FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
27 th NOVEMBER 2022
Sat 26th
16.15-16.45 Confessions at St Mary’s Chorley
17.00 Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
Sun 27th FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(Year A Mass book p.82)
10.00 Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
11.30 Mass – Aleksandra Cegielka (B)
12.15 Baptisms - Ava Walsh, Emily Joan Rose Flynn
Mon 28th St Catherine Labouré
Tues 29th St Cuthbert Mayne
10.00 Mass – Pious List
10.30 Meditation Group in church
Wed 30th ST ANDREW, APOSTLE
Thurs 1st
Dec Ss Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin,
Alexander Briant, Priests, Martyrs
Fri 2nd
10.00 Mass – Barry Smith (A)
Sat 3rd St Francis Xavier, St Birinus
16.15-16.45 Confessions at St Mary’s
17.00 Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
Sun 4th SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Mass book p.85)
10.00 Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
11.30 Mass – Tony Foster (LD)
Weekday Masses at St Mary’s this week: Mon Wed 09.00 Tues Fri 12.00
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK AND THE HOUSEBOUND: Emeritus Pope Benedict, Joan Bailey, Stan Bolton, Francis Brennan, John Campbell, Gerard Clarke, Alison Critchley, Jerome Critchley, John Fearnhead, Mary Fearnhead, Pat Font, Tom Fraser, William Freeman, Bob Goulding, Marie Hill, Rosemary Hough, Mary Hughes, Cathy Hull, John Kerfoot, Mary Johnston, Emma King, Gordon Lee, Fr Barry McAllister, Janet McGowan, Finton McPeake, Fr Laurence Mayne, Val McGlade, Ellen Morris, Fr Michael O’Dowd, Teresa O’Malia, Irene O'Neil, Heidi O’Neill, Barrie Swift, Alan Taylor, Sylvia Walsh, Jean White, Betty Wignall, all at Grove House & Marley Court.
RECENTLY DECEASED: Stella Walton. Funeral Mass will be on Friday 9th December at 13.45, followed by cremation at Overdale.
RETIRING COLLECTION: this weekend is for Animate, the Archdiocesan Youth Service (postponed from last week). Next Sunday there will be the Restoration Fund collection
DATES AVAILABLE FOR BAPTISMS: 18th Dec., 22 Jan., 26 Feb.
TUESDAY MEDITATION GROUP in church after the 10.00 Mass. A number of people have found this quiet and thoughtful prayer session very helpful. “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of you.”
MUSIC GROUP AND FAMILY MASS this Sunday November 20th Feast of Christ the King (Youth Sunday). Anyone interested in becoming involved will be made most welcome. For any further information please contact Kath Heald on 07584 575025.
PARISH CHRISTMAS LUNCH is booked for 13.00 on Mon 5th Dec. at The Retreat, 19 Church St, Adlington, Chorley PR7 4EX. Please let Sheila know if you need transport.
CHRISTMAS CARDS ARE AVAILABLE in the Piety Stall. Limited supply. When they’re gone, they’re gone!
FIRST CONFESSIONS FOR THE YEAR 4 CHILDREN WILL BE AT 18.30 ON
MONDAY 5TH DECEMBER. Please mention the children and their families in your prayers.
CATHOLIC PICTORIAL LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yck745z8 for the latest edition.
SAINTS OF THE WEEK: St Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin, Alexander Briant – the first of the 44 Martyrs of the Venerable English College in Rome. Edmund Campion (1540-81) was son of a London bookseller of Paternoster Row near St Paul’s. He was a brilliant student at St John’s College Oxford, with a promising future ahead of him in
Elizabeth I’s Anglican Church. As a deacon he gave an impressive homily in front of her majesty. However he converted to Catholicism and studied at Douai and Rome, before becoming a Jesuit. He was ordained priest in Prague and returned to the English mission. He is believed to have celebrated Holy Mass in Standish. He was arrested by
a priest-hunter at Lyford Grange in Berkshire. Imprisoned for four months in the Tower of London, he was tortured on the rack. He was tried together with Sherwin and Briant on 20 November 1581. The three priests were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. . Campion answered the verdict, saying: “In condemning us, you condemn all your own ancestors, all our ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England—the island of saints, and the most devoted child of the See of Peter.” “We travelled only for souls,” insisted Edmund Campion at his
execution at Tyburn on 1 December 1581, “we touched neither state nor policy.”
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT: This Sunday, 27th November, the Church enters into a short meditative season that prepares us for the Coming of Christ.
Advent has a twofold character: as a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us in Bethlehem is remembered, and as a season when that remembrance directs our minds and hearts to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period of hope, of devout and joyful expectation. The liturgical colour is violet, and not the purple of Lent and penance.
At Sunday Mass, the Gospel readings each have a distinctive theme: the Lord's coming at the end of time (First Sunday of Advent), John the Baptist (Second and Third Sunday), and Mary and the events directly preparing for the Lord's birth (Fourth Sunday). The Old Testament readings are prophecies about the Messiah and the Messianic age, especially from the Isaiah.
On weekdays, there are two series of readings: one to be used from the
beginning of Advent until 16th December, the other from 17th to 24th December. In the first part of Advent there are readings from Isaiah, distributed in accord with the sequence of the book itself and including those texts that are also read on the Sundays.
In “late Advent,” the last week before Christmas, the events that immediately prepared for the Lord's birth are presented from Matthew and Luke.
Your light will come, O Jerusalem. The Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
We shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God. The sign of the cross shall appear in the heavens, when our Lord shall come to judge the world.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God's own work for justice.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, peace in my home, peace in myself.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father's joy. I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me the joy and love and peace it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord. Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, hearty gratitude for the life begun there, and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son.
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whose advent I hail. Amen
CHORLEY AND PRESTON HOSPITALS: Please contact St Joseph's Chorley (262713) if any member of your family is admitted into Chorley Hospital and needs a visit. Please ask the ward staff to call the Chaplain on his bleep/phone. For the chaplaincy service at Royal Preston Hospital please ring 01772 522435. For the chaplaincy service at Wigan Infirmary T. 01942 822324.
CHURCH CLEANING: We are trying to get a team together to start cleaning again on a regular basis. If you could be involved please put your name on the list in the church porch and tick the days/times you could manage. Hopefully we will have enough people available to do a regular session or a rota with 2 or 3 teams.
The CHORLEY NETWORK OF CATHOLIC LAITY has been running an ALPHA SERIES for the past 11 weeks. This week marks the last session of the first series. It has changed the lives of those who attended. And some more than others. 3 guests have decided to take their interest further and have committed to our new Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Course which started on 24th November. Our next Alpha
starts on 19th January 2023 and we are already praying for new guests for that. We will be running an Alpha Open Evening at St Mary's Primary School on 8th December at 6pm to 7.30pm. The Open Evening will explain what Alpha is all about. Like Alpha itself,
it will not be a ‘hard-sell’ but a relaxed, open evening to answer questions and let people decide whether Alpha is for them.
COULD YOU BE A DEACON? – Tuesday 29 November 2022 Information evening for men interested in the diaconate. 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm (Refreshments from 7.00 pm) in the John Vianney Meeting Room at Christ the King, 78 Queens Drive, Wavertree, Liverpool L15 6YQ. Join Archbishop Malcolm and the diaconate team at our meeting
for men who may be wondering if they are called to serve as deacons and what the formation involves. Wives and supporting priests or deacons are also welcome. For more information, please email diaconate@rcaol.org.uk
UNWANTED TOYS: SVP Chorley Buddies are collecting unwanted wrapped toys that are in good condition and could be given to children in Chorley. If you have got such toys, please drop them off in the back sacristy. Chorley Buddies collect them and hold them at St Laurence’s. They work with Chorley Council to distribute them through
agencies in Chorley who work with disadvantaged children and families.
Last year the Catholic primary schools and parishes across Chorley donated more than £4,000 worth of toys for children in Chorley. Thank you.
As we enter the Advent – Christmastide cycle, based on the theme of the Light coming into this world, remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”
Parish Priest Fr, Francis Marsden
Secretary: Mr Frank Webster
Parish Office: St Joseph’s Presbytery, 28 Bolton Road, Adlington, Chorley PR6 9NA
Wednesdays 10.00-13.00
Tel: 01257- 480237 or 01257- 262537 (St Mary’s Chorley)
E-mail: stjosephs.anderton@tiscali.co.u
E-mail: stjosephs.anderton@tiscali.co.uk
Parish Website: www.stjosephsanderton.com
LIVERPOOL ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESAN TRUSTEES INC Registered Charity No.232709
