Newsletter- 2nd Week of Lent
Mountains are important places in Sacred Scripture. Today’s Gospel reading for the 2nd Sunday of Lent is about Mount Tabor, the mountain of the Transfiguration, which we can call the mountain of worship. Here Peter, James, and John had a startling experience as Jesus’ face and clothes changed and Moses and Elijah flanked him. Then came the voice of the Father: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Those words of the Father are the heart of the moment. Here the Apostles had an experience of Christ’s glory that would sustain them through the passion and death of Jesus.
At every Mass we too rise into the very presence of God. In our lives, we all need the mountain of worship to sustain us and help us to face the valley of work we must do here on earth. All of us need to move back and forth between the mountain and the valley. On the mountain of worship, we inhale the power, grace and truth of Christ. Here we are reminded that we are creatures and instruments of God and that our life comes from and will someday return to God. In the valley we exhale the life and spirit of Christ to those with whom we live and work. On the mountain we draw in spiritual life and vitality. In the valley we breathe out that life to one another.
The words of the Father on the mountain: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him,” are also directed to us as well. Those words of the Father invite us to ask ourselves: “Do I listen to Him? The Lord speaks to us in many and varied ways in all the situations of our daily lives. The Lord can speak to us through the failures of our lives. The Lord can speak to us through the difficult relationships and conflicts we experience. The Lord can speak to us through illness. Tragedy too can carry the Word of the Lord Jesus to us. This Sunday we are being asked if we are willing to listen to the Lord when He calls us through our life experience, and we are being asked to respond to him too when He asks us to go another way or to endure suffering and pain as a path to a deeper life and a glory like His. Lent is a time to bring balance back into our lives. It is a season to journey to the mountain of worship at Mass and to recommit ourselves to our daily work in the valley below. Our spiritual life is always shaped by both.
Changes to Mass Times this week & Extra Liturgies:
Wednesday 28th February – Requiem Funeral Mass – 11 am Colin Wilson
Thursday 29th February
- Exposition and Silent Adoration 10 am – 10.45 am before Mass at 11 am
- Confessions for half an hour after Mass
- “Living Stations of the Cross” – 2 pm at school – written and arranged by the children of St Marys School. Please meet outside the school in the playground (weather permitting) or in the school Hall if inclement conditions – all Parishioners welcome
Friday 1st March
- Confessions in church 6 pm – 6.45 pm
- Stations of the Cross in church – 7 pm
CAFOD – Lent 2024 – This weekend at all our Sunday Masses, we shall have a retiring collection for the work of CAFOD. In addition, you will find CAFOD Lent envelopes in the church for you to make donations to their work throughout Lent. The poster in the entrance gives information about the Family Fast Day which took place on Friday 23rd February. CAFOD envelopes with any donations given by you will be added to the retiring collection next Sunday and all the monies raised will be sent directly to CAFOD at the end of Lent. CAFOD envelopes can be placed in the collection plate at either the Saturday evening or Sunday morning Masses throughout Lent.
Prayer for our Confirmation and our First Holy Communion Candidates: Please continue to pray each day in your private prayers for our parish catechists and the two large groups of young people from our parish exploring their faith more fully and preparing to make their First Holy Communion or to receive the sacrament of Confirmation later this year. The prayerful support from all of us in the parish is an essential part of how we can accompany our young people praying that they may grow in the practice of the faith and in the knowledge and love of Christ of His Church.
Confirmation Candidates Enrolment during Mass – Sunday 3rd March – Next Sunday we formally welcome our Confirmation Candidates and their families and sponsors to Mass in the parish. After the Creed our young people will stand in their places to make their commitment and we as the parish community will endorse that commitment and offer to them our prayers and loving support.
With prayer and best wishes for you and for your families as we continue through Lent,
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
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2024 25th February – Newsletter – Download