Newsletter

First Sunday of Lent

February 22nd 2026

 

My dear parishioners at St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s,

 

I hope this finds you and your families well as we begin the great spiritual journey of Lent, which will lead us, in six weeks’ time, to the glory and beauty of Easter. May it be a fruitful time for us all. I offer here Bishop Toal’s Lenten message to the priests and people of the Diocese of Motherwell:

 

“A desire for better weather and longer days is shared by most of us. Someone told me recently he is looking forward to getting back out into the garden, with renewed enthusiasm for tidying up the ground after the winter months, turning over the soil and planting new bulbs in the expectation of new growth and beautiful flowers through the summer months. It is an expectation fulfilled each year as the natural world comes to life again in Spring and begins to produce its fruits, frequently enhanced by the hands and skill of the dedicated gardener.

 

Soon we will enter the Season of Lent, and it will be good to approach it like the enthusiastic gardener, eager to attend to our spiritual lives by following the traditional Lenten discipline of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. We recognise the need for a renewed effort in tidying up our lives, getting rid of all wrong-doing and slackness in our actions and attitudes, preparing the ground of our souls for new growth and good fruit, opening our minds and hearts anew to God’s word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

 

Yes, Lent is the season for reawakening and attentiveness to the Lord, giving time to prayer, participating in the sacramental and devotional life of the church, and in sharing generously our time and good fortune with those in need. The following words from the Prophet Isaiah set the Lenten tone and expectation:

 

‘For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, giving seed to the Sower and bread to the earth, so shall my word be; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.’

 

May this be a blessed and fruitful Lent for us all.

+Joseph Toal

 

Schedule for the Daily Liturgy:

Monday February 23rd: Mass at 10am

Rosary at 9,40am; confessions at 6.30pm; Novena at 7pm

 

Tuesday February 24th: Mass at 10am

Stations of the Cross at 9,40am; confessions after Mass

 

Wednesday February 25th: Mass at 10am

Rosary at91.40am; Exposition in side Chapel until 2.30pm

 

Thursday February 26th: Mass at 10am

Rosary at 9.40am; confessions after Mass

 

Friday February 27th: Mass at 10am

Stations of the Cross at 9.40am                                    

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The church’s daily liturgy is a wonderful way of making the Lenten journey in the company of others; the daily Eucharist offers us the opportunity to contemplate the great mystery of Christ day by day; we can be a source of encouragement to one another. Please join us if you are free.

 

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RCIA: please remember our six candidates in your prayers, Hannah, Yvonne. Reece, Paul, Robert and Andrew. This Sunday they will gather with other members of the RCIA from around the Diocese, 120 men and women in total, together with Bishop Toal in the Cathedral for the Rite of Elect at 3pm, an important step in becoming a member of the Catholic Church; then we meet as usual on Thursday at 7pm.

 

Motherwell Diocese: Youth Pilgrimage 2026, an update; after a successful information evening, we now invite applications and a £200 deposit to secure a place on the young adult (aged 18-30) pilgrimage to the last 100km of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, from Monday 6th -Monday 13th July 2026. The cost will be £1,000 including flights, transfers, meals and accommodation. Further information and forms are available from  Fr. Stephen Reilly at frreilly@rcdom.org.uk or Alba Tours at annemariecairns@yahoo.co.uk; the form and refundable deposit is due on 28th February.

 

Coffee Morning, Sunday 1st March: please join us for coffee/tea, toast and home baking after the morning Masses: there will be a small selection of Fairtrade food and crafts on sale as well as Fairtrade Eater Eggs, which come with a booklet telling the Easter story.

 

Recently Deceased: John Costello (Funeral at SL Crematorium on Thursday, February 26th at 2pm), Janet Brown, Tom Wilson, Robert Taylor Burns, Sadie Green, Michael Cassidy, Eddie Gorman, John Harkins, Colin Louden, Catherine Collins

 

Special Remembrance: Margaret Devine, Thomas McCluskey, Charlie Boyle, John and Elizabeth Fulton, James Fulton, Mark Hughes, Thomas, Elizabeth and John Kane, John and Geraldine McCarthy, Ian McAvinchey and our relatives and friends and all the benefactors of our parish.

 

Diocese of Motherwell Website:

for good and reliable information about events across our Diocese

please consult www.rcdom.org.uk