Feb. 22, 2022. Notes to Parishioners

Synod
i.Pope Francis invites everyone to join in the Synod . Given that there are over a billion plus Catholics in the world, that is quite an invitation. The first step is to fill in the questionnaire. More forms available in the porch. Any Catholic, active or inactive, practising or not, is invited to fill one in.

Lent
ii. Lent is almost upon us. Ash Wednesday is on March 2. Now is the time to plan what we will do for Lent — if nothing is planned, nothing will happen.

iii.A time for repentance, for turning away from sin and death, and preparing to join in the supernatural Joys and Graces of Easter, the new life of the Resurrection. We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song.
In Our Lady’s, we will continue to celebrate Mass on Wednesdays at 10 a.m, followed by

Stations of the Cross.
iv.Two representatives from the parish will attend a teach-in on the Synod run by the diocese in St Marys, Forebank, Dundee, on Saturday, February 19. On their return, they will tell us of the next step in participating in the Synod process. We will keep the weekdays of Lent free for Synod meetings/business.

v.On the Sundays of Lent we will have a Holy Hour from 5 pm to 6 pm.
This will enable us to spend some time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament on the Lord’s Day, to ponder more deeply on passages of Sacred Scripture, to recite the Rosary and to celebrate the evening Prayer of the Church.
After the service, there will also be an opportunity of receiving the Sacrament of Penance ( Confession )

Activities of Lent : Prayer; Fasting; Almsgiving.
There are SCIAF Boxes in the porch. They help us to combine fasting with alms-giving. By giving up the odd cup of coffee, the odd glass of wine or pint, and putting what you have saved into the SCIAF Box , you combine both fasting with alms-giving.

We also have the magazine Lent Extra £ 2 each; also the first edition of a new magazine called the “ ScottIsh Catholic “ £2 ea.
If people like it, we can get more copies in the future.

We have been given plenty of free copies on Divine Mercy. Take as many as you wish and distribute.

Please remember in your prayers Bishop Stephen’s mother, still gravely ill, and Fr Neil Thornton, a friend, also gravely ill.