The Crucifixion of Jesus But Mary, Our Lord's Sufferings made you want to follow Him even more. No matter what others said and how they laughed at you. Their threats would not made you back off. You loves God so much and His Will totally became your own will. Like a lover cannot be separated from her Beloved, you follows Him wherever He goes, to the very foot of the Cross, even to death you will not shrink, because love is stronger than death. You watched on, as they stripped off His clothes in order to let Him experienced a shameful death. You witnessed His most painful execution as He was nailed to the Cross. His sweet, clear cries of anguish like a sword that pierced your motherly heart. As you saw your Son hanging pitifully, you was so grieved and heartbroken that you could barely stand up. Because His limbs were like your own limbs and His heart like your own heart. It is true that one can receive consolation by easing the sufferings of their loved ones. But how dreadful it was that you can only watch Him suffered and cannot do anything for Him: Our Lord was burning with fever from the countless wounds and his tongue got so parched that it was drawn back in the throat, as He said: "I thirst." Yet you were unable to give Him even a sip of water to drink. In the midst of His loneliness and feeling of abandonment, He cried: "My Lord and My God, why have you forsaken me?" You can only watched in tears at the foot of the Cross but can't get any closer to offer your embrace. Every drop of Blood that dripped down on the earth for the salvation of mankind brought Him a step closer to His Innocent Death… And Our dear Lord, although He was surrounded by these pains, but when He beheld the griefstricken you and his weeping friends who would rather have suffered His Pain themselves than to see Him tortured in this way; His sorrow over your sorrow exceeded all the bitterness and grief which He had endured in body and heart, for He loved you all so tenderly. Oh Lady, is there any use to go to witness the death of this Son at Calvary? But you know this was everything you could do - by being there with all your heart to offer your compassion. Shame and horror cannot stop you, because you only care for His Suffering and Death. This Lent, may our broken and contrite hearts join Mary's Immaculate Heart at the foot of the Cross, to console Our Lord, to thank His Love and everything He did for us with all our love. (References: The Prophecies and Revelations of St Bridget of Sweden. The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations. The Glories of Mary, by St Alphonsus Liguori)

We are delighted to receive this stunning tapestry, designed and created by the talented students of St Peter’s School. Each panel of this artwork reflects the children’s faith, creativity and deep connection to our Church community. The tapestry feature crosses, churches, hearts and symbols, peace and faith  along with the inspiring phrase ‘Keys to the Future’. Please remember in your prayers the children from St Peter’s who received their first Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday.

O God, author of every mercy and of all goodness, who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving have shown us a remedy for sin, look graciously on this confession of our lowliness, that we, who are bowed down by our conscience, may always be lifted up by your mercy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Latin "laetare" means "to rejoice", as the opening antiphon said: "Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her." But what is the reason for this joy? Pope Francis in his 2018 homily told us: "The reason is God's great love for mankind… ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life’ (Jn 3:16). These words...summarize a theme that lies at the heart of the Christian proclamation: even when the situation seems desperate, God intervenes offering man salvation and joy.” On this Sunday the Church expresses hope and joy in the midst of our Lenten fasts and penances. Laetare also reminds us of the event we look forward to at the end of the  penitential season and the joy in anticipation of the resurrection.

The Safeguarding Department have released the 2024 Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia Safeguarding Report. In this year’s report, they highlight key actions taken, including: * The establishment of a dedicated victim-survivor support post * A major reduction in DBS backlogs * The development of policies to promote best practices Looking ahead, the report outlines plans for: * Enhanced safeguarding audits * Improved training for clergy, staff, and volunteers * Stronger collaboration with statutory agencies Click the link below to read the report:

The Archdiocese’s Safeguarding Team is working with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to deliver free ‘live’ online training sessions via TEAMS:  1) Professionals / Volunteers Protect (1 April 6-8pm) 2) Digital Resilience (11 June 6-8pm) 3) Understanding Harmful Sexual Behaviour (24 September 6-8pm) 4) Child sexual exploitation awareness (12 November 6-8pm) To book, please contact safeguarding@rcadc.org – stating which date and your name

Mary meets Jesus on His Way to Calvary Oh most sorrowful Mother, when you heard your Son has been sentenced to death, how your heart grieved at this news. Your Son was not being persecuted by the Roman ruler, but by your very own people! They all wanted Him to die - "Persecuted him! Persecuted him!" Where are all the people whom Jesus has cured, where is everyone whom has seen His Miracles, what about the ones whom He fed? There was nobody there willing to stand up for Him. All the faces you saw was full of anger, criticism, despising. And you, Our Lady, your first reaction was not hitting back those ungrateful ones, neither holding grudges towards them, nor to try to help Jesus to escape from His unjust sentence. Instead, you just want to get closer to Him, to hold Him, to support and console Him in the midst of His Sufferings, as you see God's Will in all these… Even soldiers' chase away, the jeering and scorning, the sight of the torturing instruments cannot deter you from going towards His direction. And behold, who is this figure on the ground? Your Beloved Son was unrecognizable and so frightful to look at. As His face is covered with Blood dripping down from the crown of thorns, His forehead was burning with fever and sweating, His eyes were blurred with Blood and tears as He looked into your eyes so helplessly. You want to hold Him but at the same time you worried that you may hurt Him even more as His Body has been intensely scourged all over and His Head was crowned with sharp thorns. Your eyes, were streamed with tears at this sight. 'My Son!' is what you can uttered. This most sorrowful meeting, would not have happened if it was not because of His Passion for our sake. It is only until John and the women led you away that you have to depart from Him. Your sorrows even moved the heart of a stone, as the impressions from your hands and knees were left on the stone that you sank... (Reference: The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, Vol 4 Chap 39)

Some young people in our Archdiocese are going to the Canonisation of Bl Carlo Acutis in Rome. We are asked to make a contribution to cover their cost. There is a second collection this weekend.

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord  Tuesday 25 March Mass at 10am All are welcome “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women!”