Welcome to St John Ogilvie's.
This week we celebrate
Divine Mercy Sunday
(2nd Sunday of Easter)

(A wee reminder: Masses next week are on Saturday at 6.30pm and Sunday at 10.00am. Booking is still necessary and bookings should be made by Wednesday 14th April 2021. Booking requests to .)

Baptisms are once again Allowed in Church

With the further easing of lockdown, Baptism can now be celebrated in the church. The number who may attend is limited to 20 and the usual safeguards as regards physical distancing (2m) and face coverings apply.

Please contact Father Tony if you wish to make arrangements for Baptism.

Millions of people in Tigray, Ethiopia have been forced to flee their homes because of ongoing fighting in the region. They are now at imminent risk of starvation, very frightened and without access to proper sanitation or medical care.

Much of the conflict has been centred around the Tigray region, where Mary’s Meals has been working for several years with a trusted partner to provide meals for vulnerable children in school (and, more recently, at home while schools were closed because of the pandemic).

We need your support to continue this life-saving work and help families in Tigray at this distressing time. It is clear that the people of Tigray very urgently need our help. Due to fighting in the region, millions of people are living in fear of starvation.

The region’s capital, Mekelle, is being overwhelmed by displaced and traumatised people arriving every day. Many are unaccompanied children who have lost their parents.

To go to the Marys Meals website where you can make a donation, please click here.

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) has announced that supporters of the much-loved WEE BOX, BIG CHANGE Appeal, will soon be able to get their hands on the WEE BOX.

Despite the lockdown, supporters of the charity can get their WEE BOX online now at www.sciaf.org.uk/weebox.

For more than two decades, the initiative has been a fixture in many households throughout Scotland. Every year, generous Scots give up a treat for Lent and place the money they would save into the WEE BOX.

Money raised from this appeal helps to provide the crucial schooling, healthcare, food, sanitation, and support to earn a living that families need to work themselves out of poverty.

The Scottish aid charity has developed comprehensive online resources, jam packed with exciting activities for all ages to ensure people are able to continue to support the appeal.

Penelope Blackwell, Director of Public Engagement said: “The money raised from Lent appeals provides a lifeline to thousands of families who are less fortunate and gives them the hope and support they need to build better futures. We cannot do any of this without the help of our supporters and I would like to thank each and every one you.”

To order a WEE BOX go to: www.sciaf.org.uk/weebox. or call 0141 354 5555.

From the 12 February to 11 May, all public donations to the WEE BOX, BIG CHANGE appeal will be doubled by the UK government.

A Homily from Fr Tony

Today is the Second Sunday after Easter also known as
the Feast of Divine Mercy.

We do not come through suffering and difficult times unscarred. We are changed by them.  Often it brings some sort of growth into our lives and usually it is not a pleasant experience.

We only have to think of the past year of lockdowns and isolation and fear. In Pope Francis’ new book, “Let us Dream”, he says “To enter into crisis is to be sifted.  Your certainties and ways of thinking get shaken up, your priorities and lifestyles are challenged. You cross a threshold, either by your own choice or by necessity, because there are crises, like the one we are going through, that you can’t avoid.”

Today’s Gospel shows us that even the most difficult situations can be transformed. The Risen Christ stands amongst the disciples even though the doors are firmly closed. The peace that he gives them is a peace of body, of mind and of spirit and it moves the disciples from despair and being “locked away” to rejoicing.

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was archbishop of Chicago. He was told in August 1996 that a cancer which had been in remission had returned and that he had only a short time to live. He died the following November. During those two months he wrote a book covering the previous three years of his life, entitled, “The Gift of Peace”. One of the most difficult experiences of those last three years of his life was a much-publicised accusation of sexual misconduct which was made against him by a young man called Stephen. In line with the directive for all priests, the Cardinal had to withdraw from Ministry during church and state investigations. Stephen subsequently withdrew the accusation and acknowledged that it was false. In his book, Cardinal Bernardin describes the reconciliation which he initiated with his accuser. Stephen was dying of AIDS at the time, and at their meeting he offered the cardinal an apology which was gently accepted. Cardinal Bernardin offered Stephen a gift, a Bible in which he had inscribed words of loving forgiveness. Then he showed him a one hundred year old chalice, a gift to the cardinal from a man who asked him to celebrate Mass sometime for Stephen. Cardinal Bernardin celebrated Mass there and then. He described his meeting with Stephen as the most profound and unforgettable experience of reconciliation in his whole priestly life.

In today’s gospel we find the first disciples dispirited and terrified after the death of Jesus. They have to confront their failure to be faithful to Jesus in the hour of his passion and death. They are in a huddle, having locked themselves away in a room. Suddenly Jesus stands among them and says to them, “Peace be with you” and breathes the Holy Spirit upon them. The risen Lord was reconciling his failed disciples to himself; they came to recognise themselves as forgiven, and, so their hearts were filled with joy. Having experienced the gift of the Lord’s forgiveness, they are sent out in the power of the Spirit to offer to others the gift of forgiveness they have received. “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven”. That gift and mission is given to all of us who have been baptised into the risen Jesus. Having been reconciled to the Lord we are all sent out as ministers of reconciliation.

Thomas had not been in the room when the risen Lord appeared to the other disciples. He had missed out on the Lord’s bestowal of the gifts of peace and forgiveness. Thomas seems to have cut himself off from the community of the disciples. He had gone off on his own to nurse his wounds, and so he missed out on the Lord’s presence in the midst of the fearful and failed disciples. When we cut ourselves off from the community of believers, we lose out greatly. For all its flaws and failings, the church is the place where we encounter the risen Lord.

Yet, even though our efforts may fail, as the efforts of the disciples failed, we know that the Lord will keeps reaching out to us when we cut ourselves off from the community of faith, just as the Lord reached out to Thomas. “Doubt no longer, he said to him, “but believe”. Then, out of the mouth of the sceptic came one of the greatest acts of faith in all of the gospels, “My Lord and my God”. Thomas Merton wrote in his book Asian Journal, “Faith is not the suppression of doubt. It is the overcoming of doubt, and you overcome doubt by going through it. The man of faith who has never experienced doubt is not a person of faith”. There was a great honesty about Thomas; he didn’t pretend to believe when he didn’t. The Gospel suggests that such honesty is never very far from authentic faith.

St. Gregory the Great (540AD) said of St. Thomas’ scepticism, that “it was more advantageous to us than the Faith of the disciple who believed”. It is a reminder to us that we do not learn the truth as isolated individuals. Thomas teaches us to become a church community that is honest about our doubts.

This Gospel gives us a ninth Beatitude “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe”. We are called to be a Church that touches the wounds of others with mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Pope Francis desires a church that is a murky, messy “field hospital” of the mayhem of humanity. To be a Church that moves from the expected predictable agenda to a future of new possibilities that the Easter Gospel message unfolds for us all.

Our call is to bring Easter Peace and Joy to others. Who can I share it with today?

“A Death in the Desert”

What will happen when there is left on earth
No one alive who knew [consider this!]
Saw with his eyes and handled with his hands
That which was from the first, the Word of Life.
How will it be when none more saith “I saw”?
Robert Browning

Reflections on the Gospel According to Mark
An On-line Project lead by Father Tony

In 2021 we follow the Gospel according to Mark. This is the shortest of the four Gospels. If you are searching for something to do during Lockdown, this could be an opportunity to become more familiar with the New Testament. Each week on the Parish website we will carry an item on each of the headings listed below. You don’t have to register to take part. After we have received our vaccines, if there is sufficient interest I will provide opportunity for group reflection.

Throughout the project we will be using the NRSVCE (New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition)

The full text of the Mark’s Gospel from the NRSVCE version can be accessed from the project page

This week our "Mark's Gospel Project" looks at the second and third parts of the passion and death of Jesus.

For this week's project click on the button below.

And for those of you who missed the earlier episodes, you can catch up here: -

Prayers

We pray for all those in our country and throughout the world suffering from the Coronavirus. May its victims and their families be strengthened by the support of our community of faith and restored soon to full health. We also pray for our leaders and medical personnel who deal with the virus. May we keep calm and may we join together in solidarity with care and compassion to tackle this scare. This we ask in confidence though Christ our Lord.

Fresh Start Warehouse to Open Again as Covid-19 Restictions are Eased

"Dear Friends,

As the "Stay at home" guideline will be lifted from beginning of April, Fresh Start will be accepting donations again on Tuesday 6th April and following this, Mondays-Thursdays 9-4pm, NOT on Fridays.

We do still ask that social distancing is adhered to, masks are worn at all times and donations are placed inside the building at the door for staff to collect and take into the body of the warehouse.

We will be taking all donations for Starter Packs with the exception of pillows, duvets, cushions.

Please do not donate ‘bric a brac’, since we need to pay to dispose of items we cannot use in our Starter Packs. Attached (click here) is a list of items we will accept for Starter Packs and food items for Fresh Start Pantry.

We look forward to a steady return to normality!

Best wishes and kind regards,
Abigail
(Fresh Start)

Please do not bring your donations to Fresh Start to the church but take them direct to Fresh Start warehouse at 22-24 Ferry Road Drive, Edinburgh, EH4 4BR (Tel: 0131 476 7741).

Special Prayers to use
when you cannot attend a funeral

These Special Prayers can dowloaded as a PDF document by - clicking here.

Please also visit the Archdiocesan website for up-to-date information from the Archbishop.