What is Lent?
Sunday Visiting Preachers
Thursday Lent Course
Historically Easter has been the occasion on which
people were baptised, and those who had been excluded from the church (for apostasy or serious
faults) were reconciled. So Lent became the period
of preparation for these rites of initiation and reconciliation. As candidates for baptism were instructed
in the Christian faith, and as penitents prepared
themselves - through fasting a penance - to be readmitted to Communion, the whole Christian community was invited to join them in self-examination,
penitence, self-denial, alms-giving, study and preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
The gospel readings for the Sundays of Lent present
us with some challenging encounters with Jesus.
We welcome to St Mary’s and Christ Church some
visiting preachers to help us explore these encounters.
St Matthew tells us that as Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem the crowds were asking, ’Who is this?’ Starting from this question we
will explore how art, music and literature inform
our understanding of who Jesus is, and how
through these mediums we can encounter him
today.
So it us for us today. The forty days of this season,
which remind us of the forty days Jesus spent in the
wilderness, invite us to prepare for the commemoration of the great events of our salvation, and to
follow the Lord more closely.
What is Encountering Jesus?
As a parish, we will be exploring the theme of
‘Encountering Jesus’ during the season of Lent. All
our Lenten activities and devotions will have this
theme in mind. The aim is that, as individual Christians and as a parish community, we will encounter
Jesus, and so grow together in our discipleship.
Ash Wednesday
The beginning of Lent
Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes


St Mary’s
Wednesday 9 March
11am (said), 8pm (sung)
St Mary’s
Sundays
 10am

Christ Church
Sundays
 11.15am


St Mary’s
Thursdays
8pm (lasting 75 minutes)
13 March
Jesus and the devil
The Revd Dr Josephine Houghton
Assistant Curate, Handsworth group of parishes,
Birmingham

20 March
Jesus and Nicodemus
The Revd Dr James Walters
Chaplain, London School of Economics
24 March
Encountering Jesus the Healer
27 March
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
The Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward
Principal, St Stephen’s House, Oxford
3 April
Mothering Sunday
All-Age Eucharist
17 March
Encountering Jesus the Glory of God
31 March
Encountering Jesus the Rebel
7 April
Encountering Jesus the Man of Sorrows
14 April
Encountering Jesus the Lamb of God
10 April
Jesus and Lazarus
Nicola Pittam
Reader-in-training on placement
Holy Triduum
Maundy Thursday
2000
Sung Eucharist of the Lord’s Supper
Good Friday
0930
Ecumenical Walk of Witness
1200
Liturgy of the Passion
1400
Liturgy of the Passion
St Mary’s
Holy Saturday
2000
Easter Vigil
St Mary’s
O.L.D. R.C.
St Mary’s
Christ Church
Easter Day
0800
Holy Communion
1000
Sung Eucharist
1115
Sung Eucharist
St Mary’s
St Mary’s
Christ Church
Barefoot Disciple Book Group
Stations of the Cross
Our Lent book this year is
Barefoot Disciple: Walking the
Way of Passionate Humility by
Stephen Cherry, available
from church for the reduced
price of £8.

“In our celebrity-obsessed culture,
humility is unfashionable and too
often dismissed or confused with
the cringing, false humility of
Uriah Heep. When genuine humility is energised by real passion,
fresh and exciting light is shone of
the challenge of following Jesus Christ today and humility
is rediscovered as a healthy and life-giving virtue, capable
of transforming our Blame-Someone-Else society.”
This book will form the basis of a discussion group
on Wednesdays, after the 11am Eucharist.


St Mary’s
Wednesdays
11.30am (after the 11am Eucharist)
This Lent


Try to make sure you come to the Eucharist
every Sunday in Lent
Try to come to at least Lent activity or mid-week
Eucharist every week
The Sacrament of Reconciliation
It is a good spiritual practice to make one’s confession by
using the Sacrament of Reconciliation before the celebration of Easter. The parish clergy are available to hear
confessions after any Eucharist or by appointment. They
are also happy to meet to explain what the sacrament
involves.

Christ Church
Fridays
6pm
From very early times, Christian Pilgrims to Jerusalem walked the ‘Way of the Cross’ from Pilate’s
House to Calvary. Wishing to relate to this powerful experience on their return home, the devotion
known as ‘Stations of the Cross’ developed. From
1342 the Franciscans evolved and promoted the
form of devotion we know today. Many forms of
the devotion are known and used, each providing
the opportunity for prayer and meditation on aspect of Our Lord’s passion. This year, during Lent,
various forms of these meditations will be used.
We shall end each service with Benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament.
Encountering Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
you are the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
May we, by prayer, study and self-denial,
encounter you in our lives
and in the life of our parish,
and so be better equipped
to dedicate ourselves to your service,
and to joyfully proclaim the mystery
of your passion, death and resurrection;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.