Sunday 27th March 2022 Fourth Sunday of Lent

"I am the light of the world, says the Lord
anyone who follows me will have the light of life."

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We are now in the fourth week of Lent, and we should remember that the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays has been restored. We should see this as an opportunity to come together again as a community of faith to listen to the Word of God and be nourished by the body of Christ. Come back to Mass! As always, the obligation does not apply to those who are sick, and their carers, or to those who have greater vulnerability to the virus. Note that the children’s liturgy has resumed at 10am Sunday Mass.
 
During Lent
Daily Mass – 10am
Stations of the Cross – Fridays 6pm.
Rosary – weekdays 9.30am     
Fridays – church open until 6pm Stations of the Cross
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament  Saturdays 10am – 11am. Confessions throughout
Confessions – Also on Saturdays 4.15pm – 4.45pm & Sundays 9.15am – 9.40am 
 
Happy Mother's Day to all in the parish. We remember all our mothers, living and dead, in our prayers and in our Mass today and ask God's blessing on them.  Pope Francis, a few years ago, in a homily said that a society without mothers would be an inhuman society, as mothers always know how to show tenderness, devotion and moral strength, even in the moments of greatest difficulty.  He went on to say that mothers often transmit the deepest sense of religious practice...and that without mothers, faith would lose a good part of its simple, profound warmth. 

An update on where we're at regarding restrictions in St Andrew’s.

• Track & Trace at Mass is no longer required.  
• No need to book for Mass.  Just come along. 
• A huge amount of thanks to everyone who has been involved in keeping us safe in our church and halls, especially over the past two years. 
• Stewards will continue to minister at Mass along with passkeepers to meet and greet you on arrival at church.  
• The practice of passing round the plate to collect offerings will resume this weekend.  
• For the sign of peace, we'll continue with a bow to one another.  
• Face coverings are still required unless you’re exempt, as well as sanitising your hands. 
• An area of our church will continue to be dedicated for socially distanced seating. 
• The bulletin will continue to be posted online on our website here and also on social media. For anyone who requires a printed copy, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

Between now and Easter, please keep in your prayers Jack, Rebecca, Jason and Rokas, who look forward to being received into the Church at Easter. 
 
St Andrews Squad (SAS), Sundays 24th April and 8th May, for all Primary 4 children in the parish celebrating First Holy Communion this May. Please come along to the Upper Hall at 9am leading into the 10am Mass with children’s liturgy.   
 
Hall Lets resuming: Now that the restrictions around COVID have been relaxed, the Halls Committee is pleased to confirm that family celebration events such as birthday parties, christening parties and the like can once again be held in the halls. Halls are consequently available to let on Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings from Saturday 23 April. For any reservations or further information, please call the Halls Letting Secretary on 07528 425 698.

​A huge amount of thanks to our parish Messengers for collecting their bundles of the Easter Reachout. Look out for it.  It will be delivered to around 1300 homes in the parish during the coming weeks. Sincere thanks to the Editorial Team, Messengers, Area Leaders, Messenger Coordinators and Data base manager for all their much appreciated and hard work.  If Reachout is not delivered to your home, and you would like to receive a copy, please email [email protected]. It will be posted soon on our social media.
 
Washing of the Feet – Volunteers required to have their feet washed at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7.00pm Thurs 14th April. Please enter your name on the  sheet in the porch.
 
After daily Mass, coffee, tea and biscuits are served in The Hut. All most welcome.

Safeguarding Matters March 2022 - Below and on this link is the March edition of Safeguarding Matters published to provide information about national developments in the safeguarding practice of the Catholic Church in Scotland. If you have any suggestions for topics to be covered in future issues, please email these to: [email protected].

Association of Bearsden Churches along with New Kilpatrick Church ~ Service of Remembrance on 3rd April, at 7pm, in New Kilpatrick. A time to remember and reflect on the loss we have felt over the pandemic for those people we now miss. All most welcome. Also, ABC Songs of Praise will be celebrated in Westerton Church at 7pm on Easter Sunday. 
 
Our Whist Drive will take place on Wednesday 30th March 2pm – 4.30pm. Although many of the COVID restrictions in Scotland have now been lifted, the requirement for wearing face masks, unless seated, is still in place, along with one or two others which are my responsibility. Looking forward to seeing you all.
 
SCIAF’s wee box, big change appeal. wee boxes to be returned, please, by Easter Sunday. The 2nd collection is for SCIAF. With the most recent easing of restrictions, the practice of passing round the basket to collect offerings  resumes this weekend.   Lentfest 2022 – special online programme available in the porch or visit     www.agap.org.uk/lentfest An imaginative fusion of faith and the arts. Everything in one place – your place!
 
Around 40 Primary Three children received the Sacrament of Reconciliation ~ encountering God’s love and mercy in this beautiful Sacrament! Keep them in your prayers. They look forward to their First Holy Communion next year.
 
We are delighted that the Piety Stall reopens this weekend.   We have lots of lovely new stock, including cards, books and gifts for Easter and First Communion. As always, all of the profits from the sale of the items will go to Parish funds. We’d be grateful of volunteers who would be willing to help us with manning the stall after each Mass.  If you could spare 15 minutes, we would really appreciate your help.  The rota sheet for April, May and June is on the Piety Stall door.  Any questions please call Anne MacIntosh 931-5861 or Annamaria Strachan 942-9799.

The Pope's Twitter (@Pontifex)
and
The Pope's Instagram (@Franciscus) 
and
The Pope’s monthly video
Great resources of contemporary commentary by the Holy Father on current issues.

Catholic Social Teaching Thought for the Week - 27th March

Drumchapel Foodbank. Regularly your donations are dropped off at the foodbank by our parish volunteers. Thanks for continuing to give the foodbank your support.   Our soup-run volunteers continue to collect donations from M&S, Byres Rd & Milngavie for delivery to Drumchapel & St Gregory’s Foodbanks, the Wayside Club & Aspire.

Parish Website – On the latest page and bulletin pages, click on subscribe for a daily summary of the previous day's posts. 

Parish Bulletin: Items for inclusion should be sent in by 12 Noon on the Wednesday before publication. Copies of the bulletin are available on Facebook, Twitter, Instgram, the parish website and on our exterior noticeboard.

Please remember in your prayers those in need, those who are sick and housebound and those in hospital.
Recently Dead: Mary Campbell, David Kerr, Ian McCarry, Cathy McColl, Annie Renucci, Isobel Ruppert, Gary George Skillen, George Ward.
Anniversary: Beatrice Began.