St Anthony of Padua Anerley

Welcome to St. Anthony’s Church

¨ Please wear a face covering in Church.

¨ Please remember to sanitise your hands on entering and leaving the Church.

¨ Please write down your name and contact details so that you can be contacted in the event of coronavirus cases at the Church.  This information is kept securely by Father Sunith.  Please do contact Father Sunith if you begin to feel unwell after attending Mass.

¨ Please follow the one way system in place in the Church.

¨ To maintain social distancing only every other pew is available with green markers to show the positions available.

¨ If you wish to receive Communion please stay in your pew and Father will come to you.

¨ To avoid cross contamination, please refrain from touching the statues.

¨ Please put your church donations into the donation boxes.

¨ The Church is cleaned after every Mass to avoid cross contamination.  Please do assist with the cleaning after Mass if you are fit and able (speak to the Marshall about the cleaning regime).

¨ Please remember to switch off your mobile phone when you enter the Church

Twenty-Seventh Sunday (B)

God in the creation story this Sunday says “It is not good that man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) He is talking of the two sexes supporting each other in their existence.  In some situations in life it is good for us, women and men, to be alone with God.  The difficulty of modern living is that conditions cramp us together in the inner city, in closely built homes, on the crowded streets, in buses or on the underground.  Family life is crowded and rushed with much coming and going, both parents working, children at school, or a one parent situation.  Only a few privileged ’ordinary people’ have the time or freedom to go away to be alone with God.  If you are so privileged try to go! But what of those many, many who are unable ’to escape’ or even do not see ’escaping’ as any part of their life, and even think it wrong to abandon the family for a selfish aloneness with God.  Both spiritually and psychologically it is extremely fruitful (and recognised as such by Christian psychologists and un-religious psychologists alike) to put into your day a regular time for withdrawal.  Many people now do half an hour of meditation each morning and evening.  If you cannot do that – could you be alone at some time each day and give it to God?  Try something regularly – however small.

Finally there are those who are not deprived of aloneness, but forced into it.  You live alone in a flat, maybe housebound or bereaved or shy of company.  In your situation – do all you can to create this space into something lovely, to be shared with Jesus.  You are not alone because Jesus is there with you – it may not be easy to ’realise’ he is with you.  If you can do so, this gives you a sense of companionship and care.  Please also invite the parish community to visit you, pray with you, give you Holy Communion, have a cup of tea.  So crowded, make space! Alone – welcome Jesus and stay with him, and welcome in the community.  We must all learn to be together and alone.  Difficult, but possible, especially with the Spirit in us and God with us.

Peace Sunday – 17 January 2021

In England and Wales we celebrate Peace Sunday on the third Sunday of January. Resources for parishes, young people and schools are provided by Pax Christi – part of the international Catholic movement for Peace.

The day provides us with an opportunity to build on the global World Day of Peace that is celebrated on New Year’s Day each year and is accompanied by a message from Pope Francis.

Pax Christi’s National President is the Vice President of the Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool.

Promoting the theme, ‘A Culture of Care as a Path to Peace’, Archbishop McMahon wrote to parishes to encourage them to support the work of Pax Christi and to raise up the Gospel message of peace:

“The Christian message of peace, through reconciliation, justice and nonviolence, can offer hope and direction in these times. I invite you to seriously consider facilitating a collection for, or making a donation to, the work of Pax Christi at this time as a way to make a practical contribution to continuing the work of peace.”

Pope’s Message

Pax Christi has based its Peace Sunday materials on the message from Pope Francis to mark the 54th annual World Day of Peace. In it, Pope Francis highlights Catholic Social Teaching as an expression of Christian care for all people – particularly in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In presenting loving care as a path to peace, the Pope highlights the connection between social injustice and violent conflict, and the critical role of women at all levels of peace-building.

He calls on leaders in all sectors – the state, business, science and academics, international organisations, and media – to adopt the principles of Catholic Social Teaching: the dignity and rights of each person, the common good, solidarity, peace-building, and the protection of creation. ld Peace Message 2021

Church re-opening:

We want to encourage parishioners to return to Mass when you feel safe and confident to do so. We have removed most of the tapes so that more pews are available. We will keep other precautions in place for the time being – wearing face coverings, sanitising stations, signing in and the one-way system for moving about the church.

Mass Times and Intentions:

Mass is celebrated from Monday to Saturday at 9.30am. Sunday Masses are at 6pm (Saturday evening), 9.30am, 11.15am and 5.30pm.

The parish website www.stanthonyofpaduaanerley.com, has details of the weekly Mass Intentions.

Adoration and benediction every Friday 7.30pm to 8.30pm.

New readers’ introduction:

We would love to welcome parishioners to help out with reading at Mass. We will have an introduction meeting for anyone who is interested on Tuesday 12 October from 8.00 till 9.00 pm at the Church.

Christmas fair:

The Parish Pastoral Council has decided not to hold a Christmas fair this year. It would be difficult to plan ahead and run the event safely amidst uncertainty about the Covid situation.

Events arranged by the Knights of St. Columba:

The parish group of the Knights of St Columba are intending to hold a quiz night at the Melvin Halls for the Parish Community in the near future. They will also be organising a Christmas Hamper Raffle with tickets for sale after Sunday Masses for Church funds. Further details to come.

Teas:

Every other Sunday in the parish centre after the 9.30am mass.

The next date will be 9 October.

Financial Support:

We appreciate your continued care and support for our

parish community, especially with the uncertainty and financial instability  the pandemic has brought  both households and parish.

Parishioners can contribute directly to the Parish bank account: Natwest Bank Beckenham Branch, sort code 60-02-12 and account number 46000208. Tax payers, please join the Gift Aid programme allowing our parish to increase the value of every donation it receives from tax payers by 25%. We value your assistance in maintaining our wonderful Parish community.

Newsletter Notices:

If you have a notice for the Parish Newsletter, please email it to the presbytery (anerley@rcaos.org.uk). Notices need to be emailed/posted by 6pm on Thursdays.

Local Food Bank:

Please help support families in need by contributing to the food bank held at neighbouring Christ Church, at the corner of Maple and Anerley Roads.  Food donations are collected on Fridays only.  If you would like to donate then please leave your donations at the back of the Church. The Parish received a thank you card from Christ Church with New Year blessings.

Thank you:

Those who continue to steward at Mass, clean the Church, read at Mass, arrange flowers, or help in the background, are thanked for their generous help, especially in these difficult times.