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PARISH NEWSLETTER
1st March 2015
(Cycle B)
2nd Sunday in Lent
PARISH PRIEST
Fr. Nicholas Wetz OSB
Tel: 01432 - 277319
email:pp@belmontparish.plus.com
www.belmontparish.org.uk
Parish Deacon
Rev Deacon Eddie Wyman
Tel: 01432 - 263575
Parish Hall 01432 - 374781
Safeguarding Representative
Gabrielle Stanley 07939 472059
Items for the Newsletter to
admin@belmontparish.org.uk
or The Parish Office
Today’s gospel reading is of the Transfiguration. At the end of this extraordinary
event, when the voice from heaven commands us to "listen to him", we are challenged to be transfigured by the divine presence in our own lives. This should prompt
us to deepen our prayer lives and our lives of love and charity. This is the hall mark of
our Lenten Season.
The second collection today is for Cafod. God created a world of abundance with
enough food for everyone, but we have turned it into a world of want: each night,
one in eight people goes to bed hungry due to lack of food. Let’s share the abundance of God’s creation with our global family by supporting Cafod’s Lent appeal.
Cafod tells us that Storms, droughts and floods are having a devastating impact on
the poorest communities in the world right now. CAFOD works with local
organisations to ensure that people are not only able to survive, but to thrive. Every
£1 donated by supporters this Lent, up to the value of £5million, will be matched by
the UK Government! This means that even more of the world’s poorest women, men
and children will be able to cope with the effects of extreme weather. Any donations
received between Ash Wednesday and 17 May 2015 will be covered by UK Aid Match.
Fr Nicholas
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Last
Sunday’s
1st Collection
£312.56
The Real Easter Egg Company
Standing Orders:
£533.00
Over a million FAIRTRADE/REAL EASTER
EGGS were sold last year. These are
produced by the Meaningful Chocolate
Company and are the only Easter Eggs
with the Easter Story in the box. See
poster in porch for more information.
2nd Collection
£156.75
Abbey Maintenance - Thank you.
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Exposition
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During Lent there will be an opportunity
for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Justice & Peace
every Friday Morning in the Oratory
between 11 am and 12 noon. Do pop in We wish to thank the young members
and spend a little time in the presence of the Justice & Peace Group who
of the Lord.
handed out CAFOD envelopes after
Mass last week. Don’t forget to put
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them in the second collection this week!
Wednesday Mass
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The Wednesday Midday Masses during
Week of Prayer & Awareness for
Lent will be in the Church to accommo- Dementia: 12th to 19th March 2015
date the larger number of peoples joining us for the Lenten Days of The Annual Archdiocesan Mass with the
Recollection.
Sacrament of the Sick for Dementia
Sufferers and their carers, will be
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celebrated on Thursday 19th March at
12:00 noon in All Hallows Church,
Jumble Sale
Miskin, CF72 8PG. Please come together
and pray for all who experience the
1.30pm on Saturday 7th March at effects of Dementia.
OLQM - same time - same place as
always but we need items for the
jumble - so please start looking and
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leaving things in the Parish Hall Porch.
Many thanks!
Wednesday in Lent at Belmont Abbey
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To be a Christian is to discover the joy
of a personal encounter with Jesus.
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Using the writings and example of the
White Rabbit
popes we reflect on what it means to be
a follower of Christ in our Following the success of last year’s
contemporary society.
production Soldier to Saint by RISE
Theatre, we have invited them back to
4th March: Christians in Dialogue Paul perform their latest offering White
VI: Abbot Paul
Rabbit in Hedley Lodge at 7.30pm,
11th March: Rich in Mercy St. John Paul Friday 20th March 2015.
II: Abbot Paul
18th March: A Reasonable Faith This is a tale of faith, love and selfBenedict XVI: Dom Andrew
discovery, of two people lost in a
25th March: In Joyful Hope Pope grown-up world of work, normality and
Francis: Dom Andrew
disappointment - a place with no time
for fairy tales or childhood dreams.
Morning Coffee 10.00, Talk 10.30, Mass Jenny cannot STOP, her fast-paced
at 12 noon. 1.00 Simple Bread & Soup work life spiraling out of control. Tom
Lunch. Talk 2.00. Afternoon Tea cannot START, his life as an artist now at
3.30pm. Suggested Offering £10.00. a complete standstill. Suddenly an
Includes Lunch.
unexpected encounter with a stranger
sets them on a life-changing journey.
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Could this be the White Rabbit of their
childhood? Experience for yourself the
Lent Study Lunches at Ewyas Harold: message of hope and forgiveness in this
‘A Heart for Mission’
imaginative and moving play by singersongwriter and director Charley Pinfold.
On five Thursdays beginning 26th
February at 12noon in the Ewyas Harold Tickets are now on sale from the Parish
Baptist Hall
Office (see Chris Moore or Fr Nick) £8
(with soup lunch from 1pm - donations) for adults, £6 for under 18s.
5th March – To teach, baptise & nurture
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new believers
12th March – To respond to human
Wales and the Marches Catholic
need through loving service
History Society
19th March – To seek to transform
unjust structures of society
Seán Cleary, a local historian and a
26th March – To safeguard and sustain member of WAMCHS will be giving a
Creation.
talk entitled - "Bute, Llanisien and the
Early Nineteenth Century Irish" at 3pm
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on Sunday March 8th at St. David’s
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Catholic Sixth Form College in Tygwyn
Rd., Cardiff. Everyone is welcome. For
further information:
Email: triciacoulthard@outlook.com
Phone:02920595899
http://www.wamchs.btck.co.uk
decided to invite all Altar Servers from
the Herefordshire Deanery. A coach will
be provided at no cost to you.
It will leave Belmont Abbey at 9am and
return at 4pm. (You will need to bring a
packed lunch).
Please could you let Jo Williams know
if you wish to attend, no later than the
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evening of Monday 2nd March, as we
need to book places. Call, text or email
Jo Williams (SFX Parish) 07767046535,
It is reported with shock and great
01432 850414, jo.l.williams@gmail.com
sadness that one of the Kenya children
has died.
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Yvonne was ill for a few days only and
becoming worse. She was waiting to be
HOMILY
seen in a hospital queue when she
suddenly collapsed and died. We do not
“Rabbi, it is wonderful for us to be here.”
have any details of the cause of her
death as the family are waiting for more
Illustration
information from the doctor.
In 1940 Brother Roger Schutz founded a
Christian community in Taizé, France.
Yvonne was a valued family member, a
The community grew and became a
committed Catholic and server at Mass.
major spiritual centre for young people,
She was in her last year of secondary
and now attracts 100,000 young people
school and academically very bright.
each year. For many of these young
She planned to go to university to study
people this is their first experience of
medicine. Prayers are invited for
intensive prayer, and they experience
Yvonne and her distraught family.
the presence of Christ in a powerful
Monica Russell
manner. This encounter can stir up
deep emotions and often the young
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people do not know how to react. The
community at Taizé offers help and
Calling all Altar Servers…
guidance, which aims to help them
make sense of their encounter with
His Grace, Archbishop George Stack has
Christ but also to reflect upon what this
invited you all to attend a training day
will mean when they leave Taizé and
in preparation for the Paschal Triduum
return to their lives.
on Saturday 7th March 2015 at All Many would like to remain in Taizé and
Hallows Parish, Miskin, It had been never let go of this experience of
Kenya Outreach
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Christ’s presence. Yet our vocation as
Christians is not one of flight from the
world. For those who do remain there is
no flight from reality. Welcoming
100,000 young people each year
requires a great deal of planning and
work, especially when you are faced
with all their needs: physical,
emotional, intellectual and spiritual. For
the Brothers of Taizé, sharing the lives
of the young people requires a
commitment to the cross. Many of the
young people who arrive in Taizé have
broken lives, and welcoming them
means sharing in their sorrow and pain.
cross and resurrection. We know that
without the cross there can be no
resurrection. It is only after Jesus has
risen that the disciples will understand
the significance of what happened upon
the mountain. The mountain of the
glorious appearance of Jesus only
makes sense in the light of that other
mountain, Golgotha, the place of the
crucifixion. On the cross Christ shares
all our pain and suffering; this is Christ’s
glory.
When we think of earthly glory we think
of those who have risen above our
ordinary human weakness and
vulnerability. The great sportsperson
never experiences the disappointments
of the ordinary competitor. Those who
are rich and famous do not share in our
daily struggles to make a living.
Sometimes we think that sharing in the
glory of Christ will make us invulnerable
to human weakness and suffering. With
Peter we say that it is wonderful to be
with the glorified Christ, and we wish to
build a dwelling place so that Christ can
stay forever with us. Yet remaining with
Christ means following him to that
other mountain, the place of the cross.
Jesus enters into glory not through
rising above our suffering, but by
embracing it.
Gospel Teaching
This encounter of Peter, James and
John upon the mountain with the
glorious Christ seems out of place in the
Gospel of Mark. Why are they given this
vision of the glorious risen Christ before
the cross and resurrection? We can,
however, turn the question around.
Why are the disciples not able to see
the glory of Christ at every moment? He
is the Son of God, the Word through
whom all things are made. Why can
they not see this? It is because they
have not accepted that Jesus must die
on the cross.
After they come down from the
mountain Jesus commands them to tell
nobody about what has happened until
after “the Son of Man [has] risen from
the dead”. They do not understand
what Jesus means by this saying. But
we, the readers of Mark’s Gospel, are
now seeing all this in the light of the
Application
In order to enter into his glory, Christ
calls us to follow him on the path to the
cross. It is very tempting to remain on
the mountain, but we are called to
return to our lives. Each of us is
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confronted by suffering: the pain and
disappointments of our own lives, the
sufferings of those around us. Even a
few moments in the presence of the
risen Christ can bring us relief from such
suffering. But this is not because Christ
does not share in our sufferings. Rather,
it is because Christ enters into and
transforms our sufferings.
Abraham would do whatever was asked
of him.
This is one of the reasons we refer to
Abraham as our ‘Father in Faith’. But
before we think we have got away with
it, we need to remember that during
this Lent God will ask something of us
that will give us an opportunity to show
our faith. We won’t be asked to
sacrifice our children but we will have
six weeks in which we can show that we
are prepared to grow in the faith we
profess. How far will we go? For Lent is
not simply a time for giving up things or
doing something extra. It’s a journey of
renewal.
As Christians we are not called to rise
above the pain and suffering of the
world, but to follow Christ and enter
into those places where people suffer.
We can only do this as Christ’s disciples,
allowing him to enter into our own
suffering and pain, so that we can show
to others this healing love. This is what
it means to show the glory of Christ.
There is no doubt that during Lent God
will use the ordinary circumstances of
our lives in order to reveal the depth of
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his concern for us and to seek our loving
response. This will be different for each
FAITH IN FOCUS: HOW FAR WILL YOU one of us. It might be the reminder that
GO?
we really ought to devote more time to
our prayer. It might be the nagging
Imagine you felt you were called by God realisation that there is unfinished
to do something that everyone else business with family members that we
thought was stupid. Imagine you ought to set right once and for all. It
received God’s call to up sticks and might be that during Lent we will come
move from your home, travelling to the to see the selfishness that has caught
middle of nowhere just to show how hold of us and take steps to remedy it.
much faith you had. And imagine, when
you got there, that God asked you to We each know that we are capable of
prove your faith by sacrificing one of being much better people than we
your children. Unbelievable? Yes, allow ourselves to be. God has given us
certainly in today’s climate. But that’s a greatness that we are only too
what
happened
to
Abraham. prepared to hide. And Lent is our
Mercifully, God prevented him from annual season for renewing ourselves
killing Isaac once he realised that in spirit, for controlling those aspects of
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Ministers, etc. For next
Sunday 8th March: 2nd Sunday of Lent
8:30am
Welcomer(s)
9:30am
11:00am
Marnie Archer &
Maureen Stacey
Kath Parry
Anne Stapleton
1st Reading
Richard Batho
Georgina McGurk
2nd Reading
Adrian Eyre
Sacristan
Jeremy Hogan
Jacqui Corrigan
Bidding Prayer Fran Grant
Offertory
Ramage-Hill Family
Jane Davies
Peter Davies
Paul Nickholds &
Lucy Zammit
Extra-Ordinary Frances Dees & Fran
Minister(s)
Smallwood
Tony Archer
Next Sunday - Second Collection: Priest Training Fund
Next Week - Newsletter Folding: Rowena Simon
Dates to be noted
20 March 2015 White Rabbit - Hedley Lodge, Belmont Abbey - 7:30pm
ST BENEDICT’S EASTER JOURNEY
March 13-15
(2 days mid-week registration fee £26)
Inspired by his Rule we learn to run on the
path of life with hearts delighting in love.
Abbott Paul Stonham
CHILDREN’S LITURGY
8.30 am Children's Liturgy 1 March
11.00 am Liturgy
08-Mar
Pat Wood & Jan Wyman
15-Mar
A Morawiecki & M Russell
22-Mar
Rachel Cowdrey & Rob Blackburn
29-Mar
Jacqui Moore & Pauline Gill
Please pray for all who have died: May they rest in peace.
DEATHS: David Ellis, Siobhan Hayes and Hugh Snell.
ANNIVERSARIES: Elizabeth de Normanville, Frances Schomberg, Peter Skuse, Edith Preddy,
William Rosser, Dorothy Shaw, Dom. Wilfrid Chadwick, Bessie Catherine Lee,
Joseph
McGurk, Ada Dobson, William Eburn, Patrick Waldron, Monica Devlin, Carolyn McEwen,
Anna Panniers, Dom Bruno Reynolds, Ted Edwards, Catherine Ramlall, Mary Clay, Mgr Paul
Hook, Bridget O'Toole.
The SICK:Please pray for Peter Lee, Edna Ledford, Sister Trish Hayes, Derek Denyer, Will
Kinsman, Toni Cornforth, Mary Carroll, Sue Rogers, Elizabeth Lloyd-Jones, Jane Shaw, Fr
Michal Cronin, Elaine Campbell, Sr Catherine, Joanne Savory, Ken Harding, Brian Holberry,
Vincent Hanna, and Sadie Bowyer.
Belmont Abbey Parish is part of Belmont Abbey Mission Trust (Registered Charity - 226277)
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Liturgy for Sunday 1st March 2015
Readings: Sunday Cycle B; Weekdays: Cycle 1; Divine Office: Week 2
2nd Sunday of
Lent
Entrance:Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face. It
is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face
from me.
Acclamation:Save us, Saviour of the world…
Communion: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased; listen to him.
Principal Celebrants, Extraordinary Ministers, Readers, etc.
8:30am
Celebrant
Fr Nicholas
Welcomer
Hayes Family
9:30am
Fr Nicholas
Desmond Keohane & Anne & Ross
Georgina McGurk
Williams
Sacristan
Rob Corrigan
1st Reading
Richard Batho
2nd Reading
Liz Norman
Marion Luscombe
Pat Draper
Children’s Liturgy
Margaret Campbell
&Teresa Harriss
Extra-Ordinary
Sylvia Hayes
Minister(s)
Mass Intention
Marje Hayes
Margaret Rose
Bidding Prayer Adrian Eyre
Offertory
11:00am
Monica Russell
Emily Louisa Hayes
RIP
Benefactors
Cedric Brownsword
RIP
Second Collection: CAFOD
What’s On for the week
Mon Feria: Mass at 8:00 am; Requiem Mass for David Ellis RIP 12 noon
Tue Feria: Mass at 8:00 am
Wed Feria: Masses at 8:00am and 12 noon in the Abbey
Thu Feria: Mass at 8:00 am
Fri
Feria: Mass at 8:00 am; Midday Mass in the Oratory
Sat
Feria: Mass at 8:00 am: Sacrament of Reconciliation at 10:00 am
Events for the week
07 March
Jumble Sale at OLQM, Belmont Road
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