Weekly Information
Internet and phoneline
Thank you everyone for your patience while we have been having internet and phone issues. Hopefully, the internet issues are now all resolved. Unfortunately, we do have ongoing phoneline issues so please bear with us
Bulletin
Mass Schedule
Notices
Holy Week Schedule and Lent Penitential Service
Booked Mass Intentions
Hospital Chaplaincy Team
The Royal Stoke Chaplaincy team can be reached on 01782 676400. You will need to specify that it is the Catholic Chaplain that you want.
The Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’
The Jubilee of Hope will begin in December 2024 with Pope Francis opening the ‘Holy Door’ in St. Peter’s Basilica, offering the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence and a year of special graces. The Jubilee of Hope will end on the feast of the Epiphany in 2026.
The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us Into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos In the sure expectation Of a new heaven and a new earth,
When, with the powers of Evil vanquished, Your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee Reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, A yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread The joy and peace of our Redeemer Throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed,
Be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
From ‘The Jubilee Companion Booklet’, available from the back of church minimum donation £1.50
The Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’
Jubilee Logo: Meaning
The logo chosen for the Holy Year depicts four stylized and graceful figures, in four colours that recall the shades of the rainbow: red, orange, green, and blue. The choice of colours is not random, just as the colour of sacred vestments throughout the liturgical year is not. Red symbolizes love, passion, and self-sacrifice, Christ’s sacrifice and His boundless love for humanity, but also the fire of the Holy Spirit and His strength that animates Christians. Orange expresses joy, vitality, and enthusiasm, the light that illuminates the path of faith. Green is universally recognized as the colour of hope, growth, and rebirth. Blue, finally, symbolizes faith, peace, and tranquillity, evoking the sky and spirituality, and inviting contemplation and prayer.
The four figures represent humanity as a whole, in its differences and similarities. They proceed to embrace each other, expressing the solidarity and brotherhood that should unite the peoples of the world. Leading them is the red figure, clinging to a Cross formed by a black curve that ends, at the bottom, with an anchor. The Cross is not rigid, not static, but bends towards humanity as if to embrace it. As for the anchor, Monsignor Fisichella himself explained its meaning: “As is known, the anchor has often been used as a metaphor for hope. The anchor of hope is the name given in seafaring jargon to the reserve anchor, used by vessels to perform emergency manoeuvres to stabilize the ship during storms.” The sense of this symbol in the Jubilee logo is clear: it is precisely in the most difficult moments that we need to rely on an anchor that gives us security and guarantees salvation, and what better anchor than the Cross, a symbol of Christ and His infinite love for all of us? The presence of small agitated waves at the bottom of the logo confirms the existence of dangers and obstacles, of those personal events and events of the world that make each of our lives not always easy.
Thus, the logo in its entirety takes on a clear meaning, and the Jubilee, with its twelve months of ceremonies and initiatives, becomes a long pilgrimage to be undertaken together, as brothers, towards salvation, guided by the Cross and the hope of salvation promised by God.
Appeal for the Churches
Sacred Heart, Tunstall
Tea and Coffee mornings after mass. Could you spare some time to help prepare tea and coffee after mass. It is a great opportunity to socialise after Mass and for us all to get to know one another.
Could you spare some time to help with the gardening?
Sacred Heart and St Joseph’s
Are you a driver, with access to a car that regularly comes to mass? Would you be willing to take communion to housebound and ill parishioners (subject to successful DBS check and training)?
Fundraising – both Churches require funds. If you have any ideas and are willing to help on any of our fundraising opportunities, please let us know. Both churches are trying raffles, tombola’s, car boot sales, day trips and anything else we can think of. For these to work, we need volunteers to help organise, donations of items we can use and parishioners willing to play and spend. Please do support as many of these initiatives as possible.
New Lectionary’s
Thank you to our very kind parishioners who have agreed to sponsor the New Lectionary’s at Sacred Heart, Tunstall and St Joseph’s, Burslem. We have been able to cover the entire cost.
“Volunteers aren’t free, they are priceless!”
Deanery and Diocese News
North Staffs Area Pastoral Council
Talk on the Meaning of the Jubilee Year by David McLoughlin B.Th and STL on Thursday 23rd January 7pm at The School Hall, St Wulstan Wolstanton, ST5 0EF
Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Every year, hundreds of pilgrims from across the Archdiocese of Birmingham join together for the Lourdes Pilgrimage. 2025 is the Year of Jubilee and Archbishop Bernard invites you to come with us on this very special occasion in the life of the Archdiocese: “It’s a great experience to be together with upwards of 700 fellow pilgrims.” The pilgrimage dates have been announced: Saturday 24 – Friday 30 May 2025, and you can now express your interest in a place or get more information by visiting www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/lourdes.
CAFOD Middle East Humanitarian Appeal
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) are launching an emergency appeal in response to the worsening crisis that we see in the Holy Land. CAFOD are pleased that the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East has been recognised and it plays an important role in how the Catholic community responds to this. Thanks to the support of the Catholic Community here in England and Wales, CAFOD have been supporting partners providing essential and life-saving responses to the huge need in Gaza to many thousands of people over the last year and have been able to allocate £60,000 out of core funds to Lebanon partners to support their immediate response. “Our Church partners have been clear that with more funds, they can do more to meet the desperate needs and provide essential items to their communities.” As a parish we will not be having a specific collection for the disaster appeal but if you would like to donate please visit the CAFOD website.
Encyclical Letter from the Holy Father
Dilexit Nos The fourth Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis’s pontificate Dilexit Nos – “He has loved us” on the human and divine love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, has just been published. The Holy Father describes his letter as bringing together precious reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures to re-propose to the whole Church, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Francis has written this Encyclical Letter amid the 350th anniversary celebrations of the apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. An introduction by Bishop Mark Davies on the Bishops’ Conference website can be accessed by this link: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/bishop-davies-dilexit-nos/
Thank you!
One Stop Shop Packmoor
Thank you to the One Stop Shop Packmoor, for their very kind donation of Easter Eggs for all the Parish children.
This Parish is part of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Registered Charity 235216.
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