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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

Tuesday, 9 March 11am-12pm

We have reached 85 livesimply awarded communities and there are a similar number of livesimply communities actively working on the Award in spite of the pandemic.
With Maria Elena Arana, livesimply Award Coordinator at CAFOD, Fr Rob Esdaile, parish priest at livesimply parish Our Lady of Lourdes Thames Ditton and Ellen Teague, livesimply Award assessor, learn more about how your parish or school could join us.Register to join us

While we are all welcome to return to church on Sunday and for the Holy Week Services, it is necessary to book your place at Mass through the parish office on 841504 or email [email protected].

Sometime in Lent I invite us all to pray for forgiveness for those sins which we know we have committed during the difficult times we have been through with the coronavirus pandemic. During Lent, we are given another chance to repent and return to our Heavenly Father’s love. Below is one suggestion for carrying this out on one’s own, or as a family, based on an idea I found on the internet. (I leave it to individuals to adjust the words “We, us, our, I etc., as appropriate)

This reading from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 serves as an introduction: So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, He made Him to be sin Who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The word of the Lord. R: Thanks be to God (Prayer) Lord Jesus, we ask Your pardon and forgiveness for not bearing witness to you by our lives, spreading through our words, deeds, and attitudes Your love, mercy, kindness, spirit of forgiveness and service to those around us.  We pray to the Lord.  “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  

Now call to mind the goodness of God our Father, and acknowledge our sins, so that we may receive His merciful forgiveness. “I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.”

(Prayer) My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You Whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Saviour Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen. 

(Concluding prayer) O Lord our God, look upon our weakness with compassion and forgiveness that we might be made whole again. Cleanse us of our sins, and free us from the prison of guilt, that we may live in the promised joy of Your salvation. May God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit Who gives life to all, grant us grace and mercy, now and forever, Amen.

In the gospel for the second Sunday of Lent we hear the Transfiguration story where Jesus is revealed in His Heavenly glory. We encounter transformation every time we receive a sacrament. Baptism transforms us into children of God and heirs of heaven.

Confirmation transforms us to be brave witnesses of and warriors for Christ. Reconciliation transforms sinners to saints.   In every Mass, the bread and wine we offer on the altar are transformed into the crucified and risen, living body and blood of Jesus. Every Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against temptations, and renew us during Lent. Our Communion with the living Jesus should be the source of our daily “transfiguration,” transforming our minds and hearts so that we may do more good, through service to others.  The transfiguration gives us a message of encouragement and hope in times of doubt and during our dark moments of despair and hopelessness, pain and suffering. The thought of our future transformation in Heaven will surely help us to reach out to God and to listen to His words: “This is my beloved son.” During this Lent let us offer our Lenten sacrifices to the Lord so that through the acceptance of our daily crosses, we may grow closer to him in his suffering, may share in the carrying of his cross and finally may share the glory of his second “transfiguration,” namely, his Resurrection. 

I found the following material on the internet about a Dr. Peggy Hartshorn who tells a dramatic story about a woman who glimpsed the mystery of her unborn child. The young woman was seeking an abortion. She simply could not handle having a baby at this time. But she agreed to an ultrasound. When the baby appeared on the screen, the woman was amazed to see the perfectly formed body, the tiny legs and arms moving inside her womb. But the woman kept saying, “No, no, I have to have an abortion.” Dr. Hartshorn knew that seventy-five percent of women who see an ultrasound decide to keep their baby – but that a quarter, nevertheless, still have the abortion. It seemed like this woman would be in that twenty-five percent. All of sudden, Dr. Hartshorn’s assistant said, “Reach out and take your baby’s hand.”  The woman raised her hand and touched the monitor. As if by some divine cue, the baby stretched out his arm to the exact place of his mom’s hand. On the screen his tiny fingers met hers. The woman underwent a transformation and kept her baby. Surely we recognise that there is a mystery inside each one of us – the mystery of the image of God.

The work of CAFOD is most important in the life of the church, so they deserve not only our gratitude but our financial support because they are serving us so well in doing something that should be most important in our lives.  Donate online at cafod.org.uk/give or by using one of our envelopes.  Thank you.

Easter Retreat:  Join the Wellspring Community, Monks of Worth Abbey, and young people from across the country in this interactive online retreat over the Easter Triduum.  With a mixture of prayer, small groups and talks there is a great opportunity to journey with others deeper into the mystery of Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We have created the timetable in such a way that you should be able to attend the liturgies in your local church and if this is not possible we will offer guidance in how to create a prayerful liturgy at home. Should one of the sessions clash with your local liturgy you will have access later so you can catch up.                           

Plenty of space will be given to allow for deep reflection and personal journeying with God.” http://www.wellspringbrighton.org.uk/the-virtual-easter-retreat/

Here is the facebook link for the retreat:   https://www.facebook.com/events/3623733677740460/

Heaven’s Road Catholic Online Radio www.heavensroadfm.com is an online radio broadcasting features like prayers, interviews and music to appeal to a Catholic audience – they also have many podcasts and broadcast over 40 daily live Masses from 15 churches in England and Ireland from their website www.heavensroadfm.com

The weekly Thursday conversation groups are now fully booked but the Monday videos can be viewed via our website www.abdiocese.org.uk Transcripts of Speakers and those giving testimony are also available.  Thank you to all who have signed up.

ONLINE RETREATS: The Open Cloister at Worth Abbey
led by Michael Woodward (member of the Lay Community of St Benedict)
12th-14th March:   Romero and the Salvadorian Martyrs:
Along with St Romero, we will look at his friend Rutilio Grande, the four US Churchwomen, the UCA Jesuits & the hundreds of lesser known Salvadorans who died from 1977-1992.
26th-28th March (Palm Sunday weekend)  The Holy Shroud:
Gospel beyond Words – What the Shroud Tells Us
Book your place on line at https://worth.co.uk/retreats/online-retreats     Further information available from E: [email protected]