Sunday Bulletin and Mass Intentions
The Sacred Heart R.C. Church
Queens Avenue, Tunstall, ST6 6EE
sacredheart.tunstall@rcaob.org.uk
Saint Joseph’s R.C. Church
Hall Street, Burslem, ST6 4BB
Parish Priest: Fr. R. K. George pp.sacredheart.tunstall@rcaob.org.uk
Parish Secretariat: Carol Critchlow
Office hours: Wed, Thurs, and Fri 10 am to 2 pm
13 Queen’s Avenue, Tunstall, ST6 6EE
01782 838357
www.parishclustersacredheartstjoseph.org.uk
The Parish operates in accordance with Statutory Safeguarding Guidance and the National and Archdioceses policies & procedures at all times. Our Parish Safeguarding Representatives are Kathryn Barnett and Ellen Churchill. They can be contacted at: sg.sacredheart.tunstall@rcaob.org.uk and sg.stjoseph.burslem@rcaob.org.uk or alternatively the Diocesan Safeguarding team can be contacted on 0121 230 6240/ safeguarding@rcaob.org.uk if you have any concern.
Church Calendar
19th Dec Christmas Songs and mince pies at St Wilfrid’s school 10am*
20th Dec Mass & Penitentiary Service at Goldenhill, St Joseph’s 6pm
20th Dec St Wilfrid’s Carol Concert at Sacred Heart 11am
21st Dec St Joseph’s Christmas raffle*
22nd Dec Sacred Heart Christmas raffle*
24th Dec Christmas Eve Vigil Mass 7pm Sacred Heart
25th Dec Christmas Day Mass 10.30am Sacred Heart
* Additional information in the bulletin
Weekday Masses at Sacred Heart, with the exception of Masses where we are joined by the schools, will be held in the Chapel. Enter via the back entrance of the church.
Please Pray for the Repose of the Souls of our departed family members and parishioners, especially: Doreen Sarah Margaret Mary McGreevy, Andrew Hall, Vincent McNicholas, Brian Turner, John Dale, Pat O'Rielly and those whose anniversaries occur at this time. May their souls rest in peace. Amen.
Pope’s Prayer Intention for December 2024
For pilgrims of hope We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognise the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.
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.
RCIA
Are you an adult interested in being baptised or received into the Catholic Church? Please contact the Parish Office for more information.
Confessions
Sacred Heart
Friday 10.00 am – 10.30 am (During Adoration)
Sunday 10.00 am – 10.20 am
St Joseph’s
Wednesday 5.00 pm – 5.50 pm (During Adoration)
Saturday 4.30 pm - 4.50 pm
Eucharistic Adoration and Rosary
Sacred Heart
Friday 10.00 am – 10.30 am
St Joseph’s
Wednesday 5.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Children at Mass
We are running an attendance competition at both churches for all the under 16 year olds. All children please remember to write your names each week in the book at the back of church. Prizes will be handed out at the CHRISTMAS VIGIL Mass
Potto Lotto All money raised through the Potto Lotto is going towards Sacred Heart Presbytery running costs. Remember to nominate Sacred Heart, Tunstall so we receive 50p of every £ donated.
St Joseph’s Car Park
The car park at the back of St Joseph’s, accessed via Pack Horse Lane (ST6 4BA), will be open for the Saturday Mass from 4pm to 6.30pm.
Parish foodbank
The Parish foodbank is open on Tuesdays 11am to 2pm, no referral required.
All Readers
Bidding prayers are now available on the website.
New Deanery website
https://northstaffordshire-catholicdeanery.org.uk/ The deanery now has a new website where you can find information on local churches and their mass times, priests, newsletters etc.
Mass Intentions We have received a lot of mass intentions and spaces are filling up quickly. All future booked Masses can be seen on the new website, on the same page as the bulletin. Bookings are entered in the order they arrive on the office desk. If you have booked a mass and don’t see it on the website, please contact the office.
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
Baptism and Marriage
If you are interested in either of these sacraments, please note we require evidence of practice. Attendance cards are now available at the back of church.
Parish foodbank Many thanks to all those who have donated food and money to support the food bank over the past 3 years. At the moment our stocks are running very low. We feed approximately 40 people per week. Please consider bringing 1 non-perishable food item each week and depositing it in the basket which is located in the foyer of both Churches. Thank You
A BIG Thank You to all who have supported any of the St Joseph's Centenary fundraising events, film nights, car boot sales, tombola's, raffles, and Southport day trip. We have lots more events planned to which you are all most welcome to attend. Watch this space.
Any Experts? Does anyone have expertise in the following: Scaffolding, Tree felling, Building Maintenance, Painting and decorating? Please let any of the Stewards at St Joseph's know, Thank You.
Parish Cluster Pastoral Committee Meeting
At the back of church there are copies of the handout given out at the Deanery Forum. The handout shows how the Deanery will be split into missions. Our cluster is in mission 1.
One of the overriding issues we face as parishes, clusters and a deanery is the continually falling numbers attending mass and then the even fewer who get involved and help. St Joseph’s have a very hard-working team of volunteers, who are doing exceedingly well preparing for the centenary celebrations, but we need more.
One of the ways we are looking at increasing numbers is the introduction of a minimum attendance before sacraments (except funerals) can be booked. Before anyone can get their child Baptised, get married, have First Holy Communion or Confirmation, they have to have a minimum of 12 weeks attendance. The primary schools are supporting our decision. Both churches should have a pile of attendance cards, if either church is running low, please let the office know. These cards are to be filled out each week they attend. They do not need to turn up every week, but we want them to have attended 12 times before booking anything. During these 12 visits we need to encourage participation, be welcoming and hopefully when they complete the sacrament they will continue to attend.
Using St Joseph’s as inspiration, Sacred Heart is looking at events that can bring the parish together. After a lot of discussion, Sacred Heart will be organising a Christmas party on Saturday 7th December. We want as many people involved with the organising and preparation as possible not just our normal volunteers. If you are reading this and you have not been approached to help WE NEED YOUR HELP. There will be plenty of jobs before, during and after the party. We will also be asking for donations.
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
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.
Booked Mass Intentions for Sacred Heart and St Joseph's
As of the 13th December, here are all the booked Mass Intentions coming up.
If you know you have booked a Mass and it is not showing please do contact the parish office.
If masses are cancelled, the mass intention will be moved to the first available mass at your chosen church
©Copyright. All rights reserved.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.