What is Lent?
Lent is the forty-day season of preparing and fasting for the great joy of Jesus’ resurrection at Easter. It is a time of self-reflection, simplifying our lifestyle and praying for spiritual enrichment.
A Place for Us - Sunday High Mass
Sunday worship during Lent 2023 will guide us on a deeper journey about belonging to God and one another by reflecting on scripture, film and personal experience. We will use materials from "A Place for Us", an original Lent course based on the recent film production of West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring the songs of Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein. During the sermon slot, key scenes from the movie will be shown, with short reflections on how they relate to Lent passages from scripture. Our lenten journey will be exploring the following five themes: Belonging, Otherness and Difference; The Gift of Love; The Promise of a Place for Us; The Tragedy of Betrayal.
Going Deeper: A Place for Us Book
If you'd like to explore the themes of our Lent course more deeply, why not get your own copy of A Place for Us? Through study and discussion of key scenes from the movie and related to Lent passages from scripture, Lavinia Byrne and Jane McBride help us to reflect on fear, love, betrayal, death, and reconciliation. For each session, preparatory material including a Gospel reading is provided as well as other resources including a suggested film clip, exercises, a Psalm, and a poem by Phil Lane.
Lent Boxes
One of the disciplines of Lent is the giving of alms (donations) to worthy causes. We have a long tradition of using lent boxes at St Barnabas. All donations go to our two sponsored charities, West London Citizens and Women’s English Classes at Southall.
Simply register your box at the back of church, place it in a prominent place in your home and use it to collect small donations over the season. There are lots of opportunities for creativity here:
- collect money for something you’ve given up for Lent (like coffees or chocolates)
- see it as a ‘gratitude box’ giving thanks for someone or something every time you make a donation
- kids may like to say a short prayer for friend or family member as they drop in spare change
Services and Events in Lent
21 February | Shrove Tuesday 5pm – The Big Feast before Fasting
Join us for this family-friendly evening full of delicious pancakes and fun games! Cost is £3 for adults and £2 for children. Please pay at the door. If you can offer any help, please contact Sue on 07591722171 or sue.hudson1@sky.com.
22 February | Ash Wednesday
Worship on this day helps us to officially mark the beginning of Lent. Most especially we pray to embrace more deeply God’s mercy, recognising our limitations and sins by receiving a cross of ash on our foreheads.
- 7am | Ashes to Go| Church gate
- 12.30pm | Celtic Mass with Ashing | Church
- 7pm | Sung High Mass with Imposition of Ashes | Church
If you can, bring last year's palm crosses with you to church on 19 February to make the ashes.
Wednesday Celtic Mass During Lent
- 12.30pm | Our usual midweek Celtic Mass will be supplemented with short reflections from our Sunday Lent Course - A Place for Us.
Sunday High Mass During Lent | A Place for Us
- 10.30am | Preachers will guide us on a deeper journey about belonging to God and one another by reflecting on scripture, film and personal experience.
19 March | Mothering Sunday
- 10.30am | We give thanks to for the mothering mercy of God through the church and for mothers of all kinds. This Sunday is also known as ‘respite Sunday’ and marks the halfway point of our Lenten journey. On this day we take a break from our Lenten fasting.
Further details of Holy Week to follow.