Thank you for your offering last week of £1430.67 and £974.89 for the J & P Overseas Project.  Mass attendances were 841.

 

Sunday

13/12/15

Third Sunday of Advent

 

6.00pm  People of the Parish

 

9.15am  Jean Rawling RIP (Foundation)

 

11.00am  Widows of the Knights of St Columba (L Thomas)

 

Monday

14/12/15

 

St.  John of the Cross

 

9.30am  William Borg RIP (N Gowers)

 

Tuesday 15/12/15

Feria

 

9.30am Catherine Buckland (M O’Leary)

 

Wednesday

16/12/15

Feria

 

9.30am Louise Mages RIP (J Keen)

Thursday

17/12/15

Feria

 

9.30am Noreen Alford-Smith (M Jackson)

 

Friday

18/12/15

Feria

 

9.30am  Desmond Kelly RIP (M Kelly)

 

Saturday

19/12/15

Vigil Mass

 

6.00pm Derek Williams RIP (K Salter)

 

Sunday 20/12/15

Fourth Sunday of Advent

 

9.15am  People of the Parish

 

11.00am  Mick Brace RIP (Tomkins Family)

 

Confessions heard Saturday 5.00pm-5.45pm or by appointment.

Morning Prayers

take place Monday – Friday at 9.10am.  All are welcome to attend.

Pondering the Word (Lectio Divina)

A quiet reflective look at the following Sunday’s Gospel.  Mondays 11-12 noon here in the Church.  All welcome.

Fr David writes …….

There is nothing worse than being in a crowd of people who are celebrating and you would be going through a very bad patch in life because of grief for example.  It maximises your feeling of being alone.  You feel that you should be celebrating as well and yet you know you are in the pits.  Christmas season unfortunately has this effect on some of us.  The world out there keeps on reminding us, through the glittering lights and decorations, through the beautiful carols that we should be in a celebratory mood and yet some of us are going through their own losses at this time.  For some it is their first Christmas without a loved one on account of bereavement.  For others it reminds them of a breakdown of their family.  For others it triggers the loss of someone at this time of year.  Their heart aches.  They don’t want to celebrate.  They want to be left alone.  And yet out there the culture is shouting at them – as if saying – what is wrong with you – you should have been over your grief by now.  You should move on.  What is wrong with you? There is nothing wrong with you.  You need the time to grieve – to process what has happened to you in your life.  You need to allow the process to happen.  If you feel that you need to cry, and be on your own – you can.  As a community of faith we need to be sensitive to these members of our congregation who are going through a hard time.  We need to ask them what would help them this Christmas.  Would it help them to join us in the celebration or would it help them to be left alone.  Everyone is different.  We do cope differently.

This is not the joy that we are reminded of during the third Sunday of Advent.  Joy is not about escapism from your pain.  Joy has to emerge from our reality.  Joy is real, even in our deepest darkest time.  There is definitely a difference between happiness and joy.  They are related but not similar.  Happiness is the feeling that comes out of a wonderful experience – when we achieve something – when we celebrate a birthday or when we are with someone special.  Happiness is fragile through because it is dependent on outer realities and conditions.  Joy is not.  Joy is when you believe that even in terrible times, when times are not so bright, there is part of you who believes that your core is intact – that there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Pope Francis says “Joy consists of knowing one is welcomed and loved by God.  God gives us the strength to go forward.  He is always with us in order to help us to go forward.  He is a God who loves us so very much, he loves us and that is why he is with us, to help us, to strengthen us, help us go forward.  Courage!  Always forward.  Thanks for his help, we can always begin again”.  Joy is experienced when we build on our own truth.  The truth of our own reality – with all that is beautiful and all that is less so.  Today is called Gaudete Sunday.  The Church calls us to rejoice as Christmas nears.  Pope Francis again reminds us that the hallmark of a Christian should be joy and peace, even in the midst of difficult times.  We can be discouraged by the state of the world today, the squabbling in our families, the economic difficulties we face, and even the dissension and scandals in our Church.  We need frequent reminders that God still has the world in his hands, even if we can’t always see it.

The world of first-century Palestine, the world into which Jesus was born, had its own conflicts and strife.  It was occupied politically by the Romans.  But Jesus brought hope and peace to his world and he continues to bring the same to ours.  Getting back to the beginning of the life of Jesus can bring back some of the joy and innocence of childhood and remind us that a tiny faith can blossom into something much greater.  Zephaniah, John the Baptist and Paul all shared one belief: that the Lord was very near.  God’s nearness didn’t act as a threat to them, but funded them with radical source of joy that no one could steal from them – not even the executioner.  The joy of God’s closeness was a power that carried both John the Baptist and Paul through times of horror, so neither had to deny the difficulty of their experience.  Both men faced an opposition determined to destroy them; both had a belief to encourage them beyond the reality of imprisonment and execution.  We all need a power that carries us through difficult times, that prods us on when we face the reality of our weakness and limitation.  To believe in the abiding presence of a God who cares, gives us a deep sense of joy in the midst of our struggles.  Let us during this time of expectation – open ourselves to God’s Mercy in our lives.  And may we all experience Joy!

“Drop-In” – Evening Surgery

Will resume again in the New Year and the dates will be published on Briefly.  Fr David.

Christmas Prize Draw

The draw will take place this weekend.  All winners will be contacted by the Parish Office and the names will be published on Briefly next week.  Many thanks for all your support.

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 still need more 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:

·                Alexander Foster, his parents Lisa and Mark and godparent Catherine; and

·                Callum Hardiman, his parents Catriona and Richard and godparents Daniel, Laura, Matthew & Laura.

Decorations for Christmas

Donations of Poinsettia plants for the altar are always welcomed.  If you are able to offer a plant, please bring them to the church on the morning of Saturday 19th December.  Thank you.

Advent Service

Will be held here in the church on Sunday 20th December at 4.00pm.  Our Advent Service is an opportunity to pause in the busy preparations leading up to Christmas.  Through readings, prayer and music, we will reflect on the Christmas story and how it relates to our lives today.  All parishioners are invited to come and share in this special service to start their Christmas week focussed on Jesus.

Christmas Gifts for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)

Over the Christmas period, we are looking for donations of gifts (wrapped and labelled with appropriate age) that 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;  and

·                Scarves.

Please bring your gifts along to the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses.  Thank you once again for all your support.

New Year’s Eve

A Mass thanking God for 2015 and asking his Blessing for 2016 will be held here at 6.00pm on Thursday 31st December. 

Dad and Me

St.  James playgroup for dads and their children.  Ages 0-7, for play, Christmas crafts and bacon butties.  Hosted this month in Southborough Lane Baptist Church Hall (opposite St James) 10.00am-11.30am, Saturday 19th December, £2 per family.

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.

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?

Petts Wood Catholic Women's League

Are 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 noticeboard at the back of the church. 

Holy Doors of Mercy at St George’s Cathedral

This 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

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.

Petts Wood Churches Together Carol Singing

Churches Together Carol singing will be taking place on Thursday 17th December from 6pm at Station Square.  All Welcome.

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.