St. James’, Kinross & St. Matthew’s, Auchtermuchty

c/o 5 High Street, Kinross, KY13 8AW

Telephone: 01577 863329

Dear Parishioner,

I’m delighted to be able to welcome you back to Holy Mass and the public celebration of the Sacraments in our churches – it has been a long journey. We still aren’t at the point of a return to normality but I can only imagine that you share my joy at once again being able to gather together as a family of faith to worship the Lord fittingly in the Most Holy Eucharist.

For the present and for the foreseeable future the protocols we have adopted regarding hygiene and social-distancing remain. I thank you for your understanding and co-operation with this. We shall also be maintaining a booking system for places at Holy Mass to ensure fairness and equal opportunity of attendance. Booking details are posted on the parish website: http://www.catholickinross.com. If anyone does not have access to the internet to discover the times available for Masses I encourage you to speak to fellow parishioners who do, just as I encourage them also to assist you in making your bookings.

I hope that you and your loved ones have been keeping well over this period of time, but should you have suffered the loss of any of those nearest and dearest to you let me take this opportunity to offer you my sincere condolences and to assure you of my prayers.

As we move forward together I ask, please, for your continuing support and co-operation, together we will get through these strange times and together, with faith, please God, we will come out on the other side of this stronger and better people. Jesus Christ through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection enables us to see and to trust that even the darkest of times can be transformed into something hopeful and glorious. Such is our faith in Him.

Many have asked about supporting the parish financially (remembering that we depend solely upon your generous contributions to keep going. To this end I provide here our bank details, and encourage you (if you are able) to resume handing in your weekly offerings for the church. (one bank account for both churches – Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld, Sort Code: 83-23-47, Account Number: 00255001). Cheques should be made payable to St. James’ Catholic Church (for both churches). Sincere thanks to those who have been able to continue to contribute while our churches have been closed, your support has enabled us to keep paying the bills and keep up the maintenance of our beautiful wee churches.

Should you find yourself in straitened circumstances and require material support please remember that the parish has a very active Society of St. Vincent de Paul which exists to provide material support in a confidential manner to those who require it. You can speak to me privately about it this kind of assistance if it would be of benefit to you at the present time.

Please, then, now look regularly at the parish website so as to be able to arrange your bookings for Mass and to begin again to establish a more regular and  steady pattern of worship than we have been able to in more recent times. (I suggest having a very quick look throughout the week).

I pray that you have a blessed Holy Week full of graces for you and yours, full of blessings, full of hope. May the peace and blessing of the Almighty God be with you always!

In Christ,

Fr. Martin Pletts