NEWSLETTER

ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT:
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament one hour before Mass or Eucharistic Services followed by Prayer of the Church.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION:
T uesday evening after Mass, Saturday morning 11.00a.m.-noon and By Appointment.

SUNDAY: Stations of the Cross at 5.00 p.m.

FRANCES HOGAN: Frances will be visiting St. Michael’s for Holy week this year and our Lenten preparations will be based on the Holy Week programme she has prepared. Details of talks and services will be made available as soon as possible.

NEW PARISHIONERS: If you are new to the Parish or have been here only a short while please take one of the Welcome packs in the porch. These packs contain a lot of information which new parishioners should find helpful.

REFLECTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.

Now we go more deeply into listening to God in His Holy Word in order to obey it. See 1 Samuel 15:22: “Obedience is better than sacrifice.”

EXODUS 17: We now move into the third significant stage of Salvation. We are in the wilderness with Jesus.
• Here the people began to doubt God’s Word and His faithfulness to them.
• Here they became demanding looking for miracles to serve their needs.
• Here God worked a miracle to show them WHO HE IS.
Water from the Rock: Water is a symbol of God’s grace and “that rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-5
Notice what God said: “I will be standing there before you at the Rock. You must strike the Rock and water will flow from it. On the Cross Jesus was struck by Moses’ people and both “blood and water flowed” for our Salvation.
JOHN 4: Here the Saviour meets a sinner in the wilderness of her life and offers her the living waters of Salvation.
• The well= the well of Salvation.
• The Redeemer begins the dialogue with the one to be redeemed.
• He reveals himself through the dialogue of prayer.
• Both of them are thirsty: He for the redemption of sinners; she for salvation. The next time that Jesus will say “I thirst” will be from the Cross where he asks His Father to give Him the privilege of saving us all.
• God wants us all to lead a spiritual life i.e. “in Spirit and in Truth.”
• We are to base our lives in what HE HAS REVEALED not on what the world, flesh and devil say….

PENITENTIAL SERVICE:

The Lenten Penitential Service will be on WEDNESDAY 19th March at 7.00 p.m.
when a number of priests will be available for individual Reconciliation.