Here at St Joseph’s, Bilton
Pentecost Sunday – National Rosary Rally
People are invited to join the National Rosary Rally taking place in dioceses throughout England, Wales and Scotland from 9.00am to 9.00pm on Pentecost Sunday, 31 May.
Pope Francis is encouraging Catholics to pray the Rosary in their family homes during the month of May, especially when the pandemic is making us aware of the value of our families and making it possible for us to pray together at home.
He encourages simple Rosaries and joining online Rosary initiatives to pray to Our Lady for deliverance from Covid-19 and he has composed two prayers for this intention.
In each diocese people are encouraged to pray the Rosary individually, in families, as online prayer groups or parish groups, where possible led online by their parish priests, at any time within the specified hour. The specified time for the Leeds diocese is from 6.00pm – 7.00pm on Sunday evening
Timetable on Sunday 31st May
9.00am Arundel and Brighton, Northampton and HM Forces
10.00am Birmingham, Nottingham and Ukranian Eparchy
11.00am Brentwood and Plymouth
12.00noon Cardiff, Portsmouth and Dunkeld
1.00pm Clifton, Salford and St Andrews and Edinburgh
2.00pm East Anglia, Shrewsbury, Aberdeen
3.00pm Hallam, Southwark, Glasgow
4.00pm Hexham and Newcastle, Wrexham, Ordinariate OLW
5.00pm Lancaster, Westminster, Argyll and the Isles
6.00pm Leeds, Polish Mission and Galloway
7.00pm Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Motherwell
8.00pm Menevia, Paisley and Syro Malabar Eparchy
9.00pm We are all invited to pray with Bishop John Keenan from St Mirin’s Cathedral in Paisley as the rally ends.
Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the Earth
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us
The Celebration of Mass at St Joseph’s
Weekend Masses will be celebrated and made available on the YouTube channel for 5.30pm on a Saturday evening and 10.00am on a Sunday morning.
Please join in prayerfully with these at any time afterwards – the Readings of the Day can always be found using the button on the right hand side of this web page.
The most recent Weekend Masses and other Liturgies which have already been celebrated at St Joseph’s, are still available online at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvfYjlRQOVnYHIlNwAmX9tg
I will of course continue to offer the weekday Masses privately. Mass Intentions are still being received, and these Masses will be offered on or as close to the date(s) requested. Let us continue to hold each other in prayer, and the world in which we live.
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The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has responded to the government’s document ‘Our plan to rebuild: The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy’.
Statement:
The timing and the manner of the opening of churches touches profound sensitivities and spiritual needs. The Government’s document and statements fail to recognise this.
The Government’s position, established today, includes these steps aimed at opening churches as soon as possible: the establishment of a task force for places of worship, to work closely with ‘stakeholders’ in ensuring that premises are COVID-19 secure; and heeding the experience of other countries in which churches are already open for worship.
In dialogue with the Government, the Catholic Church will continue its engagement in this process and has already submitted a detailed plan, in full accordance with public health guidelines, for churches to be opened for private prayer.
The Church is ready to play its full part in the task force, understanding that this includes the possible earlier use of churches for private prayer, as a first safe step towards their use for public worship.
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First Reconciliation & First Holy Communion 2020
With the current restrictions placed on us by the Coronavirus Pandemic, it is necessary to POSTPONE both of these sacraments until a suitable time later in the year. Once we have a better understanding of when restrictions may be relaxed and we are able to meet again, I will work with the Parish Catechists to formulate a plan of preparation for our children, that they might receive these sacraments as soon as is possible.
Please continue to watch the website (and bulletin) for updates and further details.
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The Statues in St Joseph’s Church
I have been asked by a parishioner if I would take some photographs of the statues in St Joseph’s and post them on here so that people might be able to use them during times of personal prayer and devotion.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
Our Lady of the Rosary
St Joseph
St Anthony
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Your Giving to Your Parish
A number of parishioners have been in touch to ask how they can continue to make their weekly offerings to St Joseph’s Church here in Bilton. Thank you all for asking!
There are a number of ways, the first might be to consider setting up a Standing Order with your bank, please download the form below, or set it up using the following details via your own Internet Banking Service:
Account Name: Diocese of Leeds St Josephs Harrogate
Sort Code: 40-27-15 Account Number 11017500
St Joseph’s GAD and SO Form 2019 (1)
(Please fill out this form if you are a UK Tax Payer and would like us to claim back the Gift Aid on your donations – at no extra cost to you. This part of the form would then need to be sent back to the Presbytery, address below)
The second way might be to use the new text service:
To contribute £5 to St Joseph’s Parish Offertory, please text CHURCH BILTON to 70500
**Please note that it is a feature of the text-giving facility that allows for no more and no less than £5 to be given to the Offertory via each text. If your regular weekly parish giving is either more or less than this amount, please feel free either to send more than one text – or maybe use this facility just once a fortnight or once a month.**
The third way is to send a cheque made payable to “St Joseph’s Church” to
St Joseph’s Presbytery,
281 Skipton Road,
Harrogate, HG1 3HD.
Thank you for your continued support during these difficult times, please be assured that I hold each one of you, your families and loved ones in my prayers and Masses each day.
Fr Stephen PP
Lenten Project:
Vellore Hospice (Light for the Blind) – Essential Repairs
Contributions to date including Gift Aid to be reclaimed:
1st March 2020 £648.82
8th March £531.08
15th March and 22nd March £460.00
22nd March to 12th April (3 weeks) £635.00
12th to 18th April £122.50
19th to 25th April £145.00
26th to 30th April £115.00
Grand Total £2657.40
The Vellore Lenten Project was extended until 30th April, and any donations received after that date will still be forwarded to the project. There will be a weekend to top-up the contributions once Church services resume. In the meantime you can still drop your donation at the presbytery or make an internet payment using the details set up by Mark Wilkins, treasurer of Light for the Blind:
Account: Light for the Blind
Sort code: 30-90-57
Account Number: 01601397
Reference: LenHarrVell20
For Gift Aid Declaration please contact Mark: mark.wilkins14@btinternet.com If you are able to, please update friends who might not read the church bulletin online. With the Covid-19 epidemic, precarity in India is turning into starvation for growing numbers of people who rely on places like Vellore for survival. Thank you for all you have done for Vellore Hospice in support of Father Thomas and his magnificent work that is saving and restoring thousands of most damaged lives. Thank you for stretching out to them in your compassionate attention and very generous help despite an unusual pressure and concerns affecting all of us here. Warmest thank you and God bless – Agnes Regan
Thank you all for your generous response to our Lenten Project this year, in what was to become a most challenging Lent – your kindness and compassion is indeed a blessing to so many – Thank you, Fr Stephen.
Live-Streaming of Daily Mass and Devotions
from Leeds Cathedral
From 25 March 2020, Holy Mass will be live-streamed EACH WEEKDAY at 10.30 am and on SUNDAYS at 11.00am. There will also be a live-stream of the Angelus at 12.00noon each weekday, followed by praying the Rosary. Details of other devotions are available via the Leeds Cathedral website and Cathedral Bulletin. To participate online, please access the Leeds Cathedral Live YouTube channel www.leedscathedrallive.org.uk where the words of Prayers, Devotions and Orders of Service may be viewed, or downloaded from the Diocesan and Cathedral websites.
LIVE-STREAMED CELEBRATION OF HOLY MASS
The Holy Father’s Daily Mass, celebrated in Italian with English translation, can be accessed on the Holy See’s Youtube Channel. This can be found via the following web link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxIsefyl9g9A5SGWA4FvGIA/featured
The Bishop of Leeds will live-stream Sunday Mass from the Cathedral beginning on Sunday 22nd March at 11.00am. The 11.00am Sunday Mass from Leeds Cathedral will continue to be live-streamed each week whilst the celebration of public Masses is suspended. To participate online, please access the following new YouTube channel which will be live from Sunday: www.leedscathedrallive.org.uk and may also be accessed via a link embedded on the Leeds Cathedral home page: https://www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/cathedral
In our diocese, the parish of St Edward’s, Clifford https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/stedward-king-confessor-church-clifford-wetherby and the parish of St Mary’s, Halifax https://www.stmaryshalifax.com/ both have live-streaming available.
Holy Mass is celebrated and live-streamed from the National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham every day at 12:00noon. This can be watched live or later. These videos allow the viewer to participate in the Mass from home and, at the time of Holy Communion, they lead the viewer in an Act of Spiritual Communion. To view please follow the following link: http://www.walsingham.org.uk/live-stream
Daily Mass and other devotions can also be accessed through the EWTN television channel to which many people already have access. Their programmes can also be accessed online: https://www.ewtn.com/
Bishop Robert Barron is also live-streaming his Daily Mass at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcMjLgeWNwqL2LBGS-iPb1A
