Our Weekend Masses
For details see the section in this week's news and go to
our dedicated page.
Live streamed Masses here
Sisters and brothers,
The scribe in today's Gospel is not far from the kingdom of God because he recognises the primacy of Love over all rules and regulations. Let love for God and our neighbour be our supreme guide in all that we do.
Fr Alex
Prayer Resources:
31st Sunday B
Children's Resources:
31st Sunday B
Communion Services will resume at St Gregory's every Wednesday at 9.30 am. Details will be taken for Test & Protect.
Feast of All Saints
Monday 1st November is the Feast of All Saints which remembers all the saints that remain unknown and reminds us that we too are called to be saints. Mass will be celebrated in our Cluster at 9.30am at St Gregory's and at 7pm at St Catherine's.
All Souls' Day
Tue 2nd Nov at 10am in the Cemetery Chapel at 49 Mount Vernon Road. Archbishop Cushley will celebrate Mass for the repose of all the faithful departed who have died in the Archdiocese in the last year, including those buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery.
During the month of November in which the Feast of All Souls falls, Catholics traditionally pray for those who have died. This is an opportunity for All Souls to be prayed for and especially to remember all whom we have loved and lost personally. On behalf of the cluster parishes of St Catherine’s, St Gregory’s and St John Vianney’s, we would like to invite you, your relatives and friends to a:
Mass of Remembrance - Thursday 4th November - St Gregory’s 7.00 pm.
We have sadly lost over 80 family members and friends of the cluster since November 2020.
A candle will be lit in memory of each loved one who has died. If you would like a loved one’s name mentioned – names will be taken on the night please speak to a member of the bereavement group and a candle will be lit for them also.
Remembrance Service - Saturday 13th November in St Gregory’s 10.00.
(The service has been recorded in advance to be shown on-line the same weekend.)
This is also an opportunity for lost loved ones to be remembered through the symbolism of Scripture, poems and music and a candle will also be lit in their memory.
Due to current guidelines there is no need to book but contact details will be taken for Track & Trace purposes so please arrive at least 15 mins before the Mass or Service starts to allow for this. Tea & Coffee will be served in the hall after each event - we hope you can join us.
Mary McConville - rest in peace
Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for my dear friend Mary McConville. She died peacefully today surrounded by her family.
She can now be removed from prayers for the sick. Such sad times.
Ann Callaghan
Prayer Foundation Advent prayer afternoon
Saturday 27 November at St Gregory’s from 2 till 4.45 pm. It will be the usual format. A short lead in followed by a period of silent reflection. Drop in for as short or as long a time as you wish.
Catch up with old pals - meet some new ones!
Refreshments at St Gregory's and St John Vianney's Masses next weekend Sat 6/Sun 7 Nov
St Gregory's Ladies Guild are having a bingo night on Tuesday 2 November starting at 7 pm Sharp. Everyone welcome.
Names, addresses and telephone numbers are required for track and trace purposes. Social distancing will be in place and face coverings are required. Thank you for your co-operation.
St John Vianney's Ladies Guild are also looking into resuming meetings.
Bette and John Boyle are golden!
Many congratulations on your golden wedding anniversary! Have a wonderful day today with family and friends. Love from all at the cluster.
Tron Church Gilmerton and Moredun are having their Christmas Fayre on Saturday 20th November 11–1pm at Tron Church , Craigour Gardens. Lots of stalls. Thanks Maureen Quinn
Dementia: Hope on a Difficult Journey
An event for those supporting friends or family with dementia will be held at the Gillis Centre, Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, from 2-4pm on Saturday 6 November. A talk will be led by Dr Adrian Treloar, and there will be a chance to share experiences before a time of prayer in St Margaret’s Chapel, onsite. Light refreshments will be served. The event is organised by the Archdiocesan Marriage & Families Commission. Register here
COP26: What can I do?
Hear our young people
This weekend we will hear one of our young people, Jennifer Lackie, speak at our three Masses about the climate emergency and what we can do.
Please sign and forward the Healthy Planet, Healthy People petition by the Laudato Si' Movement, addressed to political leaders taking part in COP26. Watch the short video.
This November, in Glasgow, world leaders have a fortnight to set us on track to solve the climate crisis. With climate change already having a devastating impact on the world’s poorest communities, time is running out.
Jennifer's video will be available here.
Free online events during COP26
Catholics and COP26: Artists, Activists and Academics on Climate Justice and the Integrity of Creation
Pax Christi Scotland has joined with the University of Glasgow Theology and Religious Studies Department to produce a series of free online events starting on November 1.
There will be international and Scottish speakers and you can book for any or all of the events through Eventbrite.
We can’t all get to COP26 but we can make our voices heard, and the Q & A sessions will surely help to clarify many of the issues.
Looking forward to seeing you at these exciting events, which are all from 5pm to 6.30pm.
Synod 2021-23: Communion - Participation - Mission
Pastoral letter from the Archbishop
In his pastoral letter the Archbishop invites us to participate in the first, diocesan phase of the Synod. A suggested guide for parishes has been issued. We will now be looking at how our Cluster can be part of the synodal journey, "walking together on the same road".
This is a synodal consultation across the world, giving everyone a voice, especially those who find themselves on the margins. Keep up to date on the Archdiocesan website and social media. More about the Synod here.
Justice matters: Snowflakes Unite
COP 26 starts this weekend! Much heralded. Hopes and fears run high. A momentum appears to be building and affecting many of us. There is an appeal to our cluster today to sign the Laudato Si' petition. But even more than that, it, is an appeal to us all, to start becoming part of the avalanche of change that happens when snowflakes unite.
See What is the change we want to see? A healthy planet? A healthy people? All over the world people are acting - eating less meat and picking litter. This is important. But we are told that by only focussing on this individual response, we ignore that “any individual action is sure to be outweighed by the power of companies and governments to shape how production and consumption takes place… just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.”
This doesn’t mean we as consumers aren’t implicated as the emissions produce the goods we buy. However, companies have power to encourage change. Are they doing enough? We are asked to “to see the problems we face as systemic, as a product of a particular way of organising our economies, of the pursuit of profit for a select few over the wellbeing of the vast majority and the world we live in.” in short we live in a man-made system which can critiqued and changed.
Reflect What is the change we want to see? A healthy planet?A healthy people? Friar Victor’s reflection on this says it all “.. the more I lived the Franciscan charism, the more I began to pray with the beauty of the sunsets and to contemplate the tenderness of God in the song of the birds. With the friars I learned to work the land and to experience, with patience, the beautiful process of sowing the corn in our sister, Mother Earth. A sign of God’s love. However, even with everything, I was not fully attending to a true ecological conversion, for conversion is integral, since it is a force that attends to all the dimensions of our life. It is true that I had begun with the spiritual, but the other necessary dimensions were missing: the human, the economic, and the political. Those facets of our life that involve our brothers, the most needy, who are the body of Christ. It was little by little that I was able to understand that “the cry of the earth is the cry of the poor.”
Act Please watch the video that Jennifer has so beautifully voiced today and sign the petition Healthy Lives Healthy Planet.
Consider how we as a cluster can go forward to achieve such a change.
Tricia Kaminski
You are held in prayer
Those who are unwell
and in need of our prayers:
Verdiana and Donati Kweka,
Mary Thomson,
Brian and Susan Salvona,
Cat and Sebastian Salvona,
Colette and Grace Ritchie,
Eammon McKelvey, Nancy Barta,
Alex McGinnity, Belén Rodriguez,
Patricia Simmons, Elizabeth Napier,
George Pringle, John and Angela Mcintosh,
Jorge Rodriguez, Sr. Veronica,
Katharine, John, Jennifer,
Christopher Mackinnon, Gilmour Forrest, Maureen Lawson, Bailey Bruce McCann, Grettel Calvo Mendez, Betty Dickinson, Annette, Catherine Hart,
Karen Devlin, Vo Van Tu,
Scott Fraser, Thea Maung,
Anne Doig, Sr May Lewis,
Jessie & George Ritchie, John Skinner,
Fr Eugen, James Duffy,
Ronan Boyle, Hazel Martin,
Mary Boyle, Mary Dias,
Catriona McAuley, Elaine Hepburn,
Marie, Sophie, Roney Fernandes,
Christopher Browne, Xaverina Rodrigues,
Anne and Helen,
Sacred Heart sisters in Uganda
I am the Resurrection and the Life
We remember in love
Those who have died recently:
Kathleen Clark,
Bridget Coyle,
Danny Coyle,
Mary McConville,
Jack Black,
Laurence Friel.
Anniversaries:
St Gregory's:
Molly Crawford.
St Catherine's:
St John Vianney's:
Roger Hughes, Patrick Malone,
Denise Griffiths, Jimmy Brown,
Sister Mary McHardy, Hugh White,
Maureen Whoriskey, Laura Quigley,
Bill McKenzie, Hilda Jamieson,
Mr & Mrs McClafferty,
Daniel James O'Neill, Margaret Barstad,
Kathleen Sinclair, John Murphy,
Catherine Thomson, David McIntee,
William Craven, John Candlish Brown,
Anthony Martin, James Neilson,
Manus Dennison, Anne McCann,
Tom Pringle.
Our Remembrance Gallery is in memory of the loved ones we have lost during the pandemic. If you wish a loved one to be included, go here to find out how. You will also find information on what help our Cluster Bereavement Group offer for anyone who has been bereaved.
United in prayer: The Contemplation Group
has started to meet in person again.
We meet at Liberton Northfield 280 Gilmerton Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5TT on the corner of Mount Vernon Road and Gilmerton Road. The entry is through the Red side door facing Claverhouse Drive.
The 29, 8 and number 3 buses stop right outside the church
We meet every Tuesday afternoon, starting at 2.40 with a short lead into 30 minutes of silent prayer, followed by a short period of petitionary prayer.
Please dress warmly if you are joining us.
Everyone is most welcome.
Contact Clare Roller <clare.roller@icloud.com>
The relevant food bank for the cluster is:
47 Southhouse Broadway EH17 8AS
Phone number 664 9353
Needed this week:
Are you struggling? We are here to help
If you, or anyone you know, is in need of financial support or a friendly telephone chat, call our SSVP in the Cluster:
St John Vianney's 07922 675196,
St Gregory's 07757 845673,
St Catherine's 07539 266411.
If you would like to make a donation go here
Entitlements Page
There are many benefits and grants to which people are entitled. Please check our entitlements page. Let us also know of others. Scottish Child Payment: £10 a week paid monthly for each child under 6.
Our Playgroup is back again on Tuesdays at St Gregory's church hall at 10 - 11.30 am. Ages 0 - 5. It begins on Tues 21st Sept. For further details contact Lauren on 07789934818.
There is an information poster available here.
Cluster Seniors' Christmas Party
We would love to provide our Seniors with a wee Christmas party and dinner on Sat 11 Dec, 12.30-4.30pm in St Catherine’s church hall. We can accommodate up to 60 parishioners. Won’t it be great to be together again. Laughing, catching up with friends, good food and fingers crossed, a little dancing and singing too. Please give your name and contact number to Janet Logan (StC), Carol Mulvenna or Susanne Lackie (SJV) and Jacinta Flockhart (StG). We will ask you nearer the time if you require transport or if you have any dietary requirements. We can’t wait to see you, Ho! Ho! Ho! 🎅🤶 Love from Santa’s Helpers xx
At assembly in school this week, we launched our Sister Mary Award for 2022. This will be our first for almost two years as we normally launch this at All Saints Day Mass.
Each Class is asked to nominate a person from among them who they think embodies some of the qualities that are needed to be a living Saint.
Sister Mary had them all! But for our pupils, it encourages them to be kind, compassionate, thoughtful and put the needs of others before their own.
Our winners will then be revealed in what, we hope, will be a live assembly in February. Each child is then given a special Sister Mary badge to wear and we display their photos in school and in church.
We all strive to be living Saints, but when you have walked and worked with one so good for so long, it can seem a daunting task.
The legacy that Sister Mary left us lives on in this award and we look forward to celebrating the next set of pupils who proudly wear her name.
God Bless
Mr. Hunter
Hello from St John Vianney Primary School
All our pupils and staff enjoyed their week away from school but are now happy to be back to the busy exciting term ahead. We have lots to look forward to in the coming weeks and we will be sure to share updates with you.
Coming up this term:
Before the holidays, representatives from St John Vianney RC Parish Church ‘St Vincent De Paul Group’ visited P5 who presented a cheque for £451 from their ‘Mini St Vinnies’ Enterprise project in P4. What a fantastic effort by our pupils. Thank you also to the St Vincent De Paul Group for your continued support to the school. Please see photo of one of our P5 learners with his St Vincent De Paul prayer card and medal.
From Rome...
Pope Francis provided the "thought for the Day" in connection with the COP26 event in Glasgow.
Listen to it here
Big Sing, Saturday 6th November, 14:00, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh
Join the Iona Community singing songs of climate justice and solidarity at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on
6th November at
14:00 GMT.
