Sunday May 25th. 2008

Church rota for the weekend  June 14th—June 15th

St. Joseph’s

Reader: Liz Campbell

Prayers: David MacFarlane

Euch. Mins: Margaret Muncie  Moira Coutts

Cleaning: Private rota

St. Margaret’s

Readers:  Tony Sargent  Nilda Hawke

Prayers:  Val MacDonald

Euch. Mins: Ian MacDonald  Lorna MacGregor

Cleaning: Ishbel Campbell

Pope Benedict to pray at Blessed Mary’s Tomb

According to an article in this month’s Flourish by its editor, Vincent Toal, Pope Benedict XV1 will pray at the tomb of Blessed Mary MacKillop when he visits Sydney next month for the World Youth Day celebrations.

Throughout her life, Mary was a model of patience and forgiveness. She met with opposition from people outside the Church and even from some of those within it. In the most difficult of times she consistently refused to attack those who wrongly accused her and undermined her work, but continued in the way she believed God was calling her and was always ready to forgive those who wronged her.

On an extended visit to Europe in the 1870s to gain approval for her congregation, she visited Roy Bridge stayed at Keppoch for a week, and then for another week with Canon MacDougall to whom she refers in her diary as “a very holy man”

Mary MacKillop was beatified - and so declared Blessed - by Pope John Paul 11 during his visit to Australia in January 1995
The apostolic nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, confirmed that Pope Benedict will pray at her tomb in North Sydney during his eight day stay in Australia from 13-21 July.
The Holy Father will be one of the thousands of pilgrims who will visit her shrine in July,"

Archbishop Lazzarotto said.

"Blessed Mary MacKillop has set a beautiful example of commitment and dedication to the church, to the people, to the needy and I'm sure that the Holy Father will come and pray with a very special intention ... to pray for all the youth of the world."

Parish to receive£3,754 from your tax!

Thanks to everyone who signed a Gift Aid form, the parish will receive £3,754 from the tax which you have already paid –and it costs you nothing!  I wish to thank every parishioner who made the effort to sign a form. Remember you only have to sign it once, and that is sufficient for all time.

If everyone who pays tax would take the time to sign a form and use a weekly Offering envelope, or make out a standing order on behalf of the parish,  we could recoup even more tax.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to two of our parishioners who are responsible for assuring that the parish receives the benefits of Gift Aid:
 

Helen MacDonald who faithfully records each week in the register, the offerings contributed by the Weekly Offering envelopes and by standing orders. It is a tedious and tiring job, and demands complete accuracy, for it is essential to have proof of the parish Gift Aid contributions for the Inland Revenue.

Margaret MacDonald, Blarmona,  is a skilled accountant, and we owe her a great debt of gratitude for the important work she does in preparing the intricate forms to be submitted to the Inland Revenue. It is her final figures that are accepted without question by the auditors  regarding the amount of tax the parish can recoup from Gift Aid. This  demands great accuracy, and can take several days of dedicated work to complete. The auditors have never had to question Margaret’s figures because of the infinite care she takes.  There was some confusion this year over missing bank statements, but thanks to Margaret’s quick observation, we were able to rectify this and have the returns forwarded to the diocesan treasurer in good time.

To both Helen and Margaret, my sincere thanks on behalf of the parish for the invaluable work they do for us.  
May God bless them!