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Dear Friends,

The Teutonic word “Lent” originally meat no more than the spring season. Today we use it to denote the forty days of fasting preceding Easter. This was not always the way in the Church. There is much evidence to suggest that in the Apostolic age the Resurrection of Christ was commemorated by a weekly Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The Friday fast that of the Death of Christ. It is very human for familiarity to breed contempt, and gradually the great mysteries of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, Our Lord and Saviour were commemorated annually, preceded by the forty days of Lent – a special time of prayer, abstinence and alms giving. Much of today’s world can be a ‘virtual reality’. People have become very confused as to what is real, important and that which is not. Images of things are projected so well that people cannot tell the virtual from the real. The Passion, Death and Resurrection DID happen and it was the price of our Redemption.

SWANWICK CONFERENCE               Over 50 people have booked to attend. This is very good news and must serve as a call to action to all those who intend to go to the conference but have not, as yet, booked their place. Act NOW for we have only a limited number of places available.

     Theme       “Building a ‘New Church’ – The role of Marists”

      Dates        3.45 pm Friday 27^th / 2pm Sunday 29^th April 2007

      Place         Swanwick Conference centre

      Speaker       Fr Jan Hulshof SM (Superior General Marist Fathers)

     Cost             £125.00 (Single rooms. Private facilities)

Booking forms are now available.

 Please contact me at the above address

WEBSITE             As reported last month we now have a website. – http://maristway.org  and a special Email address to go with it – webmaster@maristway.org. If people would like to contribute simply contact the Webmaster at the Email address. I am not a web browser but I was very interested with the result of my enquiry on Google – St Peter Chanel SM – I really didn’t know that so much information was available. Browsers keep browsing!

40^th Anniversary of Ordination            will be celebrated by

Clive Birch SM and Noel Wynn SM on Sunday 11^th March 2007.

There will be a special mass of Thanksgiving at 12.00 noon, followed by

refreshments, here in Hull to which all are invited. AD MULTOS ANNOS.

"The Council for the Marist Way will meet in ND de France, Leicester Place to plan the Swanwick Conference and prepare our programme for 2007." Such an announcement did not account for the vagaries of the railways. The 07.00 Hull to London was cancelled and a bus service provided to Doncaster. Here it was eventually announced that no trains were going to London. After a number of emergency phone calls we were ale to cancel the meeting and the planning has taken place on a local level.  All very interesting!

LOURDES by coach and ferry. Saturday 26^th May / 2^nd June 2007. Cost from ₤315.00 includes all travel, insurance, full board and private facilities. The Pastoral Theme in Lourdes is "Be reconciled with God".

Marist Liturgical Calendar and Mass Intentions 2007

       M. Coleman SM Marist Way Delegation Animator