Bambinelli Sunday – 15th Dec – St G’s 9am & St W’s 10.30am:
Everyone invited, especially children, to bring their baby Jesus crib figure to either of our parish masses on the Third Sunday of Advent. A traditional blessing of the Bambinelli (baby Jesus) will be given. Then they go home to be wrapped up and placed under the tree. The blessed Bambinelli are then unwrapped by you as the first present on Christmas morning.
Please could I ask that all future correspondence be sent through to our new diocesan email address as follows:- [email protected] Thank you.
“Lighting the First Candle of the New Week
The Candle of Hope; hope springs eternally”.
Please God, hope is one of the realities that endures all the trials and tribulations that life brings. Sometimes it is the only thing that stands out as a beacon of light. On Saturday last, the workshop prepared and lead by our children’s liturgy groups was simply outstanding – a true godsend, but also reality. We are so dependant upon a small overworked group crying out for help.
As part of their liturgical commitments, they had prepared a prop reminding us of the homeless sleeping rough. When I was in the church saying a quiet prayer of my own, I was so, so moved, the figure in the tent appeared to be breathing.
This is where I appear to never learn, because they had put so much work into it, I took it for granted that they would leave it there for Sunday morning. Their understanding “the sanctuary”, the sanctuary would be too full, cluttered up. But what a powerful statement; what a powerful reminder, putting the homeless, the deprived at the centre of our concerns …… the heart of Christmas.
We are blessed to have this team.
Elizabeth Robinson’s requiem mass took place on Thursday 28th November at St Mary Magdelene’s. Thank you to all who were able to attend, it was such a lovely service.
Service of Reconciliation will take place at St Wilfrid’s at 5pm on Saturday 7th December. Please come along and support our First Holy Communion children as they undertake this important sacrament.
Epiphany Party at St Wilfrid’s for all parishioners at 3pm on 4th January 2025 followed by Vigil Mass at 5pm. More details to follow next week.
Parishioners at St Wilfrid’s have decided not to send each other Christmas cards this year but instead will donate the money to a local charity, “Warming Up The Homeless”. There will be a collection of these donations on Sunday 15th December toward their Golden Ticket Christmas Appeal, which asks for donations of £10 to take a child living in temporary accommodation to a pantomime and to give them some festive treats.
Carol Service at St Wilfrid’s will take place at 3pm on 15th December followed my mince pies and mulled wine in the hall.
Following last years successful “Choose a Bag” £1 Children, £2 Adults, after our Carol Service on Saturday 14th December at 3pm, we shall have mulled wine, tea, coffee and refreshments in our hall plus our popular “Choose a Bag”. For this we shall need lots of bags please, either empty or filled. There will be a box in the church porch to receive these please. Thank you in advance.
“Christmas is coming”
A very fading memory from Christmas in my “childhood”.
Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat. If you haven’t a penny half penny will do, and if you haven’t half a penny, well God bless you. When I was a child there were people who didn’t have a penny and the poem applied to them. The focus was upon the crib in the stable; very sincere and very much the heart of Christmas. Since last Christmas the focus on Palestine and the people of Palestine highlights the message of the children who lost their lives during the time of the flight of the Holy family into Egypt. This was brought about by the forces of Herod. The truth is the same today as the forces of evil always seek the opportunity to inflict death and destruction upon the innocent. Our constant need remains for God’s salvation, otherwise the constant power of evil continues to prevail.
In our preparation for Christmas, so we are presented with the challenge that is bringing upheaval to our parishes. Bishop Richard has been preparing a plan for our Diocese, which is a work in progress. A lot of progress has been made and now it is our time to respond to this situation. We need to adapt. Our present situation has been impacted by the limited number of priests. This is not likely to change, so the priests will cover the different church communities. Each community will have much more responsibility to develop and grow.
For ourselves I think we are as prepared and ready, so it is time to implement this. The challenge presented to us is that we are expected to provide the results of an audit this coming Friday, so priority must be given to this. Jackie is ready to work to provide this audit, but we need to have names and contact details (email & phone number).
