Last Sunday’s Collection came to £1242.00

The week before it was £1156.00.   The January Standing Orders came to £3915.55.  Teas and Coffees £100.  Cake Stall 2 weks ago raised £118 Thank you all

This Friday is Cafod Fast Day.  You are invited to fast and donate the money saved to Cafod.

Stations of the Cross in Holy Apostles7pm Friday

A Lenten Preparation – A Day Retreat in Holy Apostles  Given by Pere Martin Sabathe csj – Sat 20^th Feb – 9.30  a.m.   Mass    10.00  Registration

10.30            First Talk   11.30            Coffee

12.00 noon    Second Talk   1.00 p.m.     Lunch

2.00             Third Talk  3.00    Adoration

4.00             Tea             5.00              Final Talk

Contact Julian   020 7735 4866   

Day for Dads Next Sunday. (there will be one for mums later).  This will be at Allen Hall Seminary 28 Beaufort Street SW3 5AA (just leading onto Battersea Bridge) from 9.45am till 4.00pm on Sunday 28^th February. More details from Fr Pat.  Pimlico@rcdow.org.uk

Getting Married?

The next PreMarriage Course for couples marrying within the next 12 months will be 3 sessions in May – Mon 17^th, Fri 21^st and Mon 24^th.  To book a place on this contact Fr Pat for booking form.

Retreat Day for Parish Catechists & Volunteers  Sat 13 March at the Daughters of Charity Provincial House, Mill Hill, NW7 1RE * 10am to 12noon Optional Guided Quiet Time; 1pm  to 4pm Led By Bishop Alan Hopes * Tel: 020 7798 9150 or email: catadmin@rcdow.org.uk to book – places are limited.

Have you a child for Baptism in the next few months?  There is a meeting for parents on Wed 10^th March at 7.30pm in the Priests House

Choir for Easter Ladies Practise Tue. 7.00pm

Family Quiz Night sponsored by the Youth Group on Saturday 6th March after the 6pm mass. Light food available for purchase. £3/pp or £15/family Tickets on sale next week.

LiveSimply starts this weekend, collecting mobile phones. Next week is dried and tinned food. If you miss a week no problem—just bring it in the following week. This Lent initiative supports The Open Door Meal and The Passage.

Thinking of the Priesthood?

A day at Ealing Abbey “Discovering Priesthood Today” with Secular and Religious Priests from 10am till 4pm on Saturday 13^th March. Contact Deacon Gordon Nunn 0n 020 8862 2162 or deacongordon@ealingabbey.org.uk

The Visitor – A play in 2 Acts in the Crypt Westminster Cathedral Thurs and Friday March 4^th and 5^th at 7.30pm on the Carthusian Martyrs in London. Tickets £10 from 020 7582 9880

Eucharistic Ministers Training day There will be a training day for all Eucharistic Ministers old and new on Saturday 6th March from 10am – 1.00pm here in the Parish Hall – led by Fr John Hemer MHM – Professor of Scripture

Southwark Notre Dame Association is holding its Annual General Meeting on Sun 7^th March from 10am till 5pm. The day includes both Social and Spiritual Activities  and will be held in the school at St George’s Rd  SE1.  All former pupils and staff of Southwark or other Notre Dame de Namur schools are welcome to .  Further details  from 01322 553 850  0r 01992  814 717 before 28^th Feb.

Are you celebrating 10^th, 25^th, 40^th, 50^th 60^th

Anniversary of Marriage this year? Archbishop Vincent invites you both to a special Mass of Thanksgiving in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 22^nd May at 3.00pm.  Please let Fr Pat have your names and contact details

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Wed from after the 9.30am Mass till 1.00pm.  – also Saturdays from 5.00pm till 5.45.

Free Lending Library is now located at the back of the church in the end confessional. BOOKS* VIDEOs* DVDs Any donations to Priest House.

Mind the Gap: Faith in Film

The next series of ‘Mind the Gap’ -our Lenten series for Young Adults (17-35ish) – will take the form of ‘Film nights’ with refreshments and discussion.

22 February 2010        Faith like Potatoes 

1 March 2010              Maximilian Kolbe: Saint of Auschwitz

8 March 2010              The Pursuit of Happyness                  

15 March 2010            The Fourth Wise Man

Time: 7.00-9.30pm (6.30pm refreshments)

Venue: Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory Church, Warwick St, W1B (2 min. Piccadilly Circus)

All Young Adults welcome. For more information, contact daveburke@rcdow.org.uk

An article by Ronald Rolheiser

’t necessarily mean that, literally, he took no food or water during that time, but rather that he deprived himself of all physical supports (including food, water, enjoyments, distractions) that protected him from feeling, full force, his vulnerability, dependence, and need to surrender in deeper trust to God. And in doing this, we are told, he found himself hungry and consequently vulnerable to temptations from the devil – but also, by that same token, more open to God.
The desert, by taking away the securities and protections of ordinary life, strips us bare and leaves us naked, both before God and the devil. This brings us face-to-face with our own chaos. That’s an image for lent.
But we have some wonderfully rich anthropological images for lent as well. Let me briefly mention three of them.
In virtually every culture there is, somewhere, the concept of having “to sit in the ashes for a time” as a necessary preparation for some deep joy or fulfillment.
We see this, for example, in the story of Cinderella. The name itself, Cinderella, holds the key: It is derived from two words: Cinders, meaning ashes; and Puella, the Latin word for young girl. Etymologically, Cinderella means the eternal girl who sits in the ashes, with the further idea being that, before she, or anyone else, gets to put on the royal clothes, go to the ball, and dance with the prince, she must first spend some time sitting in the ashes, tasting some emptiness, feeling some powerlessness, and trusting that this deprivation and humiliation is necessary to help bring about the maturity needed to do the royal dance.
There is a similar concept inside some North American Native cultures, where it is accepted that, in everyone’s life, there will come a season where he or she will have to spend some time sitting in the ashes. For example, in some tribes, when they used to live communally in long- houses, the fires for heating and warmth were kept in the center of the house so that a partially open roof could function as a chimney. Ashes would, of course, accumulate around the fires and occasionally someone from the community would, for a period of time, simply sit in the ashes, quiet, withdrawn from ordinary activities, and take little food or water. Eventually a day would come when he or she would get up, wash off the ashes, and resume normal activities. Nobody asked why. It was taken for granted that this person was working through something, a depression or crisis of some sort, and needed that space, that quiet, that withdrawal, to work through some inner chaos and demons. In short, he or she was seen to need a lenten season.
A second image is that of being a child of Saturn. In some mythologies, Saturn was thought to be the planet that causes us to feel sadness and despondency. And so if you were a poet, an artist, a philosopher, a writer, or a religious thinker you would want, sometimes, to sit under Saturn, that is, to enter voluntarily into certain inner areas of the soul that ordinarily you might want to avoid precisely because they trigger chaos, sadness, heaviness, and despondency. Part of the idea was also that, occasionally in every person’s life, you would for a time become a child of Saturn, meaning that you would be overcome by a certain sadness and heaviness and would have to cease your normal activities and sit for a time with that, patiently learning some lessons that only a certain sadness could teach you. Again, the idea was that there is some necessary inner work that can only be done in sadness and heaviness and we need sometimes to enter these voluntarily.
Finally, there is yet another rich image in anthropology to can help us understand lent, the image of our own tears as re-connecting us to the flow of life. The image is simple: Our tears are salt water, as is the ocean which is ultimately the origin of all life on this planet. What our tears do is put as back into touch with the physical origins of all life on this planet, salt water. The idea then is that, occasionally, it is good to forsake the joys of life for the salt of tears because only tears can deepen us and help us connect to our origins and grounding.       Lent is meant to do exactly that.                          An article by Ronald Rolheiser

What a difference a year could make! Not only for you but also for faith development of hundreds of young people, and all because you decided to volunteer! The Loft is seeking to appoint eight young men and women for a year-out experience working with young people.  These full-time volunteers will live as part of the SPEC Community and have a particular focus on nurturing faith in young people aged 7-14 in dynamic retreats, using games, nature, team-building activities, art, storytelling, dance, and much more. 

Come and discover how helping young people grow in their understanding of faith and community could make a real change to their lives! A Loft open day will be held on day Friday 26th February 2010 from 10:00am to 4:00pm to experience what Loft retreats are all about.

To book a place, contact Mags Clarke on 01727 828888 or magsclarke@rcdow.org.uk.

For more information about the Loft and the SPEC community, visit www.spec.org.uk.  Alternatively, contact Tracy Curran at the above telephone number, or tracycurran@rcdow.org.uk