Parish Newsletter

Open for Sunday Morning Mass – Now with Bubbles!

Numbers continuing to rise every week, which is so encouraging:

• Week One: 147
• Week Two: 198
• Week Three: 201
• Week Four: 215
• Week Five: 232
• Week Six: 243 (Last Week)

This is about 61% of our "normal” Sunday Morning Mass congregation, so people are obviously feeling more confident about coming back to Mass reassured by all our safety measures put in place. Thanks, everyone - and thanks Taskforce, Cleaners and Stewards especially, We couldn’t do it without you!

Face Masks / Coverings Now Required in Church

Following Government Guidelines issued four weeks ago, face masks or coverings are now required for church services. Please make sure you bring yours, and we do rely on your co-operation in this vital matter. I myself am now required to wear a mask for distributing Holy Communion. Thanks, everyone, for your co-operation in this and every other aspect.

Masks and Receiving Holy Communion

Our advice to you is that you either remove the mask or slip it beneath your chin while you are in the queue coming up to Communion. Then, after you have reverently received Communion, you can replace the mask. We noticed last week some of you trying to juggle, especially if you also had a handbag or something else in your hands. We hope our advice helps you not to juggle too much at the same time!

More Stewards/Cleaners Have Wolunteered!

Six good’uns have indeed come forward - Pat and Ann Quinn, Ben Preston, Meg Ahmad, Gillian Roe and Madeleine Morrin. Thanks a million, gang!
New Steward Training: Tuesday 6.00-7.00 pm.
Good luck and a thousand thanks to our Student Stewards now going back to Uni!

Car Parking Sunday Mornings: Priority for Stewards

Please DON’T try to park at church if you are coming for one of the four Sunday Morning Masses. Blue Badges: you can park on the main road, as usual.

Fridge, Fridge-Freezer and Microwave Oven

All looking for a good home! In excellent condition and entirely free - but, if you’d like to make a donation to St Werburgh’s, we wouldn’t exactly stop you! If you’re interested in any or all of these items, or would like to see them, please let FP know.

First Holy Communions: This Year and Next

When lockdown began, way back in March, we floated the idea of moving our First Holy Communions to September. Fat chance of that now! But Louise and I do want to stress you haven’t been forgotten, and that we are already discussing the right time to start gathering names for May 2021. It’s under active discussion, so please watch this space if you have a child in Year 3 or above in September not in our Catholic Primary School.

Redemptorist Newsletters Resuming Next Week

Starting up again on the first Sunday in September.

This Week’s News from Bishop Mark - 30th August

1. Wythenshawe Hospital
I am grateful to Father Owen Gallagher and Deacon Antony Zidan who together with Sister Bernadette Boland will lead the work of the Catholic Chaplaincy at Wythenshawe General Hospital with the generous assistance of the local clergy. Following a meeting at the hospital yesterday, I am pleased that from 7th September we can ensure the presence of a Catholic Chaplain every weekday together with the continuing on-call support of the local parishes. I wish to record my thanks for all the generosity and co-operation which has made these new arrangements possible.

2. Vocations and Cathedral House of Discernment
Thank you for your continuing prayer and encouragement of new vocations to the Priesthood. Amid all the complexities of lockdown it has been difficult to make plans for the men beginning discernment at the Cathedral. At times we wondered whether there would be a discernment year for 2020/2021. Happily, two men have already been able to begin their time of discernment in these past couple of months and a third man will come to Shrewsbury next month. One applicant has decided to delay his discernment amid the uncertainties of this time and two men have expressed the desire to come to the Cathedral later in the Autumn. I wish to thank Father Edmund Montgomery for all his painstaking work in facilitating this discernment year. Please keep all the men discerning with us in prayer.

Nice mild winter we’re having?

Temperatures this weekend struggling to get into double figures here in Chester? Low 30’s in Bologna by comparison. Know which I prefer - Chester every time!

Mass Intentions for 2021

The new 2021 Diary will start receiving requests on Tuesday 1st September. Strictly first come, first served!

References

Always pleased to write Parish Priest References for those who need them, or personal ones if requested: but always a good idea to have word with me first, as it saves the embarrassment to all concerned of being asked for a reference from someone I’ve never heard of!!!

Lovely Apartment for Sale in Handbridge

A very spacious two-bedroom apartment for sale by one of our Werbies in a beautiful part of Queens Park, just near the Meadows and a short walk over the Suspension Bridge into town. Very attractive rear garden, garage and ample parking. It’s the bottom half of a two-storey house and is an absolute snip at £275,000. No, before you start asking, I haven’t gone into the Estate Agent Business! But there are special reasons for giving this one a bit of a push. If interested or you’d like to know more, see FP, and I’ll put you in touch with the agents.

Photo of the Week: St Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi

Built by the French in 1886, it’s the oldest church in Hanoi, Vietnam. Many thanks to our great friend, Judith Edwards, for sending it in! Judith is Secretary of Churches Together in Christleton and a bastion (am I allowed to say that?) of Waverton Evangelical Fellowship. Greetings to everyone out in the sticks, Judith! Best wishes to all our friends at WEF, St James and Rowton & Christleton Methodists, and hope we meet up again soon.