this strategy then Team Sky would be in a position to win the Tour de France in five years time. He was wrong. They won it in three years. Imagine the difference in our spiritual lives of faith - prayer, Holy Mass, Confession, fasting - if we applied the one percent idea!

BAPTISM - THE DOOR OF THE CHURCH
Did you know that the Sacrament of Baptism is often called The Door of the Church because it is the first of the seven sacraments not only in time, but in priority, since the reception of the other sacraments depends on it. Once baptised, a person becomes a member of the Church. Christ Himself ordered His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations and to baptize those who accept the message of the Gospel. In His encounter with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), Christ made it clear that baptism was necessary for salvation - "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." For Catholics, the sacrament is not a mere formality - it is the very mark of a Christian because it brings us into new life in Christ. Baptism has six primary effects which are all supernatural graces - The removal of the guilt of both Original Sin, the sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and personal sin, the sins that we have committed ourselves, the remission of all punishment that we owe because of sin, the infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace, the life of God within us, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the three theological virtues - becoming a part of Christ, becoming a part of the Church which is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth, enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers and the growth in grace.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER
The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree.
I was disillusioned by life with good reason to frown, for the world was intent on dragging me down
And if that weren't enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play.
He stood right before me with his head tilted down and said with great excitement"Look what I found!"
In his hand was a flower and what a pitiful sight with its petals all worn - not enough rain or too little light.
Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I faked a small smile and then shifted away.
But instead of retreating he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with surprise
"It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it - here, it's for you."
The weed before me was dying or dead - not vibrant of colours, orange, yellow or red.
But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave so I reached for the flower and replied"Just what I need."
But instead of him placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without reason or plan.
It was then that I noticed for the very first time that weed-toting boy could not see - he was blind.
I heard my voice quiver, tears shone like the sun as I thanked him for picking the very best one.
"You're welcome" he smiled, and then ran off to play unaware of the impact he'd had on my day.
I sat there and wondered how he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree.
How did he know of my self-indulged plight? Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight.
Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see the problem was not with the world - the problem was me.
And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I vowed to see beauty, and appreciate every second that's mine.
And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose
And smiled as that young boy, another weed in his hand, was about to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

A LITTLE BIT OF HUMOUR
Did you hear about the Nursery teacher who was helping one of the children put on his wellie boots? He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little wellies still didn't want to go on. By the time they got the second wellie on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said"Miss, they're on the wrong feet." She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the wellies off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the wellies back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced"Miss, these aren't my wellies." She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting wellies off his little feet. No sooner had they gotten the wellies off when he said, "They're my brother's wellies - my mum made me wear them. Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry but she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the wellies on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked"Now, where are your gloves?" He said "I stuffed them in the toes of my wellies". She will be eligible for parole in three years!


THANKS
Churches Homeless Action North Ayrshire would like to express our sincere thanks to those who participated in the appeal for gifts for those in need over Christmas. The response, as usual, was heartwarming. Thank you.        Danny Murray for CHANA

50/50 CLUB WINNER'S LIST
We thank our members for their continued support during 2017 and remind them that 2018 dues of £15 are due now. We will have the usual Early Bird Draw for those who renew in January. Sign-up Sunday dates are 7 and 14 January in Parish Centre after the Vigil and Sunday morning Masses when we will collect from all members. We hope to save on the postage and save sending reminders in the post. New members are very welcome and we wish you good luck in January draw.        Myriame Sammons, Promoter of the 50/50 Club.

SAINT PETER'S BURNS SUPPER
The 2018 Burns Supper will take place in the Parish Centre on Saturday 3 February at 7.00 pm. Patrons are asked to be seated by 6.50 pm for a prompt start. The Immortal Memory will be delivered by Drew Cochrane, for forty years the Editor of the Largs and Millport Weekly News. Former parishioner, Martin Cosgrove, will propose the Toast to the Lassies and our parishioner, Julie Coldwell, will reply. Other participants are Father Duncan, Bill Andrew, Aidan and Bethany McGrath, George McGrattan and Ciaran Sinclair. Tickets cost £15 and can be booked in advance though the Parish Office on 01294 464063. Patrons can request group seating arrangements to be with friends. The meal will be prepared and served by Michael and Fiona Brown, family and friends. Vegetarian meals are available with notice as an alternative to the traditional Burns Supper main course. There are more details on the Church website. Your support is appreciated.

VISITORS
Are you visiting us for Holy Mass? Please know that you are very welcome. During the 10.30 am Holy Mass outwith holidays, there is a Children’s Liturgy provided for preschool children, children in Primaries 1 to 3 and a Sacramental Programme for children in Primary 4. After the 10.30 am Holy Mass, tea, coffee cakes and buns are available in the Parish Centre. At both of our weekend Holy Masses, we have a second collection for Church maintenance.


ADVERTISER SUPPORT
Our advertisers would welcome your support. We are grateful for their continuing sponsorship. We are grateful for the support of Mr and Mrs Sohal, Nisa Stores, Glasgow Street for the weekly donation of tea, coffee and milk for the Sunday teas.

PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS - MISSION STATEMENT
The Catholic Church in Scotland is concerned with the lives, safety, wholeness and well-being of each individual person within God's purpose for everyone. It seeks to safeguard the welfare of people of all ages who are involved in whatever capacity
with the Church and its organisations. As a Church community, we accept that it is the responsibility of all of us, ordained, professed, paid and voluntary members, to work together to prevent the physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect of children, young people and vulnerable adults.