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CHURCH NEWS
Weekly Prayer Roster
Each week during the year the Churches, in their prayers, remember the residents of particular streets in the vil-
lage, those who work in the parish and village organizations. Those to be remembered this month are:
3rd April
Greenway, Aragon Close, Hoo Close, Bishops Way
10th April
Village shops, and those who work in them; businesses based in the village, hotels,
inns, and those who work at home; homemakers, carers, the unemployed and un-
deremployed, and all visitors to the village
17th April
Clubs and societies, their leaders and members, volunteers, and the team that pro-
duces and distributes the Buckden Roundabout
24th April
Cranfield Way, Cranfield Close, Weir Close, Smith Drive, Lucks Lane, Morris Close
STUDY LUNCHES
The regular monthly study lunches resume on Monday 11th April 2016, and will continue on
Monday May 9th, Monday June 13th and Monday July 11th
The Lent Study Lunches were well attended and thought provoking. Thank you to everyone who came and to
everyone who helped in any way and for the generosity of many which means that over £200 can be given to
charity. Thank you to Churches Together for supporting the study lunches
Methodist Church Hall 12.30 pm to 2.00 pm Contact:
Ann Brittain
on
812012
Thought for the month
The Lord has risen; let us rejoice. Alleluia, Alleluia
Easter is the most important feast in the Christian calendar. We are celebrating the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, rose from the dead and promises resurrection to all who believe in him. To prepare for this celebration we
have just been through the season of Lent in which we are encouraged to put our lives straight with God.
This is also the theme of the Jubilee Year of Mercy as proclaimed by Pope Francis for the whole Catholic Church
throughout the world. This Year of Mercy runs from the 8
th
December 2015 to 20
th
November 2016 (the end of the
liturgical year).
In the early history of God’s people in Israel a Jubilee Year was a time of special honour of God, shown by a
change in the way of life. Every seven years fields would be left fallow, for a year of rest, (a Sabbath year), but
every fifty years there was a year of Jubilee. In this very special year any land that had been taken in pledge
would be returned to the original owners. Sins were remitted. Universal pardon was granted. Prisoners were re-
leased. Slaves were freed. All debts were forgiven. God’s mercy was celebrated. (Lev. 25: 8 – 13). In medieval
times, Pope Boniface VIII introduced Church Holy Years every 50 or 25 years. These renew the impetus for
‘conversion of heart’, which the more ancient Jubilee year always had as its goal.
During this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy Pope Francis encourages Catholics to spend more time in prayer,
use the Sacrament of Reconciliation to return to God, spend more time reading the Bible. One Gospel passage
Pope Francis calls our attention to is Luke 4: 16 – 22. As Jesus starts his ministry in Galilee he proclaims the ful-
filment of the prophet Isaiah’s words: ‘He has sent me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; to bind up the broken
hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives’.
May you all have a holy and blessed Easter.
Fr. Chris Newman, Catholic Church of St Hugh of Lincoln