Newsletter - 13 March 2022
Persevere in the Place of the Heart
Second Sunday of Lent, Year C
St Paul says "Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.” Far from being an activity limited to specific times, prayer is a permanent state of mind. It is the state of the bride of the Canticle of Canticles who awaits the return of her beloved and cannot stop thinking about him.
Our everyday activities seem much more attractive than prayer with its sobriety and dryness! The call to interiority is constantly interrupted by fascination with the images and voices of this world. Constantly, it is necessary to descend into one's own depths to rekindle the spirit of zeal. Repeated with perseverance, this exercise prevents the soul from becoming numb.
In one of the sayings of the Desert Fathers, an old monk was on the verge of death. When one of his brothers approached his bedside to keep him company at the end of his life, he did not ask him the question that is usually asked: “How do you feel?” He asked, “How is your prayer? Do you really maintain it?” With this support, the dying man was able to keep his mind clear until his last breath
Likewise, it was said that when early Christians met, they did not ask a banal “how are you? but “how is your prayer going? " Often, they advised one another to pray as if it were for the first time in order to renew the enthusiasm and fervour of the beginning. If you do not succeed in prayer, do not hope to succeed in anything else. Because prayer is the root of everything.
by Father Michel Evdokimov, (Russian Orthodox)
Focus of the week - Lent
Adoration and Confession
Monday - Friday 6.00 - 7.00pm
Chaplet of Divine Mercy Rosary
Before the chaplet we will have readings of meditation from the book of Saint Faustina Kowalska. These will be taking place Monday - Saturday at 10.30am.
Stations of the Cross
These services will be taking place every Friday during Lent at 10.00am and 6.00pm in the period leading up to Holy Week.
Parish Day of Retreat
Saturday 19 March, 9.30am to 3.30pm
A quiet day with prayer, teaching and sharing on the theme of Pope Francis’s Lenten Letter - “Sowing Goodness.” Please bring your lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided. To register contact the Parish Office.