Cluster News

13/14 August

Next deadline 17th August

Daily Masses and Communion Service

For up to date details

please go to our Home page.

Cluster contact:   0131 563 8391

Sisters and brothers,

Well ahead of Jesus' birth, Luke announces his mission in the spirited Song of Mary, the Magnificat. God does not become incarnate, flesh and blood, one of us, to maintain the status quo. Jesus comes to turn the world upside down through his radical love, lifting up the "little ones", filling the hungry, and bringing justice to the oppressed.

In what ways, be it ever so small, can we turn the world upside down this week?
Fr Alex

Prayer Resources:

The Assumption of Our Lady

Children's Resources:

The Assumption of Our Lady

Booking the halls in our Cluster parishes

Each of our three parishes has a hall with kitchen facilities. It is available both for Parish/Cluster events and for use by the wider community. If you would like to enquire about booking our halls, please contact one of the following in the first instance:

They will be able to advise you regarding availability, cost and conditions of hire. 

Launching our Online Cluster Calendar

To add an event, contact one of the Calendar Administrators:

»     St John Vianney’s – Susanne (susannelackie@btinternet.com)

»     St Gregory’s – Jacinta (awaywiththeangels@yahoo.co.uk)

»     St Catherine’s – Catherine (eh16@hotmail.co.uk)

We recommend contacting the Calendar Administrator before confirming the day and time of any event you are planning.

We will not include private or commercial events (one-off or regular) being held in our parish halls (e.g. private parties, dance group, etc). Requests for hall bookings should continue to be made through the Hall Managers in each of our three parishes.

Online Cluster Calendar Team

Update: Thanksgiving Mass for Sr Mary

Preparations for celebrating Sr Mary's life and ministry are in full swing, thanks to our fantastic team. We would like to display some photos of Sr Mary in the hall and ask that anyone who could loan us a photo would place it in and envelope with contact details so that it can be returned and hand it to one of the Welcomers at Mass. Thank you in anticipation.

The Memorial Mass takes place on Sunday 28 August at 11am at St Catherine’s. Fr Alex and Fr Mike will concelebrate, with Fr Mike giving the homily. All parishioners from the Cluster are welcome!

Celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism

As we continue to emerge from the Covid restrictions we have been working with since early 2020, we have been reviewing how we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism. Moving forward, we are returning to celebrating Baptism during our Saturday evening and Sunday morning Masses. Full details can be found on the Baptism page on our Cluster website by clicking on this link.

Cyrenians & Valley Park Community Centre

Community Pantry

Mondays 10-11am @ Valley Park Community Centre, 37 Southhouse Rd, Edinburgh EH17 8EU.

At the Cyrenians we’re determined to ensure no-one unnecessarily suffers from food insecurity. Our Community Pantries offer a unique, low-cost way to access a variety of foods, including chilled and fresh produce, and cupboard staples. Open to all the community. £1 joining fee, then prices starting at £2 per 10 items.

For more information email us or call 554 3900.

National Records of Scotland

Census Coverage Survey

The Census Coverage Survey (CCS), which began in June, is being conducted door-to-door by NRS staff carrying identification. The CCS is the second largest social research exercise in Scotland after the census itself, covering a sample (around 1.5%) of households nationwide.

Even if you have completed the census, you may still be asked to take part. The census data can be used to plan and deliver the services we all rely on from schools to healthcare, housing and roads. Go here to find out more.

Justice Matters:  facing up to the challenge of Amazon

A recent family get together brought my attention to the ever – present nature of Amazon.  A week long holiday was punctuated by 2 Amazon deliveries.  I might have forgotten this but by chance on the journey home we spied several Amazon vans, this quickly escalated into a game and between the Lake District and Edinburgh we spotted just shy of 50 vans!  My curiosity to find out more about this entity was cemented when I saw an article about boycotting Amazon. 

SEE:     Boycotts have a long history and are defined as an “act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons..." The Ethical Consumer magazine has been calling for a boycott of Amazon since 2012. They say firstly, that the company avoids tax.  Ethical Consumer calculates that, “in 2021, up to half a billion pounds (£500,000,000) could have been lost to the UK public purse from the corporation tax avoidance of Amazon alone.”   Such money could have been spent in our community – insulation, health etc.  In 2019, Fair Tax Mark named Amazon as having “the poorest tax conduct” of the six major tech companies – a sector known for its tax avoidance. 

Other concerns include the dominance of Amazon and its seeming monopoly.  Paul Monaghan, the chief executive of the Fair Tax Foundation, said: “We are seeing exponentially accelerated market domination across the globe on the back of income that continues to be largely untaxed – allowing it to unfairly undercut local businesses that take a more responsible approach. This makes it more difficult for consumers to see alternatives. 

The third reason is workers’ rights. There is opposition to workers being able to join unions and concerns over health and safety and rights.  

REFLECT:     For many of us Amazon is a highly efficient, convenient way of shopping.  Is that enough?  Are we asked to look beyond our convenience?  Should our faith lead us to critically look at where we shop?  

ACT:      Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world. It is hugely powerful and accordingly has great responsibility. There is evidence that in terms of positive behaviour it fails when it comes to tax payment and workers’ rights.  With a faith based on love of God and love of neighbour, Christians have a responsibility to live out our faith both in prayer and action.  Perhaps one act is to inform ourselvesr on why there is such concern about Amazon’s retail behaviour.  We can also look at ways we could break our dependence on Amazon or even join the Oxfam challenge of second hand September.

Tricia Kaminski

You are held in prayer

Those who are unwell

and in need of our prayers:

Baby Fin, (Born on 29 July) Bridie Addison, Megan O’Hara, Tracey, Rebecca,

Valerie Anderson, Maria Lucaci, (Fr Eugen’s mum), Maureen Tolmie, Zoila Melgarejo, Kate, Agnes Mallon (Anna), Susie Hay (100 years young), Michael Martin, Anne McKain,

Joe MacDonald, Rose Ross, Camilo Rodriguez, Edison Villa-bona, Gloria Camargo,

Anne-Marie Davie, Joe McConnell,

Carolyn Larter, Christine Knox, Patrick Phelan, Sheila Ross, Ellen Salvona, Nilsa de Rodriguez, Belén Rodriguez, Rudy Deras, Dawn Adams, Helen Haddow, Bill and Marlene Bonnar,

Stevie Donald, Kathy Duffy, Mary,

Verdiana and DonaL Kweka (Tanzania),

Mary Thomson, Eammon McKelvey,

Nancy Barta, Alex McGinnity, Patricia Simmons, Elizabeth Napier, George Pringle,
Sr. Veronica, John, Jennifer, Maureen Lawson, Bailey Bruce McCann, Betty Dickinson, Annette, Catherine Hart, Karen Devlin, Scott Fraser,

Anne Doig, Jessie & George Ritchie,

John Skinner, Fr Eugen, James Duffy,

Ronan Boyle, Hazel Martin, Mary Boyle,

Mary Dias, Catriona McAuley, Marie,

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:


Michael Rodgers,

Jim O'Donnell,

Alex Cameron,

Marciana Sebastian,

Sr. May Lewis,

Inge Downie.



Anniversaries


Janet Clark, Danny Boyle, Frank Goodwin, Margaret Waugh, Canon Stephen Judge,

Molly Mary McGlone, Ewen Neal Wylie, Catherine (Cissie) Ponari, Maria McGinley (Baby), Neville McKay, Wilma Lavery,

Margaret Waugh, Augustine Clark,

Mellie Coyle, Maggie Ferry, Catherine Withers, Mina Crossland, Bridget O'Donnell,

Thomas Mann, Janet Warburton,

Sandra Quigley

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.

Please join us in Contemplative prayer 

on Tuesday afternoons 2.40 to 3.45 at Liberton Northfield 280 Gilmerton Road EH16 5TT

Entrance through Red side door. Buses 3, 8, 29 stop right outside. The format is: 

  • short introduction followed by 
  • 30 minutes silent prayer
  • then 10 minutes of intercessory prayer.

If you prefer you can join us on Zoom or just pray with us while you are at home. Contact Clare Roller

Boxes for our local foodbank

Please bring items listed below to any of our church buildings or either of our Catholic Primary Schools for the foodbank - or take them to:

47 Southhouse Broadway EH17 8AS   

Phone number 664 9353     

Email: edinburghfoodbank@blythswood.org

Items requested for this week:

  • Baby Wipes,
  • Toothpaste,
  • Chocolate Spread,
  • Sponge Puddings,
  • Shower Gel,
  • Tinned Hot Dogs.


Thank you for the cash donations.

New opening hours for the Food Bank are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10am until 1.30pm


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 07455 306607

St Catherine's 07539 266411. 

If you would like to make a donation go here

Entitlements Page

What help are you entitled to?

There are many benefits and grants to which people are entitled. Please check our entitlements page.

Let us also know of others.

Back to school!

Our pupils and students return to school this coming week and we wish them well in everything they hope to achieve, especially in the three Rs: Relationships, Recreation and Results. It has been a good summer and we hope that both staff and students return refreshed and ready for new challenges.

Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Saltmine Theatre Company     The Liberator

17–20 Aug @ Palmerston Place Church.

When a strange man comes to town, peculiar things start to happen: the sick rise from their beds, the dead live again, and the oppressed glimpse a life worth living. But who is he? And how long before the powers that be crack down on this subversive, this radical, this ‘Liberator’?
A passionate retelling of the Gospel of Matthew. Told in a modern idiom, this is a gospel at once faithful and utterly fresh. More information here. To book go here.

My Magnificat

O Lord how great and mysterious your ways,

I come before You with prayer and praise,

Bring the proud low, the fallen lift high,

Douse the desert, the drenched make dry,

Cool the hot, and heat the cold,

Coax the timid, and humble the bold,

Lighten the rich, enrich the poor,

Guide the lost and challenge the sure,

Enthuse the lax, and calm the worried,

Urge the slow, slow down the hurried,

Release the bound and guide the free,

Make me, the me I really want and ought to be!

Jeff Bagnall

Jeff Bagnall, former RE lecturer at Craiglockhart College of Education, writes a commentary on the upcoming readings at Mass. You will find it here each week.