|
SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
Jeremiah |
33:14-16 |
| Psalm |
24 |
| I
Thessalonians |
3:12-4:2 |
| Luke |
21:25-28,
34-36 |
A
CHRISTMAS CARD FOR LONDON
This
year's mural display on the outside north wall of
the church is the Birth of Christ by Gaudenzio Ferrardi
(originally Ferrari). This Italian painter of the
High Renaissance died in Milan in 1546 and is a
lesser known painter of the Milanese school. He
was a very prolific painter, distinguished by strong
animation and his subjects were always religious.
His early work was strongly influenced by Leonardo
and his Milanese followers, and throughout his life
he remained eclectic, absorbing into his highly-charged,
emotional style elements from Giovanni Antonio Pordenone
and Lorenzo Lotto and also, for example, from the
engravings of Dürer. He was an artist of considerable
power and individuality, but his work has remained
comparatively little known because much of it is
in fairly remote situations. This striking image
depicts the adoration of the shepherds with angels
providing musical accompaniment. The grouping incorporates
all ages but the emphasis is on the two shepherd
children who are holding the baby Jesus at the feet
of the Virgin. Mary's arms are raised in a gesture
of adoration and praise but there is also the suggestion
of delight and even surprise. We hope that this
nativity painting will be a delight and a surprise
to all the passers-by in Mount Street and beyond.
In the heart of a city which celebrates Christmas
without Christ, we bring this joyful reminder of
the Good News: God has come into the world – He
is with us!
Fr
William Pearsall SJ
CALLED
TO SERVE
We are very
blessed to have such generous service to the worshipping
community at Farm
Street .
Today we honour three special groups. At the Family
Mass (9:30am) we will celebrate the formal inscription
of our First Communion children who, together with
their parents, godparents and catechists, will be
undertaking the commitment to make their full preparation
for this great Sacrament. First Communions will
be celebrated on June 6 th , the feast of Corpus
Christi .
Even if you will not be present, we invite your
prayers. There will be a poster at the back of the
church to remind us of those taking part. At the
Sung Latin Mass ( 11am
) we
will be commissioning the members of our Parish
Council. There is a special board at the garden
entrance dedicated to Parish Council activities
and news with photos to help get to know the members.
There will be a member of the Parish Council at
the main doors after all the Masses today to say
Hello and to answer any questions you may have.
At the 12:30pm
Mass,
we will commission our next set of Ministers of
Holy Communion.
MASS
OF THANKSGIVING
On
December 3 rd (Feast of St Francis Xavier) Bishop
John Arnold will celebrate a Mass organized by Jesuit
Media Initiative at 6pm
in the church to thank all those who have supported
and contributed to Pray-as-you-go . This
is the 10-minute reflexion updated daily which has
been downloaded 12 million times since its creation
three and a half years ago by Fr Peter Scally SJ.
JMI is based at 114 Mount
Street where the team works
each day on this and many other media projects.
All are welcome. www.pray-as-you-go.org .
FEAST
OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
On
December 8 th Archbishop Vincent Nichols will celebrate
the Sung Mass at 6pm
with the Farm Street Choir performing Schubert's
Mass in G . This is our Patronal Feast
and there will be a parish party in the Hall and
parish rooms following the Mass.
We hope that as many of the
Farm Street
community as possible will be able to come and enjoy
this event.
HANDEL'S
MESSIAH
Our
annual Advent musical meditation takes place today
at 5pm
in the church. This is an hour-long meditation on
Advent themes from Scripture with the Farm Street
Choir providing a selection of music from Handel's
Messiah . This will be a good opportunity
for those who do not normally have a chance to hear
our choir and a good spiritual start to the season
of Advent. There is Mass at 4.15 and at 6.15 as
usual.
GUITAR
CONCERT
This
Saturday December 5 th at 7:30pm there will be a
concert of classical guitar music and crossovers
with Professor Charles Pohl performing. Tickets
£10 at the doors in aid of the Society of
Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP). This concert is part
of our annual SVP appeal to support the wonderful
work which this organization does to help the homeless
and the needy.
ADVENT
TALKS
We
are very happy to have Fr Anthony Meredith back
with us after his knee operation. Fr Anthony will
give three talks in Advent in honour of the Year
of the Priest. His theme will be The Priesthood
of Christ, the Priesthood of all believers and the
Ordained Priesthood. 5pm
in the Hall, beginning today, December 6 th . All
welcome.
CHRISTMAS
FAIR
On
December 6 th we have our annual Christmas Fair
with a sale of selected goods in the Hall, from
10am
till 3pm .
There will be games and activities for the children.
Sale
items will include our popular Jesuit jams, cakes
and other comestible goodies as well as fine wines
. Please do not bring any
items for sale except books and CDs. These can be
left in the entrance hall under the stairs. The
Christmas fair is an opportunity to come together
and enjoy each other's company and to raise money
for charity. We hope that by having it on Sunday
we will have plenty of participants.
FAITH
MATTERS
"FUNDAMENTAL
OF FAITH"
A
lecture series at Vaughan
House, behind Westminster Cathedral
7pm
– 8:30pm
December
2 nd : Presented by Fr
James Hanvey, SJ. Theme: God, Creation and Ecology.
December
9 th : Presented by Mgr
John Armitage. Theme: Catholic Social Teaching:
a guide in troubles times.
Registration
necessary. Please e-mail faithmatters@rcdow.org.uk
or call 0207 931 6078. £2 donations suggested.
CHRISTMAS
CARDS
There
is a great variety among the Christmas cards on
sale in the Hall and at the back of the church including
a reproduction of this year's nativity painting
and our regular Christmas crib as well as our Farm
Street Madonna. There are also cards on sale on
behalf of the Catholic Children's Society. Buy now,
mail early and beat the next postal strike!
HOW
TO LIVE MORE SIMPLY
The
recession and our Life Styles
3
alternate Thursdays: 21 st January, 4 th & 18
th February
7-8.30pm
, 114 Mount Street
Lead
by Barbara Kentish, Director of J&P Westminster
Diocese. Exploring changing lifestyles - Whether
you have lost your job, downsized voluntarily, or
you have ideas for improving the economy that don't
mean we need to spend more, you have something to
contribute to this mini-course on personal economics.
These
sessions will not aim to give all the answers, but
by a shared approach we will discover better ways
to handle life in the recession, to save on stress,
and to support one
another in discovering that life can be fun even
when the money is short. We will look
at heroes and heroines who have coped with poverty,
and also share stories of our own hardship but how
we have overcome problems, their effect on our faith,
and share our joy and hope.
LIVING
STONES PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND
15th
to 26th JUNE 2010
A
pilgrimage for Farm Street Parish and friends led
by Fr Tony Nye SJ and Deacon Duncan Macpherson of
Living Stones. A unique opport-unity to meet and
worship with our Christian brothers and sisters
in the Holy
Land
and to experience spiritual renewal in the land
where Jesus walked. For further information contact
Fr Tony Nye SJ tel 0207 493 7811or by e-mail: tonynyesj@jesuits.net.
Please
use Gift-Aid envelopes for your donations if you
are a UK
Tax-payer .
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