Cluster News

5/6 March

Next deadline  Wed 9 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.

Many live streamed Masses are being "wound down" and the link we provided is no longer up to date.

Brothers and sisters,

Jesus is lead into the desert where he is tempted by the devil. He is offered power, wealth and fame. We see today in our own society how such temptations are very real. For many they dominate their lives to the exclusion of care for others. As we see the tragedy of war unfolding in Ukraine, how far is man's greed for power is driving the violence? Jesus refused to give in to temptation. He chose instead love and obedience to God. As we prepare for Easter may we demonstrate that such love is powerful.

Fr Alex

Prayer Resources:

1st Sunday of Lent C

Children's Resources:

1st 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, we 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. 

Read a letter from the bishops of the UK and Ireland here.

Fifth Synod Session Sun 6th March @ 11.45am in St Catherine's

7. With other Christian denominations
What fruits have we drawn from working together?
What are the difficulties?

8. Authority and Participation
What are the practices of teamwork and co-responsibility?
How is authority exercised with our particular Church?

All the feedback will be read carefully and summarised to reflect what parishioners have said. It will be published through our news channels and then be sent both to the archdiocese and to Rome.

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.

Bereavement Service 

Sat 12 Mar @ 9.30am @ St Gregory's. 

Candles are lit for family and friends of the Cluster who have died in the last month, or if there’s an anniversary of a loved one, please say when you arrive. 

Teas and coffees will be available after the service. For more information, email Jacinta or phone her on 664 5581.

This weekend: Teas & coffees after Mass

Catch up with old pals and make new ones.

* Sat 5 March @ St Gregory's after Mass, 

* Sun 6 March @ St John Vianney's after Mass.

On Sun 6 March, there will be a Coffee To Go at St Catherine's so you can take part in the synod conversation in the church which follows the Mass. All welcome.

If you have a travel mug, why not bring it along so we can cut down on disposable cups and do our bit to fight climate change?

SCIAF Lenten Challenge

Acts of Hope

This Lent, we’re asking you to offer up as many Acts of Hope as you can as part of your Lenten practice. What are Acts of Hope? They 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. 

Here's an easy one for Week 1. Waste less food. Food wastage is a major contributor to climate change. Think again before you throw good food out. There are many ways you could serve up another tasty meal ... ask your Grandma!

Cluster Lenten Sessions 2022

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 our first one, you can watch it here. 

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

'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.

SLN Lenten Journey

Ministering to LGBT+ in a Parish Context

Thu 10 March @ 7pm.

Richard McKay is part of a Clifton Diocese Initiative of pastoral care and concern for LGBT+ Catholics.

Gerard Swan is the current Chair to Quest.

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: Ukraine

It is impossible to write of anything but the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the tragic scenes that are beamed into our homes from that country.  Some argue it is Putin’s, not Russia’s war?  How did we get to this point? How do we as Christians respond to the invasion?

SEE      There are many aspects of the background to the invasion of Ukraine. They include the internal Russian politics over recent decades. The fall of the Soviet Union saw a move towards democracy.  It was riven with strife and dogged by corruption as privatisation began to dismantle the state machinery. “Income inequalities grew. Homelessness and poverty increased..”  Putin took power at this time of disillusionment with democracy. He began to dismantle those institutions that support democracy. “.. all the Free media outlets were shuttered. Civil society organizations were strangled. Electoral institutions were carefully manipulated to ensure Putin and the United Russia party backing him could not be beat.” There is also discussion about how the West responded to the breakdown of the USSR  and whether there was a failure of diplomacy.  From Putin there are misrepresentations of the history of Ukraine and Russia (Radio 4 Tuesday 1 March,) 

REFLECT      The gospel tells us about the temptations of Christ. He was offered wealth, power and the glory of being recognised as God’s son in the most dramatic of ways.  Such temptations are difficult to resist to us humans. Putin’s behaviour shows how deadly succumbing to such temptations can be. 

ACT      Perhaps the most immediate action is to care for those displaced. It has taken some time for our government to follow our European neighbours and extend a welcome to more Ukrainians.  Their flight from the country was urgent and immediate without recourse to proper documentation. Shamefully had the Nationality Bill been in place they could have been treated as criminal. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/government-should-be-ashamed-of-nationality-and-borders-bill-hbj7ct9fw  Are we happy about that bill?  We could find out more about it and exercise our democratic right to object.  There are also many charities appealing for donations. 

People will be aware of the quote “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. That seems to be playing out in front of our eyes.  Perhaps one thing we can do as citizens of a democracy is a health check on our own government.  Are the checks and balances in place?  For example how do we feel about what the government’s police bill? Democracy is a way of government that demands involvement by the people.  Dictatorship allows no involvement. 

Tricia Kaminski

You are held in prayer

Those who are unwell

and in need of our prayers:

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:

Bridie Sawyers,

Richie Ellis,

Mary Duffy,

Martin McGraw,

Sarah Duffy,

Rose Neilson,

Constance Kelly,

Loreto Spiridigliozzi.


Anniversaries

St Gregory’s:

Saji Thomas, Nancy McCabe


St John Vianney's:

James Laidlaw, Patrick Delaney, John Barrett, Eileen Kelly, Mary Agnes Ross, Charles Brehery, Alexander McHardy, Ellen Curran, George Murray, Anne O’Conner, James McGuckian,

Michael Boyle, Lucy Black, Thomas Malone,

Louis Stachini, Jane Smith.

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 St Catherine's Primary School for our foodbank - or take them directly to:

47 Southhouse Broadway EH17 8AS   

Phone number 664 9353     

Email: edinburghfoodbank@blythswood.org

Items requested for this week:

  • Breakfast Cereal,
  • Tinned Meat,
  • Tinned Sweetcorn,
  • Tinned Rice Pudding,
  • Tinned Spaghetti,
  • Sponge Puddings,
  • Shampoo,
  • Shower Gel.
    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.

  • 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 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 John Vianney's Primary School News

With the relaxing of rules, this week we had our first Assembly in two years. It was brilliant to be able to come together as a school community to sing, pray and talk together. For some of our younger pupils they had never been to Assembly. We look forward to being able to do these on a regular basis from now on.

Church Visits     This week P1 and P4 visited St Gregory’s Church. Thank you again to Maureen and Jacinta for supporting these. Pupils really enjoyed the visit. 

Lent     This week we were delighted to have Fr Alex here in school with us to celebrate Ash Wednesday. Our P6 pupils led the Service and did a fantastic job. It was fantastic to be able to come together to pray, sing and celebrate the start of Lent. Thank you to Fr Alex for making this happen. 

For Lent at school, we will be donating to the local foodbank again and also focusing on being kind to others.

World Book Day     On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day at school, pupils dressed up as their favourite book character and brought their favourite book to school. Classes buddied up with other classes across the school for paired reading and pupils got the chance to listen to stories and read books.

Sacraments     Thank you to all the Parents/Carers who attended the 2nd meeting for Reconciliation this week. We look forward to celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation with your child on Thursday 17th March at 6pm at St John Vianney Church.

For those pupils who are making their Communion this year, you should have received an email asking about preference of date for your child making their First Holy Communion. If you haven’t then please get in touch with the school as soon as possible.

St Catherine's Primary School News

Local Foodbank - 40 Days- 40 Items

The pandemic and its effects on the economy have left many people facing financial hardship. During Lent this year we are asking St Catherine’s families, where they are able, to donate to the South Edinburgh food bank which does excellent work supporting the local community. We are aiming to meet the challenge of 40 days- 40 items!

There will be boxes in school and at the back of the church for any donations. Appropriate Covid quarantine measures will be followed.