THE PARISHES OF ST MARTIN AND ST NINIAN'S WHITHORN, (with the Sacred Heart, Wigtown), OUR LADY AND ST NINIAN'S, NEWTON STEWART, ST PETER’S,

DALBEATTIE, and ST ANDREW’S AND ST CUTHBERT’S, KIRKCUDBRIGHT, (incorporating the former parish of St John’s, Castle Douglas, and the now closed

Church of the Resurrection, Gatehouse of Fleet.)Diocese of Galloway Registered Charity No. SC010576

Parish Priest: Fr William R. McFadden,Parish Address: St Andrew’s and St Cuthbert’s, High Street, Kirkcudbright, DG6

4JWTelephone Number: 01557 330687

Priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham: Fr Simon Beveridge, 01988 850323.Emeritus Deacons: Rev. Peter Marks (01671 830395) and Rev. Bob Simpson (01671 402770).Parish Pastoral Assistant in Kirkcudbright: David Preston (01557 330650).

Parish Websites: www.catholicchurchgalloway.org.uk; www.rckirkcudbright.org.uk;

Parishes Email Addresses: kirkcudbright@gallowaydiocese.org.uk; dalbeattie@gallowaydiocese.org.uk; newtonstewart@gallowaydiocese.org.uk

Sunday 14 February 2021 – 6th Sunday of the Year B

LOCKDOWN CLOSURE OF CHURCH BUILDINGS

With the announcement from the First Minister advising that all places of worship be closed for public worship, except for funerals and weddings with restricted numbers, the churches in our parish

communities are now closed for public worship.

Parish Co-Ordinators : When we are able to re-open our church buildings, those with the responsibility for overseeing the task for ensuring Covid-19 regulations are met are:Dalbeattie – Terry Craig (thecraigs_dalbeattie@btinternet.com)Kirkcudbright – Celia Dearing (dcd1978@btinternet.com); Pauline Logan (paul1nelo6an@icloud.com)Newton Stewart/Wigtown – Gerry McCabe (taize74@tiscali.co.uk)Whithorn – Fr Simon (simon.beveridge@outlook.com)If you have any concerns or anxieties about what is happening in our churches during this Covid-19 pandemic, please contact any of the above people who will be able to provide reassurance and advice.

Pastoral Support during Lockdown: Fr William is available for phone, email, and video link communication for anyone wishing to engage with him during these days of lockdown. To arrange a meeting simply get in touch via phone or email and a suitable time can be arranged for a private conversation.

A Year of St Joseph: In an Apostolic Letter, Pope Francis marks the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To celebrate the anniversary, Pope Francis has proclaimed a special “Year of St Joseph,” beginning on the 8th December 2020 and extending to the same date in 2021.

Amoris Laetitia Family Year: Pope Francis has announced that from 19th March 2021, the fifth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, on the joy and beauty of familial love, we will celebrate the Year “Amoris Laetitia Family,” which will conclude on 26 June 2022. During this year The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is proposing spiritual, pastoral and cultural initiatives to accompany families in the face of contemporary challenges. For information go to www.amorislaetitia.va

Sick and Housebound: Please pray for the sick and housebound, including Nan Rossi.

Livestreaming of Masses & Dial-a Mass: Livestreaming of Masses, including from St Teresa, Dumfries, and St Andrew’s, Dumfries, is available online. Mass over the phone is also available on 01642 130120.

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for February: Violence Against Women - We pray for women who are victims of violence, that they may be protected by society and have their sufferings considered and heeded.

Ongoing Communications: During this time of restrictions communication continues through the parishes website on www.catholicchurchgalloway.org.uk. Please share this information, including the bulletin/newsletter, with those who are not online as best you can.

Preparing for Lent 2021: Fr William will lead a virtual reflection and offer some practical ways of praying during Lent on Sunday 14th February at 11.00. To join him please email kirkcudbright@gallowaydiocese.org.uk and ask for the link.

Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”: The Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has announced a new, intuitive website dedicated to Pope Francis’ encyclical "Fratelli tutti". To access go to www.fratellitutti.va.

Lent 2021Ash Wednesday will be on 17th February this year, beginning our journey of Lent. At present it looks like we will still be experiencing isolation and physical distancing, and so our Lenten disciplines will need to take this into account. Can I suggest that if you have not already done so, you follow the series of short presentations by Archbishop Christopher Prowse called “Silence: From Isolation to Encounter,” and use these as the basis for prayer and reflection for the 6 weeks of Lent. They can be found by clicking on the link www.catholicvoice.org.au/catholic-faith/ The box at the top right of the image gives you the 16 presentations on offer. Each presentation only lasts around 20 minutes. I am sure that by using these presentations during Lent we might journey together in an atmosphere of retreat, even if we are praying alone or in isolation. The picture below shows the Archbishop sharing a joke with Pope Francis! Further information on other Lent courses available online, and other possible resources to use for our Lenten prayer and reflection, appear below. It would also be good if people were to get together in virtual groups to share their Lenten journeys, and to support one another as we journey during the ongoing pandemic restrictions. Anyone wishing to do this should send an email to kirkcudbright@gallowaydiocese.org.uk and say they are interested in this. We’ll then try and help people to get together virtually at least.

Ash Wednesday Service at Home: The Bishops Conference of Scotland has produced a Service for use at home on Ash Wednesday. To access this go to https://www.bcos.org.uk/COVID19/COVIDResources

Day of Prayer for those who have suffered abuse - Friday 19th February 2021: The Friday after Ash Wednesday is set aside as a Day of Prayer for those who have suffered abuse. A form of service including Stations of the Cross is available to download. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland has also published a suitable form of prayer to be used at home. To access both these resources go to http://www.gallowaydiocese.org.uk/website

Walk of Thanksgiving and Praise by Sr Thelma Hall RC

(Why not invite another person to go for a walk with you and use the reflection below for some spiritual conversation)

Some of God's richest gifts to us we tend to accept as standard equipment, somehow rightfully ours as fully equipped human beings. It may prove a revelation to consciously cancel this presumption in this experience of "A Walk of Thanksgiving and Praise" and to rediscover the unique gifts of life he has made to us, in each of our five senses.

A walk of about 20 - 30 mins is suggested. Begin as you would any period of prayer, taking a few moments to alert yourself to the gift of union with you which God has bestowed in his loving, living presence, always within you. For you are a "temple of the Holy Spirit".

As you step out of doors take a deep breath of fresh air ...... Reflect on this air as the sustainer of your life, day and night ....... And reflect on the unceasing providence of God whose love holds you in existence, and is continually creating you.

When you have walked on a bit - pause to consciously experience your five senses.

SIGHT - use your vision to revel in, caress, enjoy, discern - colour, shape, depth, texture, movement, etc, in everything around you. Reflect upon all that sight has contributed to your life experience - beauty, non-verbal communication with others, knowledge through reading and observation, protection, happiness, pleasure and so on ....... Try to imagine how different your life, and you, would be, had you been born without this sense gift, or had you lost it. Recognising in all these reflections the loving gift of God - express aloud to him your thanksgiving and praise.

HEARING - stop for a while and really listen - even to the seeming silence which is, in all reality teeming with sounds. Again reflect upon all that this sense of hearing has contributed to your life experience - the sound of human voices, music, and so on ...... And upon how different your life, and you, would be without it. Recognising in these reflections another loving and personal gift of God - express aloud to him your thanksgiving and praise.

TOUCH - the same - consciously experience the feeling of the sun and air on your skin, the texture of clothing, grass, trees, stones, the pull of gravity through the pressure of the ground under your feet, your sense of balance through this. Reflect upon the use of touch in expressing affection, in physical work, in playing musical instruments, writing, and so on. Imagine your life without this gift of God - express aloud your thanksgiving and praise.

TASTE - as above ..... express aloud to God your thanksgiving and praise.

SMELL - as above ...... express aloud to God your thanksgiving and praise.

Scottish Laity Network Lenten Journey 2021: This series of presentations can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gMXSlBKYsSrrPZ6EK_BU9M2v8cCarI17/view?usp=drive_web

Recommended Reading for Lent; David Crumm, Our Lent: Things We Carry, (Kindle edition available from Amazon); Pope Francis, Let Us Dream, Simon & Schuster, 2020; Tom Wright, God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and its Aftermath, SPCK, 2020. Luigi Gioia, Say it to God: In Search of Prayer, Bloomsbury, 2017; Interesting article by Rev James Hunt: https://www.stpetersbw.org.uk/james-blog/the-church-of-the-past-and-future/

Ecumenical Prayer During Corona Pandemic: Prayer for Sunday 14th February at 19.00

We are invited to join with Christians throughout the country in praying together every Sunday at 19.00. The prayer for this week is as follows:

“In the Gospel of Mark, we find the disciples of Jesus journeying with him and experiencing something which they struggle to comprehend and express. Jesus takes Peter, James and John to ‘a high mountain’ and there he is ‘transfigured before them’ in the company of Elijah and Moses. How do the disciples respond? Peter, as ever, makes an attempt to respond but truly he ‘did not know what to say, for they were terrified’. (Mark 9: 2-9)“In the midst of all we face at this time, we are confronted by that for which nothing has truly prepared us as a society. As the experience of lockdown continues, we are learning a great deal about the strengths and weaknesses of our society. As we do so, we are coming to understand that the future will not simply be a reversion to the ‘normal’ of the past.“As the disciples struggle to comprehend what they see before their eyes, they are overshadowed by the presence of God and hear the words of affirmation: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!’ Then, in an instant: ‘when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus’.“As we journey into the future, we do so in the company of the One who transforms our present and who invites us to share in the promise of the coming Kingdom of God.”

We pray:Living God,Speak to us in the place where we are todayAnd make your presence known.Speak to us the words of affirmationThat we may know that we are loved by you.Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Living God,Speak to us in the place where we are today;Even in the face of darkness.Speak into the uncertainty of our timesAnd reassure us that you hold the future.Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Living God,Speak to us in the place where we are todayAnd bring hope for days to come.Speak words of comfort and of healingAnd words of compassion for those who mourn.Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Living God,Speak to us in the place where we are today,That we might speak a word for our times.Speak into the future that lies before usAnd grant us grace as we seek to live out that future.Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Living God,Speak to us in the place where we are today,That we might hear again your voice.Speak to us on the highest heights, and in the deepest depths,And may we know, and be known by, the One whom you love.Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,Creator of the ends of the earth,We are those who waitAnd who ask that your promise will be fulfilled.Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,Creator of the ends of the earth,We are those who waitLord, in your mercy,Hear our prayer.

SCIAF LENT WEE BOXES BIG CHANGE 2021 APPEAL

Since it may not be possible to distribute the Wee Boxes for SCIAF’s annual Lent Appeal, we are encouraged to sign-up to receive a Wee Box directly to our homes, and to make our Wee Box donations online. Please go to www.sciaf.org.uk for details.

SCIAF’s Stations of the Cross

Will be livestreamed on SCIAF’s Facebook page on Fridays during Lent at 19.00.

Fi nancial Support for the Parish and the Diocese

Parish Finances: We recognise that for some families these days can be very difficult financially. We do not expect those struggling to feel obliged to contribute to the parish. However, if you feel able to do so, you can give by using the 'Online Parish Offertory' link. Simply type in the address below and follow the instructions. For St Peter’s - https://tinyurl.com/rcdalbeattieFor St Andrew’s and St Cuthbert’s - https://tinyurl.com/rckirkcudbrightFor Our Lady and St Ninian’s - https://tinyurl.com/rcnewtonstewartFor St Martin and St Ninian’s - https://tinyurl.com/rcwhithornFor Sacred Heart - https://tinyurl.com/rcwigtownStanding Order forms are also available from the parish house. Thanks to those who are already using this method of payment and it is hoped that more people will contribute in this way post-lockdown.

Amazon Smile: The Diocese has registered with Amazon Smile. The prices on amazon smile are the same as on the regular Amazon site. However, Amazon donates 0.5% of spending to the nominated charity. This is a good way for those who use Amazon to support diocesan finances at no extra cost to themselves. The link is: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/SC010576

Give as you Live: This is the link to the join up page: https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/rc-diocese-of-galloway-scotland. When you shop at over 4,000 top stores including John Lewis & Partners, Expedia and Marks & Spencer via Give as you Live Online, they'll turn a percentage of your spend into free funds for the diocese. Simply sign up, search for the retailer and start shopping.