Thank you for your offering last week of £1570.13 and £1079.75 for the Maintenance Fund. Mass attendances were 792.
Sunday 22/3/15	5^th Sunday of Lent (B) 6pm Saturday People of the Parish 9.15am Tom Benson RIP (Benson Family) 11.00am Christopher Walsh RIP (Benson Family) 4.00pm Stations of the Cross
Monday 23/3/15	Feria/St Turibius 11.30am Requiem Mass for Peter Keen (Please note change of time)
Tuesday 24/3/15	Feria 9.30am Bridget Donovan RIP (Mary Ramadan)
Wednesday 25/3/15	The Annunciation of the Lord 9.30am Private Intentions (Marshall Family)
Thursday 26/3/15	Feria 9.30am Ken Jackson RIP (Mrs Jackson)
Friday 27/3/15	Feria 9.30am Mary Casartelli
Saturday 28/3/15	6pm (Vigil Mass) Mick Brace (Georgina Tomkins)
Sunday 29/3/15	Palm Sunday of the Passion of The Lord 9.15am People of the Parish 11.00am Emily Callister RIP (Bunnage Family) ** No Stations Of The Cross Today
Confessions heard Saturday 5.00pm-5.45pm or by appointment.
The 11.00am Mass on Palm Sunday will be preceded by the Blessing of Palms and a procession from the Social Centre. Please assemble in the Social Centre before that Mass.
Reminders - Church Cleaning! Saturday 28^th March: Project Board & Finance Committee Saturday 4^th April: Year 5 Parents
First Holy Communion 2015 – Upcoming Sessions 4.30-5.45pm Saturday 21^st March: Children only Saturday 18^th April: Children only
Confirmation 2015 The next meeting will take place this Sunday 22^nd March at 7.00-8.30pm, in the Social Centre.
St James’ Social Club The AGM of the St James Social Club will be held on Sunday 22^nd March 2015, in the Social Centre at 12.15pm after the 11.00am Mass. The items on the Agenda will be as follows: 1 Minutes of the last AGM 2 Election of Committee for 2015/2016. 3 Financial Report 4 Amendment to the Club Rules 5 Any other Business
Using the Parish Hall During the Day Many of you will know about, and may perhaps have sent your children to, the St James’ Pre-School which is based in our parish hall five days a week. The Pre-School has a formal lease with the parish and pays rent for using the hall. Essentially their hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. Please remember that, just like any other school, the preschool is responsible for safeguarding the children in their care; so please, very kindly, don’t go into the parish hall during their scheduled hours. Should you need access to the hall for any reason during preschool hours, please initially contact the parish office during office hours on 01689 827100, or by email on parish.office@stjamespettswood.org. Thank you.
The Easter Triduum The celebration of Easter is the culmination and highpoint of the Church’s year. The season of Lent helps us to focus and prepare; the season of Eastertide encourages us to continue to focus on the great gifts that Christ won for us and on giving thanks for them. At the heart of these two seasons is Easter itself. It is at this time we celebrate, in a special way, Christ’s love for us, his passion, his death and his resurrection. During the Triduum, the three days, the liturgy draws us closer into the mystery of Jesus’ saving love, by making his life present to us once more. The Triduum appears to be a series of three separate liturgies: The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, and Easter Vigil on the eve of Easter Sunday. They are actually one continuous act of worship. From our experience of Mass we know that it begins with the Sign of the Cross and is concluded by the Dismissal. The Sign of the Cross is made at the beginning of Mass on Maundy Thursday, but not at the Liturgy on Good Friday or at the Easter Vigil; there is no dismissal at the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday Mass or the Good Friday Liturgy, only at the end of the Vigil. We listen to the reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, but during the Triduum we liturgically take part in the great act of Jesus’ self-sacrifice. Maundy Thursday we witness the washing of the feet, that sign of what Christian love and service should be, and we also join the disciples, once again, at the last supper as we pray the Eucharistic prayer. We too watch and pray before the Blessed Sacrament, as did the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, until midnight when the Lord is taken away. On Good Friday we see the cross being carried, as once the people of Jerusalem did, and then in silence depart. The disciples waited in despair while Jesus lay in the tomb, we wait in hope on Holy Saturday to celebrate the joy that was, that is, and is to come: the resurrection. During the Easter vigil we see the light of Christ blaze once more, and we individually receive that light and hold it in our hands. With the light of Christ to illuminate our minds we hear the scriptures, as did the disciple on the road to Emmaus, and recognise Christ in them. In a blaze of light and sound we give glory to God and welcome the risen Lord. We celebrate our hope of eternal life and resurrection, by renewing our baptismal promises and welcoming fully into the community those received into the Church. The Triduum is a journey, like that of the Israelites from Egypt, from waiting for rescue, to celebrating salvation. Gain a complete sense of that journey this year by joining the parish as we take part in the Triduum; three days and three different services, but one whole liturgy and one complete experience of the mystery of our redemption.
Gift Aid A very big thanks to all who have gift-aided their 1^st and 2^nd collection offerings and their donations to the Maintenance/Refurbishment Fund during the 2014/15 tax year. Your boxes of new Gift Aid envelopes (with your name on) for the 2015/16 tax year are now ready for collection in the porch. If you cannot find your box please speak to Geoff Ford (the Gift Aid Administrator) – email him at gift.aid@stjamespettswood.org or phone 01689 872125 or he can usually be found in the "Counting Room" after 11am Mass on Sundays. The amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax you pay or will pay during a tax year must be at least equal* to the total amount of tax that all Charities, including Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs), (i.e. not just St James’), will reclaim on your gift-aided donations to them for that tax year. Other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. * You must have paid at least 25 pence in Income/Capital Gains Tax for every £1 of gift-aided donation you make to all Charities/CASCs (i.e. £25 tax for every £100 given). Please also speak to Geoff if : a) you are unsure that you will have paid adequate tax, b) you wish to know the total recorded amount of your offerings, c) you move or marry and change your name. (It is important that our record of your name and address is recognisable to the tax man.) d) you wish to transfer your gift aid donations into your spouse’s name (perhaps because you have stopped working and no longer pay tax), e) you would like to Gift Aid your contributions to St James but have not yet completed a declaration form. As every charity will tell you, by gift-aiding your donations your contributions are substantially increased at absolutely no cost whatsoever to you. If you are not already in our Gift Aid scheme, all you have to do is sign a form permitting St James' Church to recover the tax you have already paid on your donations.

Refurbishment of the Parish Hall in 2015

Plans to refurbish the parish hall are now being actively followed up and the aim is to complete this work this year if possible.

The current layout of the hall will be retained and essentially a complete refit is being planned.

All being well, the bar and kitchen will be renewed and other plans include renewal of the hall’s wiring and ceiling, the floor to be sanded and sealed. Formal tendering is being initiated for all of this major work and we will keep you updated as things develop.