Click here for Church Bulletins
This National Pilgrimage will be celebrated by Rt Rev Joseph A. Toal, Bishop of Motherwell and will take place on Sunday 25th September 2022 in the presence of the Relics of Saint Bernadette to mark the Centenary of the Grotto. Holy Mass at 3pm followed by a Rosary Procession. All welcome.
When a funeral mass is being livestreamed it will be available on the parish website for 3-4 days but can still be accessed through YouTube. It will then be removed from YouTube after 2 months unless a family wish to contact us about this arrangement.
Bishop Brian McGee of the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles will lead the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Whithorn on Sunday 28th August, with Mass on the beach at 4pm. There will also be a Mass in St Martin and St Ninian’s church in Whithorn at 4.30pm for those unable to make the walk down to the beach. If anyone is interested in travelling there by bus please add your name to the sign up sheet in both church porches. Please note this year because of increased fuel prices there will be a charge of £5/person to offset costs.
Please click on the link below for the latest news and ways to donate
Please click on link below for the latest news and ways to donate
We will be livestreaming all our Masses in both churches. You can access this by following this link – https://tinyurl.com/rcstevenstonsaltcoats .
Or by accessing our websites and use the Livestream Heading
Please remember the following deaths in your prayers
William (Billy) Cooper RIP— Prayers of Reception and Funeral Mass will take place on Tuesday at 10am. Followed by burial in Ardrossan Cemetery.
Michael Hennessy RIP—Prayers of Reception and Funeral Mass will take place on Thursday at 10am. Followed by Cremation in Holmsford Bridge Crematorium.
Alan Duncan RIP—Prayers of Reception and Funeral Mass will take place on Monday 15th at 10am in St John’s. Followed by burial in Ardrossan Cemetery.
+May they rest in peace+
St Mary’s Thursday 09.30am-10am
St John’s Friday 10.30am-11am
First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9
That night had been foretold to our ancestors, so that, once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in, they would joyfully take courage. This was the expectation of your people, the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies; for by the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes you made us glorious by calling us to you. The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret and this divine pact they struck with one accord: that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike; and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers. The Word of the Lord
PSALM: 32
R/ Happy are the people in the Lord has chosen as his own
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just; for praise is fitting for loyal hearts. They are happy, whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own. R/
The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine. R/
Our soul is waiting for the Lord. The Lord is our help and our shield. May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you. R/
Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2. 8-19
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended. It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God. It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants that could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore. The Word of the Lord
Gospel: Luke 12:32-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Peter said, “Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?” The Lord replied, “What sort of steward , then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival find him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the servant who said to himself, ‘My master is taking his time coming’, and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful. “The servant who knows that his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.”
PROMPTS FOR FAITH SHARING
Think about your long-term goals and how you are preparing for them. Are you more excited for retirement or salvation?
Jesus refers to his disciples as “little flock.” Is there a term of endearment you use with children, or you remember your parents or grandparents used for you? How does using a diminutive form invite tenderness?
What is your treasure? Where do you keep it?
What do you do to “light your lamps” in preparation for the coming of the Lord?
Former Judge the Hon. Lady Rae has taken up the reins as Board Chair of the new Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (SCSSA) that is now being established as an independent body to oversee the Church’s safeguarding practice. The latest issue of the Safeguarding Matters newsletter (available: https://bit.ly/3tyeInn) provides details of what the agency will do, who it will work with and how it will be governed.
GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION
The Regulation came into force on Friday 25th May 2018, and gives individuals greater rights and control over the use of their personal information. Your privacy is important to the Parish Communities of St. John’s and St. Mary’s. We use the personal data, provided by you for Pastoral support and the administration of weekly collections. The information is held securely and confidentially in electronic or paper format. We will not share this information with third parties without your prior consent. A fuller Privacy Notice is now available on the Diocesan website. www.gallowaydiocese.org.uk/privacy-policy-and-gdpr