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First Sunday of Advent 28th November
Jr 33:14-16 1Th3:12-4:2 Lk21:25-28,34-36
9am Mass– Kirsten Durkin
11am Mass–John Keily RIP (4th Anniversary)
12.30 Baptism
5.00pm Mass*– People of the Parish
*Please note change of time for December-January
Youtube Vigil Mass Rosalie Hankinson RIP
Retiring Collection: Christmas Flowers
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Dear Brothers & Sisters
First Sunday of Advent is New Years Day for the church and a time for all of us to look ahead to the coming of Jesus into our world and renew our hope.
St.Andrew comes on Tuesday, brother of Simon Peter and one of the first apostles to be called. He is patron saint of Scotland, where St Andrew’s Night is celebrated with enthusiasm.
St.Edmund Campion a Jesuit martyr of reformation times was put to death at Tyburn in 1581. His day is also celebrated in the Czech republic where he worked before returning to England.
St.Francis Xavier, also a Jesuit saint was a close friend of Ignatius the founder. He began missions in many eastern countries including India, Sri Lanka & Japan, and is deservedly popular there.
St.John Damascene went from being a quiet monk in 8th century Palestine to a popular preacher & theologian who defended the honour given to Our Lady as well as the custom of using holy pictures & statues as an aid to prayer. He was the first major Christian thinker to seriously attempt to understand Islam ... a century after its birth.
Second Sunday of Advent (next Sunday) is our day for the parish readers to renew their dedication to this ministry, and we ask them to be present at the mass at which they normally read.
Third Sunday of Advent (December 12) is Bambinelli Sunday, the day we bless the crib figures of the infant Jesus that people have brought to church, a tradition made poplar by Pope John Paul II.
Carols for Commuters: Please feel welcome to join a small inter-church group at Olton Station to sing carols to rail travellers December 16: 4.45-6.15pm. No collection. Just a Christmas spirit.
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