A great evening
Thank you to all who joined us for the Getting to Know You evening on Saturday... our "Mixer and Mash" night!
It was so lovely to get to know a bit more about each other, with everyone having a 'people bingo card' to go round and find out who in the room owned the most dogs, who shared a birthday month, who was the oldest in their family, who had recently been horse riding or ice skating etc etc etc (answer to that last one was no one, by the way!😆)
It was so lovely to get to know a bit more about each other, with everyone having a 'people bingo card' to go round and find out who in the room owned the most dogs, who shared a birthday month, who was the oldest in their family, who had recently been horse riding or ice skating etc etc etc (answer to that last one was no one, by the way!😆)
The food was delicious and the Parish Social Committee who organised the event were really pleased with how it all went. Everyone seemed to have a lovely time.
Look out for more of these events in the future.
The traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and these three paths work together to help us ground ourselves in the love of Christ and share that love with our neighbour.
See the poster, created by the Department for Adult Education and Evangelisation - consider how you might use these pillars to grow closer to Jesus Christ this Lent.
The Department will be sharing reminders and ideas throughout Lent, so if you haven't already joined their page for updates, do so here - The Clifton Evangelist
Prayers of Thanksgiving
On Sunday 18th February, at our 9.30am Mass, we will be praying for all the hard working emergency and health workers in the UK and around the world.
Whether you are in these professions yourself, you have family and friends who are, or if you have every needed help from them, we invite you to come along and join us in prayers of thanks and of protection.
After the Mass, Fr Barnabas will be blessing our new AED (Defibrillator) in the hope that it will be a crucial part in someone's chain of survival in the future, if ever needed.
Then join us after Mass for a cuppa!
Photo by Mat Napo- unsplash.com
Thanks to Deacon Vincent for his Reflections for Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
1st Reading from the book of Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46.
Leviticus at first sights might seem arcane and irrelevant, but right at the heart of the book is what scholars call the “Holiness Code”, and this is contained in chapters 17-26. The passage we have today is from the rules for legal purity. The theme that runs throughout the book is, “You are to be holy, because I, the Lord, am holy.” We must remember that at this time “leprosy” was a terrifying and incurable disease. These strictures were introduced to maintain the health of the people by isolating the infected. These practices are still used in some parts of the world even though the disease can be cured. There is a natural fear of this infection, which eats away at the body of the infected person. They used the term “Unclean”; we use the term isolation, we might recall our recent advent of the Pandemic where we were required to wash our hands when we came home from being outside. Those found positive were immediately isolated in hospital and everyone around them were suspect for a limited period of time, watching for any signs of infection. People caring for them were to put on protective clothing and masks. This continued till we found an antidote to the infection. It was no different for our forefathers.
Psalm 31: 1-2, 5, 11.
Here we have a penitential psalm, a cry from the heart for forgiveness and the surety that God always hears a truly penitent heart. God reads our innermost self; he loves us and does not want us ever to despair of forgiveness.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 10: 31-11: 1.
This is most probably the first time the Church had to face the problem of whether to eat food which had been offered to idols. Paul is very considerate in dealing with the issue. Whatever we do, eat or drink, do it for the glory of God. Never do anything that is offensive to anybody, and he lets us realise that means Jews, Greeks or the Church of God. Follow Paul’s practice of trying to be always helpful to everyone, so that they may be saved. Paul, then encourages them to take him as their model but he always returns to the crux of all his motivation, “As I take Christ”. Christ is at the beginning, middle and end of everything Paul does, everything is for Christ, in Christ and through Christ. We might very well follow his example.
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1: 40-45.
We have been educated by the first reading exactly how deadly leprosy was regarded. Yet here we have Christ being confronted by this legally “Unclean” person begging for Jesus to cure him. The man challenges Jesus, “If you want to”, “You can cure me”. It is an open challenge to Jesus’ charity. In answer we see just how much Jesus wants to make us well, he makes himself ritually unclean by touching the infected person to cure him. Now the man can go amongst the people again and show how he has been made clean, whilst Jesus is forced by the pressure of the crowds to be confined to the wilderness, like a leper driven out from the society. Jesus will willingly take our pain on himself to save us. That is the measure of his love and indeed God’s love for each and every one of us. We are loved so much that Jesus will offer his life in atonement for our sins, so that we can be with the Father. As we approach “Lent” it is worth remembering the lengths that Jesus goes to, for our salvation. All we need to do is respond by loving and serving God.
Let us take full advantage of the opportunities afforded us by this Lent.
Deacon Vincent.
1st Reading from the book of Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46.
Leviticus at first sights might seem arcane and irrelevant, but right at the heart of the book is what scholars call the “Holiness Code”, and this is contained in chapters 17-26. The passage we have today is from the rules for legal purity. The theme that runs throughout the book is, “You are to be holy, because I, the Lord, am holy.” We must remember that at this time “leprosy” was a terrifying and incurable disease. These strictures were introduced to maintain the health of the people by isolating the infected. These practices are still used in some parts of the world even though the disease can be cured. There is a natural fear of this infection, which eats away at the body of the infected person. They used the term “Unclean”; we use the term isolation, we might recall our recent advent of the Pandemic where we were required to wash our hands when we came home from being outside. Those found positive were immediately isolated in hospital and everyone around them were suspect for a limited period of time, watching for any signs of infection. People caring for them were to put on protective clothing and masks. This continued till we found an antidote to the infection. It was no different for our forefathers.
Psalm 31: 1-2, 5, 11.
Here we have a penitential psalm, a cry from the heart for forgiveness and the surety that God always hears a truly penitent heart. God reads our innermost self; he loves us and does not want us ever to despair of forgiveness.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 10: 31-11: 1.
This is most probably the first time the Church had to face the problem of whether to eat food which had been offered to idols. Paul is very considerate in dealing with the issue. Whatever we do, eat or drink, do it for the glory of God. Never do anything that is offensive to anybody, and he lets us realise that means Jews, Greeks or the Church of God. Follow Paul’s practice of trying to be always helpful to everyone, so that they may be saved. Paul, then encourages them to take him as their model but he always returns to the crux of all his motivation, “As I take Christ”. Christ is at the beginning, middle and end of everything Paul does, everything is for Christ, in Christ and through Christ. We might very well follow his example.
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1: 40-45.
Let us take full advantage of the opportunities afforded us by this Lent.
Deacon Vincent.
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