Last Sunday Mass Attendance – 612
Mass Intentions
This Sunday
6.00pm (Sat) Private Intention
10.00am God’s blessing on 2008
11.30am People of the Parish
Morning Prayer Daily Monday – Saturday 9.10am (not on Jan.1st).
Weekday Masses
Monday 9.30am Octave of Christmas - World Peace (CWL int.)
Tuesday 12 noon Mary, Mother of God –People of the Parish
Wednesday 9.30am Ss.Basil and Gregory Nazianzen (Bps/Docs.Ch.). Deceased members of Butler family (foundation Mass)
Thursday 9.30am Feria of Christmas –Eadoin Wolshak (welfare)
Friday 9.30am Feria of Christmas - Caroline and Liam Carlands int.
Saturday 9.30am Feria of Christmas - Rupert and Rita Anthony RIP
Next Sunday 6th January 2007 –The Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ
6.00pm (Sat) People of the Parish
10.00am Gene Mohan (welfare)
11.30am Dr Margaret Evelyn Ledger RIP (Found.Mass)
Confessions: Saturday, 10.15am-10.45am and 5.30pm-5.50pm.
Welcome to Mass today – and a special welcome to visitors who may be in the area for New Year. Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. This was the human context in which Christ grew to maturity, ‘growing in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man.’ (Luke 3.52)
What a great ‘programme’ that is for us - both as individuals and as the Christian community here at St James! Let us pray that we may grow more and more into the love of God and the love of each other in the new Year of Our Lord (AD) 2008, building up the communion of the church, reaching out to others, and facing the future with the faith, hope and love that comes from the Gospel.
Many congratulations to Suzanne Barrett and Enis Mataj who were married here last Friday (28th). May they have a long and happy married life together.
God speed and all our love to Betty Evans as she moves from Petts Wood to near Liverpool. Betty has worked hard for St James for many years, not least in arranging the flowers each weekend (with Bridie Duck) and will be sorely missed from this community. We hope to see her from time to time!
This week Masses are as usual each day but NB at 12 noon on New Year’s Day (Tues.) after which Teresa and I invite you into the presbytery for drinks.
(NO exposition/adoration on Monday-resumes on 7th.)
Many, many thanks to everyone who made Christmas here such a wonderful celebration! All the Masses were well attended, and the Thrice Welcome and Christingle services were both joyful and prayerful. And thank you also for your generosity with your Christmas offering - and also for your many gifts, cards and messages of goodwill. They are all greatly appreciated I do hope that Christmas was a time of blessing for you.
Next Sunday (6th) we begin rehearsals for Bach’s St John Passion (3.30-5.0pm)
Many thanks to those who have signed up. We should like many more singers (especially men – tenors and basses) so please consider joining. This will be a major project for the first part of the year, culminating on the weekend of Palm Sunday (March 16th).
Next Week
Tuesday Jan.8th – Justice and Peace Group meets in the Social Centre at 8.0.pm(and on the 2nd Tuesday of the month thereafter.) (contact: Dave McCabe – see Parish Contacts for email link).
Wednesday Jan.9th Childrens’ Liturgy Group – meeting for all leaders and helpers in the Social Centre at 8.0.pm – to review and plan.
Wednesday Jan.9th – ‘Firm Believers’ - Our inter-church fun/fitness class is re-starting on Jan 9th, and then every Wednesday in term time- 7.0.pm-7.45pm (£4). It is a friendly group for all abilities. Afterwards those who wish stay for refreshments and a chat with people from the various local churches. Just turn up in comfortable clothes and shoes, bring a towel or mat to lie on and give it a try! Please pick up a flyer from the church porch.
Thursday January 10th Meeting (in presbytery) for confirmation leaders (NB classes start on Monday Jan.14th, 6.45pm-7.45pm) (young people please note.)
Don’t forget to visit our website: stjamespettswood.org
So, that’s it for this week. Every blessing for 2008.Thought you might like this:-
The times are difficult.
They call for courage and faith.
Faith is in the end a lonely virtue.
Lonely especially when a deeply authentic community of love
is not an accomplished fact,
but a job to be begun over and over,
as in all Christian communities in general.
Love is not something we get from Mother Church
as a child gets milk from the breast;
it also has to be given.
We don’t get any love if we don’t give any….
Christmas is not then just a sweet regression
to breast feeding and infancy.
It is a serious and sometimes difficult feast.
Difficult especially if for psychological reasons
we fail to grasp the indestructible kernel of hope that is in it.
If we are just looking for a little consolation
we may be disappointed.
Let us pray for one another,
love one another in truth,
in the sobriety of earnest Christian hope,
for hope, says St Paul,
does not deceive.
(Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American Trappist monk.) Try and read his autobiography (‘The Seven Storey Mountain.’)
Fr Bryan.
Church and Social Centre Rotas
|
Wednesday Coffee |
Church Cleaning 2nd January |
|
|||
|
? |
? |
S Hawker |
F Simon |
|
|
Next Sunday 6th January
|
Bar |
Tellers |
Coffee 10 am |
Coffee 11.30 |
|
F Simon P Dabrowski |
Paul Cosgrave S Cosgrave |
F Iorio R Wood S Simon |
V Place D James M Bryan |
Readers
|
6 pm Sat. |
10.00 am |
11.30 am |
|
A Fernandes R Dudley |
A O’Reilly W Morley |
C Hawes M Bunnage |
Ministers of Holy Communion
|
6 pm Sat. |
10.00 am |
11.30 am |
|
J Bajorek P Driscoll C Cahill M Cahill C Cosgrave |
C Wakefield T Wells R Wright P Crosland B D’Arcy W David |
R Del Guercio M Ingledew C Hawes M Jones J Longhurst N Longhurst |