Dear Friends

You are invited to the Taste and See Mass on  Sunday 9th December. Mass starts at 3.30pm at the Shrine and we will have a shared meal after.  This is especially a Mass for families with young children. However all are welcome and we always have grandparents and get grandparents at our Mass.This will be the Second Sunday of Advent and we will celebrate Advent with our children. Remember our food-bank and also warm cloths such as hats, gloves and wooly socks. Thank you.
God Bless
Fr Bryan

Today we are invited to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always…’ The Third Sunday in Advent sounds the bell of devoted joy – undivided in heart we turn to God in the great expectation of the gift of the Child Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem andon our Advent journey we await in hope  the fullness of time. In the octave before Christmas we celebrate Covenant Mass tomorrow, Monday 18th December 2017 and we would like to invite you to Mass at the Shrine at 7.30pm followed by our Advent Christmas celebration. You are welcome to bring a donation for our food and clothes bank. We look forward to seeing you at this Mass prepared by the Mount Carmel group and led by the St Edmund’s music group.

Welcome to our Advent Taste and See Mass tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you and enjoying our Advent Christmas Celebration. Mass starts at 3.30pm and will be followed by a shared festive meal. Please bring some festive food to share and if you would like to wear a Christmas dress or a hat please feel free. We want to share our devout and joyful preparation for the coming of the baby Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem. Please also bring a donation for our food and clothes bank. Bring the whole family and invite a friend to come along. It comes but once a year.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent this year is our Covenant Day. You are invited to our Advent Covenant Mass on Sunday 18th December 2016 at 7.30pm at the Shrine. Let us gather together as family and prepare for the fulfilment of the Covenant Promise. “God is with us” Emmanuel. Our prayer is that our homes offer shelter to the God who is seeking us and our hearts become the manger where Christ may be born again. We look forward to seeing you. This will be the relaunch of the new MTA Magazine so please come along and join in our Advent Spirit. Please bring donations for our Food and Clothes Bank.

In the days and weeks before Christmas, many people worry about what they are going to give their relations and friends as a gift. They search through catalogues and magazines, they trek wearily through the shops and stores until they find the right present. Most of the time we are looking for things that cost money, some expensive, some cheaper. What would it be like if we could also give each other a gift for Christmas, that you cannot buy with money? Something special, something truly original – something that brings us hope, joy and peace! I hope and pray that this Christmas story can be a little like such an “unbuyable” gift. It is called “The King with the Empty Hands”. “It happened in large city. A few young people had got together and planned to put on a Nativity Play. Very soon lots of people became involved: Someone wrote the script, others practiced eagerly, scenes and backdrops were made and painted, and a few mothers made the costumes. However, the evening before the first performance, something quite unusual and unfortunate happened – they had all forgotten about the parts of the Three Kings. They couldn’t just leave them out altogether. The Kings simply belong to the Nativity Story. The Director of the play had an idea. He would telephone three people from the neighbourhood and ask them if they wouldn’t mind standing in as one of the Three Kings. They should just bring a personal gift with them for the Child in the Manger – a gift, that means something special to them. (more…)

You are invited to the Advent Covenant Mass on Friday, 18th December at 7.30pm, followed by festive refreshments. The Mass has the Theme of “Hope” and will be lead by the Tiberias Schoenstatt Group. This will be the first Covenant Mass at the Shrine in the Jubilee Year of Mercy and we will have the opportunity to walk through one of the five official “Doors of Mercy”, designated by the Diocese of Salford. Father Duncan will be the main celebrant at this Mass. The Nativity scene was put up and decorated yesterday in the Shrine by Patricia and her efficient team of helpers and is looking beautiful as always. Please come along and bring friends and family! We look forward to celebrating with you the Hope that the Christ Child brings again into our world, our homes and our hearts!

You are invited to our Taste and See Mass falls on 3rd Sunday in Advent , 13th December at 3.30pm at the Shrine, St John Fisher’s Kearsley. This is the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Shrine is one of the five Doors of Mercy in the Diocese of Salford and will be blessed on that day. Pilgrimage to the Shrine during this Holy Year gives each one passing through the Holy Door of Mercy the graces of the Jubilee Year. In a special way we pray for families that they may experience at home the steadfast love of  caring compassion which brings healing to lost and wounded dignity and restores the grace of being a child of God. In this Season of Hope we entrust ourselves and all those dear to us into the heart of Mary, the Mother of Mercy and her Son, the Face of the Father’s Mercy. After Mass we will have a family celebration for Advent and Christmas. Please bring your donations for our food bank of winter woolies and food.