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A reminder – The Easter Offerings are for our Parish Priest.  Please contribute through the church accounts in the normal way, so the Parish can benefit from Gift Aid.  Direct payments to him cannot accrue this benefit.

Dorothy Blake RIP. The Requiem Mass for Dorothy will be offered on Tuesday 13 April at 12 noon, preceded by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 11.45. If you would like to attend please contact Jean 842824 or Bob 847014, as only 30 people can be present.  Burial afterwards at Hailsham Cemetery.

The following is adapted from an article by Greg Kendra who is a Deacon in the States.

This Sunday is Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday and is a day in which we need to remember. Remember that the crowd that cheered Jesus also condemned him. Remember that the voices praising him also called for his death. Remember that those who loved him and promised loyalty also abandoned him, denied him, and betrayed him.

Christ’s Passion goes on today. Our betrayal of him continues, in ways large and small. How often do we praise God on Sunday…and cast Him aside on Monday? How often do we shrug Him off when things become too difficult or the rules too hard or the demands of the Christian life too taxing? How often do we treat love as just a sentiment for greeting cards, and not a command for living? How often do we see suffering in the faces of those in need, and simply turn away?

Christ continues to bleed and weep and cry out, “Why have you abandoned me?” He cries out today to us. Whatever you do to the least of these, he said, you do to me.

What do we do? We encounter him on the pavement, and go out of our way to avoid him. We ignore so many people who need us.

Remember: He is everywhere there is someone who is small, or neglected, or disrespected, or discarded. He is with the unwanted and unloved, the bullied and abused.

Remember: We have said, “Give us Barabbas.” 

Remember: We have said, in effect, “Crucify him.”

The palms today have a two fold purpose: First, they remind us that we are called to be heralds of Christ – to celebrate him the way they did that day in Jerusalem. Secondly, and importantly they challenge us to keep crying “Hosanna,” to keep proclaiming the Good News – even when the world tempts us to do otherwise, even when it seems like it would be easier to go with the crowd and simply choose Barabbas. The palms challenge us to not turn our back and walk away.  They challenge us not only to remember what we have done to him, but what he has done for us.

That is what Holy week is about.

Please be a friend to unborn babies and their mothers.  In March 2020 the government used temporary Covid-19 rules to permit home abortion.  Both doses of abortion pills can now be taken at home without medical supervision.  This is very dangerous and traumatic for the mother.  The number of unborn babies killed under the DIY abortion scheme has risen.  Please support our campaign to ask the Prime Minister to stop home abortion in our country by filling in your White Flower postcard.  Thank you.

The readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent concentrate on the approaching death of Jesus which Paul considers a priestly sacrifice and John considers the moment of Jesus’ “exaltation” and “glorification.” We are all offered a challenge by these readings. If we are to achieve our goal of heaven we must stop thinking of ourselves and instead live lives of giving of ourselves to others through our actions. Think for a moment of some everyday events such as lighting a candle – it will emit light from it’s burning wick until all the wax is consumed. Similarly salt does nothing until used in cooking to provide taste. Parents show their love for their children through sacrifice – home schooling during the Covid lockdown has called for a huge effort by parents, often in limited accommodation and trying to balance work with helping and supporting their children. Think of Mother Teresa who gave up her comfortable teaching career, and with just 5 rupees (13p) in her pocket began her challenging life for the “poorest of the poor” in the crowded slums of Calcutta. Let us do the same and think of others. Pick up the phone and call someone who is unable to go out and possibly lonely. Write a letter to someone, perhaps someone living alone or is unwell. Make a difference in the life of someone. 

There is story with the title: “I made a difference for that one.” (Adapted and condensed from “The Star Thrower” – a story by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977), from the book Unexpected Universe): One day, a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going down. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realise there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “See, I made a difference for that one.”  Surely that tells of the power within each one of us to make a difference in the lives of others. 

The Tenth Station:  Jesus is stripped of His garments.  “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World”.

When we began the Way of the Cross it was with great awareness that Jesus came down from heaven to bring God’s salvation to our world.  To this end He became like us in all things but sin.  He is now stripped of all His garments.  This in a very real way is what the coronavirus is doing.  As with Jesus it is happening with the help of the powers that be, for Jesus it was the Sanhedrin and the Roman Army.  As I listen to people in the very limited windows that are open to us; I cannot but echo how much our lives have been stripped by the virus.  One echo that I could identify with, was one persons desire never to listen to the media in the morning.  It is just shocking the length they go to gather the worst news they can find.  Also, the deep, deep affliction of those isolated by the virus left abandoned and in pain as death draws closer.  As He is stripped of His garments we are stripped of our comforts, and our distractions, while especially our children were stripped of their school, their supports, their access to life and friends.  For others the opportunity to find work and also to access the life of the sacraments.  Jesus is stripped.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.

The Eleventh Station:  Jesus is nailed to the Cross.  “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World”.

Options and choices are now so limited.  The sponge and the vinegar are galling and yet offered as a comfort.  Our lives can echo these realms of loss.  The memory of my dad with his constant pain, ministering as a priest opens ones eyes to deep afflictions.  The nails signify His abandonment, there is no way He could crucify Himself – yet He is God.   He could put a stop to it .  So often the afflictions in our lives as in the Gospel reading today are so self afflicted.  In the Gospel of St John 5: 1-3, 5-16.  Jesus heals the man on the sabbath and tells him to take up his mat and walk.   The powers that be, and they are the religious ones, are down to him.  He is breaking the sabbath.  The flow out of the vaccine is a very important element to us returning to a stable life.  Interruptions are a challenge and this to my family in Ireland at the moment has become a disturbance.  With the help of Him who loves us and died for us, obstacles will be overcome.        Jesus bows His Head and dies.    Father,    Son     and Holy Spirit.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.

We welcome the designation of Tuesday 23rd March as a National Day of Reflection to mark the anniversary of the first national lockdown with a minute’s silence at midday and doorstep vigils of light at 8pm.  A statement from the Presidency of the Bishops’ Conference can be found below.

Booking of Masses for Holy Week:

St Wilfrid’s Church                                                       St George’s Church

Palm Sunday       10.30am                                Palm Sunday                     9am

Holy Thursday                5pm                            Holy Thursday 7pm

Good Friday 3pm Good Friday 3pm

Saturday Easter Vigil 8pm Saturday Easter Vigil 6pm

Easter Sunday 10.30am Easter Sunday 9am

It is essential to book your place at Mass through the parish office on 841504 or email [email protected] for any of the above Masses.  The deadline for booking is Friday 19th March 2021.  We will try and accommodate everyone over this period to the best that we can during this difficult time, and will contact you by telephone or email to confirm your place.

I am sure you all know that this Sunday is Mothering Sunday. Mothers, we honour you this day and every day. We thank you, and we thank God for giving you to us and for endowing you with the spirit of giving, caring, nurturing, loving, and (when necessary) letting go.

There is a prayer which is one you can say at any time, but, it is very appropriate for Mothering Sunday, while quietly giving thanks for your own mother. “God our Mother and Father, rid our hearts and minds of all feelings and attitudes which do not reflect your loving kindness. Bless all mothers. Reward them for their sacrifice and their faithfulness to your image. We thank you for our mothers and for that part of you we have received through them. Finally, we pray that you will never let us forget how much our mothers and wives have given us. We ask this, emboldened by your Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord. Amen