SHOCK THAT POPE IS A CATHOLIC & NEW PRE -9PM TV ADVERTS

SHOCK THAT POPE IS A CATHOLIC & NEW PRE-9 PM TV ADVERTS
What has been happening? The press have reported & supported various attacks upon the Pope, including from numerous heads of governments and even Catholics
.For instance? Just before last Christmas he was widely accused of attacking homosexuals
.What did he actually done? He hadn’t mentioned this group but had said that the complimentarit-y of male & female is important and is being undermined and obscured today in western culture. Certainly his speech was indirectly supporting traditional marriage – but then he is a Catholic.
Other e.g.s? Last month he was widely accused of trying to undermine Jewish-Christian respect.
What had he actually done? An act of charity, for Christian unity: He had made the first tentative step along the long road of reconciling four Bishops who were excommunicated from the Church in the 90’s. One of these Bishops had denied the Holocaust gas chambers. But many of the Pope’s statements show that he in no way supports such sentiments. Furthermore he has been a consistent defender of respectful Jewish-Christian dialogue. Jewish leaders defended him.
What’s the latest example?Recently he was accused of encouraging the AIDS epidemic in Africa
What had he actually done? He unsurprisingly repeated another well-known Catholic teaching.
Which teaching? That officially distributing condoms to those involved in promiscuous behaviour involves official support for this behaviour. This behaviour all acknowledge is at the heart of the AIDS epidemic. Officially aiding and abetting such behaviour will make it more frequent.
Why does the Church teach this? Catholic moral teaching and common law acknowledges that supporting a behaviour which is wrong makes you party to the act. You are responsible for the act. It encourages the act. It gives permission for it. Alone the Catholic Church teaches that officially giving out condoms will make the problems worse.
Is there any independent support for this? Yes. Whilst studies show that in a particular promiscuous act condoms significantly reduce the risk of passing on viruses (though never to close to zero) increasing amounts of academic studies show that in the population as a whole official condom promotion makes it worse. Promiscuity increases, condom failure increases, etc.
Is this borne out in practice? Uganda is one of the very few places where official support for condom use is played down. It is one of the v. few places in Africa where the prevalence of AIDS has been significantly reduced. HIV decreases wherever & only wherever abstinence increases.
What about our own country? For decades we have had an increase in (i) official support for condom use amongst promiscuous teenagers, & (ii) Teenage STD’s & unwanted pregnancies. Both these processes look set to continue. The latest initiative is to advertise condoms before the 9 pm threshold – so (i) continues apace. If Catholic teaching is right (ii) will continue.

“EASTER DUTIES”

Down the centuries has reminded us of what has been popularly called our “Easter Duties” to go to Holy Communion around Easter time, that is at least in Lent and/or Eastertide. This should also include making use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which takes place here on Saturday mornings and evenings (see back of newsletter), on request to a priest and at other times as indicated in the newsletter (e.g. after some Sunday Masses close to Easter).

There are blue examination of conscience leaflets at the back of Church. These are especially helpful for helping us to discover what we have done wrong. The more we discover the deeper we can repent and be healed and the deeper we can know the love of God – like our own patroness of whom Jesus said “As she loves much she mist have been forgiven much”.

Pope Benedict began this Lent by speaking, in his Angelus message, about the Gospel account of the healing of the leper. He invited the faithful to turn frequently to the sacrament of Confession.

The Pope said the sins that we commit separate us from God, and if they are not confessed with humility and trust in the divine mercy, they can even reach the point of producing the death of the soul.

He said that in the Sacrament of Penance, Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purifies us with his infinite mercy and restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and with our brothers.

The Holy Father pointed out how, according to the ancient Jewish law, leprosy was considered not only an illness, but the most serious form of impurity. In leprosy, it’s possible to glimpse a symbol of sin, and in his passion, Jesus would become like a leper, made unclean by our sins and separated from God. He would do all of this for love, for the purpose of obtaining for us reconciliation, forgiveness,

MOTHER'S DAY: NEXT SUNDAYWe are designed to receive life from the womb of our mother, and to receive "the fullness of life" from the womb of the Mother of God. Mother's Day is then the celebration of an exalted vocation, and one which most clearly shows the forth the truth of the Son of Mary's key to life and its fullness: "He who loses his life will find it"; "the last will be first", "I have given you an example, go and do likewise".

Mothering Sunday is originally a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe.
A religious festival celebrating motherhood has been existent in Europe since approximately 250 BC when the Romans honoured the mother goddess Cybele during mid-March. As the Roman Empire and Europe converted to Christianity, Mothering Sunday celebrations became part of the liturgical calendar as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent to honour the Virgin Mary and the "mother church"[1].

During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was either a large local church, or more often the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this preceded the term Mothering Sunday is unclear. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, if prevented by conflicting working hours. Another tradition associated with Mothering Sunday is the practice of "clipping the church", whereby the congregation form a ring around their church building and, holding hands, embrace it.

The celebration of Mother’s Day itself is a more recent phenomenon. Ann Jarvis of West Virginia, USA, on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, asked her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia, to celebrate a day to honor mothers. Her mother had died on the second Sunday in May. The church obliged and the following year, the city of Philadelphia joined in the celebration. Thanks to a campaign by Jarvis and her supporters, by 1911 almost every American state celebrated Mother’s Day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.

At one point Ann Jarvis became so fed up with how commercial the holiday had become that she actually filed a lawsuit to stop one Mother’s Day event from taking place.
May Mary Mother of the Church, pray for our mothers

Next three weeks: The Scrutinies
At next Sunday’s 10:30 Mass six people preparing to become Catholic here in our parish, through the Journey in Faith group, will undertake the first of the traditional ‘Scrutinies’.
The next two scrutinies will take place at different Masses over the following two weekends.
These Masses will include particular Gospels, as explained below. The Church’s Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (141-145), states that the scrutinies are:

“rites for self-searching and repentance and have above all a spiritual purpose. The scrutinies are meant to uncover, and then heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the hearts of the elect; to bring out, then strengthen all that is upright, strong, and good. For the scrutinies are celebrated in order to deliver the elect from the power of sin and Satan, to protect them against temptation, and to give them strength in Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.
“ ... the elect must have the intention of achieving an intimate knowledge of Christ and his Church, and they are expected particularly to progress in genuine self-knowledge through serious examination of their lives and true repentance.
“
In order to inspire in the elect a desire for purification and redemption by Christ, three scrutinies are celebrated. By this means, first of all, the elect are instructed gradually about the mystery of sin, from which the whole world and every person longs to be delivered and thus saved from its present and future consequences.

Second, their spirit is filled with Christ the Redeemer, who is the living water (gospel of the Samaritan woman in the first scrutiny), the light of the world (gospel of the man born blind in the second scrutiny), the resurrection and the life (gospel of Lazarus in the third scrutiny). From the first to the final scrutiny the elect should progress in their perception of sin and their desire for salvation.
“ ... faithful in the assembly will also derive benefit from the liturgy of the scrutinies and join in the intercessions for the elect.”

THIS FRIDAY: FAMILY FAST DAY
In Lent 2008 parishioners gave generously to the earthquake appeal in behalf of “Ngwino Nawe”, a Rwandan residential home for disabled children. As a result of this Therese Mukandaliyo, founder and manager of the centre, was able to have a new, timber dormitory built to house the older boys.

With the help of Rwanda Aid Ngwino Nawe’s capacity is currently growing from 25 to 4 places. Therese now needs help to provide furnishings for the six new houses.

The present timber building, built with our funds is being re-functioned into a workshop for those children able to learn a simple but useful craft such as basket weaving.

Helen and Judith, members of our Thursday reflection group, plan to return to Rwanda in August for their annual visit, especially offering their music therapy skills. This time they will probably be based at Gitarama, some 50 miles from Kigali, helping one or two other centres to become a reference point for expansion.

Take a white envelope from the back, fast from food on Friday and put the amount of money saved and/or a donation in the white envelope, to be given in next Sunday.

THIS TUESDAY: TAKING THE PLEDGE FOR LENT
If you would like to give up alcohol for (the rest of) Lent in a way that links you with a group of people in solidarity with and in prayer for those who suffer from alcohol or drug addiction, and other abuses of the body, then join Fr Hugh and others on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., in the Church for 20 mins to take the Pioneers’ Lenten Pledge. This is a commitment to abstain from all intoxicating drink, to recite a daily prayer daily, to

GIVING UP SOMETHING FOT LENT

GIVING UP SOMETHING FOR LENT?

Am I afraid to be changed? Don’t be, at least when it’s God doing the changing – 365 times in the Bible we read “Do not be afraid”.

The fridge magnet "Diet starts tomorrow" can make some of us laugh. It is somehow in us to put off things we need to do which are hard to do. Dieting is a good example of that for many. But in Lent there is a tradition of giving something up and the purpose is not to lose weight so we can fit into a slimmer pair of jeans. The purpose is a denial of self, the training our will. By giving up we realise how grateful we are for what we have. It also has a tendency to remind us that we are dependent on so many things which don't really make us grow as persons and we need to be dependent on God. As with all ‘penance’ it can make us more open to his power.

But what should I give up? I heard a story the other day about a father who had urged his children to move beyond giving up sweets to give up some habit of sin that marked their lives. About halfway through Lent he asked the children how they were doing with their Lenten promise. One of his young sons had promised to give up fighting with his brothers and sisters during Lent. When his father asked him how it was going, the boy replied, "I'm doing pretty good, Dad—but boy, I can't wait until Easter!"

This boy had only partly understood the purpose of Lenten "giving up"! Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ.

Now is the time for us to reflect about the parts of our lives marked by sin. Now is the time to reflect about them & to give them over to God. The sacra-ment of confession offers tremendous healing and strength to those who desire to be renewed and have the courage and the grace to be changed.
(N.B. see the Pioneers’ “Pledge idea on the inside)

week of 15th feb 09

GIVING UP SOMETHING FOR LENT?

Am I afraid to be changed? Don’t be, at least when it’s God doing the changing – 365 times in the Bible we read “Do not be afraid”.

The fridge magnet "Diet starts tomorrow" can make some of us laugh. It is somehow in us to put off things we need to do which are hard to do. Dieting is a good example of that for many. But in Lent there is a tradition of giving something up and the purpose is not to lose weight so we can fit into a slimmer pair of jeans. The purpose is a denial of self, the training our will. By giving up we realise how grateful we are for what we have. It also has a tendency to remind us that we are dependent on so many things which don't really make us grow as persons and we need to be dependent on God. As with all ‘penance’ it can make us more open to his power.

But what should I give up? I heard a story the other day about a father who had urged his children to move beyond giving up sweets to give up some habit of sin that marked their lives. About halfway through Lent he asked the children how they were doing with their Lenten promise. One of his young sons had promised to give up fighting with his brothers and sisters during Lent. When his father asked him how it was going, the boy replied, "I'm doing pretty good, Dad—but boy, I can't wait until Easter!"

This boy had only partly understood the purpose of Lenten "giving up"! Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ.

Now is the time for us to reflect about the parts of our lives marked by sin. Now is the time to reflect about them & to give them over to God. The sacra-ment of confession offers tremendous healing and strength to those who desire to be renewed and have the courage and the grace to be changed.
(N.B. see the Pioneers’ “Pledge idea on the inside)

TIME TO DECIDE

This is the final week of our Planned Giving drive. After the Communion Rite, we will be asking you to consider making a pledge. You will be given a yellow card that will offer you 3 choices: (this card can be placed in the white confidential envelopes)
 Continue to use the envelopes you already have–a new amount may be chosen
 Starting to use the weekly donation envelopes. You will be given these.
 Making a regular donation by Standing Order. We will give you a special form – which should be completed and returned to your bank. (We can also give you envelopes to give at the Offertory, to indicate that you support in this way)

Also if you pay tax you can tick the Gift Aid box at the bottom of the card which will make the government give an extra 28p for each pound you give. If you are a taxpayer, I would ask you to tick this box however you decide to support the parish. We will give you a form to fill in and return. Unless you are choosing to pay by Standing Order or by cheque we will also give you special envelopes for your donations in order to keep track of what you have given.
N.B.I know that you will do your best to carry out your pledge. But this is not a binding promise and if, for example, your circumstances change, you can change the amount that you give or stop giving altogether.

THE OFFERTORY COLLECTION (from our 13th June 2007 newsletter)
What is the Offertory? This is the ‘rite’ by which the bread and wine are presented (offered) to God before they are consecrated. ‘The collection’ of alms is part of this.
What does this presentation signify? First and foremost it is the actual provision of material food from our lives, to become one with the flesh of Christ during the Eucharistic Prayer, our Bread of Life. It signifies our lives, joys and sorrows which will be transformed and swept up into his life of self-giving (Sacrifice) to the Father for us.
Why the Collection? This is also a provision of something real from our lives, earned by the sweat of our brow, that God may bring spiritual fruit from it. Monies collected go towards the upkeep of the Church and Presbytery, any expenses from parish groups, and the wages of anyone employed within these parish structures. Direct financial support of clergy is through the Christmas and Easter offerings, and stipends for baptisms, marriages, funerals and daily masses. Full accounts are published each year, scrutinized by the diocese, our own finance committee and external accountants.