OLDE FORGE CAFE - AN EVANGELISATION PROJECT

Please come to the Cafe on Thursday, 12th March , at 12.00midday for an hour. Grahame, our local Methodist Minister will lead us in a reflection on the great theological virtue of Faith.

Thank you to Patricia for all her very good work as a Catechist in our parish. Thank you to Lorenza for leading Stations of the Cross, last Friday.  Thank you to Angela for helping parents with the Faith development of their children

An Intention for holy Mass is a specific prayer, often for a particular person or purpose, that a priest offers during the celebration of a holy Mass. It is the best way that we have to unite our lives, our hopes, our fears, our joys and our sorrows with the Lord Jesus. It is the best way possible, because every time holy Mass takes place, the Lord’s Death and Resurrection also takes place. A holy Mass Intention is a prayer asking that the Lord’s victory over sin and death be applied to the Intention. The Intention can be for those who are still living in this world or for those who have left this world. Anyone, of course, may request a holy Mass - In Thanksgiving, for a Birthday, for someone who has died, on the occasion of a special Anniversary, for someone who is unwell or for any other intention that we believe the good Lord wishes to hear and possibly to give us. Every holy Mass is the making present of the Lord offering his saving love to everyone, so every holy Mass is for everyone! However, sometimes we have specific Intentions that we may wish to mention to the Lord. A ‘Stipend’ or Offering for the holy Mass is not a fee! It is not ‘the cost of a holy Mass’! The holy Mass is so sacred, so full of the Lord’s presence and saving power that it is priceless! In fact, the Stipend is only a gesture of gratitude and care for the priest who celebrates the holy Mass for you. It is a way for supporting our priests who, although they do not receive salaries, still need personal funds to meet their own ‘costs of living.’ The Stipend suggested by the Archdiocese of Southwark Finance Committee is a minimum of £10 for each holy Mass. Of course, anyone who can’t afford a Stipend should still request a holy Mass Intention and I’m sure every priest would always be more than happy to celebrate holy Mass for someone in that situation.  Here in our parish, please use the holy Mass Intention envelopes which you will find in the porch of the church. Please write the details of the Intention, a preferred date if required, enclose the Stipend, and let me have it directly or post it through the presbytery letterbox.

Let’s make next Friday, 6th March , our Family Fast Day. Let’s reduce the amount of food we consume in our families, on that day and the money that we save by doing so, we will give to CAFOD for the hungry people of our world. Envelopes available in the porch of the church.

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

As last year, I have invited our friends from the other Christian Churches in our area, to join us for a three-part series of discussions during the holy Season of Lent which begins in the not too distant future!  We will meet in the Olde Forge Cafe at 12.00midday for one hour, on the 12th, 19th and 26th of March. We will be talking about the three great theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. One of the leaders of each Christian Church in our area will give a 10/15 minute introduction and then pose a few questions to the group for discussion. On the 12th, Graham, our local Methodist Minister will lead on the theme of ‘Faith.’ I’ll lead on the theme of ‘Hope’, on the 19th. We will be led by a third person on the theme of ‘Charity’ on the 26th. Please pop these dates and time in your diary.

Please note that the Cafe is only licensed to provide hot drinks and cakes. We are not insured for the cooking or provision of hot food. There are regulations around hygiene and food safety which we would have to meet, before we would be able to offer cooked or heated food to Visitors to the Cafe. Also, only someone with the required Health and Safety certification is permitted by Law, to prepare food for public consumption. We can, of course, apply for permission to provide cooked or heated food in our Cafe and as long as we can satisfy all the requirements, we would receive permission to do so. This is what we have done in the past for special occasions. If we were to use the cooking facilities and equipment in our Cafe and provide food, without the required permissions, we could be in difficulty. If an accident occurred in the kitchen or someone became unwell after consuming food, we could well face a very large fine or even the compulsory closure of the Cafe. Please speak with me, well in advance, if you would like to suggest an occasion when we could provide cooked or heated food. We would need to satisfy all requirements and seek the approvals needed, which we could do. Many thanks.

The overwhelming consensus of opinion among our parishioners is that having a choice of three Sunday holy Masses in our small parish is not necessary and that in fact having three Sunday holy Masses is only there for convenience sake! Everyone is agreed that two Sunday holy Masses are more than enough for our needs and not just in the Summer! Everybody also agreed that if we are told to lose a Sunday holy Mass, then it must be the 9.00am Sunday holy Mass that we lose, since it is the least well-attended of our present three Masses. It was agreed by almost everyone that given the loss of the 9.00am holy Mass, then the time of the present 11.00am holy Mass will need to be a little earlier in the day. Almost everyone was in agreement that the best time for a Sunday morning holy Mass would be 10.30am. I have sent your recommendations of two Sunday holy Masses in Holy Family parish, at least during the Summer each year, to the Diocese, i.e: Sunday Vigil holy Mass at 5.00pm on Saturdays Sunday holy Mass at 10.30am on Sundays  The frequency and times of holy Mass in all parishes in the Archdiocese is decided by Archbishop John and his Advisors. So, we await the decision.