I want to share this with you. 

I came across it in Intercom, which is a Catholic pastoral resource magazine published by Veritas. It’s editor, John Cullen, in an article is reflecting on Jesus as The Bread of Life 

He writes - Richard McIlkenny was one of the ‘Birmingham Six’. He wrote these words:

"As outcasts of society locked up in prisons bare the Eucharist, Lord is the gift to us in which we all can share. In communion, Lord, we are made as one by you, our God and gracious king, and we in joy your praises sing."

Here in St Andrew’s, with us able, thankfully, to get many more again in our church and halls, and with singing again permitted, I would encourage you to start coming back to Mass, if you haven’t already done so. Register here.

Get back into the routine again and each Sunday come and be nourished by the Eucharist, the Body of Christ. It is Real Presence. It is such a wonderful mystery of our faith. It is Christ, the Bread of Life, who nourishes us at Mass. 

Don’t think that by coming along to Mass that you will be depriving others of a seat. You definitely won’t be. 

Come back and meet Jesus and receive Him in the Mass as The Bread of Life.

“There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, he would have given it to us”
St John Vianney.

Servant of God Archbishop Hélder Câmara
Hélder Câmara was born in 1907 in north-eastern Brazil and served as Archbishop of Olinda and Recife.

As a young priest he had been interested in the nationalist/ fascist movement Integralismo, but later rejected these ideologies becoming concerned with social justice, the plight of the poor, and availably of education in his region.

He became known as the ‘Bishop of the Slums’ for his work with urban poor and encouraging people to seek social justice inspired by their faith. He became an archbishop in 1963 the same year as a military dictatorship took power in Brazil.

Câmara championed human rights and democracy in the face of threats to his life, and became a ‘nonperson’; the media in Brazil were not permitted to mention his name. He participated in all four sessions of Vatican II, and in 1965 led 42 bishops in signing the ‘Pact of the Catacombs’; where they committed to living lifestyles consistent with the poorest of their parishioners, and rejecting all signs of material wealth or social privilege.

More than 500 bishops signed the pact in the following months. Archbishop Câmara was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, however this was blocked due to pressure from Brazil’s military dictatorship.

He died on 27th August 1999.

​In 2015 the Vatican declared nihil obstat (no obstacles) and his cause for canonisation is now open. 

We are very blessed to have SPRED as part of the life and mission of our parish of St Andrew.

Together we are stronger & more beautiful. SPecial, Religious EDucation (SPRED) need more people for its work in the parishes of the Archdiocese of supporting people with learning disabilities to take their place in the Church. 

To arrange a chat about what’s involved or to arrange a visit to the SPRED Centre in Provanmill call 770 5055 or email spred@btconnect.com      

​Visit www.spred.org.uk

Great that we're now able to get 110 maximum in the church for all occasions. Distribution of 
Holy Communion, thankfully, has gone back to its proper time and congregational singing has at last resumed at Mass though still with masks on.

Please, start thinking about coming back to Mass if you haven’t already. Be nourished by the Eucharist, the Body of Christ. It will be lovely to see you. 

If you have not registered yet for the booking process for Mass it’s easy to do so on this link.
You will also find the parish bulletin there ‍as well as on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram 

The funeral for Andrew Picken will take place on Tuesday 20th July at 10am, and the funeral for Margaret Borland will take place on Friday 23rd July at 10am.  

Due to the current restrictions, these are for invited attendees only.

Both funeral Masses will be live streamed.

Please pray for Margaret and Andrew and the peaceful repose of their souls, and for their families.

Lovely seeing signs of what's hopefully a brighter future ~ from this Monday, 19th July, the distribution of holy communion will be returning to its proper time; singing will be permitted again at Mass, albeit with masks on;  and our new socially distanced capacity in the church will be up to 120 at each Mass.  

We still need to do our part for Test & Protect in keeping records about all attendees to St Andrew's. Please note, for the Vigil and Sunday Masses, you still need to book so that we have details for T&P, but also this will avoid queues forming that stewards taking details at the door will cause. 
​
If you haven't registered yet for the booking process for Mass, it's easy to do.  
Click on this link  www.standrewsbearsden.co.uk 

Please do think about coming back to Mass.  

No need to book for weekday Mass. 

Many Congratulations & Wishing Clare and Connor a long life together with lots of love and happiness.  Photos by Rhiannoneale.com.      

​Wonderful that’s the wedding season started. Share your wedding photos with us. We’d be delighted to post them on the parish’s social media.  

As you may have seen, the First Minister has announced that all of Scotland will move to Level 0 on Monday 19th July.

The main effects of this for churches is that we can move to 1m distancing between household groups from that date, which will be good news for larger parishes / smaller churches where numbers are restricted by the 2m distancing currently in force.

For parishes currently in Level 2, such as the City of Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire, this also means that we can begin congregational singing from Monday 19th July (albeit only from behind masks!).

The maximum attendance at weddings and funerals will rise to 200 from Monday 19th July, although in most churches a lower limit will be required due to how many we can safely fit in at 1m distancing and how many we can realistically cope with in terms of stewarding, name checking, etc.
 
People organising weddings and funerals may just assume it's 200 everywhere so parishes will need to be careful to communicate the actual limit in their church building.
There may also be changes that affect halls, etc. – you can check at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-protection-levels/pages/protection-level-0/

Remember that all parishes must still collect names and phone numbers and all those not exempt must still wear face coverings in church.

With best wishes

Canon Paul Gargaro

Diocesan Coordinator