Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St

The Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Wilfrid The Presbytery, 12 Church Road, Selsey, West Sussex, PO20 0LS ‘Phone: 01243 604953 Parish website: www.stwilfridselsey.co.uk PARISH PRIEST: Father John Healy

1st SUNDAY OF LENT 8th/9th March 2014 Mass Times Saturday 5.30pm Sunday 10.00am Intentions of the Parish Monday Weekday of Lent 10.00am Tuesday Weekday of Lent No Mass Wednesday Weekday of Lent No Mass Thursday Weekday of Lent No Mass Friday Weekday of Lent 10.00am Saturday Weekday of Lent No Morning Mass 2nd SUNDAY OF LENT 5.30pm Sunday 10.00am Intentions of the Parish Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday, 4.45 to 5.15pm. [1st Sunday of Lent – page 151 in the Parish Mass Book] KIDS GROW POTATOES: Younger members of the parish will be offered a seed potato or two after Mass today – for a small entry fee. They are invited to find a corner of the garden at home, or a suitable tub, in which to plant and grow their potato: there will be a prize later in the year for whoever grows the heaviest crop of new potatoes. QUIZ NIGHT: The second Quiz Night – and a chance to win the coveted St. Wilfrid’s Challenge Cup – will be on Saturday, 29th March after the evening Mass. Now is the time to organise your Teams and buy your tickets – on sale after Mass from this weekend. SOCIAL AND FUNDRAISING MEETING: There will be a meeting of the Group on Tuesday: 6.30pm in the Parish Hall. New members, with new ideas, are always welcome. LENT FAST DAY: Friday this week is the annual Lent Fast Day. We are invited to “give up” something we enjoy and donate what we save to CAFOD in support of those who have much less than ourselves. The theme this Year is, “Dig Deep This Fast Day to Transform Land and Lives.” Envelopes are available this weekend for your savings which can be returned next weekend in the special retiring collection. LENTEN ALMS: A traditional Lenten discipline is almsgiving, or works of charity. Giving to the Lenten Alms – an annual collection throughout Lent – is one expression of charity. The alms raised will be in support of enclosed Congregations of Women in the diocese, the closest to us being at Crossbush, near Arundel. The Lenten Alms wall box is in the porch and clearly marked. LENTEN PRACTICES 1 - PRAYER Many people in Jesus’ time used to make a great show of saying their daily prayers, in the morning, at noon and in the afternoon. At the set times of prayer wherever they were and whatever they were doing, they had to stop everything, adopt the posture of prayer and recite the set prayers, mostly the psalms, out loud. (We often see pictures on television of devout Jews doing much the same at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.) Jesus wasn’t speaking out against prayer and worship in public: if he were there would be no Mass or devotions in our Churches. He wanted his followers to be sure that when they prayed they did so for the right reasons: to give praise and glory to God and not to draw attention to themselves. Lent is a time to review our life of prayer and, if we find it wanting, to get back on track. Do we give time to God each day – enough time, even any time? It doesn’t need to be particularly formal or in a particular place: it is enough simply to set aside some time every day which is time for God alone. There are many ways in which to be still “in the presence of God” – reading the Bible or a good spiritual book; reciting prayers from memory or from a prayer book; walking in the country or beside the sea; sitting quietly anywhere that is comfortable and where we can be undisturbed for a few minutes. Lent is a time, too, for reflecting on our disposition to the liturgy – praying with others. Do I “drag my feet” when coming to Mass and then make a minimal contribution to the celebration? Participation in the liturgy is as much about what I put into it as what I might expect to get out of it. Lent could be a time to pay more attention to the content of the Readings, be more enthusiastic in making the responses, more joyful in singing the hymns, more attentive to those around me. A good Lent is one that finds us closer to God, and God closer to us, at the end of Lent than at the beginning. MINISTERS FOR HOLY WEEK: Readers and Ministers of Holy Communion likely to be attending any or all of The Triduum Services (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil) are asked to let Stella Crist know of their plans – ‘phone 603221 – so that she can draw up a Rota of Ministers. A SPRING CLEAN: The recent sunny days have shown up the winter dust and dirt about the house: it’s time to spring clean! Would you like a year off this annual task? Two domestic cleaners from Molly Maid will visit your home and together devote two hours to making your house sparkle. To enjoy this service you need to bid higher than anyone else in the parish in a “Progressive Auction.” There is a “Bid Box” in the Porch with some special yellow envelopes nearby. Write the amount of your bid on the special slip of paper, with your name and contact ‘phone number, and enclose it in the envelope with a “bid fee” of £1 (for the Church Maintenance Fund) and place it in the “Bid Box.” Throughout the month the amount of the highest bid will be published weekly – as you may want to up your bid if necessary. Please see a poster on the Church Notice Board for full details. SIGN-UP SUNDAYS: There will be three meetings before Easter, and three after, to reflect on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on Divine Revelation – how God speaks to us, and how we can respond. The meetings this side of Easter will be on Thursday evenings – March 27th; April 3rd and 10th – in the Hall beginning at 7.00pm. There will be a chance to sign-up to join the group during the next two weekends. This is part of our preparation for the diocesan Jubilee Year in 2015: more details in the Newsletter next week.

PLEASE PRAY FOR: Max Foreshew, Christina Hackett, Nell Hassett, Margaret Kortens, Dave Mortby, Peggy Owens, Theresa Watson and all in the parish who are sick. Please speak to Fr. John if you would like the parish to pray for you, or for someone in your family. Collections: 1st/2nd March Offertory Collection £433.29p Church Maintenance Fund £90.13p The Arundel and Brighton Diocesan Trust is a Registered Charity No 252878