James Nash RIP
On Friday 17th December, at 12noon, the Requiem Mass for James will take place at St Augustine's Church. Please see all the details for the day in the picture below.
in order for us to assist with the large numbers of people who will wish to attend and for any possible track & trace reasons.
We hold Joanna, their children Reuben and Keira and both Nash & Davis families in our prayers at this very difficult time.
May James' soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest In Peace.
JOAN ELLIS RIP
Joan's ashes will be interred into the Garden of Remembrance at 11.30am this Saturday, 11th December. The parish is welcome to attend to pay their respects to dear Joan.
I am going to offer individual confession with absolution after each Tuesday, Saturday & Sunday Mass from today until Tuesday 28th December (inc).
Rather than confession in the confessionals, I will ask whoever wishes to receive absolution to stay behind at the end of Mass, then come forward, one by one, to the front of the church, keeping their mask on, for a quiet confession.
This way we can offer absolution to as many people as possible in this period of Advent.
God bless you all.
Fr Frank
The Diary is £6.50 and the Directory is £5.
Also, we have a few smaller Catholic Diary and Mass/Prayer books if anyone would like one.
Thank you Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for 3rd Sunday in Advent (Gaudete) Year C
This book is written for the Judeans and people of Jerusalem, who are attacked for assimilating and adopting the idolatry of the people around them, particularly the Assyrians, thereby, disassociating themselves from the people of God. They are threatened with the day of the Lord, with his anger, judgement and punishment, but there is also the consolation and joy of the restoration. The people had drifted and there had been no Prophet since Isaiah, approximately 60 years, to encourage the people to stay true to the Lord. Little is known of Zephaniah, except his call and his family background going back several generations. The passage we are looking at is the joy of the oppressed people at the restoration of Jerusalem and the reconstruction of the Temple for the Lord. It is thought that this book was finally given its shape after the Exile. The lesson is that the Lord never abandons his people, even though bad times and periods of trial come upon us. He is always Faithful, even when we are not. We need to listen for the voice of the Lord’s prophets for today and stiffen the sinews and take courage. The lord will restore his realm. We should be marked by our joy and happiness in oppression.
Psalm from Isaiah 12: 2-6.
Unusually this song is not from the book of psalms, but from the Prophet Isaiah. It is his song for those returning from Exile. A song for all time, a song for Christians who have been saved, and the joy of those awaiting the coming of the Lord, for he will come!! Have no fear he will come!
2nd Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians 4: 4-7.
We are coming to the end of his letter to the Philippians, it is a beautiful passage which starts with “rejoice” and draws the Philippians’ attention to God as also on prayer, and a few lovely lines on how we should think and act in Christ Jesus. That magnificent beginning “Rejoice at all times in the Lord, again I say, Rejoice.” This is from a person completely at one with the Lord; the Lord is sufficient for him, he needs nothing else to make his life complete, and he wants to share that with us. The more we read it the more infectious it becomes. Philippians is not a long letter, but it contains so much for us to learn how to come close to the Lord. It was pondering the 2nd chapter, particularly the little hymn that brought me to the Diaconate, so this letter does hold a powerful message for all of us.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 3: 10-18.
Luke is a very gentle evangelist, but we should not miss the starkness of his message. It appears that Luke’s congregation were comfortably well off, so the idea of sharing your tunics and food with those without, would have been very hard to stomach, as indeed it is for us today; but there is a touch of irony in the end of the passage, “With many other consoling remarks he spread the good news among the people.”
St. Francis discovered the truth of this evocation, several hundred years later, “That in giving we receive.”, Luke is attempting to help his people and indeed us, to realise the joy in true sharing of our benefits with those less fortunate. Luke has a soft spot for the less fortunate in society, and it shows how kind he is to the ladies, the poor and the sick. His Gospel highlights Jesus’ concern for these groups, because they are the concern of God his Father, hence John the Baptist, so close to God is enabled to make these demands upon the people, and not lose his popularity, because the truth brings with it great joy and happiness. Let us truly “REJOICE” in the good news of the Gospel.
God Bless us all and bring us Joy & Happiness. Deacon Vincent
LGBTQI+ Mass
St Nicholas of Tolentino Church is holding an Advent Mass for members of the LGBTQI+ community, their friends, families, and allies on Sunday 19th December.
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