Reflection –
The prayer of Jesus focusses on the concept of Glory. In Hebrew “Glory” has the same root as the word for the liver, the heaviest organ of the body, and so can be thought of as meaning “giving weight” to something. Jesus glorifies the Father when he gives the most weight to the Father’s will and fulfilling the mission he has been entrusted with. We in turn give glory to God, when we allow the things of God to tip the scales in our lives and become the most pressing focus, the most important voice.
Mass readings.
Seventh Sunday of Easter, 16th & 17th of May, 2026
1st Reading: Acts 1:12-14
Responsorial Psalm. I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 4:13-16
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia…I will not leave you as orphans, says the Lord. I am going away and I will come to you, and your hearts will rejoice ………… Alleluia
Gospel: John 17:1-11a
Important Note: Please scroll within the below window to have access to daily readings for the Holy Catholic Mass. To keep scrolling down Our Lady’s newsletter, just scroll outside the window.
PARISH UPDATES:
Fr Francis travels – Fr Francis will be away from the 19th of May till the 4th of June. Please contact Fr Malachy for any pastoral duties. Fr Francis would also like to thank parishioners for their kind and warm welcome to his Mum, Gladys. She will be going back to Nigeria next week.
Special Collection this weekend (16th/17th May) – A special collection for the apostolate of communications will be held on Sunday, 17 May 2026, within the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. This collection supports the work of the Office of Communications and Evangelisation, which was recently established to strengthen digital evangelisation across Scotland.
Pentecost event for young adults – Join young adults from across the Archdiocese to celebrate Pentecost at St Andrew’s Church, 77 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DP, on Saturday 23 May, beginning at 4:00pm. There will be a talk from Fr Daniel Magaji, Eucharistic Adoration & opportunity for Confession, Holy Mass celebrated by Archbishop Cushley and a barbecue. Organised by the Archdiocese along with the young adult ministries at Edinburgh Jesuit Church, St Mary’s Cathedral and St Albert’s Chaplaincy. Register at bit.ly/pentecost26. Come, Holy Spirit!
St Margaret Pilgrimage – This annual national Catholic event takes place on Sunday 14 June in Dunfermline. Schedule: 12:00pm Angelus at St Margaret’s Cave; 1:00pm Prayer Service at St Margaret’s tomb at Dunfermline Abbey; 2:00pm Procession from Glen Gates to St Margaret’s Memorial Church, East Port; 3:00pm Mass at St Margaret’s Memorial Church, celebrated by Archbishop Cushley
Edinburgh Seven Hills Pilgrimage – The Seven Hills of Edinburgh Pilgrimage route is approximately 26km, taking in Castle Hill, Corstorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill, Braid Hill, Blackford Hill, Arthur’s Seat and Calton Hill. Starts at St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral at 9:00am on Saturday 13 June with a dedicated reflection at each peak from Monsignor Jeremy Milne. Details and registration at bit.ly/sevenhills26
Mass Bookings. We are reminded that the booking of mass for our special intentions, wedding anniversaries, Birthday thanksgiving, Death anniversaries of our loved ones and general prayers is highly recommended. The mass stipends (Donations) are part of our contribution towards the good of the church and support of our priest.
May Flowers – In keeping with our tradition during the month of May, we kindly ask the children if they can sometimes bring flowers to the Sunday morning Mass to decorate Our Lady’s altar. We would be delighted to receive them.
‘Our Lady’s 60th Anniversary Celebrations – photos now showing on our parish website!
Please take a look at the photos of our anniversary celebrations in the website ‘Archive Information & Gallery’ section. These are a great memento of a marvellous day. Please follow the QR code to the website.
Gift Aid – If you haven’t already done so, please pick up your Gift Aid envelopes from the back of the Church. The new tax year starts this Sunday so its important the new envelopes are used from now on.
Our Lady’s Offertory Collections.
Last Sunday’s collection: £709
Month total collections (Bank & Cash) £853
Special Collections: £-
Bank Total (month) £778
Mass Bookings.
We are reminded that the booking of mass for our special intentions, wedding anniversaries, Birthday thanksgiving, Death anniversaries of our loved ones and general prayers is highly recommended. The mass stipends (Donations) are part of our contribution towards the good of the church and support of our priest.
MASS TIMINGS
MASS INTENTIONS
MASS DONOR
Wednesday, May 20th, 10.00am
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Friday May 22nd, 10.00am
- Archibald - God's Healing
- Alice
Sunday, May 24th, 11.30am
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Blessings to you, your families and those who are dear to you in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you
John 17:1-11
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Father, the hour has come: Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; and, through the power over all mankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do.
Now, Father, it is time for you to glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world was. I have made your name known to the men you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now at last they know that all you have given me comes indeed from you; for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have truly accepted this, that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me.
I pray for them; I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you: all I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am not in the world any longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.’
Reflection on the painting
In today’s Gospel, we witness Jesus praying for his disciples and for us… all of us who gather in Jesus’ name. Jesus is praying that the divisions we encounter (whether through race, background, education, work, etc…), may not separate us. We are all one in Christ, and Christ is one in his Father. We are one big family.
Fra Angelico was a Dominican friar and painter in early Renaissance Italy, based in Fiesole near Florence. He eventually became prior of the Friary of San Domenico. The painting we are looking at was the central panel of an altar piece that he made for his own friary. In 1982, Pope John Paul II beatified Fra Angelico in recognition of the holiness he showed in his approach to art and how he saw the making of art as an integral part of his life and evangelisation. And that is how we in the Catholic Church value art: we not only like evangelisation that speaks, but also evangelisation that shows!
Our painting demonstrates perfectly how Italian painting in the 1420s moved from the Gothic style towards the new Renaissance style. We still see the precisely tooled gold background, with the vibrant blue and red colours of the figures being very reminiscent of the Gothic style. However we see developing an innovative three-dimensionality and naturalism of the figures. Look for example at the never-seen-before realistic way in which the garments hang or drape around the figures.
In the reading today Jesus prays: ‘…so that the son may glorify you’. In our painting we see exactly this Christ Glorified, holding the banner of the Resurrection and surrounded by choirs of angels playing instruments. Looking at this painting, we can almost hear the music and trumpet blasts produced by the many figures. It reminds me of a quote I recently came across: Plato said: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything”.
