NEWS & VIEWS

Today’s Gospel recounts the well-known story of Jesus’ ‘cleansing of the temple’. He gets angry and drives out all the ‘market traders’ selling animals for Jewish sacrifices or changing money into the special  temple money that was required. Notice that ‘the management’, looking for evidence of Jesus’ authority, rather than being taken aback by his actions, apparently, ask him “what sign can you show us for doing this?” giving him the cue to predict, again, his own death and rising, this time using the temple as a metaphor for  his own body.

DOREEN & DAVID WELLER Congratulations to the Wellers on their Golden Wedding Anniversary which they mark today by renewing their marriage vows and receiving a special blessing. After Lent (on a date yet to be fixed) we will have a party after Mass to mark this milestone.

NEXT WEEK the Fourth Sunday of Lent, (also known as Laetare Sunday) is Mothering Sunday. On this day during Mass we give thanks for our own mothers, the ‘mothering’ of Holy Mother Church, and for Mary, Mother of Christians. As an additional celebration, Emma Jeffery will celebrate her half-century that week and so we shall wish her many happy returns with cake and fizz in the hall upstairs after Mass.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS a friendly greeting and welcome at the door can be very reassuring to people arriving at an unfamiliar church for the first time and who may be feeling a little uneasy; and it’s nice for regulars too. We need some more welcomers to help with this important (but not onerous) ministry. It would involve arriving at least 15 minutes before the start of Mass, but with enough people on the rota (that we intend to produce) each one would not be called upon often.

LENT HOLY WEEK AND EASTER Please ensure you have a copy of the leaflet, detailing our services and other events in this period. Our weekly Lent course on the sacraments continues on Wednesday at 7.45pm the Community Hall. It is not too late to join in.

LENT BOXES to take away are available at the back of church. These are for Lenten alms for the Additional Curates Society. The ACS helps less well-off parishes to afford a curate. They have helped us in the past and we hope they may do so in the future. Online donations at additionalcurates.co.uk/support-us/.

THURSDAY MASS is our principal weekday service. We begin at 9.30am with silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and Mass follows. Then we have coffee/tea and catch-up in the Community Hall. Why not make attending this ‘Holy Hour’ part of your Lenten discipline?

BURKINA FASO You may have heard in the news last week about the attack on a church during a service, killing 15 people. Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, with our brothers and sisters being killed daily on account of their faith, and yet we hear little about it in the mainstream news. Please pray for those who died, those who mourn them, and the injured; and for peace, reconciliation and tolerance among peoples of all religions and none.

NEW SECURITY CAMERA There is now motion sensor CCTV (which neither records sound nor covers the area around the WCs) in the downstairs lobby. This gives us a record of people entering and leaving the building that way, and will improve overall security. We keep the images for up to 180 days.

REGULAR GIVING Giving to fund the ministry of the Church is an essential part of our Christian faith. Please, if you don’t already, would you consider giving a regular amount? No amount is too small. Using our parish giving scheme is easy and you are in full control. One-off donations can be made using the Parish Giving Scheme, or with the card machine at the back of church, or by putting cash/cheques in the offering plate. Cheques should be made payable to St Mary’s Ilford PCC.

INTERCESSION

OF YOUR CHARITY, PLEASE PRAY

for the sick, distressed and bereaved
Joan Cassidy, Richard Holland, Lucy Ball, Amberly Crediton, Kathy Valentine, Margaret Harding, Mel Taylor, Bernard Street, Keith Holland, Matthew, Leslie Haigh, Bibi Bacchus, Fr Elwin Cockett, Jeanmarie Morton, Alastair Ogilvie, Paul Zmak, Dawn Roberts, Caroline & Hugo Furzland, Margaret Quinney, HM The King, Tim Holliday, Terry West, Judy; Malcolm Avery

for the recently departed 

 Alan Wilson bishop

for those whose anniversaries of death fall this week

Sunday

Marion Cushing, Phyllis Jenkins

Monday

Thomas Jackson, Muriel Thorne, David Barr, Michael Fitch

Wednesday

Charles Welch, John Campbell

please pray especially for

persecuted Christians

ORDERS OF SERVICE