CHRISTMAS GIFT BAGS FOR PEOPLE IN PRISON

DECEMBER 2025 6/7: 5pm Maggie; 9am Ross; 11am David, Simone, Margaret(H) 13/14: 5pm Marian; 9am Angela; 11am Phil, Lisa, Mary(H) 20/21: 5pm Carolyn; 9am Jim; 11am John, Giannina, Gabrielle(H) 24: 6pm Linda, Regina, Paul; 12Midnight: Lizzie, Lorenza, Patricia 25: 11am: Marian, Ross, Maggie(H) 27/28: 5pm David, 9am Angela, 11am Margaret, Simone, Phil(H) Thank you to our wonderful Ministers of the Eucharist who have accepted the Lord’s invitation to this awesome, sacred ministry, by their willingness to give up their own plans and convenience in order to do God’s will rather than their own. Let us pray for them because they too fight the same personal weaknesses we all have to fight against and they too have to fight the same temptations we all have to fight. God be with them.

OLDE FORGE CAFE BAKERS/PROVIDERS ROTA DECEMBER 2025 6: Anderson 13 Caroline 20: Sophie 27 Mary Lawlor Please, if possible, could you provide enough cakes for the whole of each week. Thank you to everybody who is helping to provide cakes. To avoid having too many cakes, Coral mentioned to me that non-perishable cakes can be safely stored in the Cafe for a short while. When it is your turn to provide a non-perishable cake, please bring your cake to the Cafe a few days before the date of your turn. OLDE FORGE CAFE - HOSTS ROTA DECEMBER 2025 2: Gardening group 6: David, Kelly-Ann 7: Patrick, Regina 9: Gardening group 13: Lorenza, Paul Mould 14: Giannina, Patricia, Jenny - nb after 3.00pm Advent Service 16: Gardening group 20: Ross, Jim 21: Collette, 23: Gardening group 27: John, Mary  28: Marian, Emmanuela Please note that for each of the above dates when the Cafe is open, one of the two Hosts has been trained in the use of the new coffee machine. Please would that trained person be the only person operating the machine and also please train the other person in its use. Many thanks. Thank you to everybody who acts as a Host. If an unexpected emergency occurs on the date you are scheduled to be a Host, please don’t worry about the Cafe. No need to try to find someone to ‘stand in’ for you. There is no need whatsoever to ‘swop’ with someone! We are not a Business, having to stay open to make money! - we open when and if we can. We take this role of ‘Host’ as a Vocation from the Lord to be his Missionary and his Prophet. Actually, the Cafe has, at times, functioned well with just one Host. The success of our Evangelisation Cafe depends on us. The more we speak to others of our Cafe, inviting them to visit us, the more successful it will be. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and colleagues. Please check when it is your turn to be a Host (or a Baker!). Please see this role as a Calling, a Vocation from the Lord which you are generously telling the Lord you will do”. Thank you so much for your trust in the good Lord

Please note in your diaries: Advent Service of ‘Light in Darkness’, followed by Tea in the Olde Forge Cafe: Sunday 14th December at 3.00pm. Advent Penance Service and Individual Reconciliation: Wednesday 17th December at 6.00PM Christmas holy Masses and Carols: Wednesday 24th December - Carols at 5.30pm, holy Mass at 6.00pm; Wednesday 24th December - Carols at 11.30pm and holy Mass at 12.00Midnight;  Thursday 25th December - Carols at 10.30am and holy Mass at 11.00am

6/7: 5pm Lizzie; 9am Gerry; 11am Chinwe 13/14: 5pm David; 9am Claire; 11am Richard 20/21: 5pm Phil; 9am Marian; 11am Lorenza 24: 6.00pm Paul; 12Midnight Lisa 25: 11am Mutsa 27/28: 5pm Collette; 9am Maggie 11am Jim

Thank you to the thousands of people who took part in the Called to Bear Fruit consultation. We are grateful to you all for sharing so openly your hopes for the life of the Church in our Archdiocese. The consultation response, which includes 15 actions points for renewal, is available at https://rcaos.org.uk/calledtobearfruit and hardcopies will be sent to every parish. The consultation revealed a burning desire within our parishes to be missionary and evangelising disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, who work together to help people encounter His love. So, as we move forward on the next steps together, let’s build up the Body of Christ in Southwark with faith and confidence, becoming ever more a community of missionary disciples filled with joy and hope for the future. As an Archdiocese, we will continue to discern the process of renewal, and further updates will be provided in due course. There are hard copies of the ‘Report on the Consultation’, in the porch of the church. I’m afraid they are rain-damaged but hopefully still readable.

The Gardening Group for their great work in the Cafe as well as in the grounds around the church. On Tuesdays, our cafe is hosted by Bridget, Linda and Jannine. Their warmth, kindness and week by week consistency has led to our Cafe on Tuesdays becoming a place of great welcome for many Visitors as well as our own parishioners. This is exactly what our Evangelisation Cafe should be. Very well done and thank you.

Tuesday: Collette Wednesday: Maggie Thursday: Paul  Friday: David

We began again our ‘Liturgy of the Word’ for children of Primary School age on Sunday November 2nd and will continue on the following consecutive Sundays. Dear Parents please bear these dates in mind when you bring your children to holy Mass. During these ‘Liturgy of the Word’ sessions, our children will have opportunities to understand and enjoy God’s loving Word during the 11.00am holy Mass.

It won’t be long before our thoughts will rightly begin to turn towards the great Feast and Season of Christmas. I have left in the porch of the church, Christmas cards that feature the picture of a holy Family living in the slums of Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America. When I lived and worked there, I knew this family - a single mother with a very young daughter. The mother is disabled, having lost her legs in an accident and she is only able to move by sitting on a small piece of wood fixed with castors and then propelling herself and her child forward. They live in a small shack made of bamboo and cardboard boxes over the filthy waters of the swamp. The real meaning of Christmas is that the Lord Jesus came to be especially with the poor and suffering of our world by sharing in their plight and offering everyone the chance to be saved from Sin and Death.  Perhaps you would like to buy this Christmas card and send it to family members and friends to remind them of why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. May I suggest £1 for each card and envelope. We will send any money raised to CAFOD to care for the Poor, Homeless and Suffering people of our world.