Dearest friends,
Next Sunday we will be celebrating Mothering Sunday. It is a very old feast and comes on Laetare Sunday – a time in Lent when we take a moment to remember that we are already an Easter People, that we have already been saved, that we have already seen the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
We take a breath and view the hard work we have undertaken so far, before girding ourselves for the coming weeks of sacrifice and pain.
Even our liturgical colour shifts from deep, dark purple to the lighter and more joyful rose vestments.
It is important to enjoy the feasts when they come. It is tempting to see in a feast the pain that being joyful can cause.
There are many moments of lament and hardship in our liturgical calendar – when we remember the pain and hurt that we as a community and as individuals have suffered.
But, on days such as next Sunday we should lift our hearts heavenward and whatever our personal circumstances, whatever our particular pains and hurt we should ask God to help us find joy and hope in our lives.
That joy and hope can be hard to find for some on Mothering Sunday, especially when one doesn’t easily have a model of motherly love, or where that earthly model is no longer with us.
That gives us even more reason to cry out in joy for those gifts we have received.
For the women in our lives who have lifted us up, for the women in our lives who have cared for us, loved us, held our hands, smiled at us, taken us to church, held us before God in prayer.
Mothering Sunday is a day of celebration and of joy. Lift people up in that joy and love.
Fr. Matthew
Notices
Messy Church
Volunteers needed.
Can you please spare two hours on Sunday 23rd 3-5pm? We need volunteers to help put tables up, set up chairs, set up craft tables and to sit with children as they make crafts on each table. You can volunteer for as much or as little as you like. Please step forward to help!
Summer Term Planning
As in previous terms we’ll meet together as two churches and plan the term ahead. The Summer Term will be based out of St. Luke’s and our planning meeting will happen there on the 30th April at 6:30pm. We’ll do a short review of the Easter term and then plan for the term ahead.
Summer Lectures
Over the summer term I don’t plan to run what you may call a traditional ‘course’. Instead I’m going to offer a series of Sunday afternoon lectures, perhaps once a fortnight. These lectures will range from ‘What is the Christian perspective on Assisted Dying’, to ‘Why was Devon so central to the Anglo-Catholic movement in England’. If you have a topic you’d like me to talk on, or invite someone to talk on, please do be in touch.
Rome
I am very sad to communicate that we are going to have to postpone our planned pilgrimage. The hotel rates have continued to soar with the news of a potential Conclave in the city and it being a Jubilee Year. I have failed to secure a hotel and have had five hotels say yes to our booking before cancelling two days later and demanding a higher rate. I will work towards an October 2026 date.
Prayer Focus
When our mothers are tired, Lord, give them strength. When they feel alone, give them comfort. When they feel overwhelmed with the challenges of parenting, help them to know peace. In their darkest moments, be their Light. At times in our lives, our mothers are everything to us, meeting our every need. We ask You to provide them today with whatever gift they need.
In gratitude, we pray. Amen..
Sunday 23rd March
3rd Sunday of Lent
9:15am – Sung Mass, St. John’s
11am – Sung Mass, St. Luke’s
St. Luke’s APCM after Mass
3pm – St. Catherine’s Messy Church
Divine Office Psalter Week 3, C(I), Lent 3
March
- 23rd – St. Luke’s APCM after Mass
- Messy Easter at St. Catherine’s, 3-5pm
- 30th – Mothering Sunday
April
- 2nd – St. Luke’s PCC, 7pm
- 6th – Poppins Nursery Easter Bonnet Parade 11am [SL]
- 10th – Oswestry Chrism Festival (Exeter Cathedral, 11am)
13th April – Palm Sunday
- 9am – Sung Mass & Procession [SJ]
- 11am – Sung Mass & Procession [SL]
17th April – Maundy Thursday
- 7pm – Joint Mass with Washing of Feet & Watch, [SJ]
- (Watch to continue at SL from 8:30pm)
18th April – Good Friday
- 3pm – Mass of The Lord’s Passion [SJ & SL]
19th April – Holy Saturday
- 8pm- Vigil Mass of Easter [SJ]
20th April – Easter Sunday
- 6am – Dawn Mass [SL]
- 9:15am – Mass of Easter Sunday [SJ]
- 11am – Mass of Easter Sunday [SL]
30th – Summer Term Planning Meeting, 6:30pm [SL]
St. John’s Table Top Sale – Every 3rd Saturday at Wickham Hall