Christmas Mass Times:
Christmas Eve Vigil Mass –
St. Mary’s at 5:30pm,
St. Columba’s at 6:00pm,
Sacred Heart at 7:00pm and
Holy Family 7:30pm
Carols & Midnight Mass at St. Mary’s at 11:30pm
Christmas Day Masses the same as Sunday times (no evening Mass on Christmas Day)
During the week our new Parish Priest arrived. Fr Manny (short for Emmanuel) Gribben, who will live at St Mary’s, will take on responsibility for leading the Catholic community across Barrow. Fr Manny is no stranger to the town – he spent much of his childhood living just opposite Sacred Heart church – so no doubt he will soon feel at home.
Fr Manny will be assisted by two other priests, who are already known to us. Fr Francis Olesene, who lives in the presbytery at St Pius X church on Ormsgill, and Fr Andrew Allman, who lives at St Columba’s presbytery on Walney. All three priests will serve all the churches in the town, and we hope to spread our time and talents as fairly as possible! The team of priests who will serve Barrow for the foreseeable future is now complete.
The last few months have been a time of great upheaval for the Catholic community in Barrow, not least at Sacred Heart and St Columba, following the sad loss of Fr Bernard in May. Thank you for your patience during this time of great uncertainty and change. Hopefully in the weeks ahead, with a stable team of clergy in place, things will begin to settle and we can begin to work at building a stronger Catholic community across the whole town.
From next Weekend 20/21 July, the parish of Our Lady of Furness (ie St. Mary’s, Holy Family & St Pius) will be canonically merged with Sacred Heart and St. Columba’s to form one parish, called “Our Lady of Furness”.
Weekend Mass times in our new parish (from 20th July) will be: Saturday Vigil Mass – 5:30pm at St. Mary’s, Sunday – 9am Holy Family, 9:30am St. Columba’s, 11am Sacred Heart, 11am St. Mary’s and 5:30pm St. Mary’s.
Following the ‘Fit for Mission’ of 2009 the Bishop has decided we need to implement the next stage of the plan, particularly in view of the lack of Priests. The Bishop’s letter of last week announced the following changes as they affect the Furness Deanery:
If it is any consolation, the same is happening in other parts of the Diocese (egKirkham/Wesham, Maryport/Wigton, Silloth, Preston, and Carlisle)
Fr Bernard Woods – RIP: Around 550 people came from near and afar to celebrate Fr. Bernard’s life and work during his 45 years as a priest in Lancaster Diocese at his Requiem Mass. The Bishop and almost 60 clergy concelebrated the Mass and Fr John Winstanley gave a memorable homily. The combined choirs heightened the liturgy and the congregation loudly sang hymns that Fr Bernard liked – “ones that people can sing without their hymnbooks”. The Deanery Mass was attended by around 300 people. As the Bishop said, “the very large attendance of people of all ages at his funeral was an eloquent testimony to his influence and to the many lives he touched”. These were both very memorable occasions in the life of our two parishes. Many thanks go to everybody from both parishes and our schools who helped to organise, prepare for, and celebrate both Masses and the gathering afterwards in the school – and to clear up afterwards. Many prayers were offered for Fr Bernard and more will be offered up in the future as we come to terms with his sudden death and our loss of a much loved and respected parish priest and friend.
Fr. Bernard Woods RIP
When Fr. Bernard preached at the funeral of Deacon Peter Williams in Our Lady and St. Edward’s, Fulwood, Preston, just five weeks ago today, he acknowledged the shock people felt upon Peter’s sudden death. We acknowledge the same feelings today upon Bernard’s sudden death as we unite in prayer with his sister Mary and their family and friends.
In the days after the announcement of Bernard’s death a phraise came to mind from St. Irenaeus of Lyon, who wrote in the second century: ‘The glory of God is man fully alive; and the glory of man is the vision of God.’ Bernard was a man who was fully alive in every sense – so active. The motive for his life and activity was the vision of God. We offer the Holy Mass for Bernard in which the death and resurrection of Christ become present for us, praying for his eternal salvation – that he will see God face to face.
The Paschal Candle, which burns at every funeral, reminds us of our hope in Christ’s resurrection. The scripture chosen supports our prayer for Bernard today. St. Paul in the first reading takes us to the core of our faith; to all that we celebrate in the Mass: ‘We believe that Jesus died and rose again and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus’. In the Gospel reading, Jesus on the cross, speaks to the man next to him who we call ‘the good thief’. This man, like Bernard, had a loving heart which was open to Christ. Jesus says to him: ‘I promise you today you will be with me in paradise.’ In faith, we can apply these words of Our Lord to Bernard.
There will be many people who knew Bernard better than I did, and over a longer period of time. Some of his contemporaries from seminary days at Thistleton, and Ushaw, and for a short time in Rome at the English College and the Greg, called him ‘Ben’, as in ’Big Ben’! I got to know him in 1997, when as a seminarian, I was on placement with him for a whole term at Our Lady and St. Edward’s. Even though I could not keep up with Bernard’s pace of activity, he didn’t put me off! On the contrary, I was inspired by the faithful way in which he served people of all ages and how well he knew them. He was kind and a great host. Bernard had a special gift for working with young people who felt so at home with him. He had done some training in this area and his involvement went beyond the diocese to the YCW, Impact, and the International Youth Festival. He returned recently from this year’s Easter gathering in Finland.
In recent years Bernard and I have been part of the same Priests’ Emmaus Group. Bernard was invariably late for our gatherings and entered the meeting room like a whirlwind, complete with rucksack! However, when it was his turn to lead the Lectio Divina at the start of our meeting, he would usually be there on time with a thoughtfully chosen piece of scripture. His contribution to the group was excellent. He was really in touch with the pastoral reality of peoples’ lives and his good humour and genuine interest in others was much appreciated.
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Mary carried Jesus within her and touched the life of her cousin who was pregnant with John. Fr. Bernard touched the lives of others because of his knowledge of, and love of Jesus Christ. This was so in all the parishes and schools where he served and in the many other roles he had.
Bernard’s first appointment was as assistant priest to Fr.Paddy O’Dea in Keswick, along with Lakeside House, and later Castlerigg. As parish priest he served at St. Mary’s, Kells, Whitehaven; Our Lady and St. Edward’s, Fulwood, Preston; St. Cuthbert’s with St. Margaret’s, Blackpool; and since 2009 here in the parishes of St. Columba’s’, Walney, with St. Patrick’s, and Sacred Heart, Barrow. His other roles included Barrow Catholic Youth Centre, staff member in the Junior House at Ushaw, Director of Castlerigg Manor, and Director of the Catholic Caring Services.
Bernard was brought up in the faith in his family home and in the parish of St. Bede, Carlisle, where he was ordained priest in 1968. His father John died when he was 12 and Mary was 10. Their Mother Norah lived much longer and made her home with Bernard at the Presbytery in Fulwood where she died. Mary relied on Bernard’s support, not least on his practical abilities. Before he went to visit her in Carlisle, he’d ask her which tools he should bring with him! For Bernard, his faith was expressed in a simple, no-fuss, life-style. Mary received a call the other day from a parishioner enquiring about what to do with Bernard’s clothes. She said: ‘just take them to a charity shop’. Afterwards she realised that most of them came from a charity shop in the first place! Bernard was a life-long supporter of Carlisle United. Once he was offered tickets to watch Manchester Untied. He appreciated the opportunity to see a premiership side but he didn’t enjoy it as much as watching his home team of Carlisle!
We will all miss Fr. Bernard. He would want us to pray that any sins and faults will be forgiven. And we want to thank God for such a good and faithful priest. He died in his chair having celebrated the Mass of Pentecost in his parishes. This solemnity completed our celebration of Easter. May the vision of God now be a reality for him. A pupil at one of his schools said: ‘He was just like my Grandad’. A younger pupil wrote: ‘Hope you are having a nice time in heaven’. With such warm and affectionate thoughts we pray:
Eternal Rest grant unto him O’Lord……
Fr. John B.Winstanley, 31/5/2013
The feast of the Sacred Heart falls on Friday, 7th June this year – Friday this week.
Please join in the 9 days of prayer between 1st and 9th June as we ask the Lord’s blessing on us. The Novena prayers will be distributed with the bulletins at mass in both churches and more copies will be available at the back of both churches. They will be published here as soon as possible.
Mass will be offered for Fr Bernard and the People of the Parish at 7pm on Friday, 7th June. Please come to mass and celebrate our patronal feast and ask friends and relatives to come with you. Why not make this one of your Year of Faith commitments?
Bishop Michael was visibly moved by our loss of Fr Bernard when he spoke at the beginning of the Requiem Mass on Friday, 31st May. This is the tribute he posted on Saturday on his Blog on the Lancaster Diocese website (http://www.lancasterdiocese.org.uk)
One of our best known parish priests, Father Bernard Woods, died suddenly last weekend and his death came as a shock to many, especially to the parishioners of St. Columba’s, Walney, and Sacred Heart, Barrow. Apart from his various parish appointments, Father Woods’ was involved in youth ministry throughout his priestly life and the very large attendance of people of all ages at his funeral on Friday in St. Columba’s was an eloquent testimony to his influence and to the many lives he touched over forty-five years as a priest.
An obvious sense of sadness pervaded the requiem Mass for Father Bernard, but a very deep sense of faith in the risen Lord and the unshakeable hope he gives was equally palpable among the congregation. On such occasions there rises to the surface the hidden power and profound conviction of the Church’s faith in the great and consoling truth of our redemption, and our ultimate hope of life everlasting. As Father Bernard Woods now ceases from his labours, may he await in peace the resurrection of the body promised to us all by Christ.
Fr. Bernard Woods: was born on 18 June 1943 in Carlisle. He was educated at St Bede’s CatholicPrimary School, Carlisle before studying for the Priesthood. He was ordained to the Priesthood for the Diocese of Lancaster on 9 March 1968 at St Bede’s, Carlisle.
Following ordination, Father Woods held the following appointments:
Assistant Priest, Our Lady & St Charles, Keswick/Lakeside House/Castlerigg: 1968-1970
On the Junior House staff at UshawCollege: 1970-1972
Assistant Priest, Our Lady, St Anne’s on Sea: Sept-Nov 1972
Barrow Catholic Youth Centre: 1972-1981
Castlerigg Manor: 1981-1983
Assistant Priest, St Mary, Kells: 1983-1988
Parish Priest, Our Lady & St Edward, Preston: 1988-2003 (& Director of the former Catholic Caring Services during this time)
Parish Priest, St Cuthbert, Blackpool: 2003-2009
Fr. Bernard’s final appointment was as Parish Priest of Sacred Heart and St Columba with St Patrick parishes, Barrow from 2009 – until his sudden death on 20th May 2013.
It is very difficult at the moment to plan, arrange and confirm events too far into the future, however we will try our best to keep you informed of news and events through this newsletter and notices in the entrance to both churches.
We will try to arrange at least one weekday Mass each week, but there is also a daily Mass at St. Mary’s church, Duke Street at 12:10pm.
It is our intention to keep the churches open during the days if you wish to drop by and say a prayer or light a candle for Fr. Bernard.
The funeral of Fr Bernard will take place this week at St. Columba’s with the reception of his body and Deanery Mass on Thursday 29th at 7:00pm followed by a Requiem Mass on Friday at 11:30am
The Parish of "Our Lady Of Furness" 