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The Week Ahead
Mon 16th
feria
7.15am, 12.30pm, 6.00pm
Tues 17th
feria
7.15am, 12.30pm, 6.00pm
Wed 18th
ASH WEDNESDAY 7.15am, 11am [Extraordinary Form]
12.30pm, 6.00pm & 7.00pm (with the choir)
Thur 19th
Lenten feria
7.15am, 12.30pm, 6.00pm
Fri 20th
Lenten feria
7.15am, 12.30pm, 6.00pm
Sat 21st
Lenten feria
10.00am
Sun 22nd
6.00pm (1st of Sun)
FIRST SUNDAY
8.30am; 9.30am [Extraordinary Form]
OF LENT
10.30am [Solemn Latin]
Missa Emendemus in melius Palestrina;
Infelix ego Byrd; Ad te igitur Byrd.
12.00, 4.00pm, 7.00pm
Women’s World Day of Prayer this
year is on 6th March and will be
observed locally at 2.30pm at
Methodist Central Hall, Westminster.
The theme of this interdenominational
service in 2015 is “Women of the
Bahamas”. All are welcome and tea
will be served after the service.
Website Designer? Artist Stephen
B. Whatley, who painted our portrait
of Saint James, needs a new
website. Can you help? Please
contact Stephen directly on
[email protected]
A Mass in celebration of Marriage
is planned for Saturday 23rd May at
3pm in the Cathedral. If you will be
celebrating a significant anniversary
(10, 25, 30, 40 or 50 years) please
give details into the parish office and
we will see that there is an invitation
sent to you from Archbishop's House.
Beginning Experience: there is a
healing weekend for people who find
themselves single again after
divorce, separation or the death of a
spouse from 20th-22nd March, 2015
at the Emmaus Centre, West
Wickham, and Kent. For information
please ring Freda on 01322-401243
or Sandra on 01293-783965
Please ensure that Sunday 7th
June is ringed in your diary.
This is the date of Corpus Christi in
2015, and we shall be marking it with
a street procession of the Blessed
Sacrament from Farm Street to Saint
James’. The Cardinal Archbishop will
preside and it is hoped that we can at
least double last year’s number of one
thousand who processed.
Tell your family and friends and
let’s make a worthy public
demonstration of our love for
Jesus’s Eucharistic Presence
Collections £2,734-00
(Includes Envelopes but
not Bankers' Orders etc.)
Holy Hour and Benediction
Saturday
4.45pm-5.45pm
Confessions
Weekdays
12.00-1.00pm
Saturday
10.30am-Noon
5.00-5.45pm & 7.00-7.30pm
Part of the Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trust
St James's Roman Catholic Church, Spanish Place
22 George Street, London W1U 3QY
Sixth Sunday of the Year
15th February 2015
TODAY’S LITURGY [ Parish Mass Book - page 137]
Leviticus 13:1-2,44-46; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; St Mark 1:40-45
Psalm Response: You are my refuge, O Lord;
you fill me with the joy of salvation.
10.30am Heiligmesse Haydn
Cantate Domino Hassler;
Fugue sur le Carillon de la cathédrale de Soissons Duruflé
Refreshments (Tea & Coffee) are served after the 9.30am Mass
& wine together with soft drinks are available
after the Solemn Mass in the Social Centre (in the Crypt).
Do join us if you have the time.
The Reverend Christopher G. Colven (Rector)
The Reverend
Nicholas
Kavanagh
The Reverend
David J
Irwin
The Very Reverend
Monsignor
Francis C. Jamieson
Telephone: 020 7935 0943
Registration No: 233699
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.sjrcc.org.uk
The Rector writes…
As we “prepare a way for the Lord” during these coming Lenten days,
Pope Francis is asking the whole Church to think of the place of consecrated
religious within its life. Here at Spanish Place we have before us the
examples of service provided over many years by both the Daughters of
Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in their particular concern for the poor,
and the Society of the Holy Child Jesus with their commitment to education
of the young. We also continue to benefit on a daily basis from the
ministrations in the confessional of priests of Opus Dei. We think too of the
contemplative witness provided by the enclosed Benedictine nuns just along
the road at Tyburn Convent. There is so much for which to be thankful, and
Pope Francis has asked that each religious congregation look again at its
own roots: “recounting our history is essential for preserving our identity,
for strengthening our unity as a family and our common sense of belonging”.
But we have to face the reality that while some religious communities
continue to offer a vibrant model, others are diminishing in number. Pope
Francis wants all religious “to embrace the future with hope” and while for
some it may well be that their particular charism is no longer needed as in
the time of their founders (i.e. forms of social work now embraced by the
state) for others there are fresh areas of need to be explored (perhaps the
Sisters of Mercy in their work with women vulnerable to trafficking in the
Euston area offer an example). “Have the courage to be present in the midst
of conflict and tension”, says the Holy Father, "as a credible sign of the
presence of the Spirit who inspires in human hearts a passion for all to be
one”. We need also to realise that while some congregations are moving
towards their end, religious life is being renewed by differing types of
movements and associations sharing their charisms with a wide constituency
– L’Arche, Communion & Liberation, The Neo-Catechumenal Way and
Focalare are but a few examples of consecrated life lived outside the
traditional structures.
Famously Thérèse of Lisieux having entered her Carmelite monastery
at a young age felt a certain dissatisfaction until she discovered a vocation
within a vocation. – “I will be love at the heart of the Church”. Thérèse
recognised that all the active work undertaken by her brothers and sisters –
evangelisation, pastoral care, social concern – had to be underpinned by a
constant and loving concentration on God which is guaranteed by
contemplative life. Pope Fancies devotes a significant part of the Apostolic
Letter setting out his hopes for this Year of Consecrated Life on the
contribution made by purely monastic communities – and it is interesting to
note that some of the more demanding forms of religious life (Carthusian,
Cistercian, Carmelite, Poor Clare) are attracting fresh, young vocations. The
Pope notes the old adage “where there are religious, there is joy”, and
commends it to those who seek to follow the Lord in consecrated life.
Of course, every Christian is called to live in accordance with the
Gospel, and all the Baptised share the same vocation to holiness of life –
as Pope Francis says: “radical evangelical living is not only for religious:
it is demanded of everyone. But religious follow the Lord in a special way,
in a prophetic way”. The picture offered by the universal Church is a
complex one – in some parts (i.e. Africa) it is marked by growth and hope:
in others (as in our continent of Europe) is appears listless and lacking in
direction - what is needed everywhere are men and women living out their
consecration in religious life who can, through their stability, ground the
rest of us in Christ, and share with us their insights into the Gospel: their
radical turning towards a different set of priorities should offer an ongoing
challenge to their brothers and sisters to rethink their own ways of living.
As Jesus said to Martha: “you worry and fret about so many things, and
yet few are needed, indeed only one" (Luke 10:41)
During Lent we should pray for the renewal of consecrated life in the
Church, and let us ask God for fresh vocations, particularly that our own
young people be open to consider a call to religious life. We have one
man in his twenties pondering entry into a Benedictine community, may
he be the swallow which announces a new spring of vocations here at
Spanish Place.
Christopher Colven
NOTICES
This week Ash Wednesday (18th February) marks the beginning of
our Lenten preparation for Easter. Ashes will be imposed at each
Mass – these will be offered at 7.15am, 11am (in the Extraordinary
Form), 12.30pm, 6pm & 7pm (with the choir). Details of Lenten talks
etc. will be found on a separate sheet which you are asked to take
away with you and keep by you.
John Cassano died intestate on December 11th: it has taken untill
now to sort out his funeral which will take place here at 11am on
Thursday 26th February. Please publicise this to those who knew
John. The parish has guaranteed the costs involved so that John
may have a Catholic funeral (the burial of the dead being one of the
corporal works of mercy) but anyone who is in a position to help
defray the expense involved is welcome to make a contribution. RIP
Many of the congregation are continuing to contribute generously to
the “Growing in Faith” initiative. An update on how much has been
raised and how it is being expended will be found on the table at
the back of church – there are enough copies for everyone to take
one away.