THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
15 DECEMBER 2024
| Sat 14 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | 5.00pm | Maureen & Michael Chester RIP | |
| St. Columba’s | 6.30pm | John Black RIP | |
| Sun 15 Dec | Third Sunday of Advent | ||
| St. Theresa’s | 9.30am | Muriel & Jim Halligan RIP | |
| St. Columba’s | 11.00am | Jason Lou | |
| Mon 16 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | Parishioners’ Intentions | ||
| St. Columba’s | 10.30am | Andrew McRoberts | |
| Tue 17 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | Priests’ Intentions | ||
| St. Columba’s | Private Intentions | ||
| Wed 18 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | Private Intentions | ||
| St. Columba’s | 9.30am | Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament | |
| 10.15am | Novena Prayers | ||
| 10.30am | Bob Breen RIP | ||
| Thu 19 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | Mae Dunnes | ||
| St. Columba’s | Paula & Pete Graham | ||
| Fri 20 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | 10.00am | Sarah Russell RIP | |
| St. Columba’s | 12.45pm | Requiem Mass for Catherine Winifred Bond | |
| Sat 21 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | 5.00pm | Ruth O’Donnell RIP | |
| St. Columba’s | 6.30pm | Pat Black | |
| Sun 22 Dec | |||
| St. Theresa’s | 9.30am | Frank & Mary Lally | |
| St. Columba’s | 11.00am | The Elwell Family esp. Eddie |
Please note if there is no time next to Mass it means there is no Mass for parishioners to attend that day, but the Priests will say Mass privately.
LIVE STREAMING OF MASS
Mass will be streamed at St Theresa’s this Sunday 15 December 2024.
www.facebook.com/thecatholicparishofstcolumbaandsttheresa
POPE’S DECEMBER PRAYER INTENTIONS
We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognise the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.
RECENTLY DECEASED
Please remember in your prayers Catherine Winifred (Cath) Bond, Ann Massey and Joseph Blundell, as well as their family and friends. Cath’s Requiem Mass will be at St Columba’s on 20 December at 12.45pm. Joe’s funeral will be at St Theresa’s at 12.45 on Monday 23 of December.
ANNIVERSARIES
Maureen Elizabeth Sheriffs, Fr Vincent O’Toole, Catherine (Kitty) McAlinden, Margaret Rose Allmark, Ruth O’Donnell, Francis Joseph Lally
WEDDINGS, BAPTISMS AND FUNERALS
Please contact one of the Parish Offices to make your arrangements.
CONFESSIONS
There will be Confessions after each weekday Mass until 11.30a.m.
St Columba’s: From 6p.m. before the 6.30p.m. Saturday evening Mass.
St Theresa’s: From 4.30p.m. before 5p.m. Saturday evening Mass.
CHRISTMAS GREETING
Fr William and Fr Peter would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. A big thank you to all those who have helped in any way with the Christmas services. Thank you for all your support throughout the year.
PARISH OFFERTORY
Loose Plate: £361.65; Planned Giving £81.50; Average weekly SO £555.00. Candles £40.35
Many thanks for your generous support.
ST COLUMBA’S COFFEE ROTA
The coffee rota is on the noticeboard in St Columba’s Hall. Please enter your name and good cause against your preferred dates. You could make £30-£50 for your chosen cause.
15 Dec Lina Greig, Hopeful Ugandan Hearts
22 Dec volunteers please
29 Dec volunteers please
PRAYING TOGETHER
Pray for:
- Pray for the residents of Woburn Drive, Halton Road, Dorset Place and Cotswold Close, Meynell Place, Marlowe Close, Palgrave Close and Tennyson Walk.
- For the Youth Clubs and Youth workers in our churches.
- For all young people in our community.
WALK WITH ME – £1
There are copies of this Advent booklet price £1 available at the back of church.
ADVENT JOURNEY OF OUR KNITTED MARY, JOSEPH & DONKEY FIGURES
Our Holy Family have begun their Bethlehem journey to St. Theresa’s crib. Parish families are hosting them nightly, and they will be stopping to visit the schools of St. Werburgh and St. Columba’s and St. Theresa’s on their way.
CHRISTMAS SERVICES LEAFLET
Copies are available in the porches during Advent. Do take it home and use it as reference to the many Advent and Christmas Services. Please note that the Parish Carol service is on Friday 20th December at 6.30p.m.
PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD
On behalf of the parish clergy, the Communications Group has designed a Christmas Card for each family in the parish, expressing the warm good wishes of the clergy at this holy time. The back of the card carries a reminder of service times over the Christmas week which it is hoped will be useful should you lose the fuller list prepared by the Liturgy Group. These cards will be given to families over the next two weeks, depending on print date from the printer. Any spares will be left in the porches so that each family will have a card.
CHRISTMAS FLOWERS
There will be a collection after Mass this weekend at St. Columba’s to decorate the Church over the Festive Season. For St Theresa’s, please place in an envelope marked ‘flowers’ and leave in the offertory basket. Thank you in advance for your continued support.
CHRISTINGLE CAROL – 11.00A.M. MASS
1. O sing about Christingle, your voices loud employ,
Your praises bring to God our King, for Jesus and His joy.
2. The orange of Christingle, the world reminds us of,
And how our God created us, and on us shed His love.
3. The candle of Christingle, with shining flame so bright,
Reminds us of our loving Lord, who is the world’s true light.
4. The red band of Christingle, which plainly we can see,
Reminds us of how Jesus Christ was killed upon that tree.
5. The four sticks of Christingle, with which the orb we spear,
Remind us how God cares for us, through seasons of the year.
6. The fruits of the Christingle, they have a special worth,
Reminding of the Spirit’s fruits as well as fruits of earth.
7. The whole of the Christingle, it is a joy to see,
It shines to show how God our Father loves both you and me.
CHRISTMAS EVE MASS – ST COLUMBA’S
We are looking for children of all ages to help with the 4.30pm Christmas Eve Mass at St Columba’s.
If you are a budding actor, reader, sheep, shepherd, King or Angel etc. and would like to be part of the service please contact Gillian Blatch gh.settle@gmail.com
UPTON CHURCHES CRIB
This crib is on display during Advent in the rear porch at St Columba’s. There is an explanation of what we know of its history on display beside it.
YOUTH GROUP
Our youth group will meet on Monday 16th December, starting at 7pm in the Iona chapel and finishing at 8.30pm in St.Columba’s Church hall. All parishioners in school year 5, or older are very welcome to come along and join our happy group, learn a bit about our faith, play games, do activities, and generally have fun. Snacks provided. If you need a lift, or more information, please call Denise Lusk (01244 379742).
NEW PRAYER GROUP – LECTIO DIVINA
There is one more session to go before Christmas and this will be on Dec 19th in the Iona Chapel at 11 a.m. We shall be using the Magnificat as the basis for our prayer time. The session will last no more than 40 minutes, allowing a little time to introduce the process. If you would like to join us, you would be most welcome.
CHRISTMAS EVENTS AT THE COUNTESS HOSPITAL
Tuesday 17th December at 12.15 – Carol Service for all. Come and join us for a (fairly) traditional Carol Service in the Spiritual Care Centre.
Wednesday 18th December at 6.30 – Carols Singing around the Wards . We are hopefully going to get to every ward and sing a few Christmas carols. Patients and staff have been so blessed by this in the past. We even have Rosie, the Trust support dog, to join us this year!
Thursday 19th December at 12.15 – Advent Reflection
HIGHLIGHT FROM THE HIGH
Our school Carol Service will take place on Tuesday 17th December, 6:30pm in the school hall. All warmly welcomed. The Catholic High School wishes you all a blessed and peaceful Christmas.
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
The Parish Carol service is on Friday 20th December at 6.30p.m. – more details to follow.
UPTON CHURCHES FIFTH SUNDAY SERVICE
The next service will be held at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday 29th December at the United Reformed Church on Heath Road. The theme will be “EMMANUEL – God with us”. Take this opportunity to round off your Christmas week in worship with the other Upton churches.
BAPTISMAL CANDLES AND CERTIFICATES
Irene Queenan is going to retire soon from the art of preparing Baptismal Candles and Certificates. If anyone would like to take over this role, please contact the office.
PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING 11 NOVEMBER 2024
The parish’s involvement with the Pope’s invitation to the consultation process of the Synod took place during 2021 and 2022. The parish held a series of meetings with parishioners and invited written contributions in relation to desirable changes, within the church as a whole and in particular to our parish. Over 70 parishioners attended the meetings and over 200 written responses were received.
On behalf of the parish the Pastoral Council used all this information to submit a response to Bishop Mark in April 2022 regarding the parish’s thoughts on changes to the whole church. That matter then left our hands and contributed to the response from the bishop to the Bishops Conference of England and Wales.
The Pastoral Council then used your suggestions about changes to be made to the parish to draw up a Parish Development Plan. This was completed in summer 2022 and is available on the church web site. Putting that plan into practice has formed the focus of much activity in the parish over the last two years.
The Pastoral Council evaluated the implementation of the plan and identified priorities for activity for next year, 2025. These will be available on our website after formal agreement.
The overall conclusion was that a number of priorities for action had been achieved, including a regular children’s liturgy at St Columba’s; a re-vamp of the notice boards and a major revision to our website to make it easier to navigate and be more informative; the involvement of more parishioners in a variety of parish ministries. Further developments in these areas and others will focus our activities next year.
Pauline Rourke, Ann McCarthy, co –chairs Pastoral Council
Thought for the week:
‘It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.’ – Pope Benedict XVI
NEW TO THE PARISH? WELCOME!
We have a New Parish Registration Form to be completed and sent to either parish office to let us know that you are here and enable us to welcome you to the parish. The form can be completed and submitted online or downloaded and printed out. Instructions are on the form, which can also be found in the front porches of both churches. You will find it on the I’m New tab of the website.
ST COLUMBA’S CHURCH & HALL BOOKINGS
To arrange meetings etc. in either the Church, Newman Room or the Iona Chapel, please book through Magdalena Bukowska, St. Columba’s Church Office, phone: 01244 624019, email: stcolumbaschurch2016@outlook.com. Office hours Monday to Friday 9a.m. to 2p.m.
Hall availability can be checked by looking at St Columba’s Church website – section for Church Hall gives a calendar of events in the Hall. Then contact Magdalena Bukowska on 01244 624019 for enquires within the office hours stated above or email columbashallbookings@gmail.com to arrange booking.
SUBMISSION OF ITEMS FOR NEWSLETTERS OVER THE CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR PERIOD:
Our printers will be taking a well earned holiday over the Christmas period. This means that our newsletter items will need to be submitted before Christmas to ensure printing over this Christmas period. Please see deadlines in bold below. Please email or phone items to the identified editor.
| Newsletter for | Editor | Email address/ phone number | Last date of items for submission to the editor |
| Sunday 22 Dec | Rebecca Vaughan | rebecca_vghn@yahoo.co.uk 01244 318632 | Wed 18 Dec |
| Wed 25 Dec | Harry Sweeney | harrysweeney45@gmail.com 01244 327462 | Thu 19 Dec |
| Sunday 29 Dec | Amy O’Donnell | amyod@hotmail.co.uk 07854290897 | Thu 19 Dec |
| Sunday 5th Jan | Eileen Irwin | st.theresas@btinternet.com 01244 371660 | Wed 1st Jan 2025 |
As always please include a phone number in case of queries, and please ensue that items are also emailed to Fr Williams. If there are any urgent items during this period please speak to one of our Priests or Deacon.