Category Archives: advent

The road to Bethlehem

advent

Welcome to the season of Advent. This weekend we begin our preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord – Christmas. It is a season of joy and anticipation, of hope and readiness. We light the way with the Advent Candles. It is the Road to Bethlehem.

Here are some signposts on the Road, to help you arrive safely and truly prepared.

* Saturday 3 December Christmas Preparation Retreat – see details inside our newsletter
* Thursday 8 December Feast of the Immaculate Conception: We remember Our Lady’s vital part in the Christmas story. Feast of our diocese and end of its Centenary Year.
* Monday 12 December: The Light Is On: Three priests will be available for Confession at Christ the King 7 – 8pm. Normal Confession times also continue of course.
* Tuesday 20 December: 3 Churches Carol Service at St Brigid’s Church. We approach Bethlehem as we come closer to Christmas Day.
* Saturday 24 December Christmas Eve Masses: There will be 6pm Mass at each of our 3 Churches. There will also be 10pm Mass at St Brigid’s and Christ the King.
* Sunday 25 December Christmas Day Masses: These will be at normal Sunday morning times: 9am at Christ the King and St Paul’s, 11am at St Brigid’s. There will be no Sunday evening Mass.
* “Walk With Me” Why not take time to absorb these daily reflections along your way? Booklets available at all churches.
* Time with Jesus: Take time out amid the pre-Christmas rush. Pop into St Brigid’s or St Paul’s, both open in daylight hours, or Christ the King Friday evening. Even better, come to a daily Mass— timetable on the back page. Or just sit down in your favourite chair at home, and take a moment to think, to reflect, to pray…

Welcome to Advent. Let’s set out together on the Road to Bethlehem, so that we arrive joyfully prepared.

Fr Matthew

The Coming

advent

Welcome to the season of Advent, “The Coming”. We celebrate the fact that we believe in God who comes to us. He came at Bethlehem, he will come again at the end of time, and meanwhile he comes to us in Word and Sacrament among other ways. Truly God-who-comes, God who is with us – Emmanuel!

At Nain, years later, the people who had watched Jesus raise the widow’s son proclaimed that God had visited his people. We have this season, then, to prepare for our greatest visitor, Jesus, true God and true Man. The world is ahead of us in its commercial preparation for the secular Christmas. We start today, the beginning of a new Church year, to show the world what it really means to prepare for Christ-mas, the Mass-of-Christ..

1. I invite you to take time to absorb the Word of God this Advent. Take a look at the accounts of the Christmas story in the opening chapters of the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke, then move on to the first chapter of St John to see his wonderful meditation on those same events. Use the various publications and online resources that are available to help you.

2. Pope Francis has proclaimed a special Year of Mercy to start on 8th December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The next day, Wednesday 9th we in the so-called Northern Arc of parishes, will celebrate an Evening of Mercy. Fr Isaac, Fr Leyshon and myself will be in St Brigid’s to celebrate mercy through the sacrament of Reconciliation from 6.30pm until 7.30pm. We will then concelebrate Mass for the beginning of the Year of Mercy. I will preside and Fr Isaac will preach. This special evening will replace our normal Advent Penitential service.

3. Our 3 Churches Carol Service this year takes place at St Paul’s on Tuesday December 22nd at 7pm. This will be a great opportunity to usher in the Christmas season together, after school events have ended and most of your home preparations are done. Put it in your diary!

4. Our Christmas Masses will be at the same times as last year. Christmas Eve 6pm at all three churches. 10pm at Christ the King and St Brigid’s. Christmas morning 9am St Paul’s, 10am Christ the King, 11am St Brigid’s. There will be Midnight Mass at St Philip Evans.

So take note of these ways of celebrating the Coming this year – and happy Advent!

Fr Matthew

Christmas 2014

advent

Fr Matthew and Fr Tomy wish all our parishioners, friends and readers a very Happy and peaceful Christmas, and a blessed New Year.

Reflection

Lord God, enlarge our hearts with love for you.
Make us capable of saying ‘Yes’ to you, as Mary did.
May we, like Mary,
accept with trust the changes you call upon us to make; embrace with confidence the destiny you place before us, and eagerly walk new paths with your Son.
Give us a readiness to make real the love you have for all, especially those who have forgotten the touch of love in their lives. Touch them, so that they, too,
may welcome you this Christmas time.

Give some joy

advent

John the Baptist is presented by Jesus as one of the greatest persons ever born. Yet he missed the privilege being born into the age of Christ, a privilege that has been made available to us. We could do well to emulate John in preparing ourselves for Jesus to become really part of our lives.

John was strong. He was a man of integrity. He was not one of the rich and famous. He was no pop star – all sound and no substance. He would never have made a glamorous icon for Hello magazine. Yet many people went out to hear him, to be challenged by him, to have their lives radically changed by his words.

Actually, our Christian vocation is similar to his. We are called to prepare the way for Jesus to come into our own hearts but also to prepare other people’s hearts so that they, too, may “experience the joy of salvation”, that healing, wholeness and holiness we all long for and which alone gives real meaning to our lives. Christmas is a time of gifts – both giving and receiving. Let us make sure that among the gifts we offer to others is some of the Christian joy which we ourselves have received.

From the reflection for today at “Sacred Space”
 livingspace.sacredspace.ie

Reflect

A prayer for today and for the week:

Lord Jesus,
you are Light for the World,
a lamp to our feet,
our guide, guard and protector in dark places. During this time of patient waiting and joyful expectation help us to open our hearts to welcome you;
be with us as we seek to show your infinite love
to all we meet;
and create in us a desire
to bring the light of your love
to those whose lives are filled with darkness, sadness and loneliness.
 Amen

Cracking on for Krakow

advent

Archbishop Stack has recently encouraged us all to be thinking about the next World Youth Day, which takes place in Krakow, Poland in 2016. You probably saw the amazing sights from Rio de Janeiro last year – be part of it in 2016!
It may seem a long way ahead, but time rushes on. Our diocese is determined to send a good number of young people to Krakow, and already preparation is in full swing. The Archbishop has officially launched the Registration for World Youth Day. Now full information can be found on the diocese’s WYD website – www.Cardiff2Krakow.org – where you can pick up the latest information for spiritual and practical preparation for WYD, as well as the registration form that you need to fill in.

I would like to draw the attention of all young people in our 3 Churches to this, and personally inviting you to be part of this great event and adventure. Spaces for the diocesan pilgrimage are limited. I appeal to you or anyone in our parishes or school communities who would like to participate.
I want to see our Churches represented in Krakow, and I’m sure that our parish councils would be prepared to support in any way we can, including financially. So log on, find out and sign up – crack on for Krakow!

Reflect

A prayer for today and for the week:

Lord Jesus,
John prepared a way for you in the wilderness of Judea.
As we journey through the weeks of Advent, show us the wilderness of our own lives.
Move us to respond to John’s call 
– to repent
- to change our ways
- and turn back to you.
Help us make straight our paths
and find the ones which lead to you.
Be with us Lord in this time of watching and waiting And teach us how to open our hearts to welcome you.

Fr Matthew