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Thank you for your offering last week of £1349.24 and £1324.93 for the Maintenance Fund. Mass attendances were 754.
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Sunday 6/12/15 |
Second Sunday of Advent
6pm Efrem Suzzara RIP (D Suzzara)
9.15am Eileen Keane RIP (P Farrant)
11.00am People of the Parish
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Monday 7/12/15
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St. Ambrose, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
9.30am Judith Goodwin RIP (S & A Barradell)
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Tuesday 8/12/15 |
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
9.30am Michael Gowers RIP (N Gowers)
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Wednesday 9/12/15 |
Feria
9.30am Relatives & Friends of the Fyson Family (Foundation Mass) |
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Thursday 10/12/15 |
Feria
9.30am Anthony Olivelle RIP (M Olivelle)
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Friday 11/12/15 |
Feria/St Damasus I, Pope
9.30am Judith Borg RIP (N Gowers)
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Saturday 12/12/15 |
Vigil Mass
6.00pm People of the Parish
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Sunday 13/12/15 |
Third Sunday of Advent
9.15am Jean Rawling RIP (Foundation Mass)
11.00am Widows of the Knights of St. Columba (L Thomas)
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Confessions heard Saturday 5.00pm-5.45pm or by appointment. |
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Morning Prayers
Take place Monday – Friday at 9.10am. All are welcome to attend.
Pondering the Word (Lectio Divina)
The Jubilee Year of Mercy
Pope Francis continually reminds us that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Like the good shepherd pursuing his wayward sheep and the father running to embrace his prodigal son, God our father mercifully goes out to find his lost children so that none should perish. God’s boundless mercy has become the recurring theme of Pope Francis’s preaching and teaching. He so desires that we understand the mercy of God that he has designated December 8th 2015, through November 20th 2016 as an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. As a parish we are launching this important year by the Advent Reconciliation Service on Tuesday the 8th December at 8.00pm. All are welcome to celebrate God’s Loving Mercy.
Fr David Writes …..
It is rather difficult to be aware of the need to change and yet feel at the same time that we cannot make the necessary step. We feel stuck in our own stuff. Sometimes the more our loved ones make us aware of our need to change, it seems that our resistance to change becomes more powerful. Somehow our being stuck in our unhealthy behaviour sometimes is masking a deeper longing – a deeper desire. Our resistance to change could be a cry for love and acceptance. It could be an expression of self-loathing. The issues around addictions might have similar dynamics. Addiction is an illness and needs to be treated by professional help. The first step towards the healing of any addiction is the acknowledgement that there is a problem. That you and I have no control over a situation. This sometimes demands that we would disclose to another trustworthy friend or partner that we do have a problem. It is only at this point that a person can ask for help. It is very frustrating for an addict of any sort who would know that their behaviour is totally destroying them and their relationships but at the same time they feel that there is no hope for them. They feel that they are completely out of control. In a way I am trying here to help ourselves make the difference between behaviour that can be changed easily with a bit of effort, and deep seated addictions that need much more professional help and compassion.
In today’s readings we hear four voices encouraging people to imagine a good future that God has in store for them. They all incite us to imagine the best and then act accordingly. All readings share a marvellous insight; people begin to change when they are encouraged to see the best in themselves, not when they are asked to dwell with the worst in themselves. Simply to tell people what is wrong with them and leave it at that can be to leave them a wreck. And people rarely change when they are left to themselves, enclosed in their own weakness, staring at their own mistakes. That’s a lonely project precisely because there is no one to care whether change takes place or not. We all need help and encouragement to leave behind familiar ways which have become destructive. We need help in imagining ourselves differently and imagining the good effect that will have on others. We have to take time to reflect what kind of person God wants us to be, what his plan is for us. We need faith in a better future, to see the power of God working in the change. In all this we need each other’s help and encouragement. To change we need others prodding us on. If our community is to be constantly converted to God we all have to breathe in encouragement and breathe it out. We cannot be prophets of doom. Prophets of doom are destructive rather than constructive. Change can never be achieved with negativity. Perhaps this Advent we could exercise encouragement in a simple practical way.
Pope Francis says “Today there is a need for people to be witnesses to the mercy and tenderness of God, who spurs the resigned, enlivens the disheartened, ignites the fire of hope. He ignites the fire of hope! We don’t”. The prophets and Jesus always call us to conversion, but they do it gently. Pope Francis has shown himself to be a man deeply attuned to the suffering in the world. He has made news by reaching out to people in phone calls to offer comfort and hope. And like all prophets he can see through the surface comfort and success offered by the world to people who may be suffering in ways that we can’t always see. It’s easy to reach to the poor, the suffering, the needy at this time of year and offer them tangible help. This is the least we can do, and we will find a special kind of joy through these efforts. It can be more challenging to recognise the spiritual needs of those who seem to have it all, those who aren’t worrying about paying heating bills and buying presents for their children or simply putting food on the table. But they are suffering behind our beautiful homes and comfortable lives. Those who are grieving this Christmas for example – who have no desire to celebrate Christmas at all. Those who feel alone, separated or divorced. Those who are suffering from depression or any mental health illness. At the beginning of the Year of Mercy which starts this coming Tuesday the 8th December, let us make it our commitment this year to risk to live our lives with less judgement of others and be more merciful. To open ourselves to the gift of mercy towards us by God and others. Let us be surprised by the gift of Mercy this coming year! God bless you all.
Second Collection
The second collection this weekend will be for the new Parish overseas project. This is to support St Helen's parish and the work of their parish priest Fr Alex near Arequipa in Peru and the building of a small chapel in the children's home there which is being expanded into a family centre.
“Drop-In” – Evening Surgery
Will resume again in the New Year and the dates will be published on Briefly. Fr David.
Primary School Supplementary Information Forms (SIF)
If you are applying for a place at a Catholic Primary School and need me to sign your SIF, could you please ensure that all paperwork is handed in (to me or the Parish Office) by Thursday 10th December at the latest. Thank You. Fr David
Christmas Prize Draw
Please support this draw which will take place next Sunday 13th December. Please ensure that all completed ticket stubs and monies are handed in to the Events Team after Mass or to the Parish Office by next Sunday.
Getting Ready for Christmas
If you are a Welcomer, Reader or Eucharistic Minister and are able to help at the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses, please sign up on the forms at the back of the church.
We also need volunteers on Saturday 19th December to decorate and clean the church in preparation for our Christmas services. Please see sheets at the back of the church.
Holy Baptism
This weekend we welcome:
- Finley O’Neill, his parents Sarah and Ryan and Godparents Peter and Amanda.
- Maria Lo Palo, her parents Giorgiana and Vincenzo and Godparent Gheorghe.
- Amelia Brown, her parents Gillian and Jonathan and Godparents Naomi and Selina.
Traidcraft Stall/Christmas Goods
Traidcraft goods will be on sale next weekend for last minute seasonal gifts. Thank you for your continued support.
Christmas cards are also now available from the repository.
St James’ Primary School Advent Service
Will be held here in the Church at 6.00pm on Monday 7th December.
Advent Reconciliation Service
Will be held here in Church this Tuesday 8th December at 8.00pm. This will coincide with the start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Parish fund-raising
Some of you have raised money for the parish by using our Internet shopping link at www.easyfundraising.org.uk/stjamespettswood (or just go to our website and follow the link on the home page). So far we have raised nearly £2,000 in this way but we could really help the parish if more people signed up. With Christmas online shopping now underway, what better opportunity is there to raise funds painlessly?
CAFOD World Gifts
If you don't know what to buy family and friends for Christmas this year, why not help people in developing countries by buying one of CAFOD's charity gifts? They offer the chance for us to buy things like water for a family, a goat, a greenhouse, a school starter pack, or simply a meal for someone in poverty. If you think this is your kind of giving then go to www.cafod.org.uk/worldgifts. The receiver of your gift will get a card showing how it will benefit a family or even a whole community.
Petts Wood Catholic Women's League
is supporting our local Women's Refuge in Bromley. At the end of January we will be collecting new goods to give. Items requested by the Refuge include new toiletries, bedding, towels and underclothes. There will be a list of items needed on the CWL notice board at the back of the church.
Youth Gospel Choir
We would like to invite you to join our new and exciting Youth Gospel Choir. It will be on Thursdays between 5.00-6.00pm and is open to all 14-18 year olds. For further information please contact the Parish Office.
Parish Overseas Project for 2015-16
As the Parish will be aware we have supported the home for homeless and vulnerable children and young adults run by Jesuit Missions in Harare over the past 15 months. The Justice and Peace Group have looked at alternatives for a new overseas project that the Parish might now support for 2015-16 and suggest that we support the parish of St Helen near Arequipa high in the Andes in Peru. We have been in contact with Fr Alex Busuttil of the Missionary Society of St Paul (mssp) the parish priest there. Fr David was a member of the mssp. The parish covers a large area with a number of different settlements. Many there are poor and live in difficult conditions. Much requires to be done for their pastoral and material care. Most consider themselves to be Catholic even though many have not even been able to be baptised. Fr Alex has asked if St James’ could support the building of a small chapel in the parish's children's home which is being developed into a family centre. The Justice and Peace Group feel that this would be an excellent cause to support.
Holy Doors of Mercy at St George’s Cathedral
On Sunday 13th of December Archbishop Peter will open the Holy Door of Mercy. This act, mirrored in cathedrals and other places of pilgrimage throughout the world, emphasizes the universal communion that exists between particular Churches and Rome. All visits must be booked. If you would like further information or would like to book a pilgrimage visit please contact bookings@stgeorges.org.uk
Foodbank Christmas request
We had planned to make an appeal for food donations to be brought during the weekend of 12-13th December. But Bromley Foodbank has plenty of food and can't store any more for the time being. They are planning to make up Christmas parcels of food and need 1,000 "Bags for Life" for these. So instead of food, we are asking parishioners to buy a couple of the 10p bags for life in the coming week and bring them to Mass 12-13th December. Please bring new ones as these will carry much needed Christmas food to poor families in our Borough. Please continue to leave the smaller donations of food at the back of church.
Thank you, J&P Group.
Parent and Toddler Group
When the social centre reopens this will take place on Friday afternoons from 1.30pm to 3.00pm. We need volunteers that could help with the group on a fortnightly rota. If you are interested please email parent.toddler@stjamespettswood.org.
Poppy Appeal
Money raised from the Poppy Appeal was £144.71 – Many Thanks.
Churches Together Christmas Cards
Churches Together in Petts Wood provide cards every year to invite people from the local community to come to church at Christmas time. We have been asked to distribute some in the local area. If you are able to help the cards are at the back of the church. Please take a bundle (they have been labelled with the road name) and drop through doors. Many Thanks.
Advent & Christmas at St James’
12-13th December Masses
The planned Christmas Food Bank Collection will not take place this weekend after all. Please bring new “Bags for Life” instead so the Foodbank can use them for delivering the 1,000 hampers they hope to supply to poor families in our Borough.
There will be a Traidcraft stall and also a stall with goods made by the Monday Craft club.
20th December 4pm Advent Service
24th December Christmas Eve
6pm Children’s Mass
11.30pm carols followed by Midnight Mass
25th December Christmas Day
9.15am Mass
11am Mass
26-27th December Feast of the Holy Family
6pm Saturday
9.15am Sunday
11am Sunday
2nd / 3rd January Feast of the Epiphany
6pm Saturday
9.15am Sunday
11am Sunday
Important Information
For Everyone
Many people from war-torn countries have come to Britain as refugees. The Jesuit Refugee Service support lots of people who will not be receiving any gifts this year.
Every parishioner is invited to wrap a special gift and bring it to the Church on Christmas Day. Our gifts will be taken to the JRS head office in Wapping, and given to recipients on the Feast of Epiphany (in many countries, gifts are given on the Epiphany rather than Christmas Day). JRS support children, young people and adults, so we can all offer something! We have been given some guidance for adults' gifts:
- Underwear (very few places help with this)
- Hairbrush
- Woolly tights
- Nice perfume, aftershave or fragrance
- T-shirt, jeans or Winter jumper
- Scarves
JRS supports 62 children, each of which will receive a named gift (according to their age group). Any other gifts will be given to children receiving support from Demelza House children's hospice, who support 800 children in the Kent area. It is really important that any teddy bears or soft toys are washed before giving, as some children have very low immune systems. Books and toys are very welcome (especially musical books!)
For our Children
· To make our Christmas Gospel extra special at the 9.15 Mass on Christmas Day, you are invited to dress up as angels or shepherds. Be ready to play your part and come up to the Crib at the right time!
· If you would like to bring a musical instrument with you to Mass (e.g. drum, maracas), you can help make the final hymn extra special for Christmas!
For our Readers, Welcomers & Eucharistic Ministers
Your ministry is a real benefit to the community, and is very important at such a special time. If you are able to provide ministry during our Christmas season, please put your name down on the sheets at the back of the church, to ensure that we have enough ministers for each service. Thank you for everything you do throughout the year.
Preparing the Church
Preparing the church is a really big task, and we need lots of help to get the building looking special and Christmassy!
Our big day of preparation will take place on Saturday 19th December. We need 30 decorators between 10am – 2pm, and 20 cleaners between 2-4pm. Mince pies and refreshments will be available throughout the day! Please sign up at the back of the church if you are able to help.
As in previous years, donations of Poinsettia plants for the altar are very welcome. If you would like to offer a plant, please bring them to the church on the 19th.
Christmas Music Ministry
Music is a very important part of the liturgy, and the Music Ministry aims to lead the community in praise and worship, helping to revive the soul, giving glory to God, and bringing people closer to God. We are an inclusive ministry, open to all parishioners who want to offer their musical talents. Our music enhances the liturgy and brings deeper meaning to each Mass. Our leadership is one way to help the whole community come together during Mass.
If you would like to help serve the community during this special Christmas season, we welcome any singers or musicians to sing in the Advent Service and any Christmas Masses that you are planning to attend. We have three rehearsals:
Saturday 5th December, 9 - 11 in the Church
Saturday 12th December, 9 - 11 in the Church
Saturday 19th December, 9 - 11 in the Church
You only need to commit for the Christmas season, although there will always be a warm welcome for you! If you would like to know more, please speak to one of the music leaders after Mass.