16 August 2020 : The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary :
Divine Office Week 1

Download a PDF here: blog post 16th August

Masses

Fr Michael Docherty arrives in the parish on Tuesday. As Episcopal Vicar for Education he has also recently taken responsibility for the Education Service of the Diocese. In order to give him time to settle into his new home there will be no weekday Masses this week. Weekend Masses will be celebrated as usual:

Saturday vigil Caton 6:00 pm With small congregation
Sunday Kirkby Lonsdale 9:00 pm With small congregation
Sunday Hornby and Zoom 11:00 am With congregation in the garden

 

Please check the calendar for mass intentions and further details. www.lunevalleycatholics.org.uk/calendar

We are severely restricting numbers in the church buildings, to ensure social distancing, and everyone will be required to sanitise their hands on entry and to keep the nose and mouth covered whilst in the building. We will also take a contact number for all attendees. These details will be destroyed after 21 days according to data management regulations.

Mass Intentions

If you want Mass said for a particular intention, then email it and we’ll publish the intentions in the calendar.

Your Prayers are asked for:

Lately dead:

Damian Bates

Those Whose Anniversaries are at this time:

Canon W Jackson,  Julie Gronan, Janet Reynolds, Lavinia Sutton, Rose Reilly, Elaine Lynch, Jim Brodrick, Joseph Cavey, David Young, Agnes Nicholson, John Linnell and Geoffrey Ball.

Thanks to Betty and Sue for keeping the anniversary books and letting us know each week.

The Sick of the Parishes:

Brian Byrne, Sarah Adam, Veronica Law, Dennis Brown, Graham Jubb, Paul Shuttleworth, Keith and Alexa Wightman, Sarah Mason, Kevin Casey, Esther Castle, Chris Broadhurst, Joan Randall, Hazel Waring, Eric and Nina Ireland, Frances McKenzie, Sandie Hardy, Elizabeth Ackerley, Pepe Casanova, Karen Parkinson, Margaret Aspin, Bruce Kay, Colette Calveley, Lucy Ball, Maggie Trimble, Pauline O’Toole, Roberta Whiteside, Alan White, Lynne Griffiths, John McKenzie.

We ordinarily celebrate the great feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 August each year. Since this year it is so close to a Sunday it has been transferred to 16 August.

The Assumption

It is the faith of the Church, and has been for many centuries, that Mary, at the end of her natural life, was assumed by God body and soul into heaven.

This means that there are no mortal remains of Mary left on earth.

How can it be possible that while everybody else’s body decomposes after death, Mary’s was taken up into heaven?

It is not only possible but, in fact, part of God’s plan for us all. Every human being is made by God, body and soul. The human body is not a shell but an essential part of what it is to be human. Our bodies are not like clothes that can be put on or taken off. Without our bodies we are not fully, completely human as God intended. God wishes that each one of us should share eternal happiness with Him. This will not only occur in our souls but in our bodies too.

Since sin has come into the world, so also death has become part of the human condition. Death is a great tragedy, not part of God’s original plan, and yet it is also a release from slavery to sin. When we die, our souls leave our bodies and the body decomposes. It “returns to the dust”. This is the result of sin. When we have been purified from our sins and God’s plan for creation is complete, then we will be re-constituted in body and soul.

What our bodies will be like in Heaven we do not know. We do know there will be no sin, sickness or death – only joy and fulfilment.

This is God’s plan for us all. It is only sin that has brought about death as we know it and the separation (for a time) of body and soul.

Mary was preserved from sin by the power of God from the moment of her conception. This is what we call the Immaculate Conception. Sin did not touch Mary and so neither does corruption that comes with death. As she carried the Lord of Life in her womb, so the Lord of Life carries her to Heaven.

The Assumption of Mary is an honour for her now and the promise of what we will receive in the future.

GOODBYE:

After 15 years her in the Lune Valley I must now say goodbye. We know that it is the life of a priest to obey the Bishop’s requests, but that does not lesson the blow when he asks a priest to move on to another parish. I am truly sorry to leave. I find it difficult to express my deep gratitude to you for the time we have shared together. I have felt such support, understanding, kindness and happiness. I could not have asked for more. Indeed God has been very good to me in sending me to you. I am sure you will be welcoming and kind to Fr Michael Docherty when he arrives. I will always keep you in my heart with true affection and sincere prayers. Please pray for me.

THANK YOU