Wishing you all a Very Happy & Holy Christmas

"I wish you all Blessings for Christmas. I would like to wish you Peace but we don’t live in a peaceful world at present. Also, we need the Blessing of Peace within our own families. This is where we need to support one another especially any who are in difficulty. I feel our Community events do give good witness, the Friday Café, Carol services & coffee after Sunday Mass…

May we continue to Bless one another in the name of Jesus Christ as we celebrate Christmas & prepare to start a New Year."     

Fr Barnabas.

This week's News

 Christmas Mass Time for our Parishes in Communion

There is also Mass on Boxing day at St Lawrence in Chipping Sodbury at 9.30am and at St Joseph's in Fishponds at 10am.

Soup Run at Christmas 

The soup run team have been out distributing the gifts you all so generously donated for those they meet whilst out in Bristol.
There were so many pairs of gloves and socks, lots of deodorants and tons of chocolate bars - so they were able to make up amazing gifts bags.
Gaby from the team said "The gifts were perfect! As usual the parish community were very generous. We had enough gifts for this soup run and the next one in the early part of the new year too, so please pass on our thanks and best wishes."

The final Prize Draw money is all in and counted and together with the profits from the Countdown to Christmas event on the day, the Guides, the Parish, Preschool & the School’s PTFA got a whopping £1,012.76 each!
That is a truly amazing amount which will help so many people. Thanks to all who supported the event & the draw. What a wonderful community we have!

Thank you to our amazing Pre-school who've made some beautiful decorations for the church windows - have a look out for them around the church when next at Mass

 

Community Carol Evening

On Friday 20th December, our church was delighted to host the local Community Carol sing-a-long! What a wonderful evening it was. We welcomed over 250 people into church to enjoy beautiful music and singing from the Frampton Cotterell Male Voice Choir and the band of The Salvation Army Staple Hill.
Everyone was in fine voice, they survived Mike's jokes, and then all went to the hall afterwards for refreshments and more music from Rachel's sing-a-long and the Sea Shanty group.
We kept the church open after for anyone who wanted to come back in to light a candle for someone they are thinking of this Christmas.
A truly lovely community evening with amazing feedback given to us from so many who attended.
Thanks to the Friday Community Cafe team who organised the evening with sponsorship from Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council.

 

 

This week's news

A message from St Bonaventure's Church, Bristol

"You are warmly invited to a Parish Open Morning on Saturday 11th January 2025 at St Bonaventure's Church, Egerton Road Bristol BS7 8HP.

We will start with Mass at 9.30 followed by refreshments. Representatives from our parish groups will speak briefly about what they do, then afterwards there will be time to talk informally and find out more about what goes on at St Bons. You will also have a chance to look around our church and grounds if you wish, before making your way home for lunch.

We are holding this event to mark the beginning of the Church's Jubilee Year in 2025, and look forward to welcoming parishioners from neighbouring churches in our Pastoral Area.

If you are coming by car, please note that our car park is accessed from Berkeley Road not Egerton Road, and you need to use the postcode BS7 8AF in your Satnav to get you there."

On behalf of St Bonaventure's Pastoral Council, we look forward to welcoming you and your parishioners on 11th January next year."

https://stbonsbristol.com/

Bishop Bosco MacDonald has recorded a special Christmas message for this Holy Season.

In his first message as Bishop of Clifton, Bishop Bosco talks about the challenges we have all faced both locally and globally this year, but lets us know that the message of Christmas shines brightly; and this message is Hope.
As we celebrate this Holy Season, he asks that we also remember our call to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Whether it’s by a small act of love or something bigger, every act of kindness brings us closer to building a community where no one feels forgotten or alone.
You can watch the full video message by clicking the Vimeo link below:
https://vimeo.com/1039644501

As Advent begins this weekend, here are the services, events and special Masses for the festive period:

*Sat 30th November* ~ Advent Penitential Service from 10am-12noon, in church with coffee in the hall.

*Sat 30th Nov & Sun 1st December* ~ Weekend Masses celebrating the 1st Sunday of Advent. (6pm Sat & 9.30am Sun)

*Sat 7th & Sun 8th December* ~ Weekend Masses celebrating the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and including 'Gift Weekend', where you can bring gifts for the homeless people we meet on the Soup Run.

*Sun 8th December* ~ 3pm, Carols By Candlelight in the church.

*Sat 14th & Sun 15th December* ~ Weekend Masses celebrating the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

*Thurs 19th December* ~ 9.30am, School Christmas Mass in Church

*Fri 20th December* ~ 6.30pm, 'Community Carols' in the church and parish hall.

*Sat 21st & Sun 22nd December* ~ Weekend Masses celebrating the 4th Sunday of Advent.

*Tues 24th December* ~ 6pm, Vigil Mass of Christmas
& 9pm, Carols service before 9.30pm, Christmas Night Mass begins.

*Wed 25th December* ~ 9am, Mass of Christmas Day.

See poster for all the Christmas Masses within our Parishes in Communion.
See our Newsletters each week for all our Mass times and confirmation of any changes.

This Week's News

Carols by Candlelight

This weekend we held our annual "Carols by Candlelight" service ~ a beautiful afternoon of reflection, during Advent, to prepare us for the coming season. Various musicians and singers were there to lead us in the carols (everyone was in fine voice!), including our 'Cantonese Angels' who sang some carols for us in English and Cantonese, and a group made from our various church musicians who performed a very moving rendition of 'Mary, did you know'.
Thank you to all involved with the service and with the lovely refreshments in the hall afterwards. And thanks to all who came out. The donations, craft sale and raffle for our Parish Projects raised an amazing £320! ~ we hope you enjoyed the afternoon.

Lost Property

Someone has left a red plastic bag full of Christmas cards at the back of church - they are now in the parish office in the presbytery for safe keeping, so you can come and collect them from there. Thank you.
And don't forget, any lost property is placed in the lost property cupboard as you walk into Church on the left hand side. Have a look through if you have anything missing (there is quite a collection of items!)

Celebration of Mass at St Nicholas'

Please see poster for details of St. Nicholas of Tolentino RC Church, Bristol's monthly celebration of Mass for LGBTQ+ Catholics, friends and family.

All are welcome.

Thanks, Deacon Vincent, for your Reflections for Second Sunday of Advent Year C

1st Reading from the Prophet Baruch 5: 1-9.
Baruch, the name means “Blessed”, was the secretary to Jeremiah who wrote down Jeremiah’s preaching. This book, however, was not written by Baruch, but the author used the name of a figure from the “Golden Age”, and re-interpreting Jeremiah for a new situation. Israel is still occupied by a foreign power, with the usual extortionate taxes. This book is seeking to put “hope in the Lord”, back into the people; this book is speaking to Jews who are living in the Greek-Speaking Dispersion. The writing that we are reading today is from a poem of consolation for Jerusalem. It is lifting the people who are separated from their homeland and telling them that God has not forgotten them. They are remembered and loved by God. It is worth studying and dwelling upon the fact that although things do not always go well with us, God never forgets us, but is trying to resolve our difficulties. We need to always trust God and keep our hope alive, for we are a people of Hope.

Psalm 126(125): 1-2b, 2c-3, 4-5, 6.

This is the song of the returning exiles, very appropriate, as a follow up to Baruch’s exhortation. Sing and shout for joy whenever God hears us and comforts us.

2nd Reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians 1: 3-6, 8-11.
In the Thanksgiving of Pauline letters, it is always useful to look out for themes that will re-appear later in the letter. Paul uses “all of you”, several times which might indicate that there is a problem with disunity amongst them. Notice the use of “Joy”, in the opening passage, for although Paul is in prison, whilst writing this letter it is one of his most joyful letters. Paul also emphasises partnership, which carries with it the idea of fellowship, union and communion. If you read on into this letter these themes will come to light for some expansion from Paul.

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 3: 1-6.
This prolonged introduction to John the Baptist’s mission contains the only date in the whole of the New Testament (AD 28-29). He lists the important people in descending order of importance to the region. We are introduced to Pontius Pilate and Annas and Caiaphas, three people who we will find scattered throughout this Gospel. Eventually Luke arrives at the key figure that he wants to talk about, namely John the Baptist, son of Zachariah. John is in the wilderness calling the people to repentance, which fits perfectly with the Isaiah’s prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the Way of the Lord.” Every one of the Gospels have John preparing the people to meet their Saviour, Jesus Christ. John is the springboard for Jesus to enter his public life. He must have been a towering figure, for Jesus says of him, “There is none greater than John the Baptist born of woman.” Let us hear John’s cry today to transform our lives so that we are ready to meet the Lord, when he comes.

God forgive our foolish ways and bring us close to Jesus.
Deacon Vincent.