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Newsletter and  

Notices

Fr. Peter Charles Crowther obl. sbso | The Presbytery, Bury Lane, Withnell, Chorley, PR6 8SD | Tel 01254 830 995 | Reg Charity: 232709

Universalis

© 2019 St Joseph's Catholic Church, Withnell. All Rights Reserved.

Please pray for Pope Francis, Benedict XVI and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon                                                   

Liverpool Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool Reg. Char. 232709

moorlandsanctuary@gmail.com

www.moorlandsanctuary.com


TODAY'S MASS: In each year of the three- year cycle the Advent Sunday Gospel readings have the same pattern: the first is about the final Coming of Christ. In the second John the Baptist is preparing a community of repentance to welcome Jesus' mission. In the third John points out Jesus as the Messiah. On the fourth Sunday we look to Mary preparing for the birth of her Son. In this Sunday's reading about the Second Coming, the accent is the same as that of St. Paul's letter to the Romans (today's second reading):we have an urgent and pressing need to take action without delay. The Second Coming will be sudden and unexpected as when a thief breaks in at night and no protective preparations have been made; it will also seem random and apparently without any discernible cause, as when one person is taken, another left behind. We do not even know whether that final confrontation (when each of us is brought face to face with the awesome presence of God) will be a unique event for us at death, ot whether it will be a group event, as is suggested by Matthew's parable of the sheep and goats sent to right and left. There is no time in eternity, no waiting-room! It will not be as any human mind can envisage it.  (Fr. Henry Wansbrough, osb)


GOSPEL LESSON: What can you do to prepare yourself and your family for Christ's coming at Christmas???  (Liguori Publications)


WEEKLY PONDER:  Should we look forward to or dread the final meeting with the Lord?  (Fr. Henry Wansbrough, osb)

  

SAINT THIS WEEK: Fiday is the feast of St. Nicholas. He was born in Myra which is now part of Turkey and died about the middle of the fourth century. He has been venerated throughout the Church and especially since the 10th. Century. Because of his help to the poor he is the patron saint of pawnbrokers, whose insignia of three golden balls represents the three purses of gold he is said to have given secretly to a poor man who could not afford dowries for his three daughers.  (Universalis)


 YOUCAT: (Question 370) Why should the State protect and promote families? The welfare and future of a State depend on the ability of the smallest unit within it, the family, to live and develop.

 

THE POPE: (On the Eucharist) We can ask ourselves: Is this sacrament fulfilled in me? More concretely: Do I just like to be served at the Lord's table or do I get up to serve like the Lord? And as a Church let us ask ourselves: After receiving Communion many times, have we become people of communion??


PAPAL PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR DECEMBER:  The Future of the Very Young.

That every country take the measures necessary to prioritize the future of the very young, especially those who are suffering.


ADVENT PRAYER: Stir up your power, O Lord, and come to our help with mighty strength, that what our sins impede, the grace of your mercy may hasten.  (Creighton Advent)


MEDITATION: Today we begin a new Year. Happy new Year! I know it is not 1st. January 2020, but it is the new Liturgical Year when we have the opportunity of starting again and getting more deeply involved in Christ through Holy Mass, prayer and the sacraments. The Readings these weeks are full of encouragement and hope as we prepare to remember the coming of the Saviour at Christmas. So we must encourage each other during Advent and even encourage those who have left Jesus to return to him. He is the Saviour of the 'open arms.'  “O that today you would listen to his voice, harden not your hearts.”


WEEKLY BIBLE: O that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you.  (Isaiah 64)


SAINTLY GEMS: My dear Jesus, if it is a fault to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault I learnt from you, for you never scolded anyone who came to you seeking mercy.   (St. Leonard of Port Maurice)

Praying the Rosary is like stepping back from the crazy, noisy, busy world and into a calm, quiet, peaceful heaven. (Matthew Kelly)


FOOD FOR THOUGHT: No soul can be lost by following the simple and well-beaten path of ordinary devotion and prayer.  (Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson)

We have no right to ask, when sorrow comes, why did this happen to me?  Unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.  (Philip S. Bernstein)


CHORLEY FOOD BANK:  Now that we have entered the Advent Season when people will be making preparations for Christmas and spending (even wasting) loads of money, please remember the Food Bank. Even make it top priority. Thank you.


PRESTON DROP IN CENTRE:  We need good quality baby and women's clothes and good quality toys for the children. A wonderful opportunity to clear out some cupboards in preparation for the influx of new items on Christmas Day??  Thank you.


CHRISTMAS RAFFLE:  Our Display is a good one. You can purchase tickets until 1050am. on Sunday 15th. December.  All proceeds to the Parish.


LAUDATO SI: Pope Francis is for ever encouraging us to have more respect for our planet. Perhaps we could put our litter in bins instead of just throwing it on the ground; share cars or even use public transport; use re-cyclable materials etc.  So often we preach 'Laudato Si' to others but fail to practise it ourselves. I notice that some parents now use electric cars. I'm afraid that I cannot afford one at the moment!!


CONFESSIONS:  This Saturday at noon, and on 14th., and 21st. December.


SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME:  Next Sunday, 8th. December during 10.00am. Mass.


GENERAL ELECTION: Make sure you vote. Most of us are sick of the whole long Campaign but we are getting nearer and nearer to 12th. and every vote is important. Witness the thousands who turned out in Hong Kong. Vote, and simply vote according to your conscience. You may need the help of the Holy Spirit in prayer!


CHRISTMAS EVE MASS:  Is at HALF PAST FOUR. Carols, organ, blessing of the Crib and lots of children. Come early to get a seat!!  Everybody is welcome at St. Joseph's, Withnell.


WEEKDAY MASS:  Is in the Presbytery.  Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesdays at 9.00am. With the shortage of priests, please make sure you consult the Newsletter as on some days I will be down at St. Mary's.


NEXT SUNDAY:  Second Collection for Christmas Flowers.         SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME:  10.00am. Mass.


NEW EMAIL ADDRESS:  Every parish in the Diocese  is now  @rcaol.org.uk  We are:   


                                                            moorlandsanctuary@rcaol.org.uk     


Lately Deceased

Fr. Peter Charles Crowther, obl.sbso

01254 830 995

Email: moorlandsanctuary@rcaol.org.uk  

Parish Administrator and Catechist: Jane Gilbertson, B.Ed. (Hons), B.Sc. (Hort), CTC.

Advent 1 Year A  ,  1st. December 2019

First Sunday of Advent              

 Remember your daily Rosary

 


 



  


 



















 












Ad te levavi animam meam     

Anniversaries

Sick & Housebound

Feastdays

Readers

Anointing / Forgiveness

Mass

Intentions

Monsignor Joseph Gibb, Canon William Redmond, Fr. Ambrose Hickey, Fr. Paul Benbow, Fr. Michael Powell, Fr. Gary Walsh, sss., Dcn. Anthony Callaghan, Eileen Boyle,  Peter & Sharon Southworth, Mary Woods, Noel Byrne, Henry Livesey, Michael Develin, Alban Gerrard, Annie Connor, Betty Coxhead, Mollie Fisher, Alison Howarth, Roy Singleton, Robert Bowman, John Gee , Winifred Miller, John Finch, Isabella Fenton, Ken Riding, Marian Park, Evelyn May Hatton, Kimberley O'Malley, Agnes Murphy, Thomas Ince, Joe Crowther, Chris Wood.  

Fr. John Daulman, Philip Rushton, Ian Davies, Madeleine Shaw, Zac Aratoon, Ann Beconnsall, Rita Maher, David Mahon, Kathleen Mee, Barry Winstanley, Rachel Mason, Brenda Finch and others.

Next Week:  Sarah Jane Holmes

COLLECTOR:

Next Week:   Annie Rose and Eliza Perkins


Today: Elizabeth Duke

COLLECTOR:

Today:  Joshua and Alice Gardner


Fr. Kevin Ashton

“ Stay awake; you know not the day ”