OUR LADY & ST EDWARD'S

4 Marlborough Drive, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 9UE

30 SUNDAY A 26 OCTOBER 2008.

'YOU MUST LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD; YOU MUST LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF.

ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG THE WHOLE LAW.'

My Dear Parishioners,                                                                                                                                                                                                                 God is Love (Amended from the Internet) 'God is Love' - how do we define it? A dictionary defines love as 'an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties.' Often, this 'intense affection' stems from a sexual attraction. We love other people, or we say we do, when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. A key phrase is 'based on, implying that we love conditionally - we love someone because they fulfil certain conditions before we love them. People may say, 'I love you because you understand me.' or 'I love you because you take good care of me'. or 'I love you because you are fun to be with'? Our love is not only conditional, but mercurial, when it is based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. The divorce rate is high because couples supposedly stop loving one another, or they 'fall out of love'. They may go through a rough patch in their marriage, no longer 'feel' love for a spouse, and so decide to end their marriage. Their marriage vows of 'till death do us part' means they can 'part' at the death of their love rather than at their physical death.
Are we capable of 'unconditional' love? The love parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the help of God's love in our lives. Parents continue to love their children through good and bad times and don't stop loving them if they don't live up to their expectations. Parents choose to love their children even when they seem to be unlovable. This love doesn't stop when they don't 'feel' love. This is similar to God's love for us. However, God's love transcends the human definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend.

OUR THANKS  to 466 (215,125,126) who celebrated Mass last Sunday and gave £910.

BAPTISM    We welcome Isabel Caterine Irvine who will be baptised at 10.30am Mass Sunday 26 October.

CHRISTMAS MASSES

I have consulted all the Parish Councillors who, with one exception, are happy with a change of Christmas Eve Mass times to 5.00pm & 8.00pm (from 6.00pm & 11.30pm) with carol services at 4.30pm and 7.30pm. For the past five years we have struggled, and failed to accommodate the large number of people trying to get into the church and the porch at 6.00pm.

Mass-goers arriving in the carpark were greeted with the news, 'It is no use trying to get in there; there's no room.' Some went elsewhere, a number returned for another Mass; we don't know what the others did. Many spoke of their great disappointment at being turned away from their own church at Christmas and seeing their Christmas Eve plans go astray. They have repeatedly asked if we could make other arrangements and try to spread the crowds more evenly. So, we hope that the change of times will spread the congregations - some may decide to change to 8.00pm Mass, feeling that won't be as crowded as 5.00pm and that it is reasonably early. Midnight Mass numbers have decreased over the past five Christmases - 301,304,240,263,256. I hope that those who cherish Midnight Mass will appreciate the reasons for the change, will be generous in accepting what is best for the majority and understand that we must try to resolve the problem. After Christmas, we can discuss the Mass-times again. We are blest that large numbers still want to come to Mass. Due to a decline in the number of priests all Preston Parishes have had to reduce Christmas Masses.

'THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.'

St Paul wrote the finest description of love

'Love is always patient and kind, never rude or selfish, does not take offence and delights in the truth ..........'

We will sing St Paul's words at our Sunday Masses (Hymn 339).

Some other descriptions of love.

Love is not finding someone to live with, it is finding someone we cannot live without.

Love is like a cough that cannot be hidden. The hunger for love is greater than the hunger for bread.

Love is the only answer to the world's problems.

Love is not looking at each other, it is looking together in the same direction.

Do I love you because you are beautiful or are you beautiful because I love you.

Love is a tender look that becomes a habit.

Love one another and you will be happy, it is as simple as that.

We choose those we like, we have no choice in the matter of those we love.

Without love, the rich and poor live in the same conditions.

We don't believe in rheumatism or love until the first attack.

Love is like a butterfly, it goes where it pleases and pleases where it goes.

Before I met my husband I had never fallen in love ' I had stumbled a few times.

The heart has reasons, that reason doesn't know about.

True love stories never have endings.

We waste time looking for perfect love, instead of creating perfect love.

Passion fades, so make sure you find someone who can put up with you.

'Love' means nothing in tennis, but everything in life.

What the world needs is more love and less paperwork.

Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you..

Ayone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart.

You like someone when you find what makes them laugh, but you can never love them until you learn what makes them cry.

It is easy to fall in love but it is difficult to find someone to catch you.

I don't wish to be everything to everyone; I just wish to be someone special to one.

Love is a gross exaggeration between one person and everybody else.

Her absence is greater than others' presence,

Love is like an hour-glass - with the heart filling up as the brain empties.

When you realise that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to begin.

CELEBRATIONS IN IRELAND I went back to Ireland for five days on Sunday 12 October - I was in the air at 2.10pm after celebrating two Sunday Masses, a Parade, two Scout Presentations and a Baptism. It was a great opportunity to meet all the family again, to visit cousins whose mother had died in May (I couldn't celebrate the Requiem Mass which was on our Confirmation Day), to visit an Aunt who is ill in hospital, and above all to celebrate my brother Brian's 40th Ordination Anniversary. We celebrated Mass with the family in a brother's home. As Brian was in St Petersburg on the actual Anniversary, we hadn't been able to meet. Again, he thanks those who sent him greetings and gifts. Pride of place in the congregation was the latest arrival - Ellen Christina, just four weeks old, concentrating most of the time in getting on with the job of growing, and at one time, during Mass, as I gathered from the giggles, doing what babies do better than any others! When I see babies in church I know that much endeavour and commitment are involved and that little happenings can cause delays.

'YOU MUST LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,

WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

Sat 6.00pm Cecilia Henshaw/Derek Hewitt Sun 8.30am Parishioners 10.30am Sick Person (MC)

Mon/Sat 9.00am except Tuesday     Mon Mgr Edward Gould Tues 10.00am Requiem Mass for Gladys Gibbs who died on Friday 17 October. 

May the Lord welcome Gladys into his kingdom.   Wed Kenneth Gray Thurs Special (FD) Fri Robert Simpson Sat Denis Hallinan)

Mon - Fri 8.45am Rosary: We are indebted to Richard Moloney for faithfully leading the Rosary throughout October.

Retiring collection Sunday 26 Oct for Sick & Retired Priests' Fund

Cafod Thank you for your offerings, now £425.

Feasts Simon & Jude (Tuesday) Simon was called the 'Zealot' and was possibly martyred with Jude. Jude is also called Thaddeus. His emblem is a club, the instrument of his death. He is the patron of hopeless cases, possibly because his name closely resembles Judas and was seldom invoked for any cause. Jude wrote an Epistle - one chapter with 25 verses, stating, prophetically, 'Remember, how the Apostles of Our Lord Jesus Christ warned you that there are going to be people who sneer at religion and follow nothing but their own desires and wickedness. But you, my dear friends, must use your most holy faith as your foundation so that you keep yourselves within the love of God.'

All Saints is usually celebrated on 1 November; as the Feast falls on Saturday this year the celebration is transferred to Sunday.

Spiritual Day 10.30am - 2.30pm Sat 1 Nov Parish Centre on Discipleship and Prayer led by Fr Tim Calvert, Dominican Prior, Edinburgh; Tim trained as a Deacon in this parish; all welcome; please put names on list in porch.

Little Sisters: 1 Autumn Fayre 2.00 - 5.00pm Sat 1 Nov £1.  2 A Night to Remember presented by St Leonard's Gilbert & Sullivan Society 7.30pm 6 Nov £5.

Parish Dance 8.00pm Sat 15 Nov Peter Wild; £3 for Derian House Children's Hospice

St Clare's:  Part-time post - Housekeeper; details from Fr C Loughran frloughran@saintclares.co.uk or 719604

Holiday DVDs You are welcome to borrow a 3 DVD set of my adventures in Italy, June 2006 featuring Rome, Assisi, Riccione, Florence and Pisa; after two years,

I finally succeeded in completing the happy task.

DVDs of my recent exploits in the United States won't be ready for some time as I need a new progamme to render the HD format; video-makers are divided on what is the best system. You are welcome to retain other holiday videos; however, if you have finished with them, I would welcome them back so that I can pass them on and not have to make new copies.

Clocks Back one hour this weekend.

Diocesan Website: lancasterdiocese.org.uk

Wishing you and your families many blessings, Patrick McMahon

Website www.pat.fulwoodpreston.org Email pat@fulwoodpreston.org

Parish Priest Patrick McMahon 01772 862437 Deacon Peter Williams 01772 863444

Lancaster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees - Charity Number: 234331