Franciscan Newsletter: The Second Sunday in...
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REFLECTION Lonely voices The voice of John the Baptist was a lonely voice which many of his contemporaries ignored. There are many lonely voices in our world. Somewhere at this moment a child is crying – crying for love or maybe simply for bread. Somewhere a young person is crying – crying for a listening ear or an understanding heart. Somewhere an old person is crying – crying for a visit or a word from his/her children. There are a thousand unheard cries in our world, coming from the victims of injustice and neglect. Lord, help us to listen to these voices. Above all, help us to listen to your voice, whispering to us in the wilderness of our hearts, telling us that we are loved by you, and that we are to love one another. SCRIPTURE NOTE: Each Advent has two ‘John the Baptist’ Sundays: the first when we see John preparing a community for the Messiah, the second when he points out Jesus as the Lamb of God. Today is the first of these. John chose a point where the busy road from Jerusalem to the East crossed the Jordan River. There he button-holed all the busy financiers, merchants and other travellers and tourists, warning them to change their ways - and to change them now, before it was too late. ‘I am too busy,’ no doubt they said. ‘I have other things to worry about; I have a wife and family to feed.’ John was forming a community of repentance; but not so much a community which wept ‘Boo-hoo!’ about their sins, as a community of people determined to set their scale of values right. He meant them to stop going in one direction, to turn round and go in a different direction – towards God. Do we give ourselves a moment to pause and ask whether we have our priorities right? Where on that list of priorities does the entry of Christ into our lives come? John expected Jesus to baptise with fire. Does that mean burning something away? Or warming something up? Or a shining light? What does your baptism mean to you? PARISH PRAYER Heavenly Father, pour down on our Church your Holy Spirit, the fire of your love. Give us the courage, the wisdom and the faith to be salt for the earth and light for the world. Help us to build warm and welcoming communities of faith in our families, our neighbourhoods, our Parish. May we carry the Good News by word and action into all our environments, especially those which are hostile and hurting. Together with Mary, the first evangeliser we entrust all our efforts into the care of the Divine Spirit, who fills and renews the face of the earth. Amen. Franciscan Church of St. Francis of Assisi 277 Sandygate Road, Sheffield S10 5SD Telephone 0114 263 0383 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Website: www.stfrancisrc- sheffield.org.uk Registered Charity No. 512021 Parish Priest: Fr Kevin Thornton Parish Deacon: Stephen Parker YEAR B - PSALTER WEEK 2
Transcript of Franciscan Newsletter: The Second Sunday in...
REFLECTION Lonely voicesThe voice of John the Baptist was a lonely voice which many of his contemporaries ignored. There are many lonely voices in our world. Somewhere at this moment a child is crying – crying for love or maybe simply for bread. Somewhere a young person is crying – crying for a listening ear or an understanding heart. Somewhere an old person is crying – crying for a visit or a word from his/her children. There are a thousand unheard cries in our world, coming from the victims of injustice and neglect. Lord, help us to listen to these voices. Above all, help us to listen to your voice, whispering to us in the wilderness of our hearts, telling us that we are loved by you, and that we are to love one another.
SCRIPTURE NOTE: Each Advent has two ‘John the Baptist’ Sundays: the first when we see John preparing a community for the Messiah, the second when he points out Jesus as the Lamb of God. Today is the first of these. John chose a point where the busy road from Jerusalem to the East crossed the Jordan River. There he button-holed all the busy financiers, merchants and other travellers and tourists, warning them to change their ways - and to change them now, before it was too late. ‘I am too busy,’ no doubt they said. ‘I have other things to worry about; I have a wife and family to feed.’ John was forming a community of repentance; but not so much a community which wept ‘Boo-hoo!’ about their sins, as a community of people determined to set their scale of values right. He meant them to stop going in one direction, to turn round and go in a different direction – towards God. Do we give ourselves a moment to pause and ask whether we have our priorities right? Where on that list of priorities does the entry of Christ into our lives come?John expected Jesus to baptise with fire. Does that mean burning something away? Or warming something up? Or a shining light? What does your baptism mean to you?
PARISH PRAYERHeavenly Father, pour down on our Church your Holy Spirit, the fire of your love. Give us the courage, the wisdom and the faith to be salt for the earth and light for the world.Help us to build warm and welcoming communities of faith in our families, our neighbourhoods, our Parish. May we carry the Good News by word and action into all our environments, especially those which are hostile and hurting.Together with Mary, the first evangeliser we entrust all our efforts into the care of the Divine Spirit, who fills and renews the face of the earth.Amen.
FranciscanChurch of St. Francis of Assisi
277 Sandygate Road, Sheffield S10 5SDTelephone 0114 263 0383
Email: [email protected]@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.stfrancisrc-sheffield.org.ukRegistered Charity No. 512021Parish Priest: Fr Kevin ThorntonParish Deacon: Stephen Parker
YEAR B - PSALTER WEEK 2SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Mass Book pg 85.Preface I of Advent pg 51.
Sunday 10th 9:00 am (People of the Parish)11:00 am (Priest’s Intention)
Monday 11th 10:00 am St Damasus (Yorkshire Brethren Society)
Tuesday 12th 7:30 pm Our Lady of Guadalupe (Michael Hulley)Wednesday
13th 10:00 am St Lucy (Richard McNicholas)
Thursday 14th 10:00 am St John of God (Mike Paterson)Friday 15th 10:00 am (Hans Maier)Saturday 16th 11.15-11.45 Sacrament of Reconciliation
12 noon John Pat Mahon
Thank you for last week's OFFERTORY COLLECTION.
Next Sunday is GAUDETE SUNDAY when the preist wears rose vestments. Why not wear pink too!
S2 FOOD BANK have launched their Christmas food appeal. You should have received a list of suggested donations last week (it is also on the Foodbank box). They continue to be very grateful for what you give.
Please donate toiletries and chocolates for the ROUNDABOUT CHRISTMAS COLLECTION for homeless young people aged 16 to 25. Please wrap the gifts and mark female or male. There is a basket in the narthex TODAY. Our donations will be collected tomorrow. Thank you.
PLEASE PRAY for Philip Giblin, Alan, Alexander, Alison, Anthony Womack, AM, Bernard Kelly, Fr Bill Bergin, Dennis Gerrard, Dorry Kennedy, Ellen Dalton, Ian Baxter, Jean Fahy, Jim Foley, John Denzil Joseph, John Hayes, John Rowan, Sr Julia Duignan, J&E.D, JTD, Karen Kilbride, Kathleen Giblin, KC, Leonora, Liz, Margaret Hanour, Margaret Paget, Mary Hunt, Nancy Lennon, Rachel Grace, Roger Kemp, Fr Roy Pannell, Sofia Rabello, Theodora-Angelica, Tony Mulchrone, and Willow Grist, who are sick and for all whose anniversaries occur about this time.
The NOVEMBER DEAD LIST closes TODAY.
The HALLAM YEARBOOK AND ORDO 2018 is available for £3.75. It contains information about the parishes, clergy and organisations within the diocese and also contains the calendar of feasts for the coming year.
CHRISTMAS CRIB EXHIBITIONS Between 5pm and 6pm on Thursday 14th December in the Town Hall. From 11am on Sunday 17th December at St. Vincent's, Crookes.Anyone who wants to bring a crib along is very welcome to do so. All the exhibitions are in aid of the Hallam Bethlehem Fund. Contact Susanne Staub for more information.
St. Marie’s Cathedral is joining the COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS outreach initiative. This welcomes people at Christmas, especially those who don’t normally come to church. They ask you to invite friends, family and colleagues to a special event at 7pm on Friday 15th December. It will include carols, Christmas bible readings, mince pies and mulled wine.
The next AFTERNOON TEA will be on Tuesday 19th December.
There will be an ADVENT SERVICE of Taizé and other music, prayer and reflection on Wednesday 20th December at 7.30pm.
ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL will be holding their annual Advent Liturgy in preparation for Christmas at 7pm on Wednesday 20th
December. This is an opportunity to reflect on the Advent journey and get ready to welcome God into our lives at Christmas. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the dining room
ST. FRANCIS 200 CLUB. The Grand Winter Prize Draw will take place after 11am Mass on Sunday 31st December. Please come to join in the celebration as we witness the draw to find the lucky £100 winner. Free wine and other refreshments will be available and all are welcome.
The HALLAM NEWS for December is available in the narthex.
The DANCE CLUB'S NEXT SHOW, 'The Dream Girls', is in February. We are looking for instrumentalists (any age) to play one piece in each show. We also need a pianist to accompany Norma who would like to sing 'Summertime'. If you can help, please contact Grazyna.
GIFT AID ENVELOPES FOR 2018 are now available. Names are again in alphabetical order so you may find that your number has changed. If you wish to start giving by Gift Aid, or vary your method of giving, please contact Edmund King on [email protected].
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION will take place during the 11am Mass on Sunday 13th May. The programme starts with an introductory session for parents at 6:30pm on Wednesday 17th January. Parents of children in year 3 are invited to collect an application form from Fr Kevin and to return it by Friday 15th December. More details about the sessions will be given out during the introductory session.
CHRISTMAS AT KIRK EDGE MONASTERY. Mass will be at 8am each day but there will no longer be a Midnight Mass or Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve.
Do you support CATHOLIC SCHOOLS and the right of Catholics to send their children to them? We need you to make your voice heard. The Government is making a critical decision on whether to overturn the admissions cap which prevents Catholic schools from allowing only Catholic pupils to attend. They have acknowledged that this policy discriminates against Catholics and promised to abandon it but we need to tell them not to u-turn on their promise. Visit http://catholicnews.org.uk or search for ‘Catholic Education’ and write to the Government and urge them to drop their policy which bans new Catholic schools.
Would you like to help people PREPARE FOR RECEIVING THE SACRAMENTS here at St Francis Church? We hope that training will be available shortly. If you are interested, please speak to Father Kevin or email Lindsay Reynolds on [email protected].
The APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA thank you very much for the quality and amount of anoraks, gloves, toiletries etc. which were donated by so many of you. These warm clothes will be greatly appreciated by needy seafarers who may not land again for several months.
The POPE'S PRAYER INTENTION for December is the elderly - that the elderly, sustained by families and Christian communities, may apply their wisdom and experience to spreading the faith and forming the new generations.
