A Fortnight today ~ Day of Prayer for those who have suffered abuse ~ Friday 4th March. 
There will be prayer and reflection during the 10am Mass, and throughout the day the rosary 
will be recited every hour on the hour through to 5pm. There will be Stations of the Cross at 6pm.

Sign up sheet in the porch for volunteers to lead the hourly rosary.

The annual Safeguarding Statement will be read out at all Masses weekend 26th /27th Feb. 

Please pray for children, young people and vulnerable adults whose lives have been scarred by the abuse they have experienced at the hands of those whom they trusted.  

Pray also for all who are engaged in the pursuit of peace, healing and reconciliation for the abused, the needy, the weak and the vulnerable.

Pray, too, that the work of the new Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency will be guided by the Holy Spirit to help it in its vital work of respecting and safeguarding the dignity of all. 

If you are interested in going to Lisbon for World Youth Day and you will be 16 (as of 1st Feb 2023) up to 35 (at time of trip), please let our St Andrew’s & St Joseph’s Youth Ministries Team know by emailing [email protected] and the Archdiocesan Youth Team by following this link: https://tinyurl.com/wyd2023.

The Youth Ministries Team and both parishes will assist with fundraising/sponsorship for any young people interested in attending.

Archdiocesan Covid Update ~ An email this afternoon from the Bishops’ Conference states that holy water stoups may now be used at the entrance/exit of churches, as long as people sanitise first and as long as the water is regularly changed. 

We’ll make arrangements for holy water to be reintroduced soon in our porch’s stoups.

The email also says that there is no plan to reintroduce shaking of hands at the sign of peace at present. If the sign is exchanged it should be limited to a bow of the head.

The installation of Bishop William Nolan as Archbishop of Glasgow will be in St Andrew’s Cathedral on Saturday 26th February at 12 noon. Each parish is invited to submit the names of TWO parishioners to attend the installation. Fairest way to choose will be by ballot.

If you would like to be considered,  I would be very grateful if you would let me know by emailing [email protected] by Wednesday 17th February. Many thanks.  
Fr Mackle ​

Local Group “Very Disappointed” to find High Levels of SUP (Single Use Plastic) in packaging of Fruit and Veg by Major Food Retailers
By: Joint Justice and Peace Group of St Andrew's & St Joseph's
Bearsden and Milngave, East Dunbartonshire, Contact: J. Desmond, [email protected]

Full Report on this link

Thanks to shocking footage that shows turtles suffocating in plastic and elephants foraging on plastic-strewn dumps, most consumers are now acutely aware of the hugely damaging impact of plastic pollution on the health and wellbeing of animals and humans. Ever sensitive to consumer concern major UK food retailers now widely publicize their commitment to reduce Single Use Plastic (SUP) and to replace this with recyclable and compostable alternatives. To check these claims our joint Justice and Peace Group decided to conduct a survey of SUP use in fruit, salad and vegetable lines by major food retailers in East Dunbartonshire.

Our sample included Asda, Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Tesco and Waitrose. While we found some areas of good practice our overall finding was frankly very disappointing, with high to extremely high use of SUP prevalent across the board. There were also anomalies, for instance, most retailers sell some bananas loose, yet cover others and especially Fairtrade bananas in SUP, which is a strange practice, given that Fairtrade consumers buy on ethical grounds. A majority of carrots, broccoli and celery continues to be shrouded in SUP. While retailers claim this is for protection, they do not explain why these products are also offered loose. Our report found additionally that SUP use can vary from week to week, so that for instance one week all the broccoli on sale in an outlet can be covered in SUP while the next week half of it is not.

Overall, in light of the extensive publicity from food retailers about their reduction of plastic packaging, we were disappointed to find that a high to very high proportion of the fruit, salad and vegetable items we surveyed were still swathed in SUP. We have since asked these prominent retailers to step up their efforts by demonstrating significant reductions in SUP use by the time of our next survey this coming September. As recycling and compostable alternatives are not a sustainable solution we ask that they aim for an overall reduction in the use of plastic packaging.

Full report on this link