Second Sunday after the Nativity
Happy New Year!
We begin 2021 with the twin hallmarks of optimism and trust.
Dear friends in Christ
Happy New Year!
We begin 2021 with the twin hallmarks of optimism and trust. We know that we are children of God and this gives us profound inner joy and serenity; we also believe that God is holding us in the palm of His hand, and this gives us all the assurance we need. Even though there are going to be difficult weeks ahead, with optimism and trust we can go into this new year sustained by our Faith.
Wednesday (6th) is The Epiphany. For many Christians throughout the world—especially the Eastern Churches—this is the actual celebration of Christmas. The Magi encounter God in the arms of His Mother. For us this is a call to renewed adoration, as we reflect on the words of St Matthew in the Gospel for this Solemnity: Entering the house they saw the Child and His Mother, and falling down on their knees, they worshipped Him. We come into the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with a similar sense of reverence; conscious that Jesus lives in the Tabernacle and is presented to us at Holy Mass. The Epiphany is also the impetus to go out and make Jesus Christ known. With so many uncertainties in these days, we have the sure knowledge that we have God-with-us. This is the meaning of life for us as we begin another year.
May God bless you all: your families and loved-ones—those near and far—that we may remain steadfast in Faith in the days ahead.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Second Sunday after the Nativity
Saturday 2 January
10am Mass Maureen Regan, RIP (Anniversary) (CR)
9.30-11pm Private Prayer
Confessions by St Joseph
Second Sunday after the Nativity
5.30pm Vigil Maria Keen, RIP (Anniversary) (DL)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions by St Joseph
Sunday 3 January
8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Mass Brita Irons, RIP (JV)
11.30am Mass Susan Coughlan, RIP (CM)
4pm Mass Anthony Fleming, RIP (SF) Ex Form—LOW MASS
(No general Communion)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 4
Feria of Christmastide
9am Mass Eugene Connolly, RIP (MI)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Tuesday 5
Feria of Christmastide
9am Mass Lucrese de Cruyenaere, RIP (JW)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Wednesday 6
THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
9am Mass The People of the Parish
12Noon Mass John Butler, RIP (RB)
8pm Mass Sylvester de Souza RIP (F&VdS)
Thursday 7
Feria of Christmastide
9am Mass Michael Edwards, RIP (MD)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Friday 8
Feria of Christmastide
12Noon Mass Ellen Walsh RIP (Anniversary) (MC)
11.30-1pm Private Prayer
Saturday 9
Feria of Christmastide
10am Mass Jeremiah Brennan, RIP (KE)
9.30-11am Private Prayer
Confessions by St Joseph
The Baptism of the Lord
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions by St Joseph
Sunday 3 January
8am Mass Dec'd Members of the Wright Family (PB)
9.30am Mass Caroline Murley, RIP (LW)
11.30am Mass Essie Glauda, RIP (Anniversary) (KC)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Canon Patrick McKenna, Fr Francis Heenan, Canon John Bloomfield, Fr Denis Cantwell, Len Gardner, Hannah Flintoff, Eileen Bull, Francis Ryan, Brita Irons, Len Plummer, Anthony Ryan, Hilda Edwards, Walter Burden, Ricky (Lola) Clarke, Lena Austin, Lucien Staw, Eric Tarrant, Niall Cooney, Essie Glauda, Mary Josephine Herbert, Arthur Jackson, Ivy Whiting, Phyllis Sullivan, Patricia Dear, Sibyl Hardy, Gerald Vickers, Claire Mellish, John Bloomfield, Minnie Fogarty, Brian McInerney, Blodweh Owen, Louise Alexandra Marsden, Hester Masi, Walter McGune, Melissa Overton, John O’Leary, Elizabeth Hancock, Marie Thompson, Doreen Clements, Firmina Rose Bailey, Frances Sims, Bill Shanahan, Terence Foley, Gertrude Culley, Doreen Newcombe & Winifred Hughes.
We Pray for our Sick
Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Gilberte Cook, Garry Pearman, Anne Owen, Adrian Barclay, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, Sylvia Langley, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, Maureen Gooding, Ben Wilson, Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Nan Carrit, Eileen Wilson, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Anthony McEvoy, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Chas Taylor, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Eddie McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Doreen Troughton, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.
Serving the Homeless
Serving the Homeless would like to extend very sincere thanks to you all for your support for the recent Carol Service. As you know, this year we had to deliver the service in a different way but we have received many positive comments on how much it was enjoyed and so thank you to all those who took part and to Tim Browne for filming and editing.
I am pleased to say we have raised in excess of £2,700 and money is still coming in.
We were also delighted, just before Christmas, to receive the proceeds of a very generous collection by Blenheim School in addition to support from our friends at the Quakers.
In view of the fact that we are entering the New Year in a much healthier position than we expected to be, Jo Ronan, our Chairperson, has already been in contact with HARP and the YMCA to ask what else we can help them with in the coming months. Syrie Cox from the Y has already responded to say they are planning two new rooms for young people and we have agreed to finance the fixtures and fittings of the new rooms.
Thank you all for your generosity, support and kindness, not just in December but throughout the year.
God bless you all. Nina Bridgeman (Treasurer - Serving the Homeless)
We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
Larraine Ellen Moore, RIP who died on Wednesday, 16th December.
Barbara Ablethorpe, RIP who died on Thursday, 17th December.
Winifred McClafferty, RIP who died on Wednesday, 23rd December.
The Holy Family
I wish you all the blessings of this Christmas Season!
The Sunday following Christmas day is a celebration of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary & Joseph
Dear friends in Christ
I wish you all the blessings of this Christmas Season!
The Sunday following Christmas Day is a celebration of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, Joseph. We give thanks through a meditation on their lives, that God chose to launch the redemption of the world from the midst of a human family. Today is a day for us to give thanks for our own families through which we have come to know and love the True God.
I said back at Easter that it would be an Easter like no other; little did we know that this Christmas would be unique too. Despite the limitations that have been placed upon our lives, we can still rejoice and celebrate the Incarnation of God, the Word become flesh for us.
Even though our celebrations this year have been muted, I am grateful for all of the help that has been provided to make Christmas 2020 both joyful and beautiful. So many parishioners work quietly away ensuring that the church and the administration of the Parish continues efficiently. I am grateful to all of you who contribute to this, as well as all of the extra help that has been given during the pandemic to keep the church open and safe.
I thank you personally for your many greetings, prayers, gifts and Christmas offerings which have been a great support and joy to me. I have really missed see so many of you personally!
May the coming year, with the grace of God, be filled with optimistic hope as we continue to go forward together united in the bonds of faith and charity.
I wish you all a happy New Year and every blessing for 2021!
Msgr Kevin Hale
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr Francis Wilson, Canon John Byrne, Fr Brian Reeves, Fr Jim Wilkinson, P.A. Holcombe, Mrs Beeching, James O’Donnell, Francis Gibson, Mary Fitzroy, Deirdre Gray, James Keefe, Doris Swinney, Joseph Dologhan, Audrey O’Connell, Catherine Rankilor, Doreen Foley, Nora Phillips, Adrian Dann, Francis Cook, Peter Whale, Frederick Thomas R§oss, Stephen McManus, Anna Siani, David Scott-Frame, Sylvia Sippitt, George Lane, Leslie Dawson, Mary Reilly, Michael McGaughey, Thomas Woolcott, John Sinclair, Joan Gubbins, Kate Lessons, Kathleen Lewin, Gregory Power, Maureen Guihen, Emily Swann, Mary O’Toole, Annie French, Jules O Deuss, Ethel Milo, Simon Burgoyne, Violet Jackson, Millicent Ransom, Joseph Hazell, Eileen Murray, Maureen Regan & Helen Cotton.
We Pray for our Sick
Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Gilberte Cook, Garry Pearman, Anne Owen, Adrian Barclay, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, Sylvia Langley, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, Maureen Gooding, Ben Wilson, Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Nan Carrit, Eileen Wilson, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Anthony McEvoy, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Chas Taylor, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Eddie McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Doreen Troughton, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.
We Pray for the Repose of the Soul of
Winifred McCafferty, RIP who died on Wednesday, 23rd December.
The Holy Family of Jesus,Mary & Joseph
Saturday 26 December
12Noon Mass Altar Servers & their Families’ Intentions
11.30-1pm Private Prayer
No Evening Mass
Sunday 27 December
8am Mass Michael Barry, RIP (F&JO’B)
9.30am Mass Anna, Eugene & Vito Siani, RIP (RB)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 28
The Holy Innocents, Mm
10am Mass William Underwood, RIP (Anniversary) (RB)
9.30-11am Private Prayer
Tuesday 29
St Thomas of Canterbury, Bp, M
9am Mass Adrian Dann, RIP (Anniversary) (SD)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Wednesday 30
Sixth Day within the octave of Christmas
9am Mass Steve & Agnes McManus, RIP (Anniversary) (SW)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Thursday 31
Seventh Day within the octave of Christmas
9am Mass Peter Cope, RIP (MG)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
6pm Holy Hour, Benediction & Te Deum
Friday 1 January
Mary, Mother of God
12Noon Mass Intentions of Susan Owens (JA)
11.30-1pm Private Prayer
Saturday 2
Ss Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, App, Dd
10am Mass Maureen Regan, RIP (Anniversary) (CR)
9.30-11am Private Prayer
Second Sunday after the Nativity
5.30pm Vigil Maria Keen, RIP (Anniversary) (DL)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Sunday 3 January
8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Brita Irons, RIP (JV)
11.30am Mass Susan Coughlan, RIP (CM)
4pm Mass Anthony Fleming, RIP (SF) - Ex Form
(No general Communion)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Christmas Greetings
With my heartfelt prayers for you and all your loved ones this Christmas, as we rejoice in the Birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, the unconditional love of the Father made visible to human eyes.
Msgr Kevin Hale
With my heartfelt prayers for you and all your loved ones this Christmas, as we rejoice in the Birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, the unconditional love of the Father made visible to human eyes.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Dear friends in Christ
The final week of Advent begins our contemplation of the divine birth of our Saviour.
Dear friends in Christ
The final week of Advent begins our contemplation of the divine birth of our Saviour. Central to this mystery is the Divine Motherhood of Mary. We must not forget though, that God chose a foster-father for Our Lord--St Joseph--who would be his guardian too. Perhaps the role of Mary is all too obvious and prominent, to the extent that St Joseph doesn’t get much of the limelight. This month Pope Francis has addressed this by reminding us that it is one hundred and fifty years since St Joseph was declared the Universal Patron of the Church, by Blessed Pope Pius IX. To celebrate the anniversary, Pope Francis has proclaimed a special Year of St Joseph, beginning on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 2020 and extending to the same feast in 2021. In a new Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis describes St Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.
The Holy Father wrote Patris Corde against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble St Joseph, the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence, who nonetheless played an incomparable role in the history of salvation.
At the end of his letter, Pope Francis relates how for over forty years, at the end of morning prayer he has added this prayer to St Joseph. This prayer, he says, expresses devotion and trust, and even poses a certain challenge to St Joseph, on account of its closing words: My beloved father, all my trust is in you. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power.
We could get used to saying a prayer to St Joseph too, each day, in this coming year. This will be a powerful way of placing ourselves under his guardianship as Jesus did, and recall to our minds that he is still protecting Holy Church. May St Joseph inspire us in these days, to have a tender love for the Child Jesus, so that we may celebrate His Birth with thanksgiving.
I wish you and your families every joy and blessing this Christmastide. I shall keep very specially in my Christmas Masses the intentions of those who have suffered in this last year: those who lost loved-ones, or their employment or suffered ill-health and all who have felt bereft. May the coming of Christ give us all a renewed joy and lightness of heart.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Saturday 19 December
5.30pm Vigil Mass Intentions of Grace McNamee (CS)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions after Mass
Sunday 20 December
8am Mass Con Parker, RIP (FO’B)
9.30am Mass Maria Keen, RIP (DL)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 21
Feria
9am Mass Bernadette Perry, RIP
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Confessions after Mass
Tuesday 22
Feria
9am Mass Anthony Comey, RIP (Anniversary) (MC)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Confessions after Mass
Wednesday 23
Feria
9am Mass Clare Chadwick, RIP & Pauline Godfrey, RIP (MI)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Confessions after Mass
Thursday 24
Christmas Eve
9am Mass Thomas Byrnes, RIP (Anniversary) (SG)
8.30-10am Private Prayer
Confessions after Mass
5pm Mass Private Intention
7pm Mass Private Intention
11pm Mass The People of the Parish
(preceded by Vigil of readings and organ meditations 10.30pm)
Friday 25
Christmas Day
8am Mass Private Intention
9.30am Mass Private Intention
11.30am Mass Private Intention
Saturday 26
St Stephen, The First Martyr
12Noon Mass Altar Servers & their Families’ Intentions
11.30-1pm Private Prayer
There is no evening Mass
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
Sunday 27 December
8am Mass Michael Barry, RIP (F&JO’B)
9.30am Mass Anna, Eugene & Vito Siani, RIP (RB)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr William Guineven, Fr Arthur Cowd, Bp Brian Foley, Canon Wilfrid Thompson, Fr Francis Greean, Bernard Murphy, Paola March, Nary Poole, Peter Robson, Christopher Mabey, Mabel Caarter, Francis Brady, Eleanor Dillon, William Smith Grace Greiner, Veronica Barrett, Cathy Baker, Robert Kirsch, Teresa Evans, Roland Glazebrook, David Middleton, Mario Piacentini, Elsie Osborne, Mary Heather, Teresa riley, Elizabeth Astall, Jessica Wilson, Basil DeNeuman, Mary Higgins, Anthony Nesn’s, Bridget McDonald, Julia Upsher,Eddie Gillman, Clare Whomes, Douglas Hurley, Charles Stokes, Lynda Quinlivan, Guido Lauria, Janet Newby, Michael Manning, John Furley Amelia Eaglesfield & Flor Perez de Pina.
We Pray for our Sick
Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Gilberte Cook, Garry Pearman, Anne Owen, Adrian Barclay, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, Sylvia Langley, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, Maureen Gooding, Ben Wilson, Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Nan Carrit, Eileen Wilson, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Anthony McEvoy, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Chas Taylor, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Wyn McCafferty, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Eddie McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Doreen Troughton, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.
The Year of St Joseph
Prayer to St Joseph
To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our afflictions, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also. Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities. O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness. As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen (By Pope Leo XIII)
Prayer to St Joseph before Holy Mass
O Blessed Joseph, happy man, to whom it was given not only to see and to hear that God Whom many kings longed to see, and saw not, to hear, and heard not; but also to carry Him in your arms, to embrace Him, to clothe Him, and guard and defend Him.
V. Pray for us, O Blessed Joseph. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
O God, Who has given us a royal priesthood, we beseech you, that as Blessed Joseph was found worthy to touch with his hands, and to bear in his arms, your only-begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary, so may we be made fit, by cleanness of heart and blamelessness of life, to minister at your holy altar; may we, this day, with reverent devotion partake of the Sacred Body and Blood of Your Only-begotten Son, and may we in the world to come be accounted worthy of receiving an everlasting reward. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Christmas Masses
All of the Christmas Masses are now fully booked but remember that you can fulfil your obligation and celebrate Christmas on any day during the Christmas week up to, and including, 1st January. Unfortunately we cannot admit any extra people to the Christmas Masses. If you have not been able to reserve a place, sadly you will not be able to be in the church. We must follow the Government Guidelines carefully to ensure that our churches are as safe as possible. All of the Masses and liturgies can be viewed on the livestream.