St Anthony of Padua Anerley

Today’s Mass: TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY
By Fr David Gibbons, Centre for Catholic Formation

First Reading: having defeated death, the Messiah will host a fine banquet. The Church understands this to refer not to an event in this life but to eternal life after Christ’s second coming.

Psalm: psalm 22 is so familiar that we don’t have to worry about the words when we recite it. Rather, we can meditate on their profound significance and attractiveness.

Second Reading: the Church in Philippi will get their reward for helping St Paul in his hour of need from God, who is always lavish in his generosity.

Gospel: the Parable of the King’s Wedding Feast is a parable about the judgement of Christians. The king is God, the wedding feast is the messianic banquet (foretold in the First Reading), the servants sent out represent the prophets, while the reference to going out and inviting everyone, “bad and good alike”, refers to the mission to the Gentiles. All are invited, but not everyone responds. The man without a wedding garment signifies those who live their lives other than in accordance with the Gospel.
“For many are called, but few are chosen”. These words are not intended to frighten us but to encourage us to follow Christ, so that we can enjoy the eternal banquet in heaven.

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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.

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Last Week’s collections: The 1st collection was £802.89p including Gift Aid £376.60p. The 2nd collection for CAFOD (Autumn) Family Fast Day was £104.25p. Thank you for your generosity. The 2nd collection   today   is for the Needs of the Diocese and next week it will be for Missio/World Missions.

First Holy Communion Classes: The First Holy Communion class will be on Saturday 18th October at 10.30am in the Parish Centre. These classes are for those children we are already aware of and have acknowledged as being part of this year’s programme.

Altar Server Practise: All the serving altar servers and all the new altar servers are asked to attend a practise session on Saturday 18th October at 11.30am. It is important for all servers to attend.

Christmas Fair: The Parish Christmas Fair will be on Saturday 6th December from 11am until 2pm. Please put this date in your diary. We are now collecting items for the Christmas Fair. If you can bring drinks for the bottle stall and good quality items for the tombola and lucky dip that would be appreciated. For a successful fair, we need appealing items which will attract buyers and help raise funds for the Church. Please leave items in the box in the narthex.

Courses for New Catechists: The Diocesan Centre for Catholic Formation is putting on a series of sessions at Hartley Hall, Catford which is aimed at new and potential catechists. The last of these sessions will be held on Thursday evening (7 for 7.30pm until 9pm) on 23rd October (Children’s Liturgy). The costs will be paid for by the parish.   Please speak to Father Sunith if you are interested.

One Climate One World – CAFOD campaign launch and Southwark Justice and Peace Autumn Assembly: Saturday 18 October 10:30am-4pm, Amigo Hall, St George’s Cathedral SE1 7YH: Come to this exciting launch event on Saturday 18 October, run jointly by Southwark Justice and Peace and CAFOD where you will be able to hear from CAFOD’s Peruvian partners about how climate change is affecting them already; ask your tricky climate questions of CAFOD’s Climate Change Analyst; find out how St James parish in Petts Wood took up the live simply challenge, and how you can too; discuss whether God calls us to be a good neighbour to the planet, and how we might do that. To book a place or for more information, please contact Eileen or Sarah at CAFOD Southwark on 020 8466 9901 or southwark@cafod.org.uk

Concert: Father Francis Maple OFM Cap. Is visiting our parish the weekend of 25th October to celebrate the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of his cousin Richard and Joan Maple. While he is here he has offered to give us a concert on Sunday 26th October to raise money for our parish.
Father Francis is a Capuchin Franciscan friar who has celebrated 51 years as a priest. For the last twelve years he has written the Sunday homily in The Universe. He has recorded 42 albums and has made many TV appearances (including Stars on Sunday). He even has a gold disc for his album ‘The Old Rugged Cross’. For his services to charity he has been decorated by Her Majesty the Queen with an MBE. He has given concerts in Drury Lane Theatre, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool Empire, Derby Assembly Rooms to mention a few. The songs he sings are varied and sprinkled with humorous stories and jokes. I can assure you if you come to the concert you will not be disappointed. Tickets will cost £4 on the door. The concert will begin at 7pm on Sunday 26th October in the church.
There will also be a raffle. If anyone can kindly donate prizes for the raffle I would be very grateful. Thank you.

HCPT— Group 30: Group 30 has been going to Lourdes every Easter since 1968. Today, the group has reached a crossroads. Several of our established helpers now have families and are unable to travel with us anymore. Without helpers we cannot take children to Lourdes. The group is now in real danger of folding. Helpers pay their own fares (currently about £700) but we may be able to financially assist students. We travel by plane to Lourdes on the Saturday before Easter returning a week later. I need about 8 new helpers to form a group. If you are interested in becoming a helper with Group 30 please contact Patrick Cowlard on: 020 8659 5829 or by email: jpcowlard@btinternet.com
To find out more about HCPT then please visit the website: www.hcpt.org.uk

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and Readers: The annual day of recollection for the South East Area will take place at Bishop Thomas Grant School, Belltrees Grove, SW16 2HY on Saturday November 15th. The day itself will be given by Fr. Ignaus Edet.

Diocesan Youth Ministry Day: This is a great opportunity for anyone in the parish already working with young people or considering starting. The Youth Ministry Day is on Saturday 15th November from 10.30am until 4.30pm at Amigo Hall, Next to St George’s RC Cathedral, Southwark. Free admission. Booking required – info@scys.org.uk or call 01277 272900. Bring your own packed lunch. Tea and coffee is provided throughout the day.

Repository: Christmas items are now available in the repository. Please do take a look.

If you want to see a priest then please phone and make an appointment.