LENT 2020

LENT

- Time to Get Ready for Easter!

No public Masses or services will take place from this Friday March 20th until further notice - please disregard all times listed here or elsewhere on this website.

MASS IN LENT

Mass in Lent is bare and spare, as we empty our church of flowers, keep it plain, and decorate it only with the grand sobriety of purple. “Alleluia!” vanishes from every text, and there’s no music before, during, or after mass - no music at all, unless we’re actually singing. And the readings - creation, desert, departure, transfiguration, water and water, anointing and spittle, the promises and Jerusalem. . . all leading us up to that moment when we leave Lent behind on Holy Thursday night and enter liturgically and sacramentally into the Lord’s Passion, going with him through the glimpse of glory at the Last Supper,  into the desolation of Good Friday and the dead, silent Sabbath; and taking up the candlelit watch of the Vigil until, as we renew the vows of our baptism, Christ brings us up into the fullness of his risen life at the First Mass of Easter.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS
CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

Fridays in Lent

Once more, on Fridays during Lent our parish can follow the Stations of the Cross together - at 9.15am at OLHoC, and at 11.00am at St Joseph’s. Stations aren’t just for trains and buses! A “station” means a place on a journey where you make a stop – and as we follow Jesus along the path of sorrow – the Via Dolorosa - from Pilate’s Court to the tomb, we make fourteen stops places to be with Jesus on this way of suffering. The Stations of the Cross is a devotion that reaches deep into people’s hearts, and prepares us to enter into the heart of the Paschal Mystery at Easter.

LENTEN STUDY & LUNCH: ST JUDE 
CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

Wednesday, March 4th onwards.

As in previous years, the parish Lent Study Course will meet on Wednesdays during Lent, starting on March 4th at 12.30pm in Our Lady Help of Christians Parish Hall, sharing soup and rolls for lunch before we begin to explore the Letter of Jude. St Jude’s message for the Church during the second half of the first century warned against the false teaching in her midst. The same warnings that are found in this short letter are seen to be highly relevant for the Christian living in the 21st century! The western church faces the tension in trying to balance the authority of scripture with a secular culture - one that today has a very different and aggressive agenda! Jude’s letter is known as one of the ‘Catholic Epistles’ along with the letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter and 1, 2 and 3 John - “Catholic” because they were all written for the whole Church and not addressed to specific individuals or congregations. Come and learn more together from Wednesday March 4th onwards!

DIVINE RENOVATION COURSE DURING LENT
CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

Tuesday March 3rd onwards:

Fr Jamie will re-run his very popular study group exploring Fr James Mallon’s book Divine Renovation - a book full of ideas about discipleship and mission in an ordinary parish. This time round it’s in the evening - starting on Tuesday March 3rd at 7.00pm in the Parish Hall at Our Lady Help of Christians. This study group is a brilliant resource for Lent. (you can also order the book from our Parish Bookshop).

Please Note: members of the parish from BOTH

St. Joseph’s AND OLHoC are very welcome, as before!