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Change in Mass Times during Lent: 7.45am in both The Cathedral & St. Joseph's Church.
Lent 2008
Please Note: Change of early Mass times in Cathedral & St. Joseph’s from 8am to 7.45am, for the duration of Lent.
The Cathedral:
Morning Prayer:
Monday-Thursday prior to 10am Mass
Stations of the Cross:
Every Friday morning prior to 10am Mass
Evening Prayer in The Cathedral this Sunday at 5.30pm.
St. Joseph’s:
Taizé Prayer during Lent
Each Thursday, at 8pm In St Joseph's Church. Prayer using the Songs of Taizé. Come and join us for this reflective time of Prayer with a Lenten flavour.
Meaning of Lent: Lent is the 'Spring- time' of the Church's year. The word itself - 'Lencten' ( an old English word ) - refers to the lengthening of the days during this time of year. Spring is a good image for what this season means-a time of new life and new hope.
We begin with the blessing and distribution of Ashes. The placing of ashes on our foreheads is a recognition of our sinfulness and, of our desire for inner change. We recognise our sinfulness not in a sense of despair but in a positive way so as to be more faithful to Christ's teaching. "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel", is the invitation given with the signing with ashes. We begin a 'journey' of forty days of prayer and reflection that will bring us to the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. The three features or tools for the journey are Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. We pray that God, who sustained Jesus in his forty days of temptations will support us too, on our journey.
We go into the 'desert' with him, and the journey that we make is very much an inward one--a journey into our inward self where we stand before God in all sincerity and truth. We know from experience how we can be enslaved to so many things that divert us from what is essential in life. The observance of this season helps us to recognise what is superficial and artificial in our lives . It is an 'uncluttering', a freeing of the pathway to that place where we can meet God at the deepest of levels so as to better the quality of our lives. We allow God's Word to form us so as to reconnect with God and people in a deeper way. |
