Fish on Fridays . . .

Have you heard the news?

Meat's out . . . !

And . . . fish is in!

Following the recent plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, it has been decided 'to re-establish the practice of Friday penance in the lives of the faithful as a clear and distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity.'

Hooray, I say!

You can read the full press release on the Bishops' Conference website here

Repent ...

'... Repent, and believe the Good News.' (Mark 1:15)

In the closing words of Sunday's Gospel reading Jesus urges us to repent of our sins; a reminder to us that when we sin we are damaging our relationship with God.

This theme echoes the words used by our Bishop, Kieran in his pastoral letter which we heard the previous Sunday.

'There are forty days of Lent. There is time to think, to prepare and to make time for this precious opportunity to refresh our relationship with God, the one we call our Father.'

Let us look at the Sacrament of Confession anew in our preparation for the Great Feast of Easter.

Times for Confession in the parish:

Saturdays: 10.30 am - 11.30 am

5.00 pm - 6.00 pm

After each Mass on the first Sunday of every month.

And at call.

Lenten Reconciliation Service: Tuesday 31st March at 7.30 pm here at St Ann's.

Lent begins tomorrow ...

'Remember, man, that you are dust,

And unto dust you shall return.'

Following on from today's feasting, comes tomorrow's Fasting. The other two ingredients which the Church recommends for Lent are Prayer and Almsgiving.

All of these three things are within everyone's capability. We can all, for example, abstain from that extra spoonful of sugar in our tea or that piece of cake with our elevenses; make time to say an extra prayer or a decade of the Rosary; or attend Rosary and Benediction in the parish (see below for times). As for almsgiving, there are many deserving charities to support.

To help us on our way, there are several additional things happening in our parish during Lent:

Ash Wednesday (25th February)

Mass at 9.30am (when we will be joined by the junior children from St Anne's School)

Mass at 8pm

There will be imposition of ashes at both Masses.

Rosary and Benediction - 4pm every Sunday during Lent

Stations of the Cross - 7.30pm on Fridays during Lent.