Newsletter

Prayer Intercessors - (Please ring Ann Purtill with prayer intentions) The prayer intentions for this week are for

	·All priests, those preparing for the priesthood and for vocations
	The sick and the elderly, at home and in hospital, those in residential care and all carers, for their ongoing strength and support
	Those who have lost their faith
	For all people suffering with addictions and their families
	Those suffering the effects of family breakdown
	Please keep in your prayers John Healy, Martin Slicker, Andrew Fairfoul, Elizabeth Owen, Helen O'Byrne, Lyndon Martin, Nino Goas, John Lovett,   all the lately departed and those whose anniversaries occur at this time, and all souls in Purgatory. Please ring Ann Purtill with your prayer intentions 6527206. If you are unable to do any of the jobs on the Volunteer Form, your prayers are invaluable

CLEANING THE CHURCH The next church cleaning will take place Wednesday 1st February from 10am

SUNDAY SCHOOL GROUP Monday 6th Feb at 6.15pm in church porch for a brief meeting to discuss the rota & groups. Anyone wishing to join the group will be very welcome. Any enquiries please ring Geraldine on 621 0479.

ST EDWARD’S DRAMA GROUP : For young parishioners and students (Year 10 and above) will start Wednesday 11th Jan @ 7pm.  Please come along to try improvising; acting; debating; writing and discussion. Email: stedwardsdrama@yahoo.co.uk

NEW OFFERTORY ENVELOPES: Please collect your new envelopes from the back of church ASAP!  If you do not currently use envelopes and would like to, please leave your name and address in the book. If you are a taxpayer, completing a Gift Aid form will enable us to claim the tax paid on your contribution without any cost or inconvenience to yourself. If you have envelopes, are a taxpayer and do not currently Gift Aid please consider it - the government repay us 28 pence for every pound so it is worth a considerable amount to the Parish over the year. It is a very simple form to fill in but should you need help with it please ask.Thank you once again for all your generous contributions to the weekly collection.

If you are going into hospital or have someone in hospital, please let Fr.Dolan know and he will do his best to visit. (Any hospital) 

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME i.e.: Preparation for celebrating the sacraments of Confirmation, Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.  If you have a child in year 3 who does not attend St.Edward's school whom you would like to be prepared for the sacraments, please telephone Pat Mulholland on 0161 678 1750 or Fr. Dolan 0161 624 3762
CAN YOU HELP?  We need volunteers to help prepare our children for the Sacraments of Confirmation, Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.  If you think you can spare some time and are interested, please telephone Fr. Dolan on 0161 624 3762

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME
On Saturday 4th February/Sunday 5th February the parents of Year 3 children will be invited to Present their children in preparation for celebrating the sacraments of Confirmation, Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist over the next eighteen months.   Please keep the children and their families in your prayers.
If you have a child in Year 3 who does not attend St. Edward's school who you would like to prepare for the sacraments, please telephone Fr. Dolan
on 0161 624 3762.
Confirmation Service will take place on Sunday 20th May 2012.

Lenten Station Masses will all start at 7.00pm in the following churches:

• Tuesday 28th February at St. Aidan & Oswald’s, Royton, led by Bishop Brain.
  
• Tuesday 6th March at St. Joseph’s, Shaw.
  
• Tuesday 13th March at St. Anne’s, Greenacres.
  
• Tuesday 20th March at St. Joseph’s, Mossley.
  
• Tuesday 27th March at St. Christopher’s, Ashton-under-Lyne.

ST. EDWARDS 100 CLUB DRAW
If you would like a little flutter and  also help with parish funds you can join the 100 club at any time just ring me on 0161 633 5758 or E-Mail d.clayton177@ntlworld.com Thank you for your continued support.

About Being Catholic ABC Thursday About Being Catholic meetings will resume in September .  Anyone interested in becoming a catholic or wanting to know more please come along and bring a friend.About Being Catholic meetings on Thursday evening, 7.00 to 8.00pm, in Church .

Talk and discussion on all different aspects of Faith, a really good start on Thursday.  Anyone interested just come along, especially helpful to those thinking of becoming Catholic or learning more about the Church.

www.caseresources.org.uk and www.comehomeforchristmas.co.uk for more information (the latter, for lapsed Catholics, will be launched at the beginning of November). CASE also runs the Catholic Enquiry Office, offering free and confidential information about the Catholic faith to enquirers - if you know someone who has questions about the Catholic faith, you could ask them to look at www.life4seekers.co.uk

Piety Shop.

REPOSITORY STALL Open after every Mass.  Please come along to browse.

CATHOLIC PARLIAMENTARY AND PUBLIC POLICY INTERNSHIPS
For the last nine years the Catholics Bishops Conference has organised Parliamentary and Public Policy Internships for recently graduated Catholics.  This year we are looking to offer 8 internships:  Five interns will be placed with Christian MPs at Westminster; two in Public Policy with CAFOD and CARITAS Social Action Network; and one in a media internship at Archbishop’s House Westminster. 
All internships will run from September 2012 - July 2013 and include accommodation and subsistence allowances.
Full details and an application form can be found on our website: http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/internsCompleted application forms must either be emailed to interns@cbcew.org.uk or posted to: Michaela Kelly, Head of HR, 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX. The closing date is 5pm on 29th February 2012 and Assessment days will be 28th and 29th March 2012.  If you know anyone who may be interested in this opportunity, please encourage them to apply.

St Vincent de Paul Society The SVP hold their meetings every Monday evening at 8pm in the Church Porch. Anyone wishing to contact us or join the society will be warmly welcomed

SVP VISITS One of the roles of the SVP is to visit people in their own homes. If you would like a visit or you know of anyone who would like a visit please let us know by ringing Kath on 0161 620 9692 or Geoff on 0161 678 6901. We would like to stress that all visits and information are kept in the strictest confidence.

INVITATION:  If you would like to volunteer your talents/time it may be as much or as little as you can spare.  Please take a form from the back of church.  There are many opportunities to get involved in the Parish.  Please hand in your form to Father Dolan or leave at the back of church

PARISH VOLUNTEER FORMS Thank you to those who have responded.  You still have time to return your Volunteer Forms to Father Dolan a.s.a.p. You may tick as many boxes as you need, you are not limited to one job.  Don’t be shy in coming forward.  More forms can be found at the back of Church. Please note that even if you are already doing something it would be helpful if you would still complete the form.  Thank you.

If you would like to be a reader or Eucharistic minister would you please contact either Eileen O’Toole on 01457 834 659 or Ann Jamshed ~ annjamshed@btinternet.com  The readers can have the readings beforehand if needed.  The rota is prepared six months in advance to give plenty of notice; you can do it as often or as little as you want.NEW ROTAS are available on the table in the church porch.  New volunteers always very welcome. 

SATURDAY COFFEE ROTA Volunteers needed to join the rota.  Your turn comes along once every five weeks.  This is a vital and rewarding group as some of the parishioners only get to meet their friends after this Saturday Mass which becomes a social event.  If you would like to join the rota please contact Father Dolan.

Emergency Food Distribution for Refugees (See J&P pages)

Oldham Unity Refugee Support continues to offer food every week to destitute refugees. . See Justice & Peace pages for details and note that the list of items required has changed slightly.No perishables please.

Food Parcels for Destitute Asylum-Seekers: UPDATE. There has recently been a noticeable increase in food donations from St Edward's. This is much appreciated by Oldham Unity, the charity supporting local asylum-seekers (now averaging 60 a week), and our parish can take pride in this continuing commitment. Items needed include sardines & tuna in oil; 1 litre cartons of longlife milk & orange juice; vegetable oil, corned beef, tinned tomatoes, dry pasta (including spaghetti), rice, biscuits and baked beans. There is a box at the back of church for donations. A big thank you to all who help.

ITEMS FOR THE NEWSLETTER can be left at the Presbytery or contact Ann Jamshed, email annjamshed@btinternet.com before 6pm Thursday evening please.
Would you like the Newsletter emailing to you? Please send an email titled Newsletter to Ann on the above address.

Function Room (Upstairs Parish Hall : Church Hall available for parties, weddings, christenings,events etc. Bar and staff included. Enquiries to Hugh Chrystal 620 3481. The upstairs hall is currently being refurbished and is temporarily unavailable. For downstairs hall contact Tony Ashton 665 3419

St .Edward's Lending Library Checkout the bookrack in the Church Porch (just outside the Piety Shop). If you have any Christian books you no longer require, please consider donating them to our library for other people to enjoy. Books may be freely borrowed but please remember to return them!Catholic newspapers are also on sale in the porch - please pay at the Piety Shop

CHILDREN’S LIBRARY Do you have any children’s books, bibles, books about saints, you could donate to Church? We are trying to get a selection of books for children to borrow during Mass.  Please leave in the box at the back of Church.

Links pages Several new links have been added to our links page

EWTN - This 24 hour catholic television channel is now available on Sky channel 589 . Programme Schedule can be downloaded from http://www.ewtn.co.uk/

Today's readings