Newsletter 9th December 2012.
Today the Second Sunday of Advent. The gospel today, from Luke, introduces John the Baptist.
Today at 4.30 there will be an Advent Service of
Readings, Music and Carols. Afterwards there will be hot wine and mince pies in the Angelus Room. I hope that you will be able to come. As always, the choir will provide music of a very high standard.
Thank you for all the children who have put down their names for parts in the Christmas plays. We are very much looking forward to these. I think that there may be a rehearsal next week, particularly for those who are reading, and I will let you know about this at Mass.
The Parish Council meets on Tuesday at 8pm in the house. Agenda papers are available today.
The Confirmation class meets again on Wednesday at 6.30pm. The classes are fairly close together but there is a lot to fit in before the Confirmation. If by any chance you cannot attend a class, please let me know – you can respond to the email. You can catch up by reading the lesson in your book.
I am in London for a meeting on Tuesday and there is a meeting at Greenwich Town Hall on Thursday evening.
You probably want to know about the times for Christmas so here are the details.
The procession leaves the Church at 4.30 on Christmas Eve.
The Church will be open at 11pm and there will a service of carols and readings at 11.30 with Mass at 12 midnight.
On Christmas morning, Masses are at 8, 9.30 and 11 am. The second part of the cycle of mystery plans will take place at the 9.30 Mass.
There will be no early morning Mass during the days after Christmas until the New Year. There should be a Mass at 10am every day.
Designs have now been agreed for the new railings outside the Church. I expect the work will be put in hand during January – though much depends on the weather. The old railings will need to be cut away, so you will need to take special care for a few days. Also I am looking at the possibility of redecorating the interior of the Church. I will give you some more details about this later.
You may have noticed that work has started to dismantle the roof at London Bridge Station on the Brighton side. The station never really recovered from serious war damage and needs a major overhaul. The reconstruction is one of the biggest railway projects on a single site for many years. It will probably take about five years to complete. It seems probable that form time to time it may be necessary to close the station totally, which will make life very difficult. Thank goodness I no longer have to commute to London every day.
Thursday is the feast of St. Lucy, one of the early martyrs of the Church who probably died at Syracuse in the year 304. Friday is the feast of St. John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic who was a friend of Teresa of Avila.
A prayer for today:
Grant us, Lord, the spirit to think and do such things as be rightful, that we, who cannot do anything that is good without you, may be enabled by you to live according to your will: through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Here is something to add to the Christmas Day breakfast. Take some mashed potatoes and add some butter, a little milk, some flour and a pinch of baking powder and maybe a little salt. Mix well together and roll out till it is about 1cm thick. Cut into squares and bake on a greased and heated griddle. (In our family, Christmas lunch is always late for a variety of reasons, so it is a good idea to eat a stout breakfast to help you to survive.)
And now Chesterton on The Donkey:
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
Of all four footed things.
Fools! For I also had my hour
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
Best wishes to you all
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon