Newsletter

SUNDAY 12th Jan 2025,

BAPTISM OF THE LORD YEAR C

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-7, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-38, Luke 3:15-22.   

 

Sat    11th Jan          17.30                                      Confessions

18.00                                      Colette Hunt RIP (Linthorn) 

 

Sun   12th Jan         BAPTISM OF THE LORD YEAR C 

                                 08.30                                      Delia Willis RIP (Wilkes)

                                 10.30                                      Maureen Fitzpatrick (Wheatley)

 

Ordinary Time – Week 1 Year 1

Mon  13th Jan           09.15                                      Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

10.00                                      Denis Bourke RIP

 

Tues  14th Jan          09.15                                      Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

                                 10.00                                      Vince Kilcullen RIP (Kilcullen)

 

Wed  15th Jan          09.15                                      Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 

10.00                                      Norman Pearson & Jim Miller RIP (Meeting Place)

                               

Fri     17th Jan          09.15 Anthony                     Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 

10.00                                      Bridget Head RIP (Kilcullen)

 

Sat    18th Jan          17.30                                      Confessions

18.00                                      Cath Fitzpatrick RIP (O’Brien) 

 

Sun   19th Jan         SECOND SUNDAY YEAR C – Peace Sunday 

                                 08.30                                      Anne Maxted RIP (Wilkes)

                                 10.30                                      John Hughes RIP (Hughes)

 

Please join us in the Hall for refreshments after the 10.30 mass.           

 

LIVE STREAMING OF MASSES ON THE WEBSITE

All masses are streamed via the link:

Recordings are available. The Sunday sermon is also in print on the website.

 

FINANCES   

Many thanks for your offertory collection           Last Week:                           £ 974.84 incl S.O.

                                                Retiring Collection   Next Week:                           Pax Christi

 

Bank Payments to RCAS Bexley, Sort code 51 70 14, Account 01831763

Please put your name and if you use envelopes, your envelope number, as the code.

Card Payment: Machine located in the foyer. Very easy to use!

Gift Aid Please join the GIFT AID scheme – Forms available in the foyer. 

            

OUR PARISH HALL

Our hall is available for hire. Please email bexley@rcaos.org.uk at ANY time and our secretary will get back to you. Prices: £35 per hour on weekdays, £40 per hour at weekends

 

Newsletter: Please copy notices to Fr Doug by the previous Wednesday 

Dear Parishioners, 

As Christmas comes to an end today, we face the year ahead and firm up on any resolutions we might have made about making our lives better – some serious ones alongside other trivial ones.

Every year I suggest that a simple resolution might be about socialising in the church foyer or outside under the porch rather than in the church itself, so that the church can be a sacred space for prayer and worship – but in the last 6 years there hasn’t been much change, I lament! It may just be my hobby horse!

Another possibility though, might be to make use of our “library bookshelf” and our CTS publications. A few of us recently put a little effort into examining what’s there. I am now fairly confident to recommend any of the material. Why not resolve to borrow and read a book or a pamphlet. Some of it concerns spirituality, prayer and the lives of the saints, some is more concerned with the teachings of the Church. It is certainly better than Mr Musk’s “x” material. 

So I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:


“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”.


And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.


That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”.


So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.


And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East. Minnie Louise Haskins

 

Sadly, we heard the news this week that Fr Paddy Cannon has died. Through his missionary work in Peru, he gained a certain “edge” in his pastoral ministry and he exercised that ministry very generously here in Bexley as Parish Priest between 1992 and 1996. He has, I know, been held in great affection ever since. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

              God Bless,                                                Fr Doug 

 

CRIB COLLECTION:  This year we are collecting for Friends of the Holy Land.

This charity, endorsed by Cardinal Vincent Nicholls, actually has workers based in Bethlehem and is therefore able to help the Christians there survive even under the current siege conditions imposed by Israel. They assist with emergency aid, with counselling and with a limited amount of development.

 

MAUREEN WATKINS, CATHERINE FITZPATRICK, LESLEY DOYLE, FR PADDY CANNON RIP

May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

Cath’s funeral will be in church at 10.00 on Monday 20^th January

Lesley’s funeral will be at Eltham Crematorium at 1.00 on Wednesday 22^nd January 

 

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY – 18-25 January

Churches Together in Old Bexley invite you to a service on Sunday 26 January at 3pm at Albany Park Baptist Church, Stansted Crescent, DA5 3JB.  We are all invited to celebrate, draw strength and encouragement from the gift of our shared faith. In these turbulent times, we can take heart from the endurance of that faith.        Kathy Fogarty, Parish Unity Contact k.fogarty@ntlworld.com 

  

BUILDING A BETTER MARRIAGE 

A fulfilling and enjoyable day for married couples. 25th January at St Stephen’s, Welling. The day is hosted by the Marriage and Family Life Team. To celebrate this Jubilee year, why not take the opportunity to explore how blessed you are in your marriage – not to mention how blessed the Church is with your dedicated love to one another. These days are popular and fill up quickly so please book your place. Please contact Carole on 07983 524 727 or email mflkent@rcaos.org.uk