Parish Priest: Fr. Graham Stokes, 020 8429 5684, grahamstokes@rcdow.org.uk

Parish Catechist: Kay O’Connor, 020 8429 5682, kayoconnor@rcdow.org.uk

Parish Administrator: Claudia McHugh, 020 8429 5681, claudiamchugh@rcdow.org.uk (Mon-Wed-Fri 9.30am-1.30pm)

11th March 2018 ~ 4th Sunday of Lent, ‘Laetare Sunday’

St John Fisher Roman Catholic Church 80 Imperial Close, North Harrow, HA2 7LW, 020 8868 7531

www.stjohnfisheronline.org.uk

Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P.

MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

Today is an important day for those that are mothers and those

that have mothers. It is a day for all of us to give thanks to God for

the gift of motherhood as well as to treat those that are mothers in

a special way! But through our faith there is one mother that we all

have in common, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It can be no coincidence that this week Pope Francis has decreed

that the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of

Mother of the Church, be inserted into the Roman Calendar. The

liturgical celebration, Beata Mariæ Virginis, Ecclesiæ Matris, is to be

celebrated annually, as a Memorial. From this year, all dioceses and

parishes will celebrate this Feast on the Monday following

Pentecost. This official celebration underlines a characteristic of the

Virgin Mary, who is both mother of Christ and of the Church. Pope

Francis wishes to promote this devotion in order to encourage the

growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious

and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety.

….and not forgetting fathers…. Fr Shaun would like to thank

everybody for their kind and generous gift and for making him feel

so welcome when he recently celebrated Mass back in the parish. A

picture of our gift is on the noticeboard in the porch. He wishes

you all the joy of the Resurrection and hopes that Lent and Easter

will be a time of tremendous blessing for you.

Every blessing for Lent.

Fr Graham

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS

week beginning Sat 10th March 2018

10th Sat (Vigil of Sunday)

6.00pm Bernard Pereira RIP

11th Sun 4th SUNDAY OF LENT

8.30am Margarete Bartocha RIP, Theresa Tilbury RIP Anniv

10.00am People of the Parish

11.30am Ana Rosa D’Souza RIP

12th Mon Lent feria

9.30am Maeve Maher RIP

13th Tue Lent feria

9.30am Brian Boyle RIP

14th Wed Lent feria – no mass

15th Thu Lent feria

9.30am Joseph N Henry RIP

16th Fri Lent feria

9.30am Peter Clifford RIP

followed by Stations of the Cross

7.00pm Desmond Carlin (91st Birthday)

followed by Stations of the Cross

17th Sat ST PATRICK, Bishop, Patron of Ireland

10am Bella D’Souza RIP

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Tuesday in Lent 8:15am – 9:15am

Saturday 5.15pm - 5.45pm

and by appointment

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Monday in Lent 8:15am – 9:15am

First Friday 10am - 11am (concluding with Benediction)

Baptisms

First Saturday at Noon

Next Sunday’s Readings:

Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:7-9, John 12:20-30

THIS WEEK’S LITURGICAL CALENDAR

“But when the time had fully come, God sent

forth his Son, born of a woman…”

Galatians 4:4

Please keep the sick in your prayers. A list of sick parishioners is displayed on the notice board at the back of the Church. (SVP If you or your sick relative could benefit from a visit from the St Vincent de Paul Society, please ring Katherine on 020 8868 8512 or Tony on 020 8868 3205.)

Recently Deceased, Narendra Amin, Conel O’Donal.

Pray Also For Theresa Tilbury, Bridget Relf, Doreen Williams, George O’Neill, Edward Goulding, Bob Le Forestier, Jack Conway, Charlie O’Brien, Kathleen Hayes, Derrick Mitchell, Delores Atkins, Catherine Cattigan, Joan Howard, Brenda O’Hanlon, John Forde, Guiseppe Marcellini, Milly Yarwood, Frederick Sutherland, John Cahill, Norma Mesquita, Veronica Marzollini, (baby) Melissa Ferreira, Ann Devine, Eric McCarthy, Margaret McKenna, Sophie Swidzinska, Margaret Enright and Michael Wlodarczyk whose anniversaries occur at this time.

Mass on Saturday, 17th

March at 10am for the feast of St Patrick.

Mass of Induction Bishop John Sherrington will be coming to the parish to celebrate mass at 7pm on Friday, 23

rd March during

which Fr Graham will make the profession of faith and oath of fidelity to formally install him as our parish priest. Do come to this celebration of our parish community and bring a dish for a ‘bring and share’ reception in the parish centre afterwards.

Cardinal’s Lenten Appeal Please take a donation leaflet from the back of the church should you wish to contribute to this appeal as part of your Lenten almsgiving. The appeal supports the work of Catholic parishes, schools and charities in London and Hertfordshire contributing to three fundamental mission areas of the Church: marriage and family life; youth and evangelisation and the Church’s social outreach within civil society.

Lenten Reconciliation Service will take place here on Monday, 19

th March at 7pm consisting of a welcome, Gospel reading and

brief homily followed by individual confession with one of a number of visiting priests. If you are unable to make this a Holy Hour, including individual Confessions, will take place at St Luke’s, Pinner from 3pm on Palm Sunday, 25

th March.

Theology on Tap The next meeting is on Wednesday, 21st

March 2018 at 7.30pm in the parish bar on the topic “Does God exist?” Do come and listen to the talk and share in the discussion!

Palm Crosses Please come and help make crosses from the palm leaves on Wednesday, 21

st March at 1.30pm in the Fisher Room.

Please bring scissors. Tea/coffee provided.

Lent Lunch Churches in North Harrow arrange to serve a light lunch at 12 noon on Saturdays during Lent to raise money for St. Luke’s Hospice who rely on voluntary contributions. On March 10

th North Harrow Methodist Church, Pinner Rd; March 17

th

Elmfield Church, Imperial Drive; March 24th

St Alban’s Church, The Ridgeway, Hall entrance and car park Norwood Drive. There is no charge for the meal, just a donation. All welcome.

Confirmation 2018 The next meeting is Monday, 12th

March at 7.30pm. We meet again the following week, the 19

th March at

7pm at the Parish Penitential Service.

Footsteps to the Cross Children’s Sticker Books are on sale in the porch at £1.50 each. These are to help young children to follow the Easter services.

Bethany Group The next meeting for members will be on Thursday, 15

th March at 7.30pm.

Easter Flowers Collection There will be a retiring collection after Mass this weekend towards the cost of the flowers in our Church.

Spring Coffee Morning £364.40 was raised. Thank you for your support and we look forward to welcoming you next time.

Palm Sunday – 25th

March ‘10am’ Mass, will start this year at 9:45am in the Parish Centre with the blessing of palms and opening Gospel before processing into church. We hope to be able to join St Alban’s again next year.

Eucharistic Ministers & Readers Rotas Please collect your new rotas for 17

th March to 22

nd April 2018 from the relevant

pigeonhole in the Church porch.

Parish Fairtrade stall will be open in the porch after all Masses next weekend. Traidcraft supports small-scale producers in the developing world to trade their way out of poverty so every purchase makes a difference.

Harrow Citizens Please put in your diaries the founding assembly to launch the initiative on local leaders including our MP and mayor, which will take place on Tuesday 24

th April at

6.30pm, St John’s Church, Greenhill, 276 Station Rd, Harrow HA1 2EA.

Action by Christians against Torture (Harrow Group) invite parishioners to a meeting on Monday, 12

th March from 10-

11.30am at St Peter's Church in Sumner Road, Harrow, to pray and write letters on behalf of victims on persecution. If you are unable to come and would like to receive a monthly prayer case and quarterly newsletter by email from Acat please contact elspeth.everitt@gmail.com.

Harrow Foodbank Warehouse and Distribution Centres are in desperate need of repair and/or to modernise. This will create a better working environment for all their valuable volunteers. To this end, they have created a Crowdfunding page. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/harrow-foodbank/?utm_source=crowdfunder&utm_medium=dashboardfacebookblock&utm_content=shareonfacebook&utm_campaign=marketing

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, Pinner - Deputy Headteacher Vacancy For details please see the noticeboard in the porch. Application pack available from the school website www.stjohnfisherschool.co.uk under community/vacancies. Closing date: 12noon Friday, 6

th April 2018, Interview dates:

Monday 23rd

April and Tuesday 24th

April, 2018.

St Vincent de Paul Society Raffle This weekend we are holding the annual raffle which is a very important source of funding for the Society’s work (prizes start at £3,000). Tickets £1 and £5 per book of five, available after Mass.

CAFOD Lenten Family Fast Day Thank you for your generous response - £1,549.43 was donated.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday

8.30am, 9.45am (see note below), 11.30am

Holy Thursday

8.00pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Good Friday 9.30am Morning Prayer 1.00pm Children’s Stations of the Cross 3.00pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion 8.00pm Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday 9.30am Morning Prayer 8.00pm Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday Mass as Normal

Easter Monday Mass at 11.00am