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SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD
Today is the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, which has been designated by Pope Francis as a special day to reflect of the Word of God. In these days after Christmas and Epiphany we are continually invited through the liturgy to reflect on the mystery of Christ, the Word-made-Flesh, who has lived among us. Pope John Paul II, at the start of his pontificate, implored humanity, 'to let Christ speak to man'. Christ, who is God's living Word among us, speaks to us and reveals to us his Father. His words of the Gospel, which are always new and life-giving, continue to form us and show us the way of life. Perhaps today there may be an opportunity for each one of us to reflect on these truths and spend some time praying with the readings we have heard at Mass.


WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
We are currently in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Today (Sunday) Fr David will join with other local Christian leaders on Zoom to participate in evening prayer. Please continue to keep the cause of Christian unity in your own prayers too.

PUBLIC MASSES SUSPENDED
Due to the critical situation in the local area, public Masses have been suspended at Our Lady of Lourdes Church and nearby parishes in the deanery until further notice. Masses will be broadcast on the live-feed here (and by telephone on Saturdays). We are extremely grateful to our volunteers who have worked so hard and generously to allow us to keep going for such a long time. We hope that this suspension will be short and we will work with others in the borough and deanery to reopen as soon as we can. Please spread the word to others. Whether you can watch online, hear Mass on the telephone, or join us spiritually, the most important thing is to pray at home and stay safe. Our funerals will continue unaffected. The online Mass times will be as follows:

Monday-Friday 12pm (English); 7pm (Malayalam)
Saturday Vigil 6pm (English); 7pm (Malayalam)
Sunday 10am (English)

The church is closed and confessions will resume after the suspension. God bless you all and please stay safe.

CATHOLIC PAPERS
We are unable to sell papers directly at the moment but if anyone would like to take out either a print or digital subscription, these are available.  For the Catholic Universe, please visit:  www.thecatholicuniverse.com or call them on 0161 820 5722.  At the moment a special offer is available at £25 for 3 months, £99 for 12 months, or £55 for the digital edition.
Catholic Herald: www.catholicherald.co.uk or 020 7448 3607
The Tablet: wwwthetablet.co.uk or 01858 438736

YEAR OF ST JOSEPH
150 years ago, St Joseph was declared Patron of the Universal Church by Bl. Pope Pius IX. To mark this anniversary, Pope Francis has declared 2021 to be a special 'Year of St Joseph'. As we know, Joseph was the guardian and protector of the Holy Family, just as now he has a special care for the family of God which is the Church. Perhaps during these months we can renew our devotion to St Joseph as we seek his heavenly protection at this difficult time. St Joseph: pray for us!

PARISH OFFICE
We have now been able to restore some hours in which the Parish Office is manned. However, we do please ask that you keep normal business until after the lockdown. It is not possible to come to the office in person. Thank you for your cooperation in advance.

PLANNED GIVING
It is now time for us to renew our order for the planned giving boxes. Many of you were unable to take your box last April, and so started using bank transfers to set up standing orders for your offertory. If anyone else would like to do this please request a standing order form from the Parish Office, where you can also offer Gift Aid if you don’t already. Anyone who would still like to have their box please let the office know.  We will assume that anyone who has a standing order no longer requires a box so that we can reduce the costs of purchasing them—please let us know if this is not the case. Thank you.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION & CONFIRMATION 2021
Yet again, we will need to revise our plans for the preparation and celebration of these sacraments. At the time of writing, we would prefer to wait in order to have at least some preparation in person. While parents are the first teachers of the faith for their children, there is also an important element of 'accompaniment' by the community which cannot be realised so satisfactorily in the virtual setting. We are also aware that children and parents already have a lot of online learning to deal with. However, we are constantly having to make adjustments for the life of the parish and worship, and we will continue to reassess the situation for these sacraments, including what may or may not be possible in the time to come. Please wait for further information to be published.