Parish News – 19th March

Happy Mother’s Day

Today, with lots of hugs and special treats, we send all our love and grateful thanks to our Mums, Nans and Great Grandmas and pray through the intercession of our heavenly Mother that God sends them abundant Blessings! On the recent International Women’s Day, Pope Francis said “I think of all women: I thank them for their commitment to building a more humane society, through their ability to grasp reality with a creative eye and a tender heart…. A special blessing ….. and a round of applause for women! They deserve it!”

Love the Stranger

Love the Stranger is a new publication by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales’ which articulates our Christian duty to look beyond labels and see the person who has left their homeland in search of a better life. In 2023, people making dangerous journeys across the Channel to reach the UK are called by various names: ‘refugees’, ‘asylum seekers’, ‘migrants’, and often by more derogatory terms. Today there are over 280 million migrants and refugees worldwide, more than at any point in history. Quoting the Gospel of St. Matthew, Pope Francis calls on us to respond by welcoming, protecting, promoting, and integrating people, with the reminder that: “Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (Matthew 25:35-43).” The Secretary General of the Commission of Catholic Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) has given a ringing endorsement of the new document for showing how the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church “should be applied to the current challenges faced by our states and societies”.

Urgent Soup Run Appeal

The Soup Run urgently needs drivers to be able to continue to operate smoothly. If you could volunteer your time with car every 4/5 weeks on a Saturday from 6-8.30pm (or even help without a vehicle), please contact Kit – kit.greveson@gmail.com or call 07507 138582. There is a labelled box by the church door for donations – coffee, tinned tuna, sweetcorn, mayo.

Lent

As we continue our journeys towards the solemn celebrations of Holy Week from Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the foot of the Cross as sorrowful bystanders to His Passion, before rolling back the stone of the empty tomb and the joy of the Resurrection, we re-dedicate ourselves through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

    • Prayer and Life Workshops: The second session of the 15-week workshop programme is this Monday, 20th March, in the Parish Room at 7:30pm.
    • Evening Mass on Tuesdays: at 7pm when Fr David will give a series of talks on ‘Listening to God and Hearing God’s Voice’. Come along and explore how God may be speaking to you today.
    • Eucharistic Adoration starting in church after Friday’s morning Mass and ending at 5pm.
    • This week’s Ecumenical Stations of the Cross will be on Friday 24th March at Holy Trinity Church, Granville Road at 7:30pm.
    • Cardinal’s Lenten Appeal: A gift this Lent made online or using the wall safe or envelopes at the back of church will help fund initiatives in parishes, schools and charities in the Diocese bringing light and hope into the lives of people across our Diocese. Please be generous.
    • Volunteer: If you feel called to join the community of volunteers who generously give of their time and share their skills at St Peter’s, there are many opportunities to get involved – e.g. driving for the Soup Run – see below! Why not take the first step and contact Fr David.
    • Other suggestions for ways to make a Holy Lent can be found here.

Services

Sunday Masses are at 6:30pm (Saturday), 9:45am, 11:15am (livestreamed) and 7pm.
Sunday Scripture readings
Notes on the Sunday Scripture readings
Find other livestreamed Masses in the diocese.
Weekday Masses are at 9am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday after Morning Prayer at 8:45am.
Rest in Peace: We have learned of the death of parishioner John O’Shea. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his family. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
Note: Church is closed and there is no Mass on Thursday.
Rosary: Tuesday after 9am Mass
Confession: The Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession is available on Saturday evening from 6-6:20pm.
Family Room: This week’s activity reflects on Letting God restore our souls in Lent. Continue reading Parish News – 19th March

Scripture notes – 4th Sunday of Lent, A – 19th March 2023

Today is ‘Laetare Sunday’, named from the Latin word meaning ‘Rejoice’ – the first words in the Entrance Antiphon. Rose vestments are worn to show that we are looking forward to Easter joy. The Gospel is another drama from John, one which was used as part of the Baptismal liturgies in the early church. Continue reading Scripture notes – 4th Sunday of Lent, A – 19th March 2023

Parish News – 12th March

We Give Thanks to God for Pope Francis

On Monday, 13 March, it will be ten years since Francis first appeared upon the balcony at St Peter’s Square, having just been elected Pope. His first message was simply ‘please pray for me’. We pray that God will continue to bless the world and the Church with Pope Francis’ ministry and give him the strength of mind and body to lead His flock wisely amidst the many troubles facing the world today.

The Pope’s March prayer intention: Each month, Pope Francis asks the Church to join him in prayer. The Pope this month is praying in a special way for victims of abuse.

“Let us pray for those who have suffered because of the wrongs done to them from members of the Church; may they find within the Church herself a concrete response to their pain and suffering.”

CAFOD Family Fast Day – Lent Appeal: Thank you

Including the donations at Friday’s Frugal Supper (£120) you have so far given over £1,100 to last weekend’s CAFOD appeal to help families around the world to cope with the climate crisis. You can still give using the envelopes in church or online or using the wall safe near the door and please join in praying for CAFOD’s development and emergency response work all over the world. Continue reading Parish News – 12th March

Scripture notes – 3rd Sunday of Lent, A – 12th March 2023

From today till Passion Sunday, the gospel readings are from John. Even a quick look shows how different John is from the first three gospels. It is generally thought to be the last of the four written, when time has allowed for deeper reflection on who Jesus is, his relation to the Father and Spirit and to each Christian. Continue reading Scripture notes – 3rd Sunday of Lent, A – 12th March 2023

Parish News 5th March

Lent Fast Day Collection – Sunday 5th March:

This Lent, CAFOD is supporting families with the skills and tools they’ve asked for to fight the climate crisis. Learn about 14-year-old Dristy and her mum Rupali who, in Bangladesh, are building seed beds and planting palm trees to protect their crops from flooding and cyclones. On Fast Day, Friday 3rd March 2023, we were asked to eat less in solidarity with those without enough to eat and give the money we save to CAFOD’s appeal. Give today to help families grow in strength to adapt to the climate crisis. Use the envelopes that will are available or give online. Our thanks to those who gave at our frugal supper in aid of CAFOD on Friday. Continue reading Parish News 5th March

Parish News – 26th February

Lent 2023

Each year the Church gives us six weeks to take a long, loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with God’s desires for us. Since most of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s path, Lent becomes that second chance, to “return to God with our whole heart.” The key elements of living a good Lent are to Pray, Fast and Give and you can find ideas on all three on this website page. There is also a sheet of ideas available in church. Continue reading Parish News – 26th February

Take only what is most important

by Serhiy Zhadan 2015

Take only what is most important. Take the letters.
Take only what you can carry.
Take the icons and the embroidery, take the silver,
Take the wooden crucifix and the golden replicas.

Take some bread, the vegetables from the garden, then leave.
We will never return again.
We will never see our city again.
Take the letters, all of them, every last piece of bad news.

We will never see our corner store again.
We will never drink from that dry well again.
We will never see familiar faces again.
We are refugees. We will run all night.

We will run past fields of sunflowers.
We will run from dogs, rest with cows.
We will scoop up water with our bare hands,
sit waiting in camps, annoying the dragons of war.

You will not return and friends will never come back.
There will be no smoky kitchens, no usual jobs,
There will be no dreamy lights in sleepy towns,
no green valleys, no suburban wastelands.

The sun will be a smudge on the window of a cheap train,
rushing past cholera pits covered with lime.
There will be blood on your heels,
tired guards on borderlands covered with snow,

a postman with empty bags shot down,
a priest with a hapless smile hung by his ribs,
the quiet of a cemetery, the noise of a command post,
and unedited lists of the dead,

so long that there won’t be time
to check them for your own name.

(translated from the Ukrainian by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps)