Masses for October will be available Monday 28th September after 8pm.

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Sunday Masses at St. Mary’s: Saturday Vigil at 5.30pm and Sunday Morning at 10.30am

Sunday Masses at St. Paul’s: Saturday Vigil at 4pm and Sunday Morning at 9.15am

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The weekday Masses this week will be at St. Mary’s:

Monday at 10.am; a second Mass at 12 noon will be the Requiem for Mr. James Scott

Tuesday at 10.am; Requiem for Mrs Mary Donnelly 

Wednesday at 10am; Requiem for Mr. James Dunbar

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Please book through Eventbrite as this makes things easier for the stewards meeting you at the church door.

Please note that Government guidelines state that only 20 people are permitted to attend Requiems.

This means that funerals should be looked upon as private family gatherings; thank you for your understanding and co-operation in this matter.

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Newsletter

Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Year

September 26th 2020

My dear parishioners at St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s,

I hope this newsletter finds you well and in good spirits, even though it is now clear that the foreseeable future will remain challenging for us all. Let us remember in a special way our young people at College and University, that each one will find the inner strength to meet the demands of daily life while doing their very best at their studies. Please let our student know that those of us who are able to gather to celebrate the Eucharist remember them in our prayers.

We are still in the midst of the Season of Creation, September 1st- October 4th(Feast of St. Francis of Assisi). As I mentioned previously, in 2015 Pope Francis published his Encyclical ‘Laudato si’, (Praise to you My Lord) inviting us to care for our common home. I thought you might like to read some further paragraphs from the Pope himself:

“Care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion. Jesus reminded us that we have God as our common Father and this makes us brothers and sisters. We must regain the conviction that we need one another; that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it. We have had enough of immorality and the mockery of ethics, goodness, faith and honesty. It is time to acknowledge that light-hearted superficiality has done us no good. When the foundations of social life are corroded, what ensues are battles over conflicting interests, new forms of violence and brutality, and obstacles to the growth of a genuine culture of care for the environment.

Saitnt Therese of Lisieux invites us to practice the little way of love, not to miss out on a kind word, a smile or any small gesture which sows peace and friendship. An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness. In the end, a world of exacerbated consumption is at the same time a world which mistreats life in all its forms.

Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world. Love for society and commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not only relationships between individuals but also social, economic and political ones. That is why the Church sets before the world the ideal of a civilization of love. Social love is the key to authentic development. In order to make society more human, more worthy of the human person, love in social life – political, economic and cultural, must be given renewed value, becoming the constant and highest norm for all activity. In this framework, along with the importance of little everyday gestures, social love moves us to devise larger strategies to halt environmental degradation and to encourage a culture of care which permeates all of society. When we feel that God is calling us to intervene with others in these social dynamics, we should realize that this too is part of our spirituality, which is an exercise of charity and, as such, matures and sanctifies us.”

Pope Francis is inviting us all to love the world and its peoples, to learn to share who we are and what we have; it’s wonderful to part of that in our own simple ways, 

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Father O’Brien

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First Holy Communion at St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s: the following letter will be of particular interest to the parents of children at St. Mary’s Primary who should have celebrated First Holy Communion in May 2020. Discussions are also underway with St. Paul’s Primary to reach suitable dates for their celebration of First Holy Communion.

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Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well and in good spirits, despite the many challenges affecting us all at this time. The good news is that we are responding to these challenges together and finding ways forward. I am sure it is a deep consolation to us all that our schools have re-opened their doors to welcome back our young people to resume their education and formation.

In consultation with St. Mary’s Primary I am delighted to be able to offer some dates for the celebration of First Holy Communion. Of course we need to follow the guidelines set out by the Scottish Government and by the Bishops of Scotland.  Each child would be accompanied by parents or guardians plus two other guests, siblings or grandparents or perhaps godparents. The guests should be from the same household. 

I know these restrictions mean that our celebration will be different to what we normally have and I feel sorry about that, especially for the children who very much enjoy the company of their school friends on such a beautiful occasion. However, it is important to me as their parish priest that our young parishioners get the opportunity to receive their First Holy Communion and indeed the strength that comes from receiving the Eucharist.

I am looking forward very much to celebrating First Holy Communion with the children from St. Mary’s Primary on the following dates:

Saturday, October 31st at 10.30am

Sunday November 1st at 1pm

Saturday, November 7th at 10.30am

Sunday November 8th at 1pm

Saturday November 14th at 10.30am

Sunday November 15th at 1pm

The Headteacher, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, will be in touch with you to invite you to make a booking for one of these dates. I thank you in advance for your co-operation with the school and the parish and look forward very much to welcoming you to St. Mary’s with your son or daughter,

Yours sincerely,

 Father Henry O’Brien

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A Message from the Catholic Men’s Society: the CMS continue to meet via Zoom on Monday mornings at 11am to discuss matters of faith and practice in the modern world. Any men of the parish who wish to join in this conversation would be most welcome. Please contact Peter Lavery at 

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Recently Deceased:James Scott, Mary Donnelly, James Dunbar, Billy Dawson,Terence Kelly, Fr. Niall Hayes, Dorothy Kirkham, Margaret Flynn, Catherine Burns, Sarah Lyle, James Paul Glancy, Estelle Fox, Elizabeth Mudie, John Cosgrove, Jane Dalton, Robert Reid, Sarah McBain, Elma Aikman, Patricia Hendry,

Special Remembrance:Peter Devine, Dr. Brian Tansey, John Mallon, John, James and Elizabeth Fulton, Joseph Lally, Joseph McCafferty, Mary and Frank McAteer, Agnes Conlon, Tommy Daly, Robert Daley,  and our own deceased relatives and friends and all the benefactors of St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s through the years, reqiescant in pace.

  St Mary's Mass Times

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Contact St Mary's and St Paul's, Hamilton

120 Cadzow St, Hamilton ML3 6HP, UK

01698 423552