6 minute read
Church
• Shaftesbury Quakers
(Society of Friends). We meet for one hour each Sunday from 10.30am at the Quaker Meeting House, Abbey Walk, Shaftesbury SP7 8BB. All are welcome.
• West Camel Independent
Methodists. We meet at All Saints Church on Sundays at 4pm. A warm welcome to all. Contact: 01935 850838.
• Blandford Methodist
Church. You are warmly invited to our Sunday Services starting at 10.45am. The over 60s are also invited to our lunch club on Tuesdays and Fridays at £4 per person. Please request your reservation by phone. Everyone is welcome to our coffee morning on Thursday, 10am until noon. We are anxious to offer help to those in need. Please leave your message on the phone and we will return your call within 24 hours.
• Masses in Catholic
parishes of Blackmore Vale. Our Lady’s Marnhull 9.30am and 6pm. St Benedict’s Gillingham 11am.
• Anglican High Mass at
Wimborne St Giles. The monthly High Mass is the first Sunday of each month at 10am. BH21 5LZ.
• Coffee Cake and Company at St Gregory’s
Church, Marnhull. Every Thursday morning from 10am to 11am. Everyone is welcome.
• St Mary’s, Stalbridge
Please join us for any of the following services: April 3, Morning Worship 10am; April 10, Evensong 4pm; April 17, Holy Communion 10am; April 28, Holy Communion 10am www.facebook.com/ StalbridgeChurch
• Benefice of St Bartholomew Monday 11 to Friday 15
April, 10am-4pm Holy Week Art Exhibition St Andrew’s Church, Donhead St Andrew A stunning Stations of the Cross by Clare CopeleyWilliams
Palm Sunday: April 10
10am Family Service with ‘Donkey’. St John’s, Charlton; 11am Sung Eucharist. St Mary’s, East Knoyle; 6pm Stations of the Cross (with art exhibition and reflections by the artist). St Andrew’s, Donhead St Andrew.
Easter Services: April 16-17
8pm Saturday: Vigil with Fire. St Mary’s, Donhead St Mary. 9.30am Sunday: Sung Family Eucharist with Egg Hunt. St Catherine’s, Sedgehill. 9.30am Sunday: Sung Eucharist. St Leonard’s, Semley. 11am Sunday: Sung Family Eucharist with Egg Hunt. St Andrew’s, Donhead St Andrew. 11am Sunday: Sung Family Eucharist with Bishop Andrew. St Mary’s, Donhead St Mary. 11am Sunday: Sung Eucharist. St Mary’s, East Knoyle.
• Benefice of Sturminster Newton, Hinton St Mary and Lydlinch
St Mary’s Sturminster Newton Holy Communion 11am 1st and 3rd Sundays; Morning Prayer 9.30am 2nd and 4th Sundays; Evensong Sunday 6pm; Wednesday Holy
Now only £895*
for a fully fi tted electric garage door.
WAS £1,354 INCLUDING VAT.
WHAT’S INCLUDED WITH EVERY DOOR:
• FREE EXPERT MEASURING & FITTING • 2 REMOTE CONTROLS • ACOUSTIC & THERMAL INSULATION • FREE DISPOSAL OF YOUR OLD DOOR • AVAILABLE IN 21 COLOURS
Garolla garage doors are expertly made to measure in our own UK factories, they’re strong and solidly built. The electric Garolla door rolls up vertically, taking up only 8 inches inside your garage, maximising valuable space.
CALL US TODAY ON: 01963 530 112
MOBILE: 07537 149 128
4 day Easter weekend only
Communion 10am; St Peter’s Hinton St Mary Morning Prayer 9.30am 1st, 2nd and 3rd Sundays; Holy Communion 9.30am 4th Sunday St Thomas’ Lydlinch Holy Communion 11am 2nd and 4th Sunday; Evensong 6pm 3rd Sunday
Easter services
St Mary’s Sturminster Newton Palm Sunday: 9.30am Morning Prayer. Maundy Thursday: 7pm Holy Communion. Good Friday: 12 noon Churches Together – short service in Market Square; 2pm Holy Communion. Easter Sunday 11am Holy Communion; 6pm Evensong. St Peter’s Hinton St Mary Palm Sunday: 9.30am Matins. Good Friday: 10am An Hour at the Cross. Easter Sunday: 9.30 Holy Communion. St Thomas’ Lydlinch Palm Sunday: 11am Holy Communion. Good Friday: 10am An Hour at the Cross. Easter Sunday: 6.30pm Evensong.
• Sherborne Abbey Weekday Services
Monday to Saturday, 8.30am Morning Prayer; The Sepulchre Chapel. Mondays, 9am CW Holy Communion; The Lady Chapel. Tuesdays, 12 noon CW Holy Communion; The Lady Chapel. Wednesdays, 10.30am Holy Communion with Homily; The Lady Chapel (alternates CW and BCP). Thursdays, 12 noon BCP Holy Communion; The Lady Chapel. Fridays 9am Ecumenical Holy Communion; The Lady Chapel. 1st Friday of the month, 9am Requiem Holy Communion The Sepulchre Chapel (next service on Friday 1 April). Third Friday of the month, 11am Remembering the Fallen (excluding Good Friday). Saturdays 9am CW Holy Communion; The Sepulchre Chapel.
• Lower Stour Benefice Sunday 3 April
10.45am Together Communion – St Mary The Virgin, Charlton Marshall
Sunday 10 April
9.30am Communion – St Mary’s, Blandford St Mary. 11am Communion – All Saints, Langton Long. 11am Family Service – Tarrant Rushton.
Maundy Thursday
6pm Communion – Tarrant Rushton.
Good Friday
10am Messy Easter (ideal for Children) St Mary’s, Blandford St Mary 2pm Reflective Service – St Mary The Virgin, Charlton Marshall.
Contemporary or traditional kitchens manufactured to order
Gillingham Showroom 01747 833 789
Unit 21, Kingsmead Business Park, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5JG Opening Hours Monday–Friday: 9am–5pm by appointment only. Closed Saturday & Sunday. www.solsticekitchens.co.uk
This coming Sunday is known in the Christian calendar as Passion Sunday, from the Latin passio, meaning suffering.
Now there’s a thought. ‘Passion’ in modern parlance usually means something steamy and erotic. It’s the name of at least one expensive perfume. I wonder if ladies who like it would be so eager to spray it on if they knew the real meaning of the word.
Hey-ho. I don’t suppose the Good Lord minds too much that his Passion is also the name of a bottle of scent. After all, as Jesus entered his Passion, it was because at this point in his earthly life, as a comparatively young man, he had to learn how to be passive. In other words, he had to begin to be more acted upon than acting as his earthly life began to draw to its appointed end. Suddenly the verbs attached to him become increasingly passive ones: Jesus is handed over; he is taunted; he is mocked; he is scorned, spat upon, flogged and crucified.
But then, suddenly, we discover to our surprise that a bottle of perfume features prominently in Jesus’ life. There are several accounts in the Gospels. To take just one (Luke’s), a woman, well-known as a sinner, approaches Jesus unexpectedly. She moistens his feet with her tears and, amazingly, he does not draw back. So she is able to anoint his feet with her precious oil. Anointing the head was part of the ritual of receiving guests at that time: his host, a Pharisee, should have done it, but has not. But anointing the feet was unprecedented. Only a wife or a daughter could anoint a man’s feet. This is – do not doubt it – an erotic scene. And to Jews the loosening of the hair was especially erotic. The woman should have kept her head covered. Instead she wipes Jesus’ feet with her long hair, and even kisses them.
The Pharisees are shocked, scandalised and furious. But Jesus understands her behaviour and
Canon Eric Woods
interprets it for them. He sees her tears, her distress, her longing for true love. Her action is a sign of her penitence and her capacity to love. He compares every detail of her loving attention to him with his host’s neglect: the host provided no water for his feet; she washed them with her tears. The host gave him no kiss of greeting; she kissed his feet. The host did not anoint his head; she anointed his feet. And he says to her, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Not for the first time, we learn that for Jesus there can be no forgiveness without love, and no love without forgiveness. They are completely intertwined. You don’t have to be religious to know how urgently we need to learn that particular lesson. Thank God for Passiontide.
Full fibre broadband from £29 a month.
Find out more about how you can join the journey to better broadband.
wessexinternet.com
