ASH WEDNESDAY AND THE BEGINNING OF LENT
Webmaster • February 15, 2026
We begin the holy Season of Lent, this week, on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. We will have two holy Masses for Ash Wednesday, as shown above. At each holy Mass, ashes will be blessed and distributed. The ashes will be placed on our foreheads, with the words: “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return”, a stark and dramatic reminder that all of us, young or not so young, are to leave this world in the not too distant future and to stand before God to give an account of how we have lived. If we are ready for that moment, all is well. Let’s make sure that we are indeed ready to meet Our Lord and Saviour by entering wholeheartedly into these forthcoming forty days of Lent. The best way to begin to do that is to celebrate the holy Mass of Ash Wednesday on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning and to receive the blessed ashes. Then, do something extra during Lent, to get to know the Lord Jesus better - weekday holy Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Morning/Evening Prayer from the Divine Office, Prayer in church before the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the Cross, active involvement in some way in the life of our parish.
Please note that Ash Wednesday is a Fast Day, when we do without meat and reduce the amount of food we eat.
Please note also that each Friday evening during Lent, we will meditate together on Our Lord’s suffering and death, at 6.00pm, praying the ‘Stations of the Cross’. Each week we will use a different set of meditations.
Deep in the human heart is a longing to be connected to others, to love and to be loved. I am leading this Workshop from 10.00am until 2.00pm on Saturday 11th July . The Workshop will help us to understand the reasons why we sometimes feel lonely and what a devastating effect Loneliness can have on us. I’ll suggest effective ways to ensure that your experience of Loneliness can actually become the means of finding deep, satisfying ways of being close to the Lord and to other people. The workshop will take place at the London Jesuit Centre. If you would like to attend this Workshop, please book now on the London Jesuit Centre website.
Anxiety and Worry often make life difficult for many people. I am leading this Workshop, from the evening of Friday 22nd May ( 6.30pm to 8.30pm) then continuing on Saturday 23rd May (11.00am TO 1.00pm). This Workshop will explain how Anxiety begins, how it can take hold of us and then spoil so much of our lives. I’ll also offer some very good, tried and tested ways in which people can escape from Worry or at the very least reduce it and begin to live much happier lives, feeling and monk . The Workshop will take place at the London Jesuit Centre. If you would like to attend this Workshop, please book now on the London Jesuit Centre website.
We will have a short Penance Service, followed by an opportunity for individual reconciliation with the Lord, on Tuesday 31st March at 6.00pm
May I invite all our present Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist who feel the Lord is calling them to this sacred ministry, to please join me for a time of prayer and reflection on Saturday 28th March from 10.30am until 12.00midday. We will begin in the church for 30 minutes of quiet personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament; then we will move into our Cafe for reflection on the privileged gift of this most sacred of ministries, including conversations about logistics. This short time is an opportunity to prepare hearts and minds to renew a commitment to Eucharistic Ministry during holy Mass on Maundy Thursday.
To everyone who bakes or provides cakes for our Olde Forge Cafe. Please let me know if you could join our rota of very kind people who occasionally bake or provide cakes for the Cafe. Thank you to Margaret Fuller who provides the cakes this week. Also, thank you to Bridget Saunders who will let us have some delicious Irish Soda Bread on Tuesday, to celebrate the Feast of St.Patrick.
7/8: 5pm Mary; 9am Lisa; 11am Carolyn 14/15: 5pm Jim; 9am Gabrielle; 11am Giannina 21/22: 5pm Lesley; 9am Linda; 11am Regina 28/29: 5pm Patrick; 9am Paul; 11am Lizzie Thank you to our wonderful Ministers of the Eucharist who have accepted the Lord’s invitation to this awesome, sacred ministry, by their willingness to give up their own plans and convenience in order to do God’s will rather than their own. Let us pray for them because they too fight the same personal weaknesses we all have to fight against and they too have to fight the same temptations we all have to fight. God be with them.
7/8: 5pm Jim; 9am Lorenza; 11am Patricia 14/15: 5pm Mutsa; 9am Phil; 11am Marian 21/22: 5pm Mike; 9am Chris; 11am Collette 28/29: 5pm Paul; 9am Gerry; 11am Claire
Our rota for the delivery of food to the Good Shepherd school in New Addington begins this week. Please find the rota below. The dates indicated are Thursdays during the school term. Please collect the two hessian bags of fruit on Thursdays from the porch of the presbytery between the hours of 8.30am and 2.30pm. Please then bring the fruit to the school in New Addington. The fruit could even be collected and delivered on Friday mornings too, if necessary. The address of the school is: 23, Dunley Drive New Addington CR0 0RG. The school is close to the Good Shepherd Catholic Church. 26th Feb : Margaret Laycock 5th March : Maggie Bailey 12th March : Lauren Andrews Knight 19th March : Mark Stanley 26th March : Frederick Clarke
OLDE FORGE CAFE BAKERS/PROVIDERS ROTA MARCH 2026 7: Lauren 14: Margaret Fuller 21: Anderson 28: Mary Please, if possible, could you provide enough cakes for the whole of each week. Thank you to everybody who is helping to provide cakes. To avoid having too many cakes, Coral mentioned to me that non-perishable cakes can be safely stored in the Cafe for a short while. When it is your turn to provide a non-perishable cake, please bring your cake to the Cafe a few days before the date of your turn. OLDE FORGE CAFE - HOSTS ROTA MARCH 2026 3: Maggie, Regina 7: Phil, Mary 8: Patricia, Jim 10: Colette, David 14: Marian, Lesley 15: Lesley, Emmanuela 17: Patrick, Paul 21: Simone, Gaberielle 22: Bridget, Jannine 24: Ros, Lizzie 28: Kelly-Ann, Carolyn 29: Giannina, Lorenza 31: Linda, Maggie Please note that for each of the above dates when the Cafe is open, one of the two Hosts has been trained in the use of the new coffee machine. Please would that trained person be the only person operating the machine and also please train the other person in its use. Many thanks. Thank you to everybody who acts as a Host. If an unexpected emergency occurs on the date you are scheduled to be a Host, please don’t worry about the Cafe. No need to try to find someone to ‘stand in’ for you. There is no need whatsoever to ‘swop’ with someone! We are not a Business, having to stay open to make money! - we open when and if we can. We take this role of ‘Host’ as a Vocation from the Lord to be his Missionary and his Prophet. Actually, the Cafe has, at times, functioned well with just one Host. The success of our Evangelisation Cafe depends on us. The more we speak to others of our Cafe, inviting them to visit us, the more successful it will be. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and colleagues. Please check when it is your turn to be a Host (or a Baker!). Please see this role as a Calling, a Vocation from the Lord which you are generously telling the Lord you will do”. Thank you so much for your trust in the good Lord