The RCIA is the process by which we receive new adult members into the Catholic Church. If you would be interested in being a part of the team who journey with and prepare the candidates then please speak with Fr Jim. The seasons will be starting soon so if you, or anyone you know, is interested in becoming a Catholic then now is the time to Contact Father Jim.

‘ Formed’-St. Mirin’s Chaplaincy Center, 45 High Street, Paisley will be hosting a new club named ‘Formed’ on Monday afternoons 4.30-6.00pm. The session is open to anyone in the present s3, s4, s5 and s6. Please come along and meet new people and find out more about your faith! To find out please contact Fr. John Morrison on 01418895056 or e-mail vocations@rcdop.org.uk. All participants are required to complete a consent form this can be obtained from your Parish Priest or from Fr. Morrison.

The relics of Saint Therese arrive in our Diocese next weekend. You may have seen their arrival in Carfin where 5000 attended the Pilgrim Mass and over 10000 visited the relics with their personal prayers and petitions over the weekend. Now it is our turn to receive Saint Therese and many blessings for ourselves and our loved ones, our priests, parishes and Diocese. Do make sure to make your own personal visit to this Saint, the Little Flower, whose powerful intercession for ordinary folk is so well known. Please click on the link for her itinerary. While you may visit the relics at any time, during the Vigil period each parish has been given a time slot for a Parish Visit. Ours is at 8 am on Monday, 16th September. If you are able to come along at that point we will gather in the porch of the Cathedral to begin our Visit.

Mary's Meals would like to thank everyone who contributed to the recent collection and raffle. £1,882.22 was raised and 520 bags collected. There is a note of thanks from Mary's Meals on the noticeboard in the Porch.

The Children’s Liturgy resumes this Sunday at the 10.30am Mass. All children who attend primary school are welcome to join us - Everyone should come into the Church for the beginning of Mass. The children will then be invited to go out to the Children’s Liturgy.

For over 7 years, Speech and Drama Scotland has been running exciting drama classes for children and young people in St Charles’ Church hall. 2 hours of qualified tuition includes improvisation, movement, vocal technique, breathing, expression and diction from the London College of Music graded syllabus with a 100% examination pass rate. Students master performance in drama, poetry and prose, which arms them with key public speaking skills for their future. If you’re interested and would like more information on our Saturday afternoon classes, please call Maura on 07980686773 or contact us via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Speechanddramascotland

We are currently in the process of arranging the Youth Lourdes Pilgrimage for 2020, which will leave Scotland on Thursday, 25th June 2020 and arrive back in Scotland on Friday, 3rd July. The pilgrimage is open to anyone in the present S3, S4, S5 or S6. The cost this year is £575.00. The deposit to reserve a place is £75. If deposits are paid, however, by or on Sunday, 1st September, there is a reduced price of £535.00 #earlybirdoffer. Places are reserved only upon payment of the deposit and the return of the application form. Our first group meeting will be at the St. Mirin's Chaplaincy Centre on Sunday, 1st September at 1.30pm. For more information contact Fr. John Morrison at St. Fergus', Paisley on 0141 889 5056 or e-mail: vocations@rcdop.org.uk

Volunteers doing or planning to do regulated work with children and vulnerable adults, or both, should complete the Safeguarding Training, Induction Part 1. The next session will be held in the Diocesan Offices, Incle Street, on Tuesday, 20th August at 7.00pm. Please contact Sarah Jane at the Diocesan Safe-guarding office on 0141 847 6138 or at safeguardingadmin@rcdop.org.uk to register.

Bereavement by suicide is very different from any other bereavement and can give rise to all the emotions following any loss. There can often be many unanswered and unanswerable questions. The SOBS group meets on the last Wednesday of every month at Johnstone Day Care Centre, 21 Walkinshaw St, Johnstone, PA5 8AF, from 7pm8:30pm. If you have been bereaved by suicide and you think it might help to discuss what you are feeling and meet people in a similar situation, you are invited to come along. If you need help or assistance use our 'Useful Links' section or contact: 0141 849 2200.

Once more we are appealing for some volunteers to join our rota for wheel chair assistance to enable patients at the RAH to attend the 4pm Saturday Vigil Mass. You will assist a person from the ward to the hospital chapel, stay with them for Mass, and then take them back to the ward. Volunteers need to have or need to obtain a PVG as standard diocesan practice. Can you please contact Monsignor John Tormey for further details on 01505 320900 or email him at staidan@rcdop.org.uk. You will be asked to join our rota of helpers, probably helping once every three or four weeks. You are free to change your day with another helper if you can’t do the day when it’s your turn. We have had some helpers leave the rota recently and we really do need some fresh recruits. Please consider giving some of your time to help those who are ill and who will benefit from your kindness.

On the 2nd of May two Early Day Motions (EDMs) have been lodged in the UK Parliament calling on the UK Government to suspend changes to new immigration rules for visiting priests to the UK and to meet with representatives of faith communities to hear their concerns over the visa changes. The new rules make it more difficult for priests to come to the UK on supply placements, a long established practice which provides essential support for parish priests and their local parish communities. Please follow the link to the Diocesan website for more information

Our diocese has arranged the services and pastoral ministry of our own Catholic Marriage Counsellor. If you are concerned about your relationship and feel you are both unable to reach a conclusion alone, it is likely that you will benefit from marriage counselling. You can find out more by following the link

Please take a few minutes to visit our Piety Stall. We have in stock a range of beautiful adult and children’s rosaries, communion and confirmation gifts and cards. Mass and sympathy cards, special intentions, thinking of you, new home, baby, christening, birthday and wallet gift cards are also available, all at very reasonable prices.

The diocese is introducing The Mass of St Francis to all parishes and we are trying to introduce it gradually. This mass will be sung at the Cathedral at the Chrism Mass. Anyone who wishes to listen to the new mass parts can find them on the internet on YouTube by searching The Mass of St Francis. There are various examples of music groups singing the parts.

Registration is now open for World Youth Day 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal!! Details of cost and dates will be advised soon! Register here https://rcdop.org.uk/world-youth-day

We have received the following letter from Elizabeth Alexander, Project Manager at Renfrewshire Foodbank. "Thank you so much for your very generous donations to Renfrewshire Foodbank. Over the last year you have donated 919.86 Kgs of food to Renfrewshire Foodbank. This is 2190 meals for people in crisis in our community. This comes at a time when we are seeing the already large numbers of people who need our help increase further with the roll out of Universal Credit in Renfrewshire. Thank you so much once again for your kindness to Renfrewshire Foodbank and the people of Renfrewshire.

Our Friends Fundraising Campaign has visited just over half our parishes and will visit the remainder, one by one, over the next two years. The hope was to eventually engender around £100,000pa from this fund through standing orders and direct debits. The good news is that parishioners across the diocese have so far signed up to £70,000pa this way, while others have topped it up to £83,000 through one off donations or fundraising events. This will allow us to fund: our Retired Priests’ Care, our five Seminarians and Vocations Promotion, our Marriage and Families Care, our Youth and Safeguarding Office, our SPRED Ministry and our contribution to our national Education, Parliamentary, Justice and Peace and Communications services. While carrying on this successful Fundraising Campaign we will also provide you with more information about each Special Second Collection through the year as it comes up to allow you a better informed giving. Many thanks to our fundraising team for their dedicated work and to all who have given so generously so far.

Each week at the 10.30am Mass, you will see our Primary 6 pupils from St Charles' School participating in the PPFA – spot the yellow tee shirts! Throughout the two year award, pupils learn about the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit and how they can use these gifts in daily life. The award aims to connect all aspects of our parish community: school, parish and home. Thank you for your support and encouragement in our young people’s faith journey.

The Ozanam Club is a social club for adults with additional support needs and meets on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month in St. Mirin's, Cathedral Halls (6.30pm to 9.30pm). The Club is run by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and benefits greatly from the support of many non-SSVP volunteers. If you are a “people person", with patience and a good sense of humour and have some time to spare on a Friday evening then you could be exactly who we're looking for! If you would like to find out more, please phone Caroline O'Neill 07722445109 (After 6pm). (All volunteers must be 18+ and will require a Paisley diocesan PVG)

A group, comprising of members of the various Diocesan Commissions, has been formed to move MATN forward. They are currently collating data including, but not limited to, finance, infrastructure and Mass attendances to further inform the process and enable additional engagement with parishes and clusters. The Diocese thanks Canon Eddie Cameron and his Steering Group for all the preparation and collation of materials, and thanks also go to all who participated in the process. A number of valuable initiatives and proposals were suggested and are being explored, but further consensus will be required before implementation, as no concrete proposals were submitted. Please continue to pray that our MATN programme continues to guide the Diocese of Paisley from Maintenance to Mission. Any communications should be directed to matn@rcdop.org.uk .