Dear friends,
It was again a source of encouragement to note how many of you were able to come to Stations of the Cross and Mass on Wednesday this week: the Wednesday morning (9.30am) Mass will begin with Stations of the Cross each week during Lent. This moving devotion lets us walk in the footsteps of Jesus in His Passion, retracing his final journey to the Cross. Through hymns and prayers and meditations we immerse ourselves in his saving suffering: do come along one week in future, if your schedule permits!
The Stations of the Cross will also be walked tomorrow (Friday) evening at 7pm, before the second session of our Lent Course, shared jointly with our friends at All Saints, Kenton. The theme of this course is “ways to pray”, and there is no obligation to attend every session. Do join us tomorrow evening, for Stations, light refreshments and a presentation and discussion on the “seven rules of prayer”.
Our guest preacher this coming Sunday, the Second of Lent, will be Fr James Chegwidden, Associate Priest at St Paul, Knightsbridge (and a duty chaplain at St Paul’s Cathedral), who served previously as Assistant Chaplain at Magdalen College, Oxford and then as Assistant Curate at St Cuthbert, Philbeach Gardens. His main theological interests are in apophaticism; contemporary readings of St Thomas Aquinas; theology and evolution; Christian humanism, and faith and science. Fr James is also a practising barrister, specialising in employment and discrimination law; administrative law; military law, and human rights. Do come to Mass on Sunday at 10.30, to welcome Fr James!
After Mass, we will celebrate with Ingrid Newton, whose 90th birthday falls next week on Tuesday: Ingrid has kindly arranged some birthday refreshments in the Hall. (There will then be a PCC meeting, in the Jubilee Room.)
Our beautiful Easter lilies may be sponsored in memory of a departed loved one: please PRINT CLEARLY on the list in church the names of those you wish remembered, and then place your donation (suggested £5/name) into the basket at the back – or ask to use the contactless facility.
We will also require volunteers at various moments during Holy Week (for example, to have a foot washed on Maundy Thursday; to help serve refreshments after the Walk of Witness on Good Friday (see below), or to read at the Easter Vigil): please consult the list in church, and sign up to assist!
If you are new to St Mary’s since last Spring, and have worshipped with us for at least six months, we invite you now to enrol on the church’s Electoral Roll – which will be revised between 2 March and 24 April: simply ask for a enrolment form in church.
Included with this mailing are an updated parish calendar, and a flier for the Kenton Group of Churches Walk of Witness on Good Friday, 3 April: this is an important occasion each year for Christians of all denominations in Kenton to join together to bear witness to our common faith in Christ. We will begin at 9am at All Saints, and then walk (via Kenton Methodist Church) back to St Mary’s where, after concluding prayers, we will continue to enjoy one another’s fellowship over tea, coffee and hot cross buns in the Hall. Those unable to walk from All Saints are welcome to gather instead at St Mary’s (or at the Methodist Church): please make supporting this event a priority.
On Monday past, we received the very sad news of the death of Katherine Lewis, after a long battle with cancer. With Fr Edward, she contributed so much to St Mary’s – and, with Fr Edward and her family, we mourn her passing and pray for her soul. It would have been Katherine’s birthday this Sunday, 1 March – and also St David’s Day: in recognition of this, daffodils will be placed on the altar in her memory, and we will sing at Mass two hymns to Welsh melodies: “Guide me, O thou great Redeemer” (to Cwm Rhondda), and “God, that madest earth and heaven” (to Ar hyd y nos): both in their way speak of the Lord’s power over death, and therefore of how we can trust in Him in times of grief and sadness. If you wish to light a candle in memory of Katherine, a pricket stand has been placed beneath the Calvary (likewise adorned with Welsh daffodils!) – and a Mass for the repose of her soul will be celebrated here on Tuesday next week, 3 March at 6.30pm. Her funeral Requiem will be at St Joseph, Wolverhampton on Wednesday, 17 March: transport may be available – see me.
Next week will also see the funeral Requiem of our dear friend Jenny Dagnall – on Wednesday, 4 March at St John, New Hinksey: the 9.30am Mass here will be offered for the repose of her soul – and please see the churchwardens, if you would like to travel to Oxford for the service.
Let us pray for Fr Edward, Fr Bernard, and for all who mourn.
I was able to pay another visit to our Director of Music, Peter Crawford, in hospital yesterday: Peter is making hopeful progress, and received Holy Communion. Please pray for him and for his family. This Sunday, we will welcome as a cover organist Mervyn Hogg MA (Mus.) LTCL, lately Organist and Choirmaster at St Martin, Ruislip.
Please remember, finally, to take home an ACS Lent Appeal collection box; and to bring back to church any Passiontide veils which you have kindly ironed. And please speak to me or to Johnette if you would like to attend the Bishop of Fulham’s Lay Congress, at St Alban, Holborn, on Saturday, 21 March.
Bless your faithful, we pray, O Lord, with a blessing that endures for ever, and keep them faithful to the Gospel of your Only Begotten Son,
Fr Richard