The Second Sunday of Lent 28th February 2021
St Katherine Drexel – Feast Day 3rd March
Ever loving God, you called Saint Katharine Drexel to teach the message of the Gospel and
to bring the life of the Eucharist to
the Black and Native American peoples.
By her prayers and example,
enable us to work for justice
among the poor and oppressed.
Draw us all into the Eucharistic community of your Church, that we may be one in you.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lent 2021
There are many things planned during Lent in the Parish this year. Here is a summary of things that are planned and this will be updated each week.
Morning prayer: morning prayer will be live streamed Tuesday to Sunday early morning and will then be available on the Parish YouTube channel. We will use the Divine Office which people can access via Universalis.
To follow the words please use the paid version of the Universalis app.
Exposition: early each morning Tuesday to Sunday there will be a time of Exposition live on the YouTube channel which will then be on the channel.
Evening Prayer will continue each day.
Friday Evening prayer: each Friday evening there will be ‘Taize style’ prayer around the cross. This will be live streamed from Fr Chris’s prayer room at 7.00pm using the chants and prayers from Taize. Again this will then be available on the Parish YouTube channel.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: there will be a time of Exposition live each early morning Tuesday to Sunday after morning prayer and then as a separate recording on the Parish YouTube channel.
Rembrandt: the Prodigal Son
This image will be used every Sunday during Lent for the homily focussing on different aspects.
Fr Chris will also record some reflections / prayer times based on books about the painting that will be then on the Parish YouTube channel.
We would like to hold a discussion group on Zoom during Lent based on the different aspects of this iconic picture. Please could you contact Fr Chris if you would like to run the group or are interested in taking part. Contact Fr Chris
Stations of the Cross: it would be great if groups and individuals could please record different versions that we can then put on the Parish YouTube channel. Please let Fr Chris know if you would like to make a recording. Contact Fr Chris
Joshua and Wooly: there will be an episode every day during Lent.
There will also be some activities for young people during Lent. Please watch out for updates here on the website and on the Parish Facebook page.
Remembering Everyone at this time
If you know someone who doesn’t have access to mass and night prayer online please can you let me know their contact details so that I can send them a card to know that they are being remembered and in our prayers.
Thank you, Fr Chris
LATEST NEWS
There are so many things happening within our Parish at the moment both Spiritually and Socially. Please take time to visit our latest news page. Latest Parish Updates
Welcome to the Parish of St Cuthbert and to our website
Father Chris Gorton
Welcome to our parish website and to the family of the Parish of St Cuthbert, Bolton.
Jesus promised that where two or three are gathered in his name he is present amongst them.
At a time when we cannot gather publicly it is more important than ever to remember that we can and must gather in prayer.
The live streaming of Mass means that we will be gathered as the parish family looking forward in hope for when we can physically gather again.
This time calls for us to make a Spiritual Communion giving the time that we would normally give for mass by watching the mass online if possible and make it our fervent prayer again and again:
‘Jesus I want to receive you into my life.’
This time calls us to action. We can all exercise a ministry of prayer for each other, for all those in need and our world. This is a very special opportunity for our parish to be a powerhouse of prayer.
Pray, pray, pray!
The churches will be open at different times during the week . And for those who are able to be out and about it is a very important time to look at every way possible to help other people.
Please check our Facebook page for updated information.
Above all we must build our lives on the solid rock of Christ. It is timely to reflect on the parable that Jesus told of the two house builders (Matthew Chapter 7). One built on sand, the other on rock. In both cases the storm came but the house built on rock stood.
We are in the middle of a storm now, let us make sure that our lives are built on the solid rock of faith in Christ and remember the words of St Teresa of Avila:
‘Let nothing disturb you, let nothing worry you, the one who has God lacks nothing.
Let nothing disturb you, let nothing worry you, God alone is enough.’
Amen.
God bless you,
Fr Chris.