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23 Dec 2007

THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

23^rd December 2007 – 6^th January 2008

“COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS” Please invite or encourage people who have lost contact with the Church or who do not come to Sunday Mass to join us in the Church, our spiritual home with God, to celebrate the birthday of our Lord at Mass at Christmas.

We welcome all parishioners to Mass and Church at Christmas. Families live in a home, which is a centre of life and relationships. We want to come together as a family at home for Christmas.

Come home for Christmas is an invitation by our Bishops to all Catholics this year. They want us to see the importance of not only having a home with our family, but also a spiritual home with God’s family in the Church. There God makes his home with us and we are at home with him in the Christian family.

Mary, the Mother of God, was at home with God, and he was at home with her and in her, as a holy dwelling place. Let us come to God’s house and be at home with him at Christmas and during the New Year. Let us welcome him into our hearts and our homes, so that he may be at home in us.

WHAT’S ON FOR 2 WEEKS 23 Dec 07 to 6 Jan 2008

EXPOSITION & ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

SATURDAY 11am – 11.45 am & 5pm – 5.30 pm

OFFERINGS We thank you for your generous Offerings of £1582.36 last weekend, and £48.28 for our CAFOD Parish Project.

Thank you to the parishioner who donated £500 to the CAFOD Appeal.

THE TREE OF ANGELS is situated near the crib. You are invited to put one of the angels provided on the tree in memory of a loved one or to hang it on your own tree at home. Donations for the angels should be placed in the collection box marked “Crib offerings” for the Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society.

Brentwood Diocesan Directories for 2008 are available in the Church porch, £2.25. Please put money in Newspaper Box.

Please take a Parish Diary and calendar free of charge from the Church porch.

THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 23.12.2007

Dear Parishioners,

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means God is with us” is presented to us by St. Matthew (1:18-25) as fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah (7:14). Christ’s birth, which we celebrate at Christmas, shows “God is with us”. In Jesus, God became man in order to bring God to us, and bring us to God. The first person to welcome Christ into the world, in obedience to God’s will, was Mary his mother who said, “I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Joseph, her husband, was also a man of faith who received the Word of God, and made his decision to obey it with regard to his relationship with Mary. The challenge for us, as it was for Joseph and Mary, is to live our relationships and lives according to God’s plan and to put his will before our own. When we live according to God’s will, great things can be achieved through us, as they were through Mary and Joseph.

Many families in our parish are blessed with the gift of children and new life. When we look into the face of the infant, we should tell ourselves that we are looking into the face of Christ, for the newborn child in the manger was like us or that child in every way. God’s glory is made visible to us in the face and life of a child, but that glory is most perfectly in the face of Christ. He became man like us in all things, except sin, and took on our human nature in order to share fully with us the divine nature of God, and enable us to be holy people.

Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, has a message of peace from God to people of goodwill. God places in the human hearts an expectancy and desire for peace and reconciliation at Christmas. In this holy season, he calls for divisions to be healed, and hatreds abandoned and converted into love. Christmas can be especially difficult for families beset by divisions, rancour or personal hostilities. When families come together at Christmas they have a sense that they are intended, by God, to be united in love and to go forward together as people who are freed from past hurts. So, whilst the message of peace to people of good will was given at Christmas, over two thousand years ago, it is a message which is addressed anew to each one of us today.

We see many conflicts and wars between peoples and nations, and how God wants us to pray and work for peace. Some people who belong to particular races, nations or religions believe that their wars, terrorism or violence, which causes suffering and death, are all right, but those of others are all wrong. At Christmas, Christ the Prince of Peace, offers the gift of peace to men and women of good will, and through him God tells us and all peoples and nations, that he wants peace in every home, nation and place.

May Christ, the Prince of Peace bless & protect you at Christmas. Fr John

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

SPIRITUAL:

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS Please take your copy of the new rota from the Church porch.

TALKS ON THE CATHOLIC FAITH We invite people interested in finding out about our faith, becoming Catholic or returning to the practice of their faith to a series of talks in the Pastoral Centre. If you are interested, you will be most welcome. The next meeting is on 7^th January 2008 in Room 2.

CONFIRMATION Young people in year 10 or above in September 2007 will be Confirmed by Bishop Thomas in the course of his Pastoral Visit to our Parish on Wednesday 16^th of April 2008, though the date is provisional. Application forms and a list of preparation dates are now in the church porch and should be handed into the Priest’s house as soon as possible. The first meeting is on Sunday 13^th January, 2.30pm - 4.45pm in the Parish Hall.

JUSTICE AND PEACE Every year we invite parishioners to send greetings cards to prisoners of conscience and others who are at risk of severe human rights violations. The cards bring comfort and hope, and sometimes lead to better conditions for the recipients. This weekend, 22nd/23rd December, members of the Justice & Peace Group will be in the Church Porch after every Mass with greetings cards and names and addresses of prisoners to whom you can send simple messages of solidarity and goodwill.

CAFOD Can you live a simpler lifestyle to help others? In Bishop Thomas’ recent Pastoral Letter he mentioned the CAFOD 99% challenge and how giving 1% of your income to developing countries can help change lives. To find out more about the livesimply challenge pick up a leaflet after Mass, visit www.cafod.org.uk/get_involved/give_money or tel: 020 850 29722

CHARITY LUNCH at the Methodist Church Western Road on Saturday 12th January 12.30 - 2pm.  A snack lunch and drink £3.  No need to book.  Proceeds to Chernobyl Children Lifeline - Billericay Link, providing holidays for children who still suffer from the after effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster of 1986.

OASIS OF PEACE (MEDJUGORJE) DAY Saturday January 26^th with Fr. Seamus Keenan at Newtimber, 18 Kendal Avenue, Epping 10.30am - 4 pm. Includes Mass, Adoration and Rosary. ‘Bring and Share’ lunch – drinks provided. Contact Susan on 01992 575017 or email marys_nook@talktalk.net

MEETINGS, SOCIAL & OTHER MATTERS

PARISH CAROL SERVICE: Thank you to the 9am & 11am Choirs, St. Peter’s School Choir and the Youth Music Group for our lovely Parish Carol Service. Thank you to our hospitality team for the very enjoyable refreshments afterwards in the Hall, particularly in the difficult circumstances with the power cut – the hall looked very atmospheric by candlelight. We will not be testing fate by singing “Torches, torches…” again to be followed by a 2 hour blackout!

PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD Thank you to our messengers for delivering this year’s Christmas edition of the Parish News and Christmas card. This is a very important method of communication in our parish and your help is most appreciated especially at this very busy time. If any parishioner did not receive their card, please telephone the Parish Office (624891) in the New Year and we will check our records. If you change your address, please remember to drop a note into the Parish Office so that we can keep our database up to date.

ALTAR SERVERS PARTY Unfortunately the party has been cancelled due to lack of interest, we hope to arrange something in the New Year. Apologies for any inconvenience to those who were going to attend.

FLOWER LADIES COFFEE MORNING Thursday 4^th January at 65 Chestnut Avenue. Please let Teresa know the dates you are unavailable if you are unable to attend the coffee morning tel: 652573. Anybody who would like to join the flower rota is most welcome. You are not called upon every week and it is a most relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

BILLERICAY TWINNING ASSOCIATION ANNUAL QUIZ Saturday February 9th 2008. Ray Keilthy, David and Patricia Clark will again be hosting the Annual Grand Fundraising Quiz on behalf of the Friends of Chauvigny, Billericay’s twin town in France. This is always a popular, fun-filled evening, so book your table now to avoid disappointment. You can make up a table of up to 8 contestants, or we can put you on one if you wish. Tickets £5, nibbles provided, bring your own drinks and glasses. Contact David Clark,– apologies from David for the wrong contact number previously given, it is 01277 625448.

WANTED A parishioner requires a daytime babysitter for occasional babysitting for three boys (aged 4, 2, a baby). Must be available 12noon to 6pm on the last Wednesday of each month. Contact Deirdre on 658141.

HOLY WATER in the stainless steel urn by the Baptism font is for parishioners to take home.

WE PRAY FOR OUR SICK AT HOME & IN HOSPITAL:

Linda O’Boyle, Flora McGeown, Irene Yarrow, Gerry Conlon, Ronan Rice, Sarah Stewart, Stephanie Dore, Nick Hogg, Dick Wheeler, Denzil Reeves, Philip Parks, Joanne Hayes, Helen Butler, Barbara Flynn, Bridget Stevens, Jill Field, Jimmy Perkins, Jean Fernando, Isabel Jasinska, Theresa Bolton, Margaret Watson, Patricia Nicholson, Pauline Wallace, Maureen Travers, Louise & Julie Bouchel, Nora Sheridan, Beryl Barclay, Jim, Joan & Diane Bowen, Rose Walmsley, Doris Scroggs, Kirsti Dennett, Sheila Mortner, Marie Norton, Dorothy Robertson, Maureen Tall, Lilian Cox, Jackie Dodd, Julie Halstead, Ruth Gillespie, Margaret Sefton, Debbie Dowds, Gertie Walsh, Sally Goodman, Anne Cannon, Tommy Campbell, John Andrews, George Deverill, Keith Talbot, Joe McCreanor, Lyle Wheeler, Ron Morton, Daniel Guppy, Simon De Freitas, David Sheridan: Children: Luke Boy, Thomas Durell, Holly Chambers, Daisy Locker: Priests: Bishop Michael Rowland and Fr Brian O’Higgins.

May the healing power of the Holy Spirit come down upon them.

WE PRAY FOR OUR DECEASED RELATIVES & PARISHIONERS WHOSE ANNIVERSARIES OCCUR AT THIS TIME:

Joshua & Matthew Golder, Frank Johns, Susan Sullivan, Mary Beat, Dominica Faccini, Cecil Rothon, Lilian Gully, Emily Evett, Maud Hughes, Teresa Flack, Madge Smith, Mary Peskett, John Trinnaman, and Mary Field.

May they rest in peace and rise in glory. and may the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, console their bereaved families and friends at this time.

MASS ATTENDANCE on 16^th December 2007

(previous week) Total 745 (703): 6pm Mass 147 (132)

9am Mass 252 (190), 11am Mass 157 (206), 5pm Mass 189 (175).

CHURCH CAR PARK - DISABLED BAYS Please remember that these bays are for parishioners attending Mass who need to park as near to the Church as possible for mobility reasons – please do not use these bays unless you need to.

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS FOR 2 WEEKS

Please note changes to some weekday Mass times.