Anderton St Joseph's        
                Newsletter

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (A)

1st December 2019  
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left; of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.
‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’ Matthew 24:37-44

Sat 30th
16.00Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 
16.15-16.30Confessions


Sun 1st Dec FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Year A Vol. 1 Page 82) 
Sat 16.45Mass – Pious List
09.00Mass – Catherine Derbyshire (Birthday Memories)

Mon 2nd 
09.10Liturgy of the Word and Holy Communion 

Tues 3rd St Francis Xavier 
09.00Mass – Mary Critchley (A)
Perpetual Succour Novenaafter Mass

Wed 4th St John Damascene
10.00Liturgy of the Word and Holy 
Communion  
18.00Year 4 First Confessions (Church)

Thurs 5th St John Almond
09.10Liturgy of the Word and Holy Communion 

Fri 6th St Nicholas of Myra
09.10 Mass – Christopher Hesketh (Birthday Memories)

Sat 7thSt Ambrose of Milan 
16.00-16.35Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
16.15Confessions

Sun 8th SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Mass bk. p. 85)
Sat 16.45Mass – Parishioners
09.00Mass – Barry Smith (A)

PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL THE SICK AND THE HOUSEBOUND 
including: Emeritus Pope Benedict, 
 and all at Grove House & Marley Court.

COLLECTIONS: Offertory last week £408; Animate £63. Thank you for your continued support and generosity. Any cheques for the parish payable to St Joseph’s Anderton (068) Parish A/c. Retiring collections – this week Restoration Fund; next week the annual parish collection for a donation to SVP. 

BAPTISMS: In order to arrange a baptism, please ask Fr Marsden for an application form in the sacristy immediately after one of the weekend Masses. The next Baptism Preparation Course will be in the New Year.

ST JOSEPH’S MUSIC GROUP: The next Family Mass will be on Saturday 7th December. Preparation for this Mass and Christmas Vigil will be in church on Tuesdays 3rd, 10th and 17th December, at 7 pm. All welcome, especially any younger parishioners from Primary and Secondary school who would like to join us.

ST JOSEPH’S PRIMARY SCHOOL Christmas Fair is on Friday 6th December from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Please don’t be shy, come along and support the PTFA with this lovely start to Christmas.

THE YEAR OF GOD’S WORD begins this Advent. We will focus on the contents of the Bible, the written Word of God, inerrant in all that concerns our salvation. If anyone does not have a Bible or would like to buy a new one, please ask for further information at the parish office. If parishioners are interested in a Bible study / prayer group, please let Fr Marsden know. We could meet in St Mary’s presbytery meeting room one afternoon or evening per week.

ADVENT PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS:  
“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God's own love and concern.” ― Mother Teresa, Love: A Fruit Always in Season

My hidden Lord Jesus, I love You and thank You with profound gratitude for uniting Yourself with fallen humanity. When You first entered into this world, You remained hidden for nine months in the immaculate womb of Your Blessed Mother. She carried You, body and blood, soul and divinity, within the sanctuary of her body. She also carried You within her heart as a result of her perfect love for You and her perfect obedience to the will of the Father. 

Precious Lord, as I embrace this Advent Season, please open my eyes to see the great value and blessing of Your Incarnation. Help me to discover Your hidden presence in this world and within my own soul. I desire to see, understand and experience the profound effects that Your Incarnation has on my life and I desire to receive those effects more fully this Advent. May I become a sanctuary in which You dwell so that I, like Your dear Mother, may bring Your presence into the world.

Mother Mary, as You carried your dear Son in your immaculate womb, you also carried Him in your heart. Pray for me, this Advent, that I may surrender myself to the will of the Father in imitation of you. You said “Yes” to all that God asked of you and never hesitated to fully embrace His divine will. Pray that I may imitate your perfect example so as to share a deeper union with you and your divine Son. 

“Advent is the time of promise; it is not yet the time of fulfilment. We are still in the midst of everything and in the logical inexorability and relentlessness of destiny.…Space is still filled with the noise of destruction and annihilation, the shouts of self-assurance and arrogance, the weeping of despair and helplessness. But round about the horizon the eternal realities stand silent in their age-old longing. There shines on them already the first mild light of the radiant fulfilment to come. From afar sound the first notes as of pipes and voices, not yet discernible as a song or melody. It is all far off still, and only just announced and foretold. But it is happening, today.” Alfred Delp SJ, priest, member of the German resistance against Hitler. Executed by Gestapo 2.2.45


OUR FELLOW PARISHIONER, Peter Hull, has just published a collection of phrases, quotes and sayings both biblical and secular for daily reflections and inspiration. The volume, entitled “Thoughts That Count An Inspirational Yearbook”, costs £4 and can be obtained from Peter or on Amazon, both print and electronic.

CAFOD WORLD GIFT CATALOGUES are now available in the porch. Why not shop in the catalogue for a really different Christmas Gift in the true spirit of Christmas giving? Take your copy home today.

REPOSITORY: Christmas cards, Advent Calendars, Cribs, some Christmas decorations & Catholic Diaries for 2020 still available. 

APF We still have some 2020 calendars for any donors who have not received one – on the table in the porch.

A warm welcome to all our visitors and to any new members of our parish who share with us today's Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are pleased that you have come to join us in our community of faith. New Parishioners, please take a copy of the Parish Directory, available in the church porch or ask at the Repository. New Parishioners are also invited to complete their contact details on the forms available in the church porch and hand them in to the sacristy.


CHORLEY HOSPITAL: Please contact St Joseph’s, Harper’s Lane (262713) if any member of your family is admitted into the Hospital and needs the priest to visit. In an emergency, the ward staff will call in the duty priest chaplain via the switchboard. For the chaplaincy service at Royal Preston Hospital please ring 01772 522435. For the chaplaincy service at Wigan Infirmary T. 01942 822324.

PARISH AND ARCHDIOCESAN STATISTICS FOR 2018
In St Joseph’s Anderton parish we had 21 Baptisms, 2 Receptions, 27 First Holy Communicants, 2 Confirmations, 2 marriages, 15 funerals. Mass attendance at weekends 156.  
There are 153 parishes in Liverpool Archdiocese. Some parishes have more than one church, therefore, there are 174 diocesan churches. There is one university church and 2 religious shrines. There are 9 closed churches. There are 106 priests in parish work and 10 priests in non-parish work. 174/106 = 1.66 churches per priest. Many priests are running two parishes, and a few even have three. There are 72 religious priests but this includes a sizeable number of retired missionaries etc. The Archdiocese has 47 retired priests. One priest was ordained in 2019 and 4 priests went on to meet the Lord. There are six students in seminary preparing for ordination. 
There are 71 permanent deacons working in parishes and 25 retired. There are 5 Houses of Religious Brothers and 50 Houses of Religious Sisters within the Archdiocese. We have 2 priests lecturing in Oscott Seminary, and 3 priests who hold posts overseas.
There were 4,985 baptisms in the Archdiocese with 307 Receptions, 5,264 First Holy Communicants, 189 Confirmations. 537 Marriages, 4,424 Funerals. The annual overall Mass attendance was 40,767. There are approximately 440,000 people in Liverpool Archdiocese who are baptised Catholics. 
This gives us some idea of the state of Catholic practice in the Liverpool Archdiocese. The figures are provided by the Chancellor’s Office in the Curia. It is obvious that we need to encourage very many to return or to take up practising the Faith regularly, and to encourage and pray for vocations to the priesthood. ​

Parish Priest: Fr Francis Marsden (01257) 480237 
(Also 01257 262537 - St Mary's Chorley)
Parish Office: St Joseph’s Presbytery, 28, Bolton Road, Adlington, 
Chorley PR6 9NA   (Open Wednesdays 10 am – 3.30 pm)
E-mail: stjosephs.anderton@tiscali.co.uk        
Parish Website:www.stjosephsanderton.com
LIVERPOOL ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESAN TRUSTEES INC 
Registered Charity No.232709