St Anthony of Padua Anerley

Pentecost Sunday

Mass Readings: 286 – 290

Order of Mass: Pages 7 – 47

The Spirit, the Gift of Christ. The dramatic manifestation of the coming of the Spirit on the Church enables us to see what he does. The apostles become fearless witnesses. And so all of us, no matter who we are, have this gift for our own salvation and the salvation of others. And so the Church goes on.

One of the riches of the Spirit which is poured out on us is Joy—love, peace, joy, the list goes on. As Christians individually and as a group, we should be filled with joy. It should be a source of joy picked up by the others, reflected from one another.

Jesus wanted his disciples to be filled with joy after the sorrows of the Passion and Cross. And indeed they were filled with joy when they saw him after the resurrection. But the fullness of that joy—and the other accompanying gifts and fruits of his coming were realised on the Day of Pentecost in the upper room and then to all whom the apostles met afterwards.

More than this individual aspect, but partly springing from it, is the spirit of joy which should be in worship. Do you think it does? I quite often find people who come to our Church as visitors telling me what a lovely, friendly feeling there is at Mass. Do you feel that in yours? It is part of what the Spirit of Joy should be, radiating from us as a congregation, a  community, a people.  Those who met the early Christian Church after Pentecost, used to feel this something. They used to say ‘see how the Christians love one another.’ let us hope and pray in the celebration and follow up from the gift of the Spirit this Pentecost that we may grow in the Spirit and so help each other and those beyond our immediate fellowship to share love, joy, peace and the wonder of God’s riches poured into our hearts.

Sunday Teas:

This Sunday’s teas will be served by the volunteers.

Next Sunday’s teas will be served by the SVP.
Thank you to all those who help out with the Sunday Teas and apologies for the recent order mix-up.

Gift Aid Envelopes giving us a parish total of £960.03p. The 2nd collection for the Catholic Communications Network was £97.93p. Thank you for your generosity.  Today’s retiring collection is for our Church Repairs Fund 2018.

Recently Deceased: Please pray for the souls and families of Annie Hamilton and James Eugene Markham.  The funeral for Annie Hamilton will be on Thursday 24th May at East Chapel, Croydon Crematorium at 12.45pm.  The funeral for James Eugene Markham will be at Beckenham Crematorium on Tuesday 29th May at 12:30pm. Also pray for Wilma Noronha. May their souls rest in peace.

First Holy Communion Group 2018: Please remember to pray for Abigail, Erin, Heida, Lucas, Ruth, Rennisha, Peniel, Priscilla, Martyna, Luis, Sarah, Shelton, Romeyo, Tunmi, Theresa, Kai, Marcus and Preston who all made their First Holy Communion this weekend.

The Bethlehem Nativity Group: A missionary from Bethlehem, The Holy Land who visited us just over 3 years ago is visiting us again this weekend (19th-20th May) to briefly talk about the Holy Land and sell religious articles made out of olive wood from the Holy Land to help and support the poor Christian families.  Any help you could give to them would be highly appreciated.

Final Call – Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes: If you are interested in going to Lourdes in May next year then please make sure you express your interest by writing your name (clearly printed) on the sheet on the notice board at the back of the church.  This weekend is the last opportunity you will have to express your interest as Father Stuart will shortly be making enquiries with the tour company about costs and the best possible dates.  Please note that this pilgrimage is for St Anthony’s parishioners only.

Church Repairs: Until further notice, on Sundays where there is no diocesan collection, all our retiring collections will go towards our church restoration fund.  In addition, one of the wall boxes (near to the water font at the side door) has been re-allocated to this fund.  Any donations will be much appreciated.  If you are a registered gift-aider, please put donations in an envelope with your name or unique gift aid number on it, and we will be able to reclaim the tax that you have already paid to HMRC on them.

The Diocesan Justice & Peace Commission, Spring Assembly 2018 will be at St Mary’s Church, Croydon, Surrey on Saturday 2^nd June from 10.30am to 4pm, Preceded by Mass at 10am celebrated by Bishop Lynch.  Speaker Ellen Teague. Free event. Everyone welcome. Please bring a packed lunch. Tea & coffee provided.

The Marian Fathers are holding their 17th Divine Mercy Conference on  Saturday 16th June 2018 at Our Lady Mother of the  Church, 2 Windsor Road, Ealing W5 5PD from 10:30 am to 6 pm, nearest underground station Ealing Broadway. The Guest Speaker is Sr Briege McKenna, OSC who has an International Ministry for Healing. The conference will include Holy Mass presided by Rt Rev Bishop Paul Hendricks, Talks by Sr Briege McKenna OSC, Hour of Mercy and Healing Ministry. Entrance is  by tickets only £10 donation. For tickets and more information contact: DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE – MARIAN FATHERS, 1 Courtfield Gardens, London W13 0EY, T: 020 8998 0925; Email: info@divinemercy.org.uk   www.divinemercyapostolate.co.uk.

CCF Golden Jubilee: 1968-2018: The Centre for Catholic Formation will be 50 years old this summer and a lecture series has been arranged as part of our celebrations. All are welcome to attend one or all of four evening talks on key themes: Bishop Paul Mason on adult formation (5 June); Dr Caroline Farey on catechesis (8 June); Canon John Udris on GK Chesterton (14 June) and Dr Pia Matthews on Disability Theology (19 June). To book your place: https://www.ccftootingbec.org.uk/fifty or call 020 8672 7684; email: office@ccftootingbec.org.uk

CCF: The diocesan Centre for Catholic Formation (CCF) regularly hosts talks, events and training. If you would like to receive information on these events and much more, please consider subscribing to our monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/daX7t9 – Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ccfsouthwark – Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccfsouthwark and view our videos here: https://goo.gl/yqAzN7

Please pray for the sick of the Parish: John Barry, Mercie Ihekweme-Hill, Kieran Quinn and Michael Creech.

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS (20th May—27th May 2018) (Year: B)