Fifth Sunday of Lent
We welcome Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald this Sunday who will preside at the 11.00am Mass as we begin the final period of Lent and enter into Passiontide.
Traditionally crosses in church would be covered after this Sunday and the altars be unadorned until the celebration of Easter. Throughout this week we are reminded in our weekday readings that Jesus had to suffer, to be raised up and in this way he would enter into His Glory. This then leads us on to the celebrations of Holy Week beginning with the blessing of Palms next Sunday. Palms will be blessed at all the Masses next weekend. The 11.00am Mass will begin outside in the Cathedral Garden with a procession into the Cathedral for the solemn singing of the Passion and the subsequent celebration of the Eucharist. There is a separate leaflet available which has all the times of the services throughout Holy Week and Easter. Please take one home and come and share in the celebration of the events of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. As we journey through these days the liturgies celebrate the moments of our salvation and the renewal of our sacramental life.
We are due to have a pre commencement meeting this week regarding the return and rebuilding of the Cathedral organ. It is scheduled that the erection of scaffolding across the front of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel will commence in the week following Easter Sunday. This will be similar to the structure that was built to dismantle the organ last year during covid restrictions. Because we are now fully open once again this will have a greater impact on the services and activities within the Cathedral and we are having to think and plan forward in detail to ensure that all of this takes place safely and in as normal a way as possible.
When looking at the diary of events for the Crypt to find out what was due to take place next week I noticed a rather strange entry. Amongst the various events such as wine tasting, university receptions etc there was an item entitled ‘Explosive Dog Training’ booked in for Merseyside Police. We have had a whole variety of bookings over the years but this was certainly something a bit different. I had probably been assured about the safety of this event but did feel I should check again that no dogs will be harmed and even more importantly that no live explosives will be in use. Also that they are house trained! With fears allayed I hope to get a chance to see how dogs are used to locate any dangerous materials.
Canon Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean
