St. Thomas the Apostle R. C. Church Smithy Lane, Claughton on Brock, Preston, PR3 0PN Tel.: 01995 640208

Email: jkadamthodu2@gmail.com Website: https://claughtononbrock.co.uk

5th Sunday of Easter 10th May 2020 Mass Intentions for the coming week: 10th May– Pauline Lester, 13th May - People of the Parish (Parishioners can email or ring Fr Sony with Mass Intentions). Please pray for Evelyn Noblet, David Smith, Frank & Josie Higham, Wilf Houghton, Teresa Smith, Mary Duckworth, Mandy Cuff and all our sick and housebound parishioners and anyone you know who needs our prayers. Please remember in your prayers Joseph Potter, Agnes Finch, Jane Gornall, Elizabeth Wrennall, Elizabeth Holden, George Bamber, May Whitehead, Ellen Preston, William Evans, Winifred Craven Rev. Mgr. Gradwell (1906), John Davidson and all whose anniversaries that occur about this time. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. AMEN.

Dear all, Some parishioners may want to support their parish by continuing to give their offertory, even though they can’t physically attend the church. The easiest way for parishioners to donate to their parish is by standing order. As instructed from the diocesan financial office, you will find a blank standing order mandate on the parish website. PLEASE WRITE YOUR ENVELOPE NUMBER AS A REFERENCE SO THAT WE HAVE SOME CHANCE OF COLLECTING THE GIFT AID. (Ignore this if you don't have envelopes). If you prefer to put your collection on one side till the church reopens that's fine. Also, If you wish to save our Counters a lot of work counting many weeks of donations, it would be appreciated if you could make a cheque out for the full amount. Cheques made out to St Thomas the Apostle Church. Any queries contact Fr Sony at home on 01995 640208. Here’s some good news to come out of our present situation We have a young Captain Tom in Claughton…… young Ben Clark During Coronavirus Ben has been running to the corner of our lane and back. Taking inspiration from Capt. Tom Moore he has decided to run to raise money for the Air Ambulance. He is running a mile, each morning before school (only Monday to Friday he said). He started two weeks ago putting a poster and pot at the lane end for passers by and with money from further afar he has raised £322.57 and counting. He is amazed by the money that keeps coming. It’s been a family affair with all of us running along side him to some point. He keeps running. Well done Ben Ben you’re a star! congratulations on raising all that money for the Air Ambulance.

FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK

Tuesday Sts.Nereus & Achilleus, Martyrs & St Pancras, Martyr.

Thursday – St Matthias, Apostle, Feast day.

7pm Every Night – Join us in praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. For all those affected directly or indirectly by the Coronovirus Pandemic.

The Church bell will ring at 8pm each Thursday in gratitude for, and appreciation of, the NHS, Care Workers and all Key Workers.

USEFUL WEBSITES: https://cafod.org.uk/Give/Donate-to-Emergencies/Coronavirus-appeal https://bishopswarbricks.blog/ www.lancasterdiocese.org.uk https://www.youtube.com/user/StClaresChurch Daily Mass 10am followed by the Rosary. http://camsecure.co/httpswebcam/owenbayliss/owenbayliss5.html Our Lady of Furness Daily Mass at 10am. https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/christ-the-good-shepherd Christ the Good Shepherd, Workington. Mass at 10.30am & Evening Prayer at 6pm. https://www.churchservices.tv/ full schedule of live Mass times.

https://www.universalis.com/mass.htm Good site for daily Mass readings & the Divine Office of the Church. MARIAN PILGRIMAGE Our virtual Marian pilgrimage continues this week with Fatima This Wednesday the 13th is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. Identity and mission of the Shrine of Fatima The Shrine of our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima is the answer to the call of Our Lady of the Rosary, already alluded to on August 13, 1917 and expressly asked in the apparition of October 13, of that year to Lucia de Jesus, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto: «I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary» (First Memoir of Sister Lucia). The little chapel was constructed in 1919 in the place of the apparitions of 1917 at the Cova da Iria and, since then, the place of the Shrine was built up, in response to a significant inflow of pilgrims. The Shrine of Fatima is a place of pilgrimage, which celebrates the memory of its founding event, the apparitions of Our Lady to the three little Shepherds. The pilgrim’s pastoral hospitality is a key element to its mission. https://www.fatima.pt/en/pages/pilgrim-by-the-heart Join this interior pilgrimage. https://www.fatima.pt/en/pages/online-transmissions 3.30pm weekday Mass in English

The Popes Prayer intention for May: For DEACONS

We pray that deacons, faithful in their service to the Word and the poor, may be an invigorating symbol for the entire church. Spiritual Communion My Jesus, I believe that you are present in this Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love you above all things and I passionately desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come spiritually into my soul so that I may unite myself wholly to you now and forever. Amen.

A parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster Registered charity number 234331

This Sunday’s Gospel John 14:1-12

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.

There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you.

I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place,

I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am

you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’

Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me?

‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father, so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.

You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;

believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason. I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me

will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.’

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2020 Acts 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12

Over the years, I must have driven the people of Claughton daft by the number of times I reminded

them of the prayer said over them when they were anointed with chrism during the rite of baptism.

In the previous translation, the one which I (and by now, probably they) know by heart it runs: “As

Christ was anointed priest, prophet, and king, so may you live always as a member of His body,

sharing in everlasting life.” The current translation has altered the wording slightly, but the essence

is the same.

That prayer is rooted largely in the words from the First Letter of St. Peter, which appear in today’s

Second Reading: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set

apart.”In his turn, the author of that letter, whether it be St. Peter himself, or one of his disciples

invoking his authority, is drawing on words applied by God through Moses to the people of Israel in

the Book of Exodus, and on certain sayings in the prophecies of Isaiah.

So both St. Peter and the Church’s present day liturgy tell you that, through Christ and in Christ, you

are priests, prophets and kings. What does that mean? A priest is someone who offers sacrifice, and

you and I, as the Church, are a priestly people, a people who offer sacrifice. Both you and I offer the

sacrifice of our lives to God—and bear in mind that the root of “sacrifice” is sacra facere , “to make

holy”. Potentially, because you are a priestly people, everything that you do is holy, everything is

done in Christ and through Christ.

Then, you bring your holy lives to the altar, and I, the ordained priest, chosen from among this

priestly people, present those lives, along with the Body and Blood of Jesus, as He makes His once-

and-for-all-sacrifice present for us, uniting our sacrifice with His in His self-offering to the Father.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the ordained priest pronounces the words of absolution on

behalf of the priestly people: in the Sacrament of the Sick, he brings healing and forgiveness on

behalf of that same priestly people. These sacraments will have their full effect, will be lived out in

the world, if the people of God are a forgiving and healing people. The priest’s words and actions

bring about the effects of the sacraments, but something of the sign will be lost if the healed and

forgiven person doesn’t experience that same healing and forgiveness among the whole people of

God.

Furthermore, says St. Peter, you are a ROYAL priesthood—you are both priests and kings, as Jesus is

both priest and king, “like Melchizedek of old” as Psalm 109 (110) expresses it. How did Jesus

exercise His kingship? He did it by serving, and by giving His life “as a ransom for many”. As kings in

Christ, as a royal priesthood, we too must be people who serve, who are prepared to suffer, who are

willing to give our lives in love for Him and for the world.

As a prophetic people, our words, and more particularly, our actions, should be signs of the presence

of Christ. It is the presence of Christ, dwelling in us through our baptism, which is all important.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life” He said to Thomas. “No one can come to the Father except

through me.” Only by uniting our lives to Christ can we live out our calling to be “a chosen race, a

royal priesthood, a consecrated nation.” Only by uniting his life to Christ can the ordained priest live

out his particular vocation in and for the people of God.

Where does that union with Christ lead us? It leads us to the vision of, and union with, the Father,

who is in Jesus, as Jesus is in Him. Thus, is the purpose of our lives fulfilled. “The glory of God is

human beings fully alive,” wrote St. Irenaeus in the second century, “and full life for human beings is

the vision of God.” Through prayer rooted in God’s word, and through the sacraments, we are led to

that union with Christ and vision of God which makes us fully alive.

If you have anything to go in the newsletter, or even if the isolation is gettting a bit much and you want a chat, you can ring Catherine onTel:01995 640360 or email cath360@btinternet.com.