The Parish of English Martyrs, St Joseph & St Peter in Chard, Ilminster and Crewkerne 2 East Street, Chard TA20 1EP Tel 01460 62197 Clifton Diocese, Registered no. 10462076, Registered Charity No. 1170168 Parish email: [email protected]

Parish website: www.emchard.org.uk Induction Loop Diocesan website: www.cliftondiocese.com systems are installed Parish Priest: Fr. Dominic Findlay-Wilson in our churches in Administrator: Mrs Maggie Weedon (Office hours: Monday - Friday, 10am to 12noon) Chard & Crewkerne.

SUNDAY 14th MARCH 2021 – FOURTH SUNDAY OF (Year B) Laetare Sunday All Masses are in Chard. Numbers are limited to 25 per Mass. If you wish to attend Mass please book with Maggie on (01460) 75714. If you cannot attend a Mass you have booked, please notify Maggie!

TO COMPLY WITH HEALTH & SAFETY REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE WEAR A FACE COVERING AT MASS Saturday 13th FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT March 5.30pm Vigil Mass Mariusz Ciupa RIP Recently Died Sunday 14th 9.00am Sunday Mass Margaret & Les Gilbert 23rd Wedding Anv. March 11.00am Sunday Mass . 3-4pm Divine Mercy Hour Monday 15th Weekday of Lent NO MASS March Tuesday 16th 6.00pm Mass, Weekday of Lent March Adoration until 7pm Wednesday 17th FEAST OF ST. PATRICK, BISHOP, PATRON OF IRELAND March 7.30am Mass Sue and Peter Rodgers Thanksgiving 9.30am Mass Bernadette Maher RIP 1st. Anv. Thursday 18th 9.30am Mass, Weekday of Lent March Adoration until 10.30am Friday 19th SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF THE March 7.30am Mass BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 9.30am Mass Fina and Michael Farthing Wedding Anv. 6.00pm Stations of the Cross Saturday 20th 9.00am Holy Rosary Weekday of Lent March 9.30am Mass

NEXT SUNDAY: FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT (Year B) Saturday 20th 5.30pm Vigil Mass FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT March 9.00am Sunday Mass Ursula and Roy Jones, in memory of Robert Jones Sunday 21st 11.00am Sunday Mass Michael Farthing Special Birthday March 3-4pm Divine Mercy Hour READINGS FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR B)

1st Reading: 2Chr 36: vv 14-16,19-23; Psalm 136; 2nd Reading: Eph 2: 4-10; Gospel: John 3: v 14-21.

PSALM RESPONSE: O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION: Praise to you, O Christ! God loved the world so much that he gave his only son; everyone who believes in him has eternal life. Praise to you, O Christ!

COMMUNION ANTIPHON: You must rejoice, my son, for your brother was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found. IN OUR PRAYERS THIS WEEK: Diocesan Prayer Link - We remember the Clergy and parishioners of St.Nicholas of Tolentino, Easton, St. Joseph, Fishponds, and St. Patrick, Redfield, Bristol. May they be guided by the Holy Spirit.

In our own parish, we pray for Fr Dominic, all parishioners and visitors, and those unable to be with us today; the sick, the housebound, and those who care for them, all who have asked for our prayers, those who have died recently, especially Robert Jones, and all those whose anniversaries occur at this time. May they rest in peace.

The Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions: March - Evangelisation: Sacrament of reconciliation. That we may experience the sacrament of reconciliation with renewed depth, to taste the infinite mercy of God.

WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER ON TODAY’S GOSPEL: JOHN 2: V 1`3 – 25 wept not only for Jerusalem, but for all of us. He gives His life so that we might recognize his visitation. St. Augustine said a word, a very strong sentence: ‘I am afraid of God, of Jesus, when He passes!’ But why are you afraid? ‘I’m afraid I will not recognize Him!’ If you are not careful with your heart, you will never know if Jesus is visiting you or not. May the Lord give all of us the grace to recognize the times we have been visited, we are visited and shall be visited, so that we open the door to Jesus and thus ensure that our heart is enlarged ever more by love, and that we might serve the Lord Jesus in love.”

(Homily, Santa Marta, 17 November 2016)

MASS & SERVICE TIMES FOR 2021

Palm Sunday: Saturday 27th March 5.30pm - Vigil Mass Sunday 28th March 9.00am - Mass 11.00am - Mass

Maundy Thursday, 1st April: 10.00am - 12 noon - Confessions

7.00pm - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Good Friday, 2nd April: 10.00am - Stations of the Cross 3.00pm - The Passion of the Lord

Holy Saturday,

3rd April: 8.00pm - The Vigil

Mass Offerings at the Vigil and on Easter Sunday are your gift to the Parish Priest

Sunday of the Resurrection (Easter Sunday), 4th April: 7.30am - Mass 9.30am - Mass

11.30am - Mass

BOOKING FOR HOLY WEEK MASSES

1. All Masses and services during Holy Week must be booked with Maggie in the usual way. All existing “weekly bookings” are suspended during Holy Week, and new booking must be made if you wish to

attend.

2. To ensure that as many people as possible are able to participate, only one Easter Weekend Mass per individual may be booked, eg if you book to attend the Easter Vigil, you will not be able to book a Mass on Easter Sundayl.

3. If you book a Mass and later decide not to attend, please cancel your booking as soon as possible, to enable the slot to be offered to someone else.

4. PLEASE BOOK IN GOOD TIME!

NOTICES Many parishioners will be familiar with the Carmelite Brown Scapular, a piece of cloth worn as MASS INTENTIONS: if you are donating to the a devotional object signifying love for Our Lady, the Parish Priest for a Mass Intention, you still need Blessed Virgin Mary. It is worn by hundreds of thousands of people around the world as a to advise full details to Maggie, either by phone or by using the Mass Intentions Envelope/Form. 'sacramental' object of Marian piety, and Pope Pius XII placed it 'in the first rank of Marian devotion' ON THE WEBSITE: For latest parish information, alongside the rosary. refer to the parish website www.emchard.org.uk. Father Dominic is offering Brown Scapulars to The Home Page includes a ‘Lockdown Update’ anyone who would like to be enrolled in the Brown as well as quick links to Sunday Masses, Readings Scapular Confraternity. Enrolment will take place on of the day, and the Newsletter, Thursdays after Mass. Read about our “Saint of the Week’, visit the Prayers You can read more about the Brown Scapular at page, and follow the Online Stations of the Cross www.sistersofcarmel.com/brown-scapular- information.php (see below).

The Parish Archive has been updated with all the Catechists: Request for Volunteers. Lent Talks from 2014, 2015 and 2016. Access these We need more people to help with instruction of First recordings at https://www.emchard.org.uk/archive Holy Communion candidates. If you are willing to lead or assist with First Communion classes, please PLEASE NOTE: The Parish Office hours are let Fr. Dominic know as soon as possible. The 9am-12noon, and parishioners are requested to necessary training and guidance will be given if only call within these hours unless the matter is needed. urgent. All messages left on the answerphone are answered.

100 Club Winners are: 1st Linda Crabb

(Chard) 2nd Patricia Hayhurst (Ilminster) 3rd Debbie Luck (Chard)

LENT IN THE PARISH

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY: It’s not too late to donate to the Lent Fast Day Appeal. Give online at www.cafod.org.uk/give, or by using one of the envelopes at the back of the church. You can also give via text - Text LENT to 70460 to donate £10. (note: Charges apply). Please sponsor Clare Constable, who is doing the 40-Day “Walk for Water” Challenge - Donate to Clare’s fundraising page at https://walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/clares-walk-for-water-challenge.

HOLY MASS: every Wednesday and Friday during Lent there are two Masses, at 7.30am and 9.30am.

CONFESSIONS are available by appointment only, to ensure that social distancing and adequate ventilation can be maintained. Appointments can be made with Maggie for a confession slot on Tuesday evenings, after Mass; Thursday mornings, after Mass; or Saturday mornings, after Mass.

Live STATIONS OF THE CROSS will take place in English Martyrs Church at 6pm on Fridays. ONLINE STATIONS OF THE CROSS with Meditations and Scripture Readings are now available on the parish website - see the links on the Home page. You are invited to work your way through each Station at your own pace, taking in the additional material which follows the traditional “Station”.

The 100 CLUB needs you!

Thank you to everyone who has renewed their membership for 2021. But the pandemic has taken its toll, and membership is currently smaller than it was last year. What does this mean ? Firstly, less money is raised for the Parish, Secondly, the quarterly cash prizes can’t be sustained at last year’s levels - unless we can catch up and grow membership numbers. This is where you come in!

If you haven’t renewed your membership yet, please consider doing this now; it’s not too late.. If you are already a paid-up member, why not consider increasing your chances of winning by taking out a second subscription, or ask a friend or family member to join. If you are not yet a member please consider supporting the parish in this way. All you need to do is complete the form below and get it to the Parish Office with your payment of £12 per entry (Cash, or a Cheque made payable to English Martyrs Parish). Closing Date: Sunday 21st March 2021 ______Please renew my 100 Club subscription for 2021/enrol me as a new member/add another subscription (delete as applicable).

Number of draw entries required (£12 per annum, per entry) …………………….

First Name Surname Address Contact telephone no

I enclose a CHEQUE/CASH (delete as appropriate) for £ …………………………………

Please send or deliver your form and payment to: 100 Club, English Martyrs Church, 2 East Street, Chard, TA20 18A.

NATIONAL NOVENA TO SAINT JOSEPH 10th to 18th March 2021 On the 8th of December last year, Pope Francis proclaimed a Year of Saint Joseph to mark the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Pope Pius IX of Saint Joseph as the Patron of the Universal Church. His Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), with which he Inaugurated the Year, can be accessed from the Vatican.va news website: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco=lettera- ap_20201208_patris-corde.html

Pope Francis’ prayer to Saint Joseph, at the end of the letter, is the daily Novena Prayer. You will find this prayer on our Parish Website, www.emchard.org.uk/prayers. You can find full details of the National Novena to Saint Joseph, including a prayer leaflet, at: www.millhillmissionaries.com/novena/