Web: www.holynamestphilomenas.wordpress.com E-mail: holyname@rcaolp.co.uk

Facebook: /HolyNameandStPhilomena Instagram: /holyname_stphils

Telephone: 0151 476 0289

Parish Priest: Fr. Kevin McLoughlin Assistant Priest: Fr. Thomas Clarke

(Prison Chaplain) Rev. George Hamer

Easter Day 12th April 2020

Father Kevin’s Desk

We have all come through another strange week but thank God we are at least another week further forward in the world’s attempt to stem the spread of this awful virus. As we see daily on our TV screens each additional statistic represents a whole family in mourning and as the death toll continues to rise, all our thoughts and prayers are with those families who mourn. Here in our parish community sadly we have had five deaths this week, some of whom had succumbed to the virus and naturally our thoughts and prayers go out to all their loved ones. In addition to continually thanking and praying for all our amazing NHS staff and others on the front line, I would like you to remember and keep in your prayers all the staff in our schools who are working throughout this difficult time including through the Easter Holidays to look after front line worker’s children. There are some truly amazing people within our communities and each of us must do what we can to support them. And for those who are in lockdown and obviously unable to contribute physically please continue to use your time to pray and never underestimate the power of your prayers. Miracles may appear rare but they do happen and we should continue to pray for them.

I am writing this week’s newsletter on Maundy Thursday the day that Jesus gave to us the gift of Priesthood and his very self in the Eucharist. It is also the night when he would experience absolute agony and deep loneliness as he prayed in the darkness of the garden of Gethsemane. Soon, Jesus would be betrayed and arrested, falsely accused, scourged, humiliated and crowned with thorns, forced to carry his cross and having been stripped (the greatest humiliation of all) would be nailed mercilessly to the cross under the gaze of his mother and a few of his beloved and faithful friends.

In this very strange and upsetting time when so many of you are missing celebrating physically together in church. Let us ask God for the grace to unite ourselves more intimately with him. In other words, whatever time you would normally spend in church during this Holy Week use to reflect on the events of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Read if possible the passages of the Gospels but read them slowly and allow the Lord to speak to you as you enter into the events which are both familiar and new. Pray that the Lord may grant to all of us a new understanding of the depths of his love that his passion and death reveals, so that our hearts may be more conformed to Jesus and more full of love for him and for all. And for those who are

feeling especially isolated and alone listen carefully to the prayer of Jesus in the garden and know that he shares your pain and loneliness and will remain with you throughout. Easter Reflection This liturgical year on Easter Sunday morning we receive the Gospel of Matthew (28.1-10) which contains the following line spoken by an Angel to the women who had returned to the tomb of Jesus following the Sabbath; ‘There is no need for you to be afraid, I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he said he would.’ Let us hear that instruction again; ‘there is no need to be afraid!’ What a transformation following all the fear, brutality, dread and darkness of the Lord’s passion and death. All that fear disappears. Jesus is alive just as he promised and he can never die again, and this transformation which took place in the Resurrection of Jesus is also promised to us. So in these strange and fearful times let us do our best ‘not to be afraid’ but instead to trust totally in the resurrected Jesus who promises to be with us until the very end of time. The “Resurrection response of the Father” by Father Denis McBride What we celebrate in the resurrection is God’s liberating love for his beloved Son. Resurrection is the Father’s response to the cross, his defiant answer to a world that hoped violence could keep Jesus in its hold. In raising Jesus from the dead God raised every value that Jesus stood for, every story that Jesus told, every preference that Jesus made, every purpose that Jesus followed. All this was given new life, and new significance.

If death had spoken the final word about Jesus, it would only have been a matter of time before everything about Jesus would have been reduced to curiosity, a forgettable footnote in the crowded history of lost causes. But God had the last word. As indeed he had the first.

The resurrection of Jesus was not a hysterical invention of people who refused to accept the death of their master. On the contrary, resurrection is the original act of accepting Jesus’ death. The Father’s act of raising Jesus from the dead is the Father’s way of accepting his Son’s death. Jesus is awakened to new life by the applause of his Father, by the sheer energy of his Father’s love, by the loud shout of his Father’s gratitude. The dead Jesus has no alternative but to rise to the occasion. The tomb can never be his permanent address.

The GOOD NEWS is that the Father’s affirmation is not confined to Jesus; it is extended to all who follow the way of the beloved son. As Paul says in today’s second reading: “When Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.”

In the meantime, however, we struggle to let some of that glory shine through our halting efforts to follow the Lord, we know the way of the cross leads to our own doorstep and that we are challenged to take it. It leads us to the Father’s ultimate affirmation, to the God who will laugh us out of our tombs. Today let us bless the God who insists on having the last laugh!

From book “Seasons of the Word” by Denis McBride

God Bless Father Kevin

Easter services in our parishes Easter services will be celebrated in Church by Father Kevin and Father Thomas. In accordance

with social distancing, they are not allowed to concelebrate mass together. The masses will be live streamed on the parish Facebook page, and can also be accessed via the parish website.

7pm Thursday - Mass of the Lord’s Supper 3pm Friday - The Passion of the Lord

8pm Saturday - Easter Vigil 11am Sunday - Easter Sunday Mass

Holy Week services at the Cathedral The Archbishop will preside at the Holy Week services at the Cathedral, which will be live

streamed. The times of the services are as follows:

Holy Thursday 7pm Good Friday 3pm Holy Saturday 8pm

Easter Sunday 11am

Easter services with Father Kevin’s brother, Father John The Easter services can be found on the parish website www.st-stephens-warrington.co.uk

Holy Thursday – 9th April - from 5pm (41mins) Good Friday – 10th April - from 12noon (49mins)

Easter Vigil – Saturday 11th April - from 7pm (1hr 10mins) Easter Sunday Mass – Sunday 12th April - from 9am (48mins)

Masses on line and on the radio As there will be no public celebrations of Mass, arrangements have been made to live stream Masses throughout the week. Please see www.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/mass-live-stream.html

BBC Radio 4 and local radio stations will be broadcasting a short Easter Sunday service celebrated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols at 8.10am on Easter Sunday morning

Coronavirus – Help and support A new dedicated webpage has been added to the parish website

Holy Name and Our Lady & St Philomena Schools For all the latest updates and information please see school websites:

Holy Name: www.holynamecatholicprimary.co.uk. St Philomena: www.olasp.co.uk

We remember in our prayers those who have died recently: George Chaderton, Bernard Joseph Riley, Veronica Feehan, James McAllister, Elizabeth Grant, Cyril William Joseph Hunt, Dr Malcolm Webster, Kathleen Bernadette Flanagan, Joan Jones, John Neary, Kathleen Shallcross, Anthony Cox, Mary Dickson, Veronica Thomason, John Dee, Dorothy Higham, Joan Thompson, Sheila Deveney, John Moyes, Shaun Shrimpton, Alice Walker, Mary Williams, May they rest in peace

Mass Times, Services & Intentions Saturday 11th April – Sunday 19th April 2020

All public acts of worship in churches have ceased until further notice. This includes all public Masses. Father Kevin and Father Thomas will continue to celebrate Mass in Church, and offer intentions, without the faithful on a daily basis.

Saturday 11th 8.00pm Easter Vigil Mass (Parishioners) Mass (Maria Caridad Gutherrez) HOLY SATURDAY

Sunday 12th 11.00am Easter Sunday Mass (Anne Wright, RIP) Mass (Joan Thompson) EASTER DAY

Monday 13th Mass (Eileen Booth, 1st anniversary)

Tuesday 14th Graveside service – Elizabeth Grant Mass (Mary Rushton) Mass (Shaun Shrimpton)

Wednesday 15th Mass (Thresiamma Mathew, 1st anniversary)

Thursday 16th Mass (Raymond Hartless) Mass (Brian Healy, RIP)

Friday 17th Crematorium service – George Chaderton Graveside service – James McAllister Mass (Private intention) Mass (Thomas Heartly)

Saturday 18th Mass (Billy Moran) Mass (Anita Owen, birthday)

Sunday 19th Mass (Parishioners) Mass (Dolly Higham) Day of Divine Mercy SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER