February 14th 2010 Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Feast of Saint Valentine
THE FAMILY OF HOLY CROSS
3 CARRINGTON AVE, COTTINGHAM, EAST YORKSHIRE HU16 4DU
Twinned with Star of the Sea Parish Juba Freetown Sierra Leone
Tel: 01482 847763 Fax: 01482
845225
e-mail: Website: holycrosscottingham.org.uk
Parish Priest: Father Pat Day BA, BD
Masses: Vigil Mass: Sat 6.30 pm Sun 10 am Ash Wednesday 9 am and 7 pm Mon to Sat 9 am, except Tues 7 pm
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: Saturday after the 9 am Mass until Benediction at 6 pm
Holy Cross is open all day from dawn till dusk. Tea and coffee are served in the Garden Room after the 10 am Mass on Sunday
February 14th 2010 Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Feast of Saint Valentine
Today's Gospel: The Sermon on the Mount. More than 5,000 people listened to these words the first time they were uttered. Few sermons or speeches have been so often quoted (apart from mine maybe!). In more recent times, we might think of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and hear its message delivered with volume and determination. What strikes me is that Jesus had no amplification. Neither were there large plasma screens dotted through the crowds so that his image could be seen and his words clearly heard, even by those at a distance. Yet his message was heard and is repeated in our midst today. Isn't there something good about that and doesn't it make us wonder how the message was heard by all. Isn't it possible that everybody didn't hear everything but that as people walked away they talked about what he had said? "What did he say about the poor?" somebody might have asked and another replied: "Oh yeah, I heard that – he said the kingdom of heaven is theirs." The bits and pieces were shared, like the bread and fish, so that all were nourished. There is much in today's liturgy speaking to us of choice. Further, we are left in no doubt about the consequence of the bad choice but maybe there's another choice before us all today. Do we leave the Word here in the church or talk about it as we go? What part do we have to play in bringing the word to others in the days to come? How much will we talk to one another about what has happened here today? Sunday leading into Monday and beyond...
Mass Intentions for the coming week:
Sat 13th 6.30 pm Camille Monet Thurs 9 am Angela Vacchese
Sun 10 am Freddy Kemp (RIP)
Mon 9 am Anthony Guazzelli
Tues 7 pm Shrove Tuesday – Dorothy Hall 6.30 pm Jim Gardham
Ash Wednesday 9 am Betty
Eagan (RIP)
7 pm Dick Hainsworth
Anniversaries: Sat 13th: Eric Hollingworth, Isabella Kay; Sun: Mary Thomson; Mon: Richard Proctor, Genevieve Burke, Austin Gibbons, Marjorie Jones; Tues: Harry Mayes, Mary Young; Wed: Sidney Taylor; Sat: Hazel Kennedy;
Sun: Brenda Culkin, Beatrice Eleanor Brown, Florence Joan Hamilton.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _From Father Pat_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"My Week: I felt unwell during Betty's Requiem on Monday but did the burial and went to the 'do' afterwards (excellent). Had an appointment with the practice nurse in the village at 3 pm to discuss the stenting in November and how it was going, told her I'd felt unwell (actually thought I was having a heart attack!); she called the doctor and within a couple of hours I was on a trolley in the AAU Ward at HRI. I spent the night there on the trolley (but they're called beds now!) and on Tuesday was transferred to CHH Ward 28 (Cardiology). Had another angiogram which showed that all was clear (stents still open). Paul O'Brien, the pharmacist at the hospital, visited and explained why I had the pains and I was so grateful for that. The drugs that I'm taking can cause 'phantom' pains that appear just like you're having a heart attack! So hopefully, with some additional drugs, I'll be OK. Here's hoping! I got home on Wednesday night (in time for the football and Hull City's defeat!). Didn't do me any good!
Lent begins this Wednesday which is Ash Wednesday. There will be two Masses on the day, 9 am and 7 pm and ashes will be distributed at both. We have about 100 copies of 'Walk with Me' a Lenten Journey of Prayer Diary. There's a little 'thought for the day' and a blank to write in who your prayer is for that day. Take one if you're going to use it. They're £1 but you can have them for nothing and if they help any of us during this Lent, then it'll have been well worth it! Please also take one of the colourful calendars to put up in the house, again to remind us of what Lent is all about.
"Love in Truth": [Caritas in Veritate] The Social Teaching of the Church – contemporary challenges, choices and implications. Bishop Terry invites us to explore this together during Lent. The Hull sessions will be at the Endsleigh Centre at 7 pm on Tues, Feb 23rd and March 2nd, with a Plenary Session on Sat, March 13th at English Martyrs', York from 10 am – 1 pm when the Keynote Address will be given by John Battle M.P. (Leeds West) – inspirational Catholic speaker and campaigner on social justice and human development. Some yellow information leaflets in the porch.
"You aren't responsible for what folk think about you but you're responsible for what you give them to think about you."
The Lourdes 'Sick Fund' Mass and Rally last weekend at the Marist Church raised over £1,300. Many thanks to everyone who supported in any way, either by being there or by giving items for the Raffle/Tombola.
Bulk-buying for girlfriends:' "As part of its marketing strategy, Tesco is offering Valentine's cards at 3 for £10. Unless the store is frequented by certain high-profile philandering sports stars, I struggle to see the attraction of this." (Letter in The Telegraph)
Congratulations to Alderman Patrick Doyle on being invested into the Order of the Knights of St Gregory the Great by Bishop Terry at St Charles on Saturday. Kevin McNamara, Barney Connolly and Dr Jim Whiston are previous recipients from the diocese.
A Valentine's Day love story: An Arab diplomat who lifted his bride's veil only to discover she was cross-eyed with facial hair has sued her parents. He brought the case for emotional and moral damages in a sharia court in Dubai. He claimed that photographs of the woman he had been promised in marriage, shown to his mother in advance, turned out to be her sister. 'After the ambassador and the woman, who is a physician, signed the marriage contract, the groom was sitting with the bride. He claimed to the sharia court officials that when he wanted to kiss his wife-to-be, he discovered she was bearded and cross-eyed as well.' The ambassador brought the case to reclaim the £8,300 he had spent on jewellery, clothes and gifts for her. The judge rejected the claim for compensation but approved the divorce.
CAFOD has acknowledged the £1,331 we collected for the recent Haiti Earthquake Appeal. CAFOD has pledged £1 million to their church partners to help survivors. Staff from Caritas Haiti, their partner, many of whom have travelled on foot or by motorbike, have distributed food, water and tents to some of the families who have been made homeless.
Lenten Day of Reflection: An opportunity for peace and time-out with guided reflection on "The Jesus we meet in Lent [Say but the word]". Encouragement and healing for living out our faith in daily life, led by Caroline Dollard from the Diocesan 'Celebrating Family Life Project': Sat, Feb 20th from 10 am to 2.30 pm at St Joseph's, Boothferry Road.
"For better, far better …" Gill Hornby writes in The Telegraph: 'It's excellent news that the divorce rate has dropped for the first time in 30 years. But politicians who value marriage should still be thinking about the future. Instead of fiddling around with tax breaks and transferable allowances, their money would be better spent on marriage guidance – given before the problems start, not when it's too late. The vicar who married us insisted that, before we got to the ceremony, we had to attend four sessions of relationship counselling. We were sceptical, but went and it was fascinating. We had to do things like write a list of everything we found wrong with the other. My husband was too scared to write anything, and I ran out of paper. Such fun. But useful too. Without tempting fate, we're still together about a hundred years later. I'm still happy. And if he's not, he's too scared to say anything."
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Counters this weekend: John Gray and Gerry Doherty; and next: Pat and John McNicholas
Passover Meal March 31st Invitations for the meal will be given out at next weekend's Masses.
Women's World Day of Prayer Service at Holy Cross on Friday March 5th at 2 pm.
Book Sales The total for January was £51.97. The book sale for February will be on Sunday, the 28th.
Amnesty Concert at the Guildhall: 'The Park Street Ensemble' on Tues, Feb 16th at 7.30 pm. Tickets cost £15 (incl wine and light refreshments): from 849443 or City Hall Booking Office 226655.
The January collection for Diane and the twins raised a very generous total of £171.60. Diane sends her gratitude.
Books and Bibles A Christian bookshop has opened in Hull in the Methodist Church, opposite the former Woolworths. Please support this trial venture.
'Christian Coffee Break'
meets at the Wheatsheaf, Kirkella on Wednesday, February 17th
from 10 to 11.30 am. Everyone is welcome to
come and hear someone's life story; more information in the porch.
Church-cleaning after Mass (9.45) Monday, 15th.
Parish Lunch – Wed, 17th : midday in the Garden Room. All are welcome.
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