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SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
Jeremiah |
17:5-8 |
| Psalm |
1 |
| I
Corinthians |
15:12,
16-20 |
| Luke |
6:17,
20-26 |
On
Valentine's Day, lovers, friends and family members
exchange Valentine Gifts as tokens of love.”(Taken
from the Net) So perhaps St Valentine's day is a
good day to think about love, especially the divine
commandment to love, to love God, to love one another
and to love ourselves. St Ignatius, the founder
of the Jesuits tells us “Love shows itself in deeds,
not just words and love leads to a mutual sharing
of what each has to share. So, the lover always
gives to and receives from the beloved --- everything:
gifts, money, convictions, knowledge, honours. In
love, one always wants to give to the one loved.”
So St Valentine's day is not a bad notion but we
should share not just gifts but everything. Love
is certainly not just a feeling. When Jesus was
asked about love he told the parable of the Good
Samaritan, who came to the help of, and cared for,
a complete stranger. Love is giving and
receiving .
Why
is love so important for the Christian? St John
tells us twice in one of his epistles that “God
is love” (I John 4: 8 and 16). Father, Son and Holy
Spirit form a loving family, who each love the others
infinitely. God is love means that God is a perfect,
loving family. Some 40 years ago, I was talking
to a middle aged couple after Mass on a Sunday morning.
They told me that that afternoon they were going
to visit a 16 year old boy in hospital, who had
broken his leg.
“Actually,”
they said “It is easier for us to visit him in hospital
than in the Detention Centre, where he would otherwise
be. You see, we are hoping that when he is released
from the Detention Centre, he will come and live
with us.” When I looked surprised, they continued,
“You see, Father, of our four children, three are
already married, and the fourth is engaged and will
be married as soon he finishes his degree. We have
had such a wonderful time in our family, so much
love and joy that now we want to share it with others.”
The thought went through my head that must have
been what God said. Like that family, God's love
overflows and wants to take in others. Or as Fr
William Barry SJ, the well known Spiritual Writer,
puts it, “Precisely because God is the perfect community,
God has no need to create anything else. God creates
the universe for no other motive than God's own
gratuitous and unfathomable love. It is as if the
three Persons said to one another: “Our Community
is so good. Why don't we create a universe where
we can invite others to share our community” (Spiritual
Direction and The Encounter with God, Page 47).
God created us to share in His love. So through
baptism we are adopted Children of God. No wonder
St Augustine could say, “My heart is restless until
it finds rest in you.”
Tony
Horan SJ
LENT
AND HOLY WEEK
Ash
Wednesday , February
17 th
This
is a day of fasting and abstinence. Ash will be
distributed at all the Masses.
Palm
Sunday , March 28
th
There
will be an exchange of palms with Grosvenor Chapel
at 10:45am
in Mount Street
Garden
.
Monday
in Holy Week , March
29 th
6:45pm:
Penance Service with opportunity for individual
confession.
Maundy
Thursday , April
1 st
Mass
of the Lord's Supper at 6pm.
Good
Friday , April 2
nd
This
is a day of fasting and abstinence. 3pm: Liturgy
of the Passion
6pm:
Seven Last Words
Holy
Saturday , April
3 rd
8pm:
Easter Vigil Mass
Easter
Sunday : regular
Mass times
Fr
Anthony Meredith will be giving four Lenten Talks
on Sundays at 5pm in the Hall, beginning on February
28 th .
There
will be Stations of the Cross on Fridays during
Lent at 12:30pm, beginning on Friday 19 February.
JESUIT
MISSIONS
We
are very happy to welcome Fr Tim Curtis, SJ, Director
of Jesuit Missions, and his team at all the Masses
today. All our giving in aid of the Church's missionary
activities is focused on Jesuit Missions, so we
ask that this annual appeal be met with great generosity.
There will be a collection at the doors after Mass.
Many thanks!
REGISTRATION
If
you have not filled in a Registration Form in recent
years, please do so today so that we can keep our
Parish records up to date. Any regular visitor to
Farm Street
is entitled to be on our Parish roll.
MASS
INTENTIONS
This
is a wonderful way to remember loved ones living
and dead and to unite your intention with the Church's
greatest act of worship. When filling in a Mass
envelope, please give your phone number in case
of a difficulty regar-ding your requested date or
time.
ARCHBISHOP
OF CANTERBURY
This Most
Reverend Dr Rowan Williams will be speaking at Farm
Street Church on Saturday 20 th March at 2:15pm
on The Fellowship of the Baptised . This
is the annual John Coventry lecture for inter-church
families. See posters for further information. All
are welcome.
There
will be no rehearsals of the Children's Choir until
after Easter
MOUNT
STREET JESUIT
CENTRE
For
those of you who have looked at the MSJC events
and thought you could never get to any of them as
they are all Saturdays or evenings, please note
that in response to popular demand we are running
four midweek, midday events in March: Listening
Skills; Introduction to the Alexander Technique;
Boundaries and Professional Practice for Pastoral
Workers, and a Lenten reflection on the Passion
according to Luke, please see posters & flyers
for details.
LENTEN
RETREAT: A RETREAT IN DAILY LIFE
Participants
will be assigned their own prayer guide, whom they
will meet once a week throughout Lent. The retreat
begins on Saturday 20 th February at 7pm
in the Hall with a gathering
of all those taking part. You will meet your guide
and arrange the time and place to meet. The retreat
will end with a gathering of everyone on Saturday
27 th March at 7pm .
For more information pick up a registration form
and if you decide you would like to participate,
complete and return the tear-off slip by next Sunday,
14 th February. Places are limited, so apply early!
FAITH
MATTERS
Tuesdays
in Lent, 7-8:30pm Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden
Avenue , SWIP 1QJ.
This
series of public lectures at the Cathedral Hall
celebrates the Year of the Priest with a special
Lenten programme on the Priesthood starting in late
February. Speakers include Archbishop Vincent Nichols.
See the below for details.
February
23 rd : The Priest:
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, by Fr Aidan Nichols,
OP
March
2 nd : The Priest &
the Universal Baptismal Call, by Dr Clare Watkins
March
9 th : The Call to Priesthood
in a Global City, by Fr Andrzej
Forys , MS
March
16 th : The Priest as
Witness, by Archbishop Vincent Nichols
Please
use Gift-Aid envelopes for your donations if you
are a UK
Tax-payer .
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