Cluster News

19/20 March

Next deadline  Wed 23 March

Please note the new Cluster contact number:   0131 563 8391

Our Weekend Masses

For details see the section in this week's news and go to our dedicated page.

Brothers and sisters,

In today's gospel Jesus finds harsh words for our tendency to nurture our prejudices about others, dismissing them without probing deeper. What better time than Lent to grow patience, understanding and compassion, "digging and manuring", while rejoicing in the Father's endless patience with us!

Fr Alex

Prayer Resources:

3rd Sunday of Lent C

Children's Resources:

3rd Sunday of Lent C

Communion Services will resume at St Gregory's every Wednesday at 9.30 am. Details will be taken for Test & Protect.

Ukraine Emergency Appeal

Watch the short video for details on SCIAF's emergency appeal. SCIAF will use any funds raised by parishes to react quickly to the needs of the Ukrainian people. As part of the global Caritas network, they are providing vital emergency food, water, safe accommodation, hygiene kits, transport and child support services, in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. You can donate here and don't forget to gift-aid it to add 25% to your donation at no cost to yourself. 

The Scottish Government has given £500,000 to SCIAF's Ukraine Appeal.

Prayer for Peace in the World

As part of the diocesan 40 hours' devotion in the Cluster, we will pray especially for our sisters and brothers caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the effects on the surrounding countries. The Rabbi in Ukraine requested that Christians and Jews unite in praying Psalm 31. You are warmly invited to join us for however long you can manage.

Sat 2 April 2-5pm @ St Gregory'sWe will have 3 hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament for peace in the world, starting our prayer time together reciting Psalm 31. There will be a prayer or poem intermittently for you to reflect on if you so wish with 6 x 30 minute intervals of silent prayer.


Sun 3 April 1.30-4.30pm @ St Catherine's

We will have the usual Prayer Foundation format of (8 x 20 minute slots of silent prayer). Psalms of protection and safeguarding will be read at 20 minute intervals, including Psalm 31.



St John Vianney's

Details will be available next week.

'Distance Aware' badges and lanyards 

You might come across fellow parishioners wearing such a badge or lanyard. As we have said throughout the pandemic, many people are still concerned about Covid. We would therefore ask everybody, where space allows, to maintain a respectful distance from one another.

Cluster Stations of the Cross x 2

There are two opportunities each week in the cluster to make the Stations of the Cross:

  • each Monday at St Catherine's Church  starting on 7th March  at 2pm.
  • each Tuesday at St Gregory's Church
    starting on 8th March at 7pm.

All are welcome.

SEECAT LENT GROUPS

There will be two SEECAT Lent groups (in person). 

The Tron at 3pm starting on Tuesday 8 March and at St Barnabas at 1:30pm starting on Wednesday 9 March, for 5 consecutive weeks.

There will also be a Zoom Lent Group at 2pm starting on Thursday 10 March, for 5 consecutive weeks. We will be using the material from this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

If you would like to go to any of these groups, please contact Clare Roller

SEECAT Holy Week Events 

Monday 11 April

Passover Meal at Liberton Kirk halls at 7pm. Tickets are £5 and will be available from your church’s SEECAT Rep. Admission to the meal will be by ticket only.

Wednesday 13 April

Ecumenical ‘Stations of the Cross’ at St John Vianney’s at 7:30pm. The script will be based on environmental issues.

Good Friday morning

Prayer Walk. This will, as on previous years, start from St Catherine’s at 10am and walk the usual route to outside Morrison’s.

Open Air Service

This will take place outside Morrison’s and will commence at 11am

Good Friday afternoon 

A service will be held at Gracemount High School at 3pm. The Very Revd Dr Susan Brown (a former Moderator of the Church of Scotland), will give the talk.

Cluster Lenten Sessions

Our cluster Connect groups warmly invite you to a time of fellowship every Monday evening  at 7pm when we can listen to God’s Word, reflect, share and praise together. These sessions are produced by our own parishioners. If you would like to join us or would like to know more please contact us on cluster.alpha@outlook.com  If you missed any,  here they are: Week 1; Week 2.

SCIAF Lenten Challenge

Week 3: Travel in Hope

How about taking public transport, or walking, cycling and running to work (or other places)? In the UK, transport is responsible for more carbon emissions than any other sector. By changing how you travel this Lent you can help reduce congestion, improve air quality, and make a positive local change to a global problem.


Offer up as many Acts of Hope as you can as part of your Lenten practice. These are any actions to show your solidarity with those living at the forefront of the Climate Emergency, and protect our Common Home here in Scotland. 

SLN Lenten Journey

  Redeeming the Women of the Bible and Church
History

Thu 24 March @ 7pm.

Gemma Simmonds is  is a sister of the Congregation of Jesus. She is a senior research fellow at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge where she is director of the Religious Life Institute, teaching Christian spirituality and
pastoral theology.

To register go here.Go here for the full SLN Lenten series of talks and Q&A, entitled The Body of Christ - Blessed, Broken, Excluded? A recording will be available - email SLN.

Justice Matters: "I was a stranger and you never..." (Matt 25:43)

The picture is a sculpture in St Peter’s square depicting a group of migrants and refugees from different cultural and racial backgrounds and from diverse historic periods of time. They stand together, huddled on a raft. Angel wings emerge from the centre, suggesting the presence of the sacred among them. The inspiration behind the work is taken from a biblical passage “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrew 13:2. Today we read about the fig tree, given another chance to bear fruit.  Perhaps we are being given another chance to examine our refugee policies?

SEE:      We see the outpouring of welcome for Ukrainian refugees and the slow response of the government to amplify that welcome.  We see people wishing to shelter those in danger.  But we also see our media can establish stories that can shape our view of refugees, sometimes creating fear, pitting refugee against citizen.  It is painful to see the difference in attitude towards refugees coming from outside Europe. 

REFLECT:       “Etty Hillesum, murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz aged just 29, said that to be happy is ‘to accept God’s world and to enjoy it without turning away from all the suffering there is’*.  There’s a real challenge in her words ……. On the one hand, the utter beauty and easy, happy enjoyment of ‘God’s world’ … on the other, the relentless ongoing suffering in ‘God’s world’ .. Etty Hillesum, it seems, could hold these opposing tensions….and be happy.” These words are from Christian Meditation Scotland.  I think that such tension is in all of us.  For many the temptation is to turn from the suffering.  Christ’s example calls for us to engage in it without losing the happiness that belief in resurrection brings. 

ACT:  Sometimes acts can appear pointless and we may not see their effect or purpose.  For fresh inspiration read Vaclav Havel’s definition of hope.   

It is difficult to imagine the journeys refugees undertake.  They are all different. The Ukrainians forced to run from the most visibly dangerous situation and being welcomed in countries with which they share a border and culture. Those forced to seek safety from further afield, whose journey and suffering is less visible to us and whose culture is less familiar.  Perhaps read The Beekeeper of Aleppo a fictional account of a couple’s journey to this country.

Other action we could take is focused on our own democracy.  The Nationality and Borders Bill is currently being debated and seeks to criminalise people who arrive in our country through what is deemed irregular routes. Can we still believe that violence allows people to leave their homes in good order with appropriate papers? 

*‘Heroism on an empty stomach: Weil and Hillesum on Love and Happiness Amid the Holocaust’ by Timothy P Jackson

Tricia Kaminski

You are held in prayer

Those who are unwell

and in need of our prayers:

Carolyn Larter, Christine Knox, Ellen Salvona,

Adele Hyndman, Patrick Phelan, Fiona Scott,

Sheila Ross, Roberto Rivero, Nilsa de Rodriguez, Rudy Deras, Dawn Adams, Aileen Paulin,

Helen Haddow, Bill and Marlene Bonnar,

Stevie Donald, Kathy Duffy, Mary,

Verdiana and Donati Kweka (Tanzania),

Mary Thomson, Eammon McKelvey, Nancy Barta, Alex McGinnity, Belén Rodriguez, Patricia Simmons, Elizabeth Napier, George Pringle, Angela Mcintosh, Jorge Rodriguez, Sr. Veronica, Katharine, John, Jennifer, Christopher Mackinnon, Maureen Lawson, Bailey Bruce McCann, Betty Dickinson, Annette, Catherine Hart, Karen Devlin, 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, 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:

Betty (Elisabeth) McNally,

Martin McGraw,

Bridie Sawyers,

Richie Ellis,

Mary Duffy, 

Rose Neilson,

Constance Kelly.


Anniversaries


St John Vianney's:

 Catherine Snowden, James Thomson,

Joseph McVey, Helen Milligan, Helen Millar,

Alice Slaven, Mary Anne McDonald, Walter James, Eileen McGarvey, Caroline Laidlaw,

William Stoodly, Honor Smith, Agnes Docherty, Catherine Connell, David Robertson, Ian Grassick.


St Gregory’s:

Kathrine Renwick, Alice Slaven.

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:

  • Tinned sponge Pudding,
  • Meat balls,
  • Tuna,
  • Fruit,
  • Rice,
  • Custard,
  • Carrots,
  • Chocolate Treats,
  • Crisps,
  • Diluting Juice,
  • Jars of Coffee,
  • Ladies and Gents Toiletries.
    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

Vocal: Local Support for Carers

For more details, go to our Entitlements Page

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.

  • If anyone would like to give a gift then there are three ways this can be done:

    1. Use Online Banking:

    Account name - R.Arch of St A St Cath 2

    Account Number - 00693806

    Sort Code - 80 02 73

    Reference - Father Fallon

    2. Use a special collection offertory envelope and leave in collection box - marked, Father Fallon

    Use any envelope and leave in collection box - marked, Father Fallon

    3. If none of these are suitable for you then please contact Fred McConnell - fredmcconnell@btinternet.com or 07901 964 100 for alternatives.

    Please make sure that it is clearly marked, Father Fallon.

Click on the down arrow for more details.

Safeguarding Induction Training Part 2

(Duration approx. 90 mins) Online

  • Saturday 12 March at 10am with Julie Brechin
  • Thursday 24 March at 6pm with Julie Brechin

To register email julie.brechin@staned.org.uk, with your name, parish and role.

  • Saturday 26 March at 7pm with Margaret Andow

To register email margaret_andow@outlook.com, with your name, parish and role. 

  • Saturday 7 May at 10am with Scott MacKenzie

To register email Scott.Mackenzie@staned.org.uk, with your name, parish and role. 

St Catherine's Primary School News

This week saw the first of our pupils complete a milestone in their Sacramental journey. Our largest group ever joined with Fr. Alex to celebrate their Sacrament of Reconciliation.

I wanted to say a personal thanks to all of the pupils and their families for all the hard work they put in before the event to make it such an enjoyable spectacle for us all who were there.

Thank you too to Fr. Alex himself for his time and work with the pupils and at the meetings for families. Some really happy news in a time when it all seems to be doom and gloom.

I look forward to sharing the rest of our pupil Sacramental journey over the next few weeks.

God Bless, Mr Hunter

St John Vianney's Primary School News

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Congratulations to our pupils who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday evening. We hope to be able to share some photos with you soon.

 

Church Visits

This week P5 visited St Gregory’s Church. All our classes have now visited the church. The visits have been fantastic, pupils have been able to explore the Church and see all the key things that are used during Mass and Celebrations. Pupils have joined in special quiet prayer and also had the opportunity to take part in a Communion Service. We are very much looking forward to visiting the Church on a regular basis and hopefully meeting some of the Parishioners very soon. Thank you to Maureen and Jacinta, you have shared your knowledge with all our pupils and been so helpful and caring.

 

Lent

As we continue on our Lenten Journey, pupils have been learning about repentance and forgiveness. As a school we are focusing on kindness and collecting food for the local foodbank. Thank you to all the families who have already donated.

Please see the pictures of P4’s kindness display and their class altar.