Eucharistic Adoration from Monday to Friday after 10am Weekday Mass until 11.30am On Friday is the Rosary for Life
Tuesday 4th March There will be a mass and veneration of the Relic of the True Cross. On 17th April 1958, His Holiness Pope Pius X11 confirmed the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus on Shrove Tuesday. “I desire that My Face which shows My Soul’s deepest anguish. My Heart’s sorrow and love, may be more honoured. Whoever gazes upon Me already consoles Me. Every time that anyone gazes at My Face, I will pour My love into hearts and by means of My Holy Face, the salvation of many souls will be obtained”. [Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Plerina]
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Wednesday 5th March is ASH WEDNESDAY a day of fasting and abstinence. Ashes will be distributed at both masses. *********************** LENT is a special time of the year. It is an opportunity for us all to grow and come closer to our Lord. The time of Lent is especially important for the Stations of the Cross, we shall have it at 6.00pm which may suit people better. An extra Mass in the week is a big blessing, as we can dedicate it to our family or those we know who are ill. We are led to pray more, to sacrifice something at this time. So how about thinking more creatively? Give up some TV time or screen time on the mobile, and read the Bible or a prayer magazine. Change our TV time to looking at ‘The Chosen’, a You tube film series about the gospels of Jesus which has been highly acclaimed. Go for a prayer walk and visit a church or say the Rosary as we walk along. Just some thoughts to make our lives more Catholic, more spiritual.
STATIONS of the CROSS Every Friday during LENT at 6pm Different versions of meditations and prayers will be said each week
Jesus reuses the metaphor of the tree and the fruit but focuses on action or production of fruit, to reflect on people’s deeds. Jesus has moved from considering eyes, mouth and ears to the practical activities of hands and feet. No part of the potential disciples is exempt from attention. There is to be no blind spot. Instead, the transformation of the whole person is in view. By this transformation, the disciple sees, speaks, hears and acts in accordance with the way of blessedness that Jesus has just exposited in the beatitudes.
THE GOODNESS OF GOD The mercy of God, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, the voice of the Lord who speaks to us from the throne of mercy: Come to Me, all of you. Jesus: Be not afraid of your Saviour; O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to me. Child, do not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God of mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish his graces on you. How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My Heart. Soul: Lord, I hear your voice calling me to turn back from the path of sin, but I have neither the strength nor the courage to do so. Jesus: I am your strength, I will help you in the struggle. Soul: Lord, I recognize your holiness, and I fear You. Jesus: My child, do you fear the God of mercy? My holiness does not prevent Me from being merciful. Behold, for you I have established a throne of mercy on earth – the tabernacle – and from this throne I desire to enter into your heart. I am not surrounded by a retinue or guards. You can come to me at any moment, at any time; I want to speak to you and desire to grant you grace. Soul: Lord, I doubt that You will pardon my numerous sins; my misery fills me with fright. Jesus: My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace. (Diary, 1485) (Reference: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska - Divine Mercy in My Soul, Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01263, 2005)
He was a monk, abbot and bishop, who lived in the 6th century. He was one of the early saints who spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Britain. The most well-known legend regarding Dewi is said to have taken place at the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi. They were to decide whether Dewi was to be Archbishop. A great crowd gather at the synod, and when Dewi stood up to speak, one of the congregation shouted “we won’t be able to see or hear him”. At that instant the ground beneath his feet rose up to form a hill so people could hear him speak before a white dove, sent by God, descended on his shoulder. Unsurprisingly, it was decided, very shortly afterwards that Dewi would be the Archbishop. It is claimed that Dewi lived for over 100 years and it generally accepted that he died in 589. His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday “ Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us”.
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Christian Charity (2) Christian Charity (2) We talk a great deal about loyalty and justice nowadays, but forget perhaps that the chief obstacle to their practice in private life and on an international scale is above all lack of charity in the most Christian sense of the word. The vital force for any virtue whatsoever is absent if love of good, and love which is reflected from God upon our neighbour, is not present in our hearts. Therefore, our proclamation of charity - a Christian's Love, must be operative rather than just words, and should begin at home, with ourselves. But first, we must love God. Since a person who does not love God, who is the greatest good, does not love at all. Jesus once told us: 'If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love...This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you' (Jn 15:10,12). Hence loving our neighbours is inseparable from loving God. For God is Love and He is the source of Love. If we don't get close to the source, how are we going to have resources to give to others? If we don't get close to Jesus, how do we truly able to love others as ourselves? For how can we be charitable to all if we don't have love within our hearts? Stay closer to Jesus then, let Him dwell within you, then His Love will flow from you! We love God, so we love our neighbours. We serve God by giving help and service from our hearts to others. Therefore, in all our works of charity, we should have before our eyes God the Father and his beloved Son Jesus Christ. And that is how we can see Jesus, like Mother Teresa, in the face of all our neighbours. Charity excludes no one; whether to those in Heaven, in Purgatory, and on earth - present and to come. No one escapes the extended arms of love except those who have willingly put themselves outside its grasp forever. Therefore, our love needs to be as universal as God's Love, because it is the charity of God in us. Do the utmost good for your neighbour; and what you cannot do in need, do in desire, through compassion, by interceding for men in your prayer to God. There is an enormous amount of good to do in this world, if only we want to! Do not forget, every work of charity has an infinite value. Our endurance and perseverance of charity to our neighbours on earth can exchange for us the unimaginable and unending bliss of heaven. (Reference: 'Rosminian Spirituality: In the Spirit of the Founder', Fr Giovanni Gaddo, 1971)