THE PARISH IN COUNCIL - MEETING - A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Christmas is always a time when hearts are more open to God than at any other time in the year. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and your colleagues to join you for one of our three Christmas Day holy Masses. God can work powerfully through your words and your invitation, helping people we love and know, to discover the life-giving presence of the Lord Jesus in holy Mass. Just to remind you: Wednesday 24th December: 5.30pm Christmas Carols 6.00pm First holy Mass of Christmas Day 11.30pm Christmas Carols 12.00 Midnight Second holy Mass of Christmas Day Thursday 25th December: 10.00amChristmas Carols 10.30am Third holy Mass of Christmas Day Friday 26th December: 9.00am Morning Prayer and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 9.30am Holy Mass of the Feast of St.Stephen

To prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas properly and well, as the time when the Lord Jesus came into our world to save us from Sin and Death, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available next Wednesday evening 17th December . In this wonderful Sacrament we experience the gentle, compassionate love of God for us. Please take up this opportunity and you will be filled with the Peace that God alone can give us.

We can be truly proud of the fact that we have been fully following the teaching of the Second Vatican Council by making it possible for everyone to receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion exactly as he gave himself to us, under the forms of bread and wine. To receive Our Blessed Lord under just one kind is to receive him fully, but to receive him under both kinds is much more faithful to the way he gave himself to his friends at the Last Supper. There are warning signs that a very serious strain of ‘flu is around. With this in mind, I think it would be wise if we suspend receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion under the form of wine, during these winter months. If you feel you can receive Our Lord in the sacred host, in your hand, please do so. That way is more hygienic than receiving the sacred host on your tongue. However, if you feel it is best for you to receive on the tongue, please do continue to do so. It would also be sensible to simply bow to each other at the Sign of Peace in holy Mass rather than shake hands. So too, it’s probably best not to hold hands during the Our Father in the holy Mass.  I feel sad that we have to suspend these aspects of our celebration of holy Mass for a little while. We will reinstate them as soon as possible in the Spring when the threat of this very serious strain of the ‘flu has diminished.

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.

Tuesday: Giannina Wednesday: Patricia  Thursday: Marian

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.

Our programme to help parents to prepare their children for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist will begin early in the New Year. Meetings for Parents and meetings for their children will be on Friday evenings at 5.00pm. The parents will meet with Fr Malachy in the Parish Room and the children will meet with our Catechists in the Sacristy of the church, at the same time. Each meeting will last just 30 minutes. The dates of the meetings are flexible but we are planning to have the first six meetings on: 16th, 23rd, and 30th January 2026, then the 6th, 13th and 20th of February 2026. First Reconciliation for Children and their parents will be during the Season of Lent 2026 and First Holy Communion during the month of June 2026. If you have a child who you think is ready to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion in 2026, please let me have details as soon as possible so that we can begin our planning.

Please come to help to clean our church, before the great season of Christmas begins. To ensure the place where the Lord dwells among us is kept clean and tidy, is a sign of the great respect we have for the sacredness of God’s House. Please come to help, for half an hour, as a demonstration of your love for God.

Please do your best to bring members of your family, your friends, neighbours and colleagues who normally have little, if any contact with our Catholic parish, to the Olde Forge Cafe. Please remember that those you bring with you DO NOT give a donation for their coffee and cake. Only us, who are regular members of our parish, are asked to give a donation, each time, to cover the cost of the Coffee machine, coffee beans, heat, light etc. Dear Bakers and those who provide milk, please remember to take your expenses from the donations received.