Parish Newsletter Sunday 22nd February 2009

St Simon Stock Catholic Church Brookfield Road, South Ashford, Kent TN23 4EU Tel: 01233 622399

Parish Priest: Fr John Boyle Saint Simon of England RC Primary School, Noakes Meadow, Ashford, TN23 2RB. Tel: 01233 623199 Head teacher: Mrs Elizabeth Willis

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS nd Sunday 22 Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) Day for the unemployed 10.00am Mass (Walter Borucki RIP) followed by baptism of Sinead O‟Neill 12.00 noon Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal, Quinquagesima Sunday) (Tony Simmons RIP) 4.00pm Mass in Polish 6.00pm Mass (For the people of the parish) rd Monday 23 St Polycarp, bishop and martyr 6.45pm Mass (Marie, Patrick, Annie & Hugh Treacy, Phylis Wood and Sarah Mills RIP) th Tuesday 24 9.30am Mass (In thanksgiving – Marie-Margerite Vella) followed by Divine Mercy Chaplet & Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 10.30am. th

The Season of Lent

Wednesday 25 Ash Wednesday- A day of fasting and abstinence Ashes will be blessed and distributed at both Masses 9.30am Mass (Holy Souls) St. Simon‟s KS2 attending 7.00pm Mass th Thursday 26 6.45pm Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal) (James Beach RIP) th Friday 27 9.30am Mass (Les Oakley RIP) th Saturday 28 9.00am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 10.00am Mass (William Kiely RIP) 5.30pm Holy Qurbana - Mass in the Syro Malabar Rite st Sunday 1 March First Sunday of Lent (B) 10.00am Mass (In thanksgiving – Jean Claude Bonnefin) 5.15pm Stations of the Cross 6.00pm Mass (For the people of the parish) CONFESSIONS/CONSULTATIONS Saturday: 10.30am, Sunday 9.30am, 5.30pm. Weekdays: before or after Mass upon request. CHURCH CLEANING th th th th th 27 Sue; March 6 Tara; 13 Bridie; 20 Sheila; 27 Sue COLLECTIONS LAST SUNDAY Offertory: £357.73, (Gift Aid: £187.20, loose plate: £170.53) + £99 approx by standing order. To contribute by regular standing order please ask for a form. If you are a tax payer and are not already using the Gift Aid scheme, please ask for a Gift Aid form. Second collection: Parish Maintenance & Development Fund: £121.47. Thank you. Second collection today and next Sunday: Parish Maintenance & Development Fund. KATHLEEN SORRELL RIP Please pray for the repose of the soul of Kathleen who died on Thursday aged 90 and for her family that they be given strength and comfort by our Risen Lord. May she rest in the peace of Christ. PARISH ADVISORY COUNCIL A reminder to members of the Parish Advisory Council that the next meeting is tomorrow at 7.30pm.

22nd FEBRUARY 2009 SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B

TODAY’S MASS TEXTS Entrance Antiphon: Ps 12:6 Lord, your mercy is my hope, my heart rejoices in your saving power. I will sing to the Lord for his goodness to me. First Reading: Isaiah 43:18-19.21-22.24-25 I it is who must blot out everything. Responsorial Psalm: Ps 40 R: Heal my soul for I have sinned against you. Happy the man who considers the poor and the weak. The Lord will save him in the day of evil, will guard him, give him life, make him happy in the land and will not give him up to the will of his foes. (R) The Lord will help him on his bed of pain, he will bring him back from sickness to health. As for me, I said: “Lord have mercy on me, heal my soul for I have sinned against you.” (R) If you uphold me I shall be unharmed and set in your presence for evermore. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from age to age. Amen. Amen. (R) Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 Jesus was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes. Gospel Acclamation: John 1:12.14 Alleluia, alleluia! The Word was made flesh and lived among us; to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. Alleluia! Gospel: Mark 2:1-12 The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Preface of Sunday 5, Eucharistic Prayer 2 Communion Antiphon: Ps 9:2-3 I will tell all your marvellous works. I will rejoice and be glad in you, and sing to your name, Most High. TH

ASH WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY A day of fasting and abstinence. All aged 14 or over are obliged to abstain from meat. All aged 18 or over and under 59 are also obliged to fast. These are forms of penance and self-denial that help us to be detached from the material comforts of this life and to concentrate more on the welfare of our souls. They are also important as reparation for sins. Lent is a particularly apt time for such penance as we seek to prepare for and identify with the commemoration of Our Lord‟s passion and death in Holy Week. Illness obviously excuses one from fasting and abstinence. STATIONS OF THE CROSS IN LENT As in previous years, this will take place on Sunday evenings at 5.15pm. Do make an effort to participate in this devotion in Lent. If you would come on a Friday evening, let Fr John know and it will be organised. MONTHLY PRAYER REQUESTS FOR PRIESTS Please pick up the revised list for February and the list for March from the table in the foyer. It is most important that priests be encouraged by the knowledge that they are being supported by the prayers of the faithful. PRAYERS FOR THE SICK Please pray for Jean Borucki, Sarah Shinn, Barry Crook and all our sick parishioners. If you know of anyone who needs our prayers at the present time, please place their names in the box in the Church foyer.

Email: [email protected]; Web: www.stsimon.org.uk; Parish blog: http://st-simon-parish.blogspot.com/; diocesan website: www.rcsouthwark.co.uk

FROM FATHER JOHN’S DESKTOP Lent can take us by surprise. Unlike the season of Advent, there is no lead-up to Lent in the Liturgy. As we approach the end of the Church‟s liturgical year, the Mass texts are already preparing us for the second coming of Christ, which is one of the aims of Advent. With Lent, however, we simply interrupt the observation of „Ordinary Time‟ and st will not pick it up again until Sunday 21 June after Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi. So, are you ready for Ash Wednesday this coming Wednesday? Resolutions for „giving up‟ things are, of course, good in themselves but they are meant to result in some positive change in our lives. An initial aim could be to begin Lent well, by doing all in your power to attend Mass on Ash Wednesday and receive the ashes as a sign that we recognise the need for conversion. „Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you shall return‟ is one of the formulae the priest may say as he places ashes upon us. It has its origin in the Book of Genesis when the LORD God explained to Adam the consequences of the sin that he and Eve had committed in eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, „You shall not eat of it‟, cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you… In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:17-19) Eve listened to the serpent, Adam listened to Eve, and all the evils that afflict mankind find their origin in that fall of our first parents. They both listened to the wrong message and so inherited a curse instead of a blessing. Perhaps Lent might be a time for reflecting on the messages we listen to. How easily does the Lord God gain access to our hearts and minds? When we receive him in the Holy Eucharist, can he take full possession of our souls? Does he find our hearts undivided in love for him? Or does he have to compete with other „priorities‟, other messages (from TV, internet, newspapers, magazines…)? If, through our observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we find ourselves listening more closely to God whose Word comes to us through the Scriptures, prayer, the teachings and Sacraments of the Church, we will truly experience the blessings of being once again in right relationship with Christ and our neighbour. We will also see more clearly our need for forgiveness and prepare ourselves for a good confession. Oh, and we can be cheerful in Lent – see the picture above! Fr John. REGULAR EVENTS – COME ALONG! DIVINE MERCY PRAYER GROUP after the 9.30am Mass on Tuesdays. Prayers of intercession for various needs and silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament till 10.30am. MUSIC PRACTICE TUESDAYS 7.30PM Newcomers always welcome. BIBLE STUDY THURSDAYS 7.30PM Studying St Paul‟s letters to the Corinthians and Pope Benedict‟s Wednesday audiences on St Paul. EVANGELIUM – CATHOLIC FAITH ENQUIRY For all, Catholic or not, who would like to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith. Next meeting: 7.15pm Friday th 27 February. Topic: The Church. HELPING YOUR CHILDREN MAKE GOOD LIFE CHOICES Come and hear Greg and Aghi Clovis of Family Life International share the experiences they have gained from raising a family of their own after 10.00am Mass next Sunday in the Church hall. The session will end at 12.15pm. Adults and teenage children are welcome to attend. See notice board. SERVERS DAY LAST SUNDAY Over 40 servers from the parishes of New Addington, Northfleet, Parkwood & Wigmore, Stamford Hill and, of course. South Ashford, attended last Sunday‟s event. A special thanks to all our parishioners who helped on the day: Susan Radecka, Kenneth and Martine Standish, Thereza Baker (and anyone I have left out) and Dara Farrell for helping with the sports. Thanks, too, to Fathers Ugo Nnaji MSP and Robert Copsey SOLT for hearing confessions. WEEKDAY MASS TIMES Following consultation on Friday Mass times, no consensus was apparent, so I have made the following decision: Mass on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays will, as a rule, return to the former customary time of 9.30am, except on the First Friday of the month when it will be at 6.45pm, at least for the time being. On Monday and Thursday Mass will remain at 6.45pm as at present. Fr John.

MASS IN CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY WITH ARCHBISHOP KEVIN MCDONALD AT TH AYLESFORD PRIORY 3PM SATURDAY 30 MAY Archbishop Kevin will celebrate this Mass and wants to specially invite all couples and their families in the Diocese who are st th th th th th celebrating a 1 , 10 , 25 , 40 , 50 or 60 + anniversary this year. Couples celebrating 1, 25 and 40 years of marriage have already requested invitations. Why not join them? Please let Fr. John know if you qualify for a special anniversary invitation. FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT RD TH 23 FEB – 8 MARCH Two billion people – a third of humanity – still survive on less than $2 a day. Unfair trade rules keep them in poverty, but they face the global challenges of food shortages and climate change too. Fairtrade is a people‟s movement for change that aims to tip the balance of trade in favour of poor producers. We all need Fairtrade more than ever and we all have the power to create positive change for people and planet. Make it happen. Choose Fairtrade. TH

LENT FAST DAY FRIDAY 6 MARCH Fasting is one of the penitential disciplines for Lent. It is connected very closely with prayer (our senses pray in a real sense through fasting) and almsgiving (we are able to give the th money saved by fasting to the poor). On Sunday 8 March a second collection will be taken and the proceeds sent to the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’. COR UNUM expresses "the care of the Catholic Church for the needy, thereby encouraging human fellowship and making manifest the charity of Christ" and, on the Pope‟s behalf, grants humanitarian relief in response to disasters or in promoting integral human development in needy areas of the world. Please give generously. TH

WOMEN’S WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FRIDAY 6 MARCH Services will be held at 11am at St Teresa‟s and 7pm at Kennington URC. See notice board. All are welcome. SITUATION VACANT Parish Secretary/Parish Administrator for Hythe Catholic Church. Hours and salary are negotiable. Please contact Deacon Ray Partridge at 01303 873835.

To catch up on previous newsletters visit http://www.stsimon.org.uk/Newsletters/. Parish blog: http://st-simon-parish.blogspot.com/