LENT - PREPARING FOR EASTER

Evening Prayer With a Difference! Take time out to reflect, Sundays, 5.30pm, Tullamore.  Presented by a different choir each week.

.A People Preparing For Easter
A Time To Change
A Time To Begin Again

Lent
“Your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”

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Lent

The season of Lent is observed throughout the Church as a time of preparation for the great feast of Easter.

Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ set us a unique example of how to prepare when he fasted and prayed for forty days in the desert before he began his great mission of bringing the Good News to us all.

We are invited to imitate the Lord by devoting the coming forty days to preparing ourselves to Celebrate Easter in a worthy manner.

The key word in our observance of Lent is Penance.

Penance is any form of self-denial which helps to bring us closer to God.

Traditionally the forms of Penance that the Church proposes are:

Prayer

Fasting

Almsgiving

Here we outline ways in which we can carry out these penances

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Prayer

“And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6: 5-6

Daily Mass during Lent as a very special form of Prayer. In Mass we are fed the Word of God and the Body of Christ.

Times of Mass are adjusted during Lent to make it easier for more people to attend.

Daily Mass times: Monday to Friday

7.30am (note earlier time)

10am

7.30pm

Mass at 10am will be preceded by the Stations of the Cross commencing at 9.45am.
The Stations can be made at antytime of day in the Church or at home.

Wednesday Mass at 1.10pm followed by soup and a roll in the parish centre.

Coming to Mass may mean inconvenience but it is for just for a few weeks.
That in itself is good penance.

Durrow:Morning Mass Friday 8.45 am
this time is for parents and children as they arrive for school.

On Easter Sunday we propose to celebrate a dawn Mass at the site of the old Church of Tullamore on Axis Park. We hope that many people who commit themselves to weekday masses during Lent will come to this Mass.

During lent also we will have a short commentary on the daily Reading of Lent available in the church for all Massgoers.

Daily Mass times: Monday to Friday 7.30am (note earlier time) 10.00am 7.30pm

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Fasting

'When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let everyone know they are
fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so
that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6: 16-18

“Fasting has not gone away you know!” We should look again at this form of penance, and have a structured plan for
fasting during Lent.

The main elements of fasting are:

1 You take one full meal during the day

2 You allow yourself moderate amounts of food at other times.
This could include breakfast and another light meal at lunch time or for supper.

3 Snacks consisting of a drink and a biscuit are allowed.

4 Fasting may also include abstaining from alcohol or other foods during Lent

5 Abstinence from meat is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, which are also fast days. All of us are
encouraged to abstain from meat on other days of Lent, perhaps once a week.

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Almsgiving

“But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6: 3-4

To give alms means to help others who are in need.

This is another form of penance Supporting Trocaire is one concrete means of committing our support to those in greatest need. Support Trocaire or any other Third World agency - Concern or Goal - as generously as you can.

The needs of those in our own community are not to be overlooked in our almsgiving, so we can give through the
St. Vincent de Paul Society or any other agency through the parish The important thing is for us to see almsgiving as a worthy form of doing Penance during Lent.

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Reminders

We remember the words that Jesus spoke about our Penances, mainly Prayer Fasting and Almsgiving. God does not
always ask us to do great things, but to do little things with great generosity.

Confession during Lent is to be encouraged for all. Don’t put it off! Confession is freely available in the parish
during Lent.

The obligation to fast applies to those over 21 and under 60. So, if you are outside this age bracket, or you suffer
from any health complaint, please understand that you do not have to fast.

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Parish Mass times

Church of the Assumption

Saturday Vigil Mass 7.30pm

Sunday 8.30am, 10am, 11.30am, 1pm

Durrow 11.30am

Hospital Chapel 9am

Weekday Mass for Lent (Mon. to Fri.) 7.30am, 10am and 7.30pm

Confession time. Saturday 12noon-1pm, 3pm-4pm and 7.00 -7.15pm(before evening mass)and at any time on request.

Eucharistic Adoration: (Church of the Assumption) Friday 8.00pm - 9.00pm
A People Preparing For Easter
A Time To Change
A Time To Begin Again
Lent
“Your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”

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