1st Sunday of Advent
Readings: Isaiah; 63:16-17; 64:1. 3-8 Psalm 79, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:33-37
SERVICES FOR WEEK 29th November –6th December 2020
Our Church will be open again for Mass on Wednesday December 2nd at 10am.
Sun 29 Nov 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(08.30) Peggy Lawlor (Kilcullen)
Parish Mass – available to engage with via website at any time.
Mrs O’Callaghan RIP (Lyons)
Mon 30 Nov (8.30) Deceased Relatives and Friends (Lyons)
10.00 – 11.00 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Private Prayer
Tues 1 Dec (8.30) Tony Sullivan RIP (Sullivan)
Weds 2 Dec 9.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
10.00 People of Ghana (OLPG)
Thurs 3 Dec (8.30) John & Eileen Hollis (Frake)
Fri 4 Dec 9.30 St John Damascene Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
10.00 Brian Keeley RIP (Gillis)
Sat 5 Dec 11.00 Confessions
18.00 Thomas, Peter & Fr David Hennessey RIP
Sun 6 Dec 2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
08.30 Tony Speed RIP (Sheila Jones)
10.30 Deceased Members of the Creasy Family
Parish Mass – available to engage with via website at any time
Vincent Jeyaseelan RIP (Hughes)
SUNDAY MASS ON THE WEBSITE
Go to our website http://www.stjohnfisherbexley.org then click on ‘Sunday Mass’
FINANCES – from the Diocesan and Parish finance teams. .
Direct Bank Payments to RCAS St John Fisher Church, Sort code 51 70 14, Account 01831763
Please put your name and if you use envelopes, your envelope number, as the code
LINKS AND CONTACTS.
Our Diocese of Southwark: http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk Lots of information and further links.
Bexley Council Helpline: 020 3045 5398. The helpline is open from 8am to 6pm.
CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERS
The weekly Catholic newspapers can be obtained directly (postage free) by subscription:
Catholic Universe and Catholic Times Go to http://www.thecatholicuniverse.com or ring 0161 820 5722 and they will arrange for you. Special offer 3 months for £22.00 or 12 months for £80.00
The Herald has a similar offer: Ring 0207 448 3607 or go to http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/subscribe
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yes, the Church New Year begins today, the first Sunday of Advent.
Now, the big questions are all about Christmas both at home and at church, so …
We plan the following:
Christmas Eve: 6.00 p.m., 10.00 p.m. and Christmas Day: 9.00 a.m., 10.30 a.m.
Although the ‘Sunday obligation’ to attend Mass remains suspended, many individuals and families will want to take part in Mass at Christmas. We are allowed to resume the celebration of Mass with a congregation and we want to accommodate as many people as possible.
We will reconfigure the seating arrangements from our current 2 metre spacing to the government permitted 1 metre (+) spacing, ensuring that there is at least I metre around any individual or family grouping. We will be following many other churches in not permitting kneeling – only standing and sitting. This will allow people to be safely placed in benches one behind the other, thus increasing our capacity but within safe limitations. We will maintain the (mandatory) ban on communal singing and also the recitation of the longer Gloria and Creed. Masks will continue to be worn.
Despite this increase in our seating capacity, we are aware that there may be too many people wishing to attend a given mass. We do not want to turn anyone away from mass at Christmas so we are introducing a booking system for each mass. Next weekend (at masses) there will be booking forms in church. Telephone and online bookings will be possible when the office opens on the following Monday.
Moreover, as the Archbishop reminds us, the Church regards each day in the Octave of Christmas as if it were the solemnity itself. Liturgically, each of the days from 25th December until the 1st January is ‘Christmas Day’. So if it is not possible to attend mass on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year, why not go to mass on any of those 8 days of Christmas with the same sense of joy and solemnity.
Indeed, this year, all of the collections (including electronic giving) which are taken on each of the days within the Octave of Christmas including 1st January 2021, will constitute the annual personal Christmas offerings of the faithful for their priests.
If there are too many people wishing to attend mass we will consider putting on extra masses!
God Bless 
STEWARDING
We are very grateful to the stewards who have volunteered to staff the church during these times.
Please ring John Rayer (01322 523499) if you can help.
PARISH MASS BOOKS
It is good to follow the mass (especially the readings) in a missal if you have one. We all got used to using the Parish Mass Book so…
We will offer everyone the chance to borrow their own copy of the parish mass book. None can be available for casual or occasional use but there is nothing stopping everyone keeping and caring for their own. Bring it to mass and take it home each Sunday. The idea is that for a £10l deposit you can take your copy home and because there is a series of them covering 3 years, when the next is due, you return and swap your copy for the next one in the series, or return it at any time and get your deposit back. We will introduce this as soon as possible.
RIP
We in the parish mourns the loss of three of our members:
Patricia Coyne, Tony Speed and Vincent Jeyaseelan. May they rest in peace.
Link to view Vincent’s obituary: https://www.funeralguide.co.uk/obituaries/82920
Please print off this newsletter, using the screenshots below, and post it through the door of any parishioner you know without electronic access and make sure everyone feels okay and feels connected.
stjohnfisherbexley.org 
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