St Anthony of Padua Anerley

Third Sunday of Advent

Mass Readings: Pages 87 – 89
Order of Mass: Pages 7 – 47

The first word of the Entrance Antiphon gives this Sunday its popular name: Gaudete (‘rejoice’).

First Reading: Christians have always taken the ‘me’ here as referring to Jesus Christ, as Jesus Himself did (see Luke 4: 16 – 22).  He is the anointed one (the Christ). What follows is not actually a Psalm, but part of the psalm-like Song or Canticle of Mary we know as the Magnificat (the canticle used each day at Vespers or Evening Prayer).

Second Reading:  rejoicing (‘being happy’) and constant prayer are, for St Paul, essential elements of being a Christian, a disciple of Jesus.

Gospel: like Luke in last week’s Gospel, John begins his account of Jesus’ birth with John the Baptist, who is but a witness to the light of the world, ie Jesus Christ Himself.

Sunday Teas:

This Sunday’s teas will now be served by the Knights of St Columba.  They will be serving mulled wine and mince pies.

There will be no Sunday teas next Sunday.

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

Last Week’s Collections:  The 1st collection was £401.95p + £486.50p in  Gift Aid Envelopes giving us a parish total of £ 888.45p. The 2nd collection for Altar Flowers at Christmas was £169.28p.  Thank you for your generosity.  Today’s retiring collection is again for the Altar Flowers at Christmas.

Advent Course: Father Stuart’s Advent Course will continue on 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.

Safety Notice: Parents, please supervise your children at all times as there are a lot of lit candles around the church.

Advance Notice: Please note that the new lighting system will be installed soon. The work is scheduled to begin on Monday 15th January.  There will be mass as usual, at 9.30am, during the week.

Southwark Directories: The directories are now available in the repository.

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.

Eucharistic Congress, Liverpool, 7-9 September 2018. Two members of the parish  have volunteered to attend the Eucharistic Congress next year. We need a small group of parishioners to work with our two delegates to prepare for the Congress and to spread the message which comes back from the Congress. If you would like to be part of this group, please contact the presbytery or speak to a member of the Parish pastoral council.

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

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.

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.

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 (17th Dec—24th  Dec 2017) (Year: B)