Saturday
6.30pm: Parish
Sunday Third of Lent PMB Page 158
8.30am: Antoinette and Massimo Pazzi
10am: Kyra Fernandes Thanks
11.30am : Betty West RIP
Monday
9.45 Requiem Mass Karl Anthony Brock
Tuesday
10am: The Raby family
Wednesday
10am: Zalia D’Souza RIP
Thursday
NO MASS TODAY
Friday
10am : Catherine Carty
Saturday
10am : Truda Schmiedbauer RIP
6.30pm : Parish
Fourth Sunday of Lent
8.30am : Priest Int
10am: Eddi Intention
11.30am: TR family
Our Temple We are gathered here in the house of God (well, usually we are !) which is meant to be a house of prayer and of worship. We come to adore God. The word “adore” means “mouth to mouth” a very physical and intimate word. The church is our true home in that we call “our Father”. In fact, the word is “Abba” perhaps better translated as “daddy”. The church is the mystical body of Christ, not a mere building. The Risen Christ dwells within each of us. We are, as St Paul reminds us “temples of the Holy Spirit”. Each person is special. God resides in each person. The Church is the Body of Christ. It is up to us to make the church a true house of prayer.
What attitudes do we bring to church (when we can come”) Jesus, who is present among us, helps us to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Do we worship God in humility and sincerity? Do we worship with our hearts or merely with our lips? Are we members of a community reconciled in Love ? If you go down on one or more of these, then Lent is for youuuu!
First Reading The ten commandments. Always a crowd puller – if we can remember them! The commandments were to be seen as a gift not a burden. Nothing has changed. Today’s account is from Exodus which tells of the birth of a nation from slavery to a new land and life. The Sinai experience is about trying to hold the nation together by following rules. The commandments are for the people of God what a road map is for travellers. They are a warning to all who worship false gods – as you do! Get a grip, guys, and understand that the commandments have a timeless validity, loyalty to the covenant, but they must be understood in the light of Christ’s teaching, summed up in “love one another as I have loved you”.
Second Reading Paul reminds us that our faith is built on the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. We preach a crucified Christ. Jews demanded miracles. The Greeks demanded wisdom. They were closed to the notion of a God who entered into the very depths of human suffering and despair, pain and rejection. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me ?” doesn’t go down well with Jews and Greeks.
The Gospel Jesus is angry. Not really what we might expect of the Son of God. Perhaps we want somebody weak and lowly, rather passive and even a little bit wet. What we get here is a fighter who seriously disturbs the peace and causes a riot because true religion is absent and the temple, his Father’s house, has been turned into a market place with all sorts of things going on! He sees how worship has been debased and points this out with force and justification. Worship will change and the old temple will no longer be the place of true worship. He himself will be our way, our truth and our life.
Justice and Peace and Examination of Conscience We are called to believe in the victory of Christ, to be people of hope. We see signs of the kingdom all around us, small victories over evil, there to console and strengthen us and importantly to protect us from despair. While on this earth we live in the temple because we are the temple, which is why we are called to purify ourselves to keep the temple pure.. Self – examination is the foundation for all progress. If we fight injustice and prejudice and get angry as Jesus did we must start by looking at ourselves, our own injustice and bigotry and hardness of heart. We constantly try to over come our prejudices. Honesty is often painful and we fail if we rely on our own power. Christ is with us and he will teach us the truth and set us free.
Reflection Lord, make the door of St Gertrude’s wide enough to receive all who are in need of human love and fellowship, narrow enough to shut out all pride, envy and strife> Make its threshold smooth enough not to be a stumbling block to anybody. Make our church a house of prayer!
CAFOD Four million children are dying in the Yemen. In the first quarter of 2019, 3.4 million died of hunger. Abdella is shattered, exhausted, physically devastated, but he must keep walking. Abdella lives in an extremely remote and mountainous part of Ethiopia. He spends nearly all his time collecting water just to keep his family alive. He has no time to live the life he wants. “I am wasting my life. I am a young man; I should be doing something else. Meet Abdella CAFOD website and share his journey. Please help by making a donation. Envelopes available back of church
Walk with Me – Lenten Prayer for 2021. only £1.
The Chosen.tv I suggest you watch “The Chosen tv” What it means to meet Christ and be changed – be different. Try it today
A luxury hamper arrived a few days ago full of amazing goodies including very superior Belgian chocolates and mints and of course marmalade and coffee. The sender has not revealed identity and I’m really curious to know who loves me! No name, no nothing. It could of course be that it was delivered to the wrong address in which case I’ll top myself as I’ve eaten more or less everything except the Yorkshire crisps. Any ideas?
