8th Sunday of the Year

Almsgiving during the Season of Lent
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In one of his Lenten messages Pope Benedict XVI wrote that  “In the Lenten period, the Church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior renewal: these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving” and the Holy Father went on to quote St  Augustine who said that “fasting and almsgiving are "the two wings of prayer" which enable it to gain momentum and more easily reach even to God”
While we all have our own ways of supporting others, during this Lenten Season I would like to invite our Parish community to support both CAFOD but also the work of the Genesis Trust, a local Charity here in Bath, which undertakes some of its outreach at St John’s Church Bath.   Fr Christopher and Fr Jeremy will also be inviting the parishioners in St Johns and St Marys Parishes to take part in this Lenten almsgiving. 
Next Sunday (the 1st Sunday of Lent) there will be collection boxes for you to take home and to use, if you wish, during the 40 says of Lent.   I would then ask you to bring these boxes back either on Palm Sunday or on Maundy Thursday when they will be bought up during the Offertory at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.   The collection will be divided equally between Genesis and CAFOD.
In case the work of the Genesis project isn’t familiar Fr Christopher has written this. 
“Out of a desire to reach out to some of Bath's vulnerable, St John's hosts a lunch each Thursday in partnership with the Genesis Trust to ensure that some of those who live on the streets are nourished and nurtured with a home-cooked meal.  Attracting some fifty guests each week, the lunch is made up of those who are homeless, those with addiction needs, those who are lonely, and those who are vulnerable. The hall at St John's provides a welcoming environment in which Genesis' guests can come to be refreshed, fed, and made welcome.