St Anthony of Padua Anerley

Second Sunday of Advent

Mass Readings: Pages 85 – 87
Order of Mass: Pages 7 – 47

Advent  is the Church  saying that you have four weeks to prepare yourself, your family, friends and neighbours to celebrate  the Birth of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary. We are preparing to welcome the Light of the World into the darkness of some aspects of our life—violence, marriage, breakdown, lack of belief, fall away in prayer and Mass going, injustice, homelessness – the list goes on.

During Advent the daily and Sunday liturgies are full of hope—looking forward to the Incarnation—the coming of God into this world. In some ways, the atmosphere of today can be a bit hopeless, empty, without much vision of the future except in terms of gloom and disaster. Well, let us, as Christians, encourage each other to hope. This does not mean being overconfident, but refusing to be buried in gloom. Though Jesus Christ may seem a long way away—he has promised he is with us. He keeps this promise here and now today.

When we immerse ourselves in the love of God we begin to see him in our lives more and more. We do not lose hope and keep to the faith that has been given to us.

Sunday Teas:

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

Next Sunday’s teas will be served by

the French Speaking Prayer Group.

Thank you to all those who help out with the Sunday Teas.

Last Week’s Collections:  The 1st collection was £621.73p + £281.90p in  Gift Aid Envelopes giving us a parish total of £ 903.63p.    The 2nd collection for the Parish Funds was £61.24p.  Thank you for your generosity.   Today’s retiring collection is for the Altar Flowers at Christmas.

Advent Course: Father Stuart’s Advent Course will continue on Wednesday 13th December (The Inquisition) and Tuesday 19th December (St Augustine) at 7.30pm in the Parish Centre.

St Anthony’s Parish Carol Service: St Anthony’s Parish Carol Service will be led by the children of St Anthony’s School.  The Carol Service is on Monday 18th December at 6.30pm.  Please do come along and celebrate as a parish community.  It is always a wonderful even which helps us as we prepare for the Christmas season.

Catholic Schools: Do you support Catholic schools and the right of Catholics to send their children to them?  Then we need to make your voice heard.  The government is making a critical decision on whether to overturn the admissions cap which prevents Catholic schools from allowing all Catholic pupils to attend.  They have acknowledged that this policy discriminates against Catholics and promised to abandon it, now we need you to tell them not to U-turn on their promise to Catholics.  Visit http://catholicnews.org.uk/ or search for ‘Catholic Education’ in your search engine to write to the government and urge them to drop their policy which bans new Catholic schools.

Advance Notice: Please note that the new lighting system will be installed soon. The work is scheduled to begin on Tuesday 16th January.  This will mean there will be temporary disruptions to some of the week-day mass times.  Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Knights of St Columba Food Bank Appeal: The Appeal for Christmas will be held next weekend (16^th/17^th December). Donations of new, warm clothing such as scarves, gloves, socks and woolly hats will also be welcomed. The Knights would like to thank the Parish for their kind support throughout 2017.

Deanery Youth Club Christmas Party: The Deanery Youth Club sessions conclude for this year with our Christmas party on Saturday 16^th December at St Joseph’s RC Church from 7 – 9pm in the hall.  If any young people wish to come along then please email SNYClubs@gmail.com by the 10^th December.  Please see the poster on the notice board.

Mass Intentions: Please book your masses in advance for next year (2018) to avoid disappointment.

Eucharistic Ministers and Readers: Rotas are available in the sacristy.

Parish Calendars: Calendars depicting all the Parish Stations of the Cross are now available from the repository, priced at £5 each.

Parish Diaries: Parish diaries are now available.  Donations will be very appreciated.

Medjugorje Irish Centre Pilgrimages 2018: 7 nights B&B and Airport Shuttle service from €279 per person. Book any flight – any time and we provide guaranteed airport shuttle service. Call us for further info and book the dates that suit you. Tel. 01 4434510 or email reservations@med-irishcentre.com.

Job Vacancy: St Anthony’s Primary School is seeking a caretaker.  The successful candidate will have good spoken and written communication skills and will fully support the school’s ethos.  Full details can be obtained from the school office on 020 8778 7681 or by emailing admin@st-anthonys.bromley.sch.uk.

Please pray for the sick of the Parish:

Bridget McLaughlin, John Barry, Margaret Southwell, Mercie Ihekweme-Hill, Kieran Quinn, Marie Harris and Michael Creech.

Notices for the newsletter need to be emailed/posted to the presbytery by 6pm on Thursdays.

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS (10th Dec—17th  Dec 2017) (Year: B)