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LENT - 2012 update
Some notes offered by the site editor which may interest and help
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NB PENZANCE MASS TIMES CHANGES to 11.30 ON SATURDAY mornings DURING LENT

Welcome happy fast of Lent. Lent is time. Forty days of time for God. Time when we can look at our lives and see how we can return to a right relationship with Him. Time is given to all of us. How we use it, is the question. Listening and reflecting on the Word of God is a sure way of growing in his grace . This leaflet shows many opportunities across the parish that we can use to help us in this holy season. I hope you will all take as full a part as possible in the Lenten programme so that we can all be renewed in the Easter Mystery. Fr. Philip.

For your Lent savings please think about "Mary's Meals" It costs from just £10.70 to feed a child at school for a year!
Also please consider CAFOD 'Give it up for Water' Lent appeal 2012 | CAFOD Family Fast Day Friday 2nd March

Ecumenical Lenten Lunches take place in the usual 'Churches Together in Penzance Area' venues. 12.00 - 1.15pm
See Lent programme link above for full schedule.
Proceeds to Christian Aid UK - (see also CA USA
Note Saturday Mass time changes to 11.30 with Reconciliation at 11.00 a.m. during Lent.
 
We host the lunch in Parish Hall on 3rd March 2012
Hayle: Wednesdays between 11.45 & 1.15 p.m. at Phillack C.of E. Church Hall. £2
St Ives: Thursdays between 12 noon & 2.00 p.m. at Bedford Road Methodist Church Hall.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS - Fridays during Lent, throughout the Parish

Penzance: 7.00 p.m. The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady
St Ives:  3.00 p.m.
Sacred Heart & St. Ia. (N.B. Good Friday 11am)
Hayle:  7.00 p.m.
St. Joseph’s & St. Elwyn (C. of .E) Ecumenical Stations – alternate weeks.

LENT COURSE 2012: Lectio Divina: meditations using the Sunday Readings. 

Penzance: Mondays, 7.30 pm in Parish Hall.
St Ives: Wednesday’s, 10 am during Exposition.
Hayle:  Mondays, 11.15 am at the Convent.

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‘But now, now – it is the Lord who speaks – come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent.' (from 1st reading of Ash Wednesday -  in full see Joel 2:12 - 18)

Comment from a 2007 Lenten Zenit e-mail: "Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers, and Tradition invite us to live Lent with a spirit of interior conversion, made concrete in three things: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1434 says: "Express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others." No. 1438 of the Catechism goes on to say: "The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church's penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works)." www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4B.HTM

Lent
From an Anglo-Saxon word, lencten, meaning, "spring," the time of the lengthening of the days. Lent is one of the seasons of the church year and is the forty-day period beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter). The period is actually 46 days, but since Sundays are feast days and to be celebrated, they are not included in the count. Lent is intended to be a period of preparation and penitence marked by fasting and meditation. Lent is widely associated with denial -- "giving something up for Lent." and it can also be seen as a time of "doing something" and also coming closer to God. Lent is definitely a time for self-examination and a time to grow spiritually through prayer.
Purple
The primary colour used in the season of Lent. Purple signifies penitence and preparation.
Ash Wednesday (Day of Ashes)
The Wednesday marking the beginning of the season of Lent, usually observed with a period of fasting and spiritual preparation. A day of fasting and abstinence for Catholics.  In the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the priest makes a sign of the cross with ashes on a person's forehead as a mark of their mortality saying "Remember (man) that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." or "Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel" ["good-news"] ) The ashes are burned palms saved from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration.
Palm Sunday
The Sunday before Easter, where Jesus' final and triumphal entry into Jerusalem is observed. The Gospel of passion of Our Lord is read. Real palm branches or crosses made from palms (or both) are blessed and distributed to the congregation usually after a short procession. I Palm Sunday palms are saved and later burned to make the ashes for the next year's Ash Wednesday service.
 
Holy Week
The week preceding Easter -- the last week in Lent. Holy Week is the most important period of the church year, observed with many special services, beginning with Palm Sunday and concluding on Holy Saturday. Holy Week includes Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
Maundy Thursday
Thursday in Holy Week; the name is from a corruption of the Old English word for "commandment" in Christ's commandment given in John 13:34: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." The word "command" was originally spelled "commaundment" and was shortened to "Maundy" through careless enunciation. The command is closely tied to another "commaund" given by Jesus at the same time:"Do this in remembrance of me." Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) was the day on which the first Lord's Supper, the Last Supper, was celebrated with the 12 Disciples. Maundy Thursday services often include "stripping the altar" (removing all items including hangings) and in some parishes, foot washing (see John 13:5).
Good Friday
The day in Holy Week in which we remember Christ's arrest, passion, crucifixion, and death on a cross. It is unclear where the name "Good Friday" originated. Some have said it is a corruption of "God's Friday," Others say it is called "Good" because of the great benefits given to humanity by Christ's death and resurrection.
He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
 
Holy Saturday
Lighting the "First Fire"
Paschal Candle
From the Hebrew word Pesach, meaning Passover. A large candle on a tall holder, placed in a prominent position on the left side of the sanctuary. The candle is lit from the first fire kindled at the Holy Saturday Mass and then throughout the Easter season, also during baptisms, weddings, and funerals.
Easter
The festival that commemorates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the third day after he was crucified. It is called Easter Day but has come to be called Easter Sunday by the media, most laity, and some clergy, all of whom ought to know better! Easter is a movable feast, which means it does not always fall on the same day each year. Easter is always the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox (first day of Spring). By this calculation, Easter could occur anytime from March 22, to April 25. The length of Epiphany and the Season after Pentecost, as well as the dates of Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are all determined by the date of Easter. Easter is also a Church season, spanning the 50 days (six Sundays) after Easter, to Ascension Day.

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"Peace is the gift of Christ, which he obtained for us with the sacrifice of the Cross. To achieve it effectively it is necessary to climb with the divine Teacher up to Calvary. And who can guide us better in this ascent than Mary who, as she stood at the foot of the Cross, was given to us as our mother through the faithful apostle, St John." - Pope John Paul II (Palm Sunday, 2003)

"Through a tree we were made debtors to God; so through a tree we have our debt cancelled." ~ Irenaeus

n.b. Divine Mercy Novena commences on Good Friday

LINKS (external links will usually open in a new window / tab - pdf file help)

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The 2011 Lent course was: ‘Stewards of Grace’. Lent is an ideal time for reflecting on what it means to lead a Christian life. The Study Course is designed to examine some of the challenges to living a life of faith. During Lent 2011 we considered the following aspects: Week 1 - An introduction to Stewardship - what does it mean to be a 'Steward of Grace'? Week 2 - Receiving from God's Abundance - what gifts have we received from God and how are we using those abilities? Week 3 - Wake up! Time is a gift too - "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour". Week 4 - Don't Worry - the Bible tells us many times "Do not be afraid", so why do we still worry? Week 5 - Called by Name - consider in what ways you have a sense of purpose or calling in your life.
Bishop Christopher recently commented (2011) ‘the task of passing on the faith is not easy’. The faith however, if not lived and passed on fades, and eventually disappears. Nevertheless this is not a final disappearance, because the main agent of this passing on is the Holy Spirit. The faith may falter in one culture (e.g. Europe), but it can thrive in another (Africa or Asia). We have to take the responsibility of handing on the faith in our own communities. This is difficult, as many features of our culture are either not supportive or even hostile. Corporately and individually we have a primary task to show that faith in God and Jesus Christ is not the enemy of human flourishing. Pope Benedict during his visit here encouraged us to undertake this work. We need to put our energy into it’.

Cross

"...man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4,4)