SUNDAY 21ST FEBRUARY 2021

 


MASSES AT OUR LADY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS ARE BROADCAST LIVE AT

https://www.churchservices.tv/folkestone 

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FEBRUARY 21ST, 2021

THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Second collection: Poor Parishes

 

MASS (OLHoC): 6.00pm (Saturday) (Members of the Wallis Family – living & deceased)

 

MASS (St Joseph’s): 9.00am (People of the Parish)

 

MASS (OLHoC): 11.00am (90th birthday of Peter Collins)

 

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Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions

After Mass on Monday, Tues., Thurs., and Friday

 

Confessions only

After Mass on Wednesday and Saturday a.m.

MONDAY, February 22nd

THE CHAIR OF ST PETER THE APOSTLE

MASS (OLHoC): 9.00am (Sr Marie du Sacré-Cœur RIP)

 

TUESDAY, February 23rd - Feria

MASS (OLHoC): 9.00am (George Hawkins RIP)

 

WEDNESDAY, February 24th - Feria

MASS (OLHoC): 10.00am (Charlotte Alexandra Henry-Prussia RIP)

STATIONS OF THE CROSS (St Joseph’s): 12 noon

 

THURSDAY, February 25th – Feria

MASS (OLHoC): 9.00am (Roy Sinnett RIP)

 

FRIDAY, February 26th – Feria

CAFOD LENT FAMILY FAST DAY

MASS (OLHoC): 9.00am (Richard Furlong RIP)

STATIONS OF THE CROSS (OLHoC): 12 noon

SATURDAY, February 27th – Feria

MASS (St Joseph’s): 10.00am (Deacon William Boyd RIP)

 

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Next Sunday: February 28th

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

 

MASS (OLHoC): 6.00pm (Saturday) (People of the Parish)

 

MASS (OLHoC): 9.00am (Cyril Hardy RIP)

 

MASS (OLHoC): 11.00am (William Cummins RIP)


“OH, COME TO THE WATER ALL YOU WHO ALL YOU WHO ARE THIRSTY” Isaiah 55:1 

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY – is this Friday, 26th February 2021. The theme of this year’s Lent Appeal is ‘Come to the Water’ and the appeal will help with things like providing water containers for families and providing safe water for schools in some of the driest places on earth such as Ethopia who struggle with access to things we all take for granted. 

Envelopes will be placed at the back of the church for you to put your donation in covering the cost of a meal to be handed in to the Parish Office at the Presbytery at 41 Guildhall Street. Alternatively, you can put your donation into the CAFOD basket at next Sunday’s Mass. 

This year’s Fast Day prayer for Lent is: 

Loving God,

we hear your call

to all who thirst

for a brighter future:

Come to the water.

 

Pour out your Spirit upon us

and lead us to walk

alongside one another.

 

Let a desire for change

well up within us.

May we overflow with

compassion and love.

 

And as a stream

wears away stone,

may we reshape

our world together

to reflect your kingdom

of hope for all.

Amen.

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FINAL REMINDER: THE DEADLINE FOR CONFIRMATION FORMS IS 26TH FEBRUARY

LENT - Lent is a 40-day fast — a reference to the time Jesus spent being tempted in the desert. It’s a time when we can prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Christ’s death. Our observance of Lent culminates in the solemn celebrations of Holy Week when on Palm Sunday we follow Christ from his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem to the foot of the Cross as sorrowful bystanders to His Passion, before rolling back the stone of the empty tomb and the joy of the Resurrection. The six-week period, excluding Sundays, is dedicated to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for this great celebration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery in the Easter Triduum.

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A RETREAT FOR LENT - Archbishop John and the Diocesan Spirituality Commission are offering a Retreat for Lent, which you can follow in your own home. 

Using the link below, you can watch a short video reflection each week, download prayer materials and other resources which can help you make the best use of whatever time and opportunity you may have during your week. 

If you are looking for a way to deepen your life of prayer this Lent, click on http://www.southwarkdsc.org.uk/followme   where you can also sign up to receive materials directly to your email.

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OFFETORY – last week’s collection (excluding standing orders) was £416.72. Thank you for your generosity. 

OUR LADY & ST JOSEPH’S 100 CLUB - The February draw will take place today, 21st February. 

STATIONS OF THE CROSS – during Lent our parish can follow the Stations of the Cross - at 12 noon on Wednesday at St Joseph’s and at 12 noon on Friday at Our Lady, help of Christians. A “station” is a place on a journey where one makes a stop – and we follow Jesus along the path of sorrow – the Via Dolorosa - from Pilate’s Court to the tomb, and we make a stop at fourteen places to be with Jesus on this way of suffering. The Stations of the Cross is a devotion that can reach deep into our hearts and prepares us to enter into the heart of the Paschal Mystery at Easter.

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THE WINTER SHELTER - Thank you to the volunteers and donors who keep the Winter Night Shelter up and running cooking meals for our guests. This year has been difficult with preparation of food for the many guests being done off site and taken to them in the evening.

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FINANCE COUNCIL is being reconvened and the next meeting will be in March via Zoom. Fr Alex is inviting all existing members of the Finance Council to reapply if they would like to remain on the body. In addition any parishioners who have financial qualifications, skills or simply good financial acumen, please apply via email to be a member of the finance Council to folkestone@rcaos.org.uk saying why you would like to be a member of this important committee in the life of our parish.

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PRAYERS – please pray for Francis McSwiggan, who is very unwell in the William Harvey Hospital, and for Michael Lyons, who is also in the William Harvey. 

Please pray for Louisa Schetter, 83 and originally from Naples, who is suffering from dementia and recently had a fall ending up in hospital where she has contracted Covid and hasn’t recently been able to eat or drink. 

Please also pray during February, please pray for all unborn babies and women facing crisis pregnancies.

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ATTENDANCE AT MASS – We continue to have Mass every day in our Parish and you are all very welcome to attend. 

·       Covid-19 may be spread most easily in enclosed spaces. We would ask that you respect social distancing at all times and wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth.

·       Please leave the church as soon as possible after Mass has finished.

·       Please do not sit next to, or mix, with anyone outside of your household or support bubble.

·       If you are in a vulnerable category, please think very carefully before coming to Mass. The Sunday obligation is still suspended.

·       The use of public transport is not recommended at present, so please consider alternative ways of getting home if at all possible. 

We appreciate that these requests are contrary to our usual instincts and desires, but you will have witnessed the local news and the current strain ion the NHS. We have a duty to keep ourselves and others safe. Thank you. 

All Masses held at Our Lady, Help of Christians are broadcast live at https://www.churchservices.tv/folkestone

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AT MASS IN LENT - In the West, Mass in Lent is bare and spare. The churches are empty of flowers, and plainly clad in the sober grandeur of purple. And we don’t say alleluia, there’s no music before mass, and no music after mass, and no music during mass, either, unless we’re actually singing or humming with our lips closed and our masks on!

 

The prayers and the readings are different every day, and they all serve to emphasise both penitence and looking forward to Easter - all this about Moses, and Abram - and deserts and the devil, the mountain-top, the disasters in Jerusalem, the woman taken in adultery . . . all lead us up to the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, with its momentary glimpse of wonder, and then our journey with Jesus to the Garden and the Courtroom, to Calvary and the Crucifixion amidst the desolation of Good Friday, and the empty, silent Saturday that succeeds it; and then on into the candlelit watch at the Vigil, until, renewing the vows of our baptism, we emerge with our newly baptized and confirmed catechumens into the glory bestowed upon us by the Risen Christ in the First Mass of Easter.

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SHAPING OUR ADULT SOCIAL CARE STRATEGY - Kent County Council Engagement Workshops 

We want to work more closely with the public, people we support and our partners to develop Kent County Council’s upcoming Adult Social Care Strategy. 

If you’re interested in the future of social care or have had a recent experience of accessing support in Kent, please get involved to share your views at our early engagement sessions. 

We’d like to hear from people from all backgrounds in Kent aged 18 and over. Workshops are also open to members of voluntary organisations and community groups. 

Join one of our online Zoom workshops in February and March* 

·                     10.30am – 12.00 Friday 19 Feb 

·                     10.30am – 12.00 Friday 26 Feb

·                     10.30am – 12.00 Friday 5 March

·                     10.30am – 12.00 Wednesday 10 March

·                     10.30am – 12.00 Friday 19 March

·                     10.30am – 12.00 Wednesday 31 March

(*Dates and times may change subject to demand) 

Continuing the conversation

We want to make sure that as many different communities as possible in Kent have the chance to get involved. If you run a local voluntary group or charity, let us know if you would like us to attend one of your virtual meetings. 

Register your interest at makingadifference@kent.gov.uk with your name, area of interest within social care, organisation (if applicable) and the date of the workshop you’d like to attend. 

For information call the Stakeholder Engagement team on 03000 418 179



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