Parish of Our Lady & St Vincent, Potters Bar
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 6th February 2022
Following the government’s relaxing of COVID regulations on 27th January, we have now received guidance from the Bishops about the way forward. The changes below will start this weekend.
If you have COVID symptoms you should stay away from church gatherings – we have the live-streaming and recording for these situations. The main mode of transmission is by mouth or nose aerosol so we are asking those who are able to continue wearing face coverings inside the church building, especially as we are singing.
Transmission of the virus by touch is minimal and so we will be using hymn books again although we still encourage you to sanitise your hands on your way into church. Ministers will sanitise their hands before administering Holy Communion and we request that you still receive the host in the hand. Communion will still be under just ‘one kind’. The collection be taken up at the offertory. Holy Water will be available again but the font will be refilled with fresh water on Saturday and Monday mornings and before baptisms. The Sign of Peace will be restored but please be sensitive to people around you who may prefer to bow rather than shake hands. Only shake hands if a hand is offered.
In summary, we ask YOU to
WE will
☎ 01707 654359 Email – pottersbar@rcdow.org.uk Website – www.olasv.org.uk
All services are live streamed – click on ‘live streaming’ link on website
Recording of Sunday Mass available on 01707 518202 after 10am Sunday
Parish Priest: Canon Shaun Lennard – shaunlennard@rcdow.org.uk
Presbytery: 243, Mutton Lane, Potters Bar, EN6 2AT
Deacon: Rev Donal Hopkins – donhopkins@rcdow.org.uk
Catechetical coordinator: Mrs. Francesca Khaliq – pottersbarcat@rcdow.org.uk
Parish Administrator: Nicola Thrussell – pottersbar@rcdow.org.uk
Pastoral Assistant (Seminarian): Dale Cutlan
Safeguarding Rep. Mike Sibley: pottersbarsg@safeguardrcdow.org.uk
Parish Office open Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri 9.30am – 12.30pm
To speak to a priest in an emergency ring 07854 866860
COLLECTION
Jan 23: Envelopes £312; Loose £373
Thank you for your generosity.
PARISH OFFICE
The Parish Office is open to callers from 9.30am – 12.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
LIVE STREAMING
Last week the website was hacked. If this happens you can still get the live streaming on www.churchservices.tv/pottersbar
CONFIRMATION PREPARATION
Please pray for our confirmation candidates who are on their Retreat Day at SPEC, the diocesan youth retreat centre, today.
INCLUSIVE MASS
11am today is our monthy ‘Inclusive Mass‘ when the children stay in for the whole of Mass. We attempt to engage everybody in various ways. Any suggestions for developing this Mass are very welcome.
COVID GUIDANCE
You can read the full guidance (see front page) at www.cbcew.org.uk/covid-guidance-collective-worship/
CHRISTMAS FOR SOMEONE ELSE
Since last Christmas you have donated £10,739.86 to help vulnerable families over the winter. We have dispersed £7,426.93 of those funds last winter, for a summer trip and, more recently, vouchers for food at Christmas and in January. The remaining funds will be dispersed over the next few months. It is still not too late to give, either on the credit/debit card machine or by cash/cheque. Contact the office for details.
PALMS
Please bring in any old palms you have so that the pupils at Pope Paul School can
burn them to make ash for Ash Wednesday.
SYNOD
Thank you to the 100 parishioners who responded and thank you to Angela Baffa, our synod rep. In few weeks time we aim to have a summary available for parishioners so that we can discern the way forward as a parish.
WEBSITE
The website was down due to an attack this week. If you notice this please email the Parish Office straight away so that we can do something about it. Apparently it was down on Sunday but nobody said anything until Tuesday.
There are only two people looking after the website at the moment. We are trying to put a team together to redesign and maintain it. If you could help please contact Deacon Don now. It is SO important for so many reasons and the more the responsibility is shared then the better it will be.
DID YOU GET A NEW LAPTOP FOR CHRISTMAS?
As part of our Love in Action (LIA) projects, we have launched the parish Tech Appeal. You can donate unwanted laptops/ notebooks to those in our parish and partner schools in need of IT equipment. You may have received a new device for Christmas and so will have an old one you can donate. Please have a look at home to see if you have a suitable device you no longer use, to donate to the appeal. If you do have any please fill in the questionnaire that can be found on our website
http://olasv.org.uk/.
ADULT CONFIRMATION
Did you miss out on the Sacrament of Confirmation? Dale is going to run a short programme of preparation sessions for confirmation culminating in confirmations at Easter. If you are interested in finding out more (we will tailor the course to the availability of participants) please email the parish office or leave a note for Dale, by Sunday 13th February.
BERNADETTE WHELAN RIP
Bernadette’s funeral Mass will be on Tuesday 8th February at 11.30am. Her mortal remains will be recieved into the church the evening before at 4pm.
MISSING DVDs
We are missing two ‘Catholicism’ DVDs from the cupboard in the Hall; Disk 1: Episodes 1 & 2, Disk 5: Episodes 9 & 10.
PEDESTRIAN CROSSING
Nicholas Breakspear School are petitioning the County Council to install a pedestrian crossing and other traffic calming measures, for the safety of their students, outside the school. Please support the school by signing the petition by visiting www.nbs.herts.sch.uk and clicking on the link.
WESTMINSTER YEAR BOOK
If you would like a copy of the Westminster Year Book, spare copies can be found in the narthex.
SHIELDING/ISOLATING?
Don’t forget that all Masses are live-streamed via the parish website and, if you do not have internet access, you can listen to a recording of Sunday Mass on 01707 518202 (local calls are free).
STEWARDING
One of the comments which came up many times in the synod listening exercise was how much people appreciated the presence of stewards welcoming them to Mass with a smile, a missalette and a newsletter. We thank those who are doing this on a regular basis – it is such an important ministry. It is your church – could you help? Even once a month would help. There is only one person greeting at the Saturday evening Mass – is this fair? Please sign up if you can help.
CHURCH CLEANING
Team B – Sat 19th February 9.30am.
WOULD YOU BE A SCHOOL GOVERNOR?
Pope Paul School is a fantastic primary school in the parish. School-Home-Parish links are very strong. The school is managed by a very committed Senior Leadership Team but they are supported and encouraged by the governing body. As a ‘Voluntary Aided‘ school the majority of governors are appointed by the Cardinal. Governors serve for a term of 5 years and people with a passion for good education are always needed. You do not have to be an ‘expert‘ in education as full training is given. People with skills in education, finance and buildings are particularly important.
Please consider this seriously and speak to Fr Shaun if you would like to know more. Being a Governor is a great way to serve your church.
NICHOLAS BREAKSPEAR SCHOOL
On Thursday there was a synod listening session at NBS followed by Mass celebrated by Bishop John Sherrington. It was great to see so many children in the parish actively invovled in the school community.
LOURDES PILGRIMAGE
The annual diocesan pilgrimage is planned for 22 – 29 July 2022. At this stage the organisers need to know who would be interested. If you are interested (you are not committing yourself at this stage) please go to
https://forms.rcdow.org.uk/lourdes-pilgrimage-2022-expression-of-interest/
This is the best way to travel in the current climate as all is guaranteed COVID-protected.
VOLUNTEER FOR CAFOD
We have lots of different ways you can get involved such as: In the parish, in local schools, Coordinating volunteers If you’d like to know more, please get in touch with Tony tsheen@cafod.org.uk
PLEASE PRAY FOR
Please remember in your prayers the sick, their, including: Damien Grafton, Marsaili MacAuley, Linda Brooks, Patricia Wallington, Grant Davis, Bridie Spelzini, Frank Casali, Susan Lundrigan, Jean Rudd, Theresa Round, Joan Bonner, Jean Lowery, Jamie Giles, Mary Lindsay, Paige White, Christakis Christofides, Philomena O’Sullivan, Bernard Keown, Ann O’Neill, Jason Mosely, Robert Chambers, Abbey Cummings, Anne Conlon, Kathy Lavelle, Monica Doheny, Vincent, Lee & Abigail Clark, Baby Logan.
Recently dead: Bernadette Whelan, Fr Evan Jones, Marion Miller and for all those whose anniversaries occur about this time, including Brendan Woodcock.
READINGS FOR NEXT SUNDAY
13th February, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) – Racial Justice Sunday
Jeremiah 17:5-8
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17. 20-26
Newsletter deadline – Tuesday 9.30am
TIMES OF MASS & OTHER LITURGIES
Sunday 6th February Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Sat) 6pm People of the Parish
9am Breda Houlihan RIP
11am Thomas Braganza RIP
Monday 7th February 10am Mass Deirdre Byrne RIP
4pm Reception of Bernadette Whelan RIP
Tuesday 8th February 10am Mass Deceased Members of the Morony Family
11.30am Funeral Mass Bernadette Whelan
Wednesday 9th February 10am Mass Christina Corsini RIP
Thursday 10th February No Mass
Friday 11th February 10am Milad Morgan RIP
Saturday 12th February 5.15 – 5.45pm Sacrament of Reconciliation
6pm Antonia Cox RIP
Sunday 13th February Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Racial Justice Sunday 9am Frankie Curran RIP
11am People of the Parish
