St. matthew’s parish newsletter
St Matthew’sParish
Celebrating
70 Years
1946 - 2016
Sunday 12th March 2017
Second Sunday In Lent, Year A
Priests of the Parish: Canon Robert Hill Fr. Eamon Friel
Telephone: 0141 772 1619
Email:
Website:
Sunday Masses: Saturday Vigil:5.30pm. Sunday: 9.30 am, 11.00 am and 12.15 pm
Weekday Masses: Monday to Friday: 10.00 am, Saturday:10.00 am
PLEASE NOTE: THE MONDAY – FRIDAY 7.30 am MASS IS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED
Holyday of Obligation Masses: Vigil Mass: 7.30pm. 7.30 am, 10.00 am and 7.30 pm
Confessions:
Saturdays, from after the 10.00 am Mass, and from 5.00 pm to 5.20 pm.
***PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF PARISH EMAIL ADDRESS.
The parish email address is now
Please visit our new website –
To access the website, please do so through In changing the website, we relinquished ownership of the old URL. This means that a Google or other search will take you to a site other than St. Matthew’s parish – in fact, to a clothing outlet!
Gift Aid Donors
Thank you again to all donors who contribute so generously. Claiming back tax from these donations increase their value so are most welcome. Again we propose to issue envelopes to those who use them for one or both collections.
Those who pay solely by standing order, have not been issued with envelopes and this has helped to reduce our costs.
New envelopes are available from the room at the back of the Church. They can be used from Sunday2ndApril 2017. From then on pleasedo notuse old envelopes as your number may have altered.
Those parishioners who pay tax but are not Gift Aid Donors, are asked to seriously consider signing a declaration form and handing it to either of our priests. These forms are to be found at the back of Church. Now more than ever when we are embarking on alterations to our Church, it is an easy way of increasing our revenue.
SACRAMENT of RECONCILLIATION for PRIMARY 3 CHILDREN in St. MATTHEW’S PARISH will take place on Thursday 16 March at 7.00 pm. Please keep the children, their parents and guardians, teachers and catechists in your prayers this week.
VOCATIONS to the Priesthood and Religious Life Anyone thinkingof the priesthood as hisvocation should contact Father Ross Campbell,the Vocations Director of the Archdiocese Glasgow: .
CHURCH CLEANING: Team D will be on duty Thursday 16th March.
ITEMS FOR THE NEWSLETTER can be sent to , items must be received before the Friday prior to the publication of the newsletter for which they are intended.
Forthcoming Special collections
LENTEN ALMS / 12, 19 March; 2 AprilSCIAF / 26 March
Newman Association: "Liturgy, Translation and the Future?" A talk by Rt. Rev. Bishop Taylor. The Ogilvie Centre, St Aloysius ' Church, Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RE at 7.30pm on Thursday 30th March 2017. All welcome. Non-members: admission £3 -includes refreshments.
SPRING FAYRE. This will be held in the church hall on Saturday, 25th March at 10.30 am in aid of church funds. We hope to have the following stalls:- BRIC A BRAC, JEWELLERY, TOYS,BOOKS,CDS/DVDS, TOMBOLA, RAFFLE, HOMEBAKING. We would be grateful if parishioners could bring donations for the stalls to the hall which will be open from 6.30 pm on the Friday before the Fayre. There will be a box at the back of the church for donations for tombola and raffle prizes. Anyone who requires items to be uplifted (no furniture or clothing please) should contact Terry McKee as soon as possible (tel.563 4026). HELP! We need lots of helpers, so if you are available either on the Friday night or Saturday please get in touch.
.ST.MATTEW’S LOTTERY:
As a part of fundraising for the new look Saint Matthews Church we hope to increase the amounts raised to the Church Building fund via our Lottery.
Your help is now required in order to achieve this aim and you can do so by considering the following,
Join the lottery for the first time.
Rejoin the Lottery, if you have stopped participation.
Encourage Relatives and Friends to Join.
If you already participate, add another member of the household.
Remember that half of your Lottery contributions go to the Church Building Fund, and half to Prize money. The more participants the greater funds are raised, and greater the prize money,
Participation costs £5 per month, with three prizes drawn every month.
Please contact John Feechan on 563 3914 for details.
Forthcoming parish meetings
WHAT / WHERE / WHENFUNDRAISING MEETING / Presbytery / Monday 13 March, 7.00 pm
1st LENT TALK / Church / Tuesday 14 March, 2017, 7.30 pm
Stations of the Cross / Church / Wednesday 15 March, 7.00 pm. Parish Catechists
Stations of the Cross / Church / Wednesday 22 March, 7.00 pm Junior SVP
Stations of the Cross / Church / Wednesday 29 March 7.00 pm TBA
Stations of the Cross / Church / Wednesday 6 April 7.00 pm TBA
Recent Collections:
DATE / 1st Collection / 2nd Collection / Building Fund DonationsSun 5 Mar / £1323.30 / £842.00 (Lenten Alms) / £387.50; 2 x £1500 legacies
Many thanks.
SVDP Lenten Appeal
The SVDP conference requests your support for the 2016 Lenten appeal which is to supply toiletries, etc for the homeless people supported by the Ozanam Centre in Glasgow. Boxes will be available at the rear of the church and we would be grateful if you could provide the following, in small sizes, suitable for either men or women, over the weeks of Lent.
Mar 12th Soap, Shower gel
Mar 19th Shampoo, hairspray, combs etc.
Mar 26th Women’s tights, leggings, socks, Men’s socks
Apr 2nd Toothpaste, toothbrushes
Apr 9th Small Easter eggs
ST. MATTHEW’S @ 70
More exciting news about the development of our church building.
The next stage of the process is to submit our formal application to east Dunbartonshire Council for planning permission to carry out the work. The pace is already hotting up, and the extensive survey of the present church building is under way.
At this stage it is difficult to be more precise about an exact timetable for the work, but it appears that a reasonable working estimate of the timetable of events will be that the remainder of this year will be taken up with seeking planning permission, and if this is successful, the architects will produce more detailed plans for parish scrutiny. Once these are considered by the parish community, the tendering process for contactors will take place. All of this would suggest that as we move to the end of this year, it will be time to vacate the church completely to allow for work to begin, and to use the hall for Masses. We can hope to be able to begin using the new look church within a year of the work beginning!
Shortly, we expect to meet once again with Council Planners and surveyors regarding the development of “The Triangle”. It is good to work with them to see how our new look church will also be a very visible part of any developments at the heart of Bishopbriggs – where we have been for the past 70 years”
This of course is a very rough timetable. In the meantime, we need to begin in earnest the process of serious fund raising. We have the task of raising ¾ million pounds! We will be considering this huge task very soon indeed.
Next on list of celebrations for St. Matthew’s @ 70
Two events are in the calendar for the early months of 2017:
Next on list of celebrations for St. Matthew’s @ 70
‘THE BRIDGE’ 28 March 2017, 7.30 pm An exciting collaboration between St. Matthew’s parish, Turnbull High School and St. Matthew’s Primary School is being coordinated by AGAP (Archdiocese of Glasgow Arts Project): a production recalling and celebrating 70 years of history. Tickets (£5.00) can be purchased after Mass, or from AGAP, details on the posters in the church. Thanks to all who agreed to be interviewed recently in the hall for this production by Stephen Callaghan.
- Mass for Couples. This is something we spoke about in the lead up to the 70th anniversary of the parish in October last year. As part of our events for all people in the parish, we promised to arrange during Lent a Mass for married couples, couples preparing for marriage, couples who have just met: all who wish to celebrate their relationships. Family members are most welcome to attend too. This Mass is equally open to people whose spouses are sadly not around. Those who are widowed, who were left alone for whatever reason are also most welcome to come to this Mass should they wish to do so (we do of course recognise that this may be too painful or inappropriate for some: we just don’t want anyone to feel excluded). This will be one of the most important events to mark the 70th anniversary of the parish. The Mass will be on Monday 20 March, at 7.00 pm. We would love couples to read at Mass, help with music, distribute Holy Communion (if they are Eucharistic Ministers). Family members may like to serve, help with music etc. Please let Fr. Hill know if you would like to help with any of these. There will of course be a blessing for all coupes/families participating in this Mass.
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