MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
My dear people, with Deacon Con and Fr. Roshy we send out our blessing to you and your family.
It has been a tough year for many. With Covid still spreading we have to be extra careful. Many families have lost love ones. Many are facing great challenges over Christmas and into the New Year.
We hope to see you at holy Mass in these days to come. Together we will thank our Heavenly Father for the extraordinary gift of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ and all that it points to – the wonder of His Love, the extent of His love and the constancy of His purpose.
And we thank Him for the most extraordinary thing of all, that He came in Christ not simply to a few but to all – to good and bad, saints and sinners, to ordinary everyday people like us. He reaches out and accepts us as we are.
We thank Him for He chose Mary, Our Blessed Mother, representative of the powerless to be the one to bear His Son; He chose shepherds, examples of the socially marginalised; to be the first to hear the good news; to fulfil scripture, He chose Bethlehem, symbol of the least and lowest, to be the place where Jesus was to be born.
I urge you to enter more and more into the world of prayer. To seek Heaven’s help for family and friends. To be an Apostle of Divine Mercy, an Apostle of Prayer for our Church and for all the nations of the world.
Keep in prayer the poor, the hungry, the homeless – those for whom this Christmas will simply be another day in the struggle for survival; for those caught up in war, violence and persecution – those for whom this Christmas will be their last; for the unloved, the lonely, and the homeless – those for whom Christmas merely heightens their sense of isolation.
As a parish family united in prayer, we pray for the anxious, the troubled and the fearful – those for whom Christmas will be swamped by worries, for the sick, the suffering, the broken in mind and body – those for whom this Christmas means only another day of pain; and we pray for the bereaved, the divorced, the estranged – those for whom Christmas brings home the memory of happier times.
A sincere word of thanks to all who have supported the parish throughout the year. You have been a living page of the Gospel. We have been blessed with a new Deacon and it has been good to welcome back to the sanctuary our altar servers. A word of thanks to James and Bernadette for their hard work in achieving this goal. For the return of our musicians who are playin once more; our Catechists who have shown great dedication. Our parish office and Finance Team have gone from strength to strength, our Stewards who have enabled the church to stay open…
To one and all THANK YOU!
You will be remembered and prayed for in these days to come.
May the Word of God guide your footsteps,
the power of God equip you for parish service,
the grace of God surround you always.
May your vision be clear,
your commitment resilient,
and your faith strong,
May peace flood your soul
and light shine from your heart.
May Our Lady and Saint Teresa intercede for you.
May Christ be your constant companion on the path of discipleship,
until the journey is over and you meet with God face to face,
May God’s Mercy be your Mercy,
May the Good Lord bless you and keep you safe
as you journey to the Father’s Kingdom.
Amen.