Parish Finance in Lockdown Crisis
Many thanks to all who have handed in envelopes and donations during lockdown. It has made a great difference to the finances of the different parishes. Could you please continue to post your donations through the door of St. Mary’s chapel house. Many thanks indeed.
Opening of Churches
Mass times for the coming week
We are delighted to announce that the churches will be open from next Sunday Palm Sunday.
Due to cleaning, we have decided to have two masses next Sunday. The first mass will be in St. John’s at 10am on Sunday the 28th of March, and St. Mary’s, 11.15am on Sunday the 28th of March.
If you wish to attend could you please book by phoning the following numbers, St. John’s Caol, Margaret McMaster on 07801 428 920, or Patricia Jordan on 698912.
Masses will be streamed on our Facebook site. Friends of St. Mary’s Fort William. There will be no daily mass this week, till Friday the 26th at 10.15am
Anniversaries
Andrew Morrice, Joseph Tully, John McConnell, Catherine MacKinnon, John Macdonald, Ena Morrison, Jimmy Keenan, Barry MacKinnon, Mary Clabby, Flora Currie, Christine Thomson, Mary Fitzsimons, Angela Brown, Donald Macdonald, Margaret Mackinnon, Ed Deary.
R.I.P. Isabel Corrigan
It is with great sadness we announce the death of Isabel Corrigan a very faithful parishioner of the parish. Isabel’s Requiem Mass will be held in St. Mary’s on Saturday the 27th of March at 11am. If you wish to pay your respects, please gather outside St. Mary’s at around 12am.
We offer our prayers to Meg and David, and all the family.
Easter Services
Mass of the Last Supper, St. John’s Caol, 7pm
Good Friday, St. Mary’s, Fort William, 3pm
Easter Vigil, St. Mary’s, Fort William, 8pm
Easter Sunday, St. John’s Caol, 10am, St. Mary’s Fort William, 11.15am.
S.C.I.A.F.
Those who have been collecting for S.C.I.A.F. throughout Lent, please could you count your own Wee Boxes this year, and send the money direct to, S.C.I.A.F. 7 West Nile Street Glasgow, G1 2PR. This is due to Covid and handling money. Many thanks.
St.John’s Parish House
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, in discussions with the Parish Finance Committee, it was decided that we would rent out the parish house in Caol. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but we feel that with no real prospect of a priest in the near future, it is imperative that the house is looked after.
Most of you will know, that Deacon Thomas and his wife Sheena are in the house at the moment. They will stay there for another month. And then the house will be let out on a long- term basis to a local family. I would like to thank the Wynne family most sincerely for all the hard work they put into putting the house in order.
Lectio Divina
The Lochaber Parishes, plan to begin Lectio Divina during this latest national lockdown. Lectio Divina will take place on Thursday evenings fortnightly via Zoom for parishioners of the three churches in the parish. Beginning at 7.00pm, it will last for roughly one hour concluding with a short Night Prayer of the Church. A different priest will lead the evening each time. The readings will be based upon the Gospel from the coming Sunday.
Beginning in Ordinary Time, we will work through Lent, Passiontide, Easter, and finish with the Gospel for Pentecost Sunday: Our next Gospel is The Passion of Mark.
The structure of Lectio Divina is as follows: Introduction, Sign of the Cross, Invocation of the Holy Spirit, Act of Contrition, The Gospel, The Response, The Meditatio (reflection), The shared echo, Oratio (prayer), Contemplatio (contemplation), Conclusion.
If you are interested and wish to participate in these evenings, please email Fr. David at fortwilliam@rcdai.org.uk We will then set up a mailing list once we have your email address and be able to provide you with further info and zoom meeting IDs/Passcodes. Zoom is easy to setup and operate. If you go to www.zoom.us/signup you will be able to create an account. If you need any help with this don’t hesitate to call the Parish. Zoom is totally free of charge.
Rev. David Connor