Anderton St Joseph's        
                Newsletter

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 

22nd December 2024 


 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 
  Luke 1:39-45

Sun 22ndFOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
09.30Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
11.00Mass – Parishioners
12.00Confessions as required

Mon 23rd



Tues 24th CHRISTMAS EVE
17.30 Carols
18.00 Night Mass of Christmas

Wed 25th THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
11.00 Day Mass - Parishioners

Thurs 26thSt Stephen the First Martyr 
10.00Mass – John Moon 

Fri 27th St John the Evangelist 
10.00 Mass - Broughton Society 

Sat 28thHoly Innocents  
17.00Vigil Mass at St Mary’s Chorley 

Sun 29thHOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH  
09.30Mass at St Mary’s
11.00Mass – Brian Hough 


PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK AND THE HOUSEBOUND: Joan Bailey, Anne Boam, 
Francis Brennan, Anne Byrne, Mary Patricia Case, Gerard Clarke, baby Henry Curtis, Leo Duffy, Clare Edwards, John Fearnhead, Pat Font, Tom Fraser, William Freeman, Bob Goulding, Rosemary Hough, Cathy Hull, Mary Johnston, Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Kelly, John Kerfoot, 
Bill King, Emma King, Val McGlade, Janet McGowan, Fintan McPeake, Fr Laurence Mayne, 
Ellen Morris, Irene O'Neil, Heidi O’Neill, Barrie Swift, Josette Walsh, Jean White, 
all at Grove House & Marley Court. 

BAPTISMS – We welcomed into Holy Church by the Sacrament of Baptism: Finlay and Noa Alexndra Cornes, Ethan Gerald Kerins, and Ivy Beau Barker, last Sunday, 15th December 

BAPTISM BOOKINGS DATES: 26th January, 23rd February, 30th March. Baptisms on these dates will take place at 12.00 noon. Could those who have returned baptism forms please let me know which date they want for their child’s baptism? 

THE GREAT “O” ANTIPHONS used at Evening Prayer for the Magnificat, and also as the Alleluia verses from 17-24 December. They form an acrostic. Take the first letter of each in Latin, reading backwards from 24th December: Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia. This gives us ERO CRAS which means “I will be there tomorrow”.  
O Sapientia O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence. 
O Adonai O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush, and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
O Radix Jesse O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
O Clavis David O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. 
O Oriens O Morning Star, splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Rex gentium O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay. 
O Emmanuel O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God.

WHEN WILL THE JUBILEE BEGIN? 
The Jubilee Year begins with the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter's Basilica in Rome, on Tuesday 24 December 2024 and concludes on 6 January at the Feast of Epiphany 2026. 
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon will celebrate Mass for the Solemn Opening of the Year at the Metropolitan Cathedral on Sunday 29 Dec 2024 at 11am. (To stream live, click here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMetropolitanCathedralLiverpool). This celebration will also take place at our Co-Cathedral, St Mary of the Isle on the Isle of Man with Mass celebrated by Bishop Tom Neylon. (To stream live, click: https://manxcatholic.org.uk/#livestream).

AN INVITATION TO A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
“A Bishop’s task is to preside over a local Church as a visible principle of unity within it and a bond of communion with all the Churches.” (69)
“This is why the Assembly desires that the People of God have a greater voice in choosing Bishops.” (70)  
XVI ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS 2024
The Vatican Synod clearly says that in the appointment of bishops the voice of synodal bodies must be heard. As you know, the process is underway for the appointment of a new Archbishop of Liverpool. You are invited to contribute to this process to have your voice heard. This is an exciting development in the life of the Church! There will be two meetings, held with the blessing of Archbishop Malcolm, on:
• Thursday 16th January 2025 at St Mary’s Leyland, PR25 1PD (7.00pm – 9.30pm) and 
• Saturday 18th Jan 2025 at St Margaret Clitherow Centre, L17 1AA (10.30am - 1.00pm) 
Each gathering will be the same – so only come to one of them. There will be two parts to the meeting: Firstly, we will begin by looking at where we are as a diocese and our future development and secondly we will consider the qualities needed in our future Archbishop. 
This is open to all members of our community here in the Archdiocese. To reserve a place at one of the meetings please fill in the online form in the link below: bit.ly/ASCMeetingAOL 
If you are unable to take part in person, but would like to take part in the Saturday meeting by Zoom, please follow the link below on Saturday 18th January at 10.30am:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89983555285?pwd=GbHwdzCo42YoaRMvlIq8GgZBz5M5NW.1 With best wishes, the Executive of the Archdiocesan Synodal Council.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS: The school started their Christmas holidays on Friday. We wish Mrs Berry, her staff, all the children and their families a very happy and holy Christmas. 
Last Tuesday the school (KS2) put on a lovely Christmas presentation with readings, carols, and the Christmas story acted out. Well done to all who played a part in this. Thanks also to the choir who held a carol concert with readings on Tuesday evening last, and thanks to the SVP for mince pies and refreshments afterwards. 

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. In urgent cases or emergency please ask the ward staff to call the duty Chaplain on his bleep/phone. For the chaplaincy service at Royal Preston Hospital Tel: 01772 522435. For the chaplaincy service at Wigan Infirmary Tel: 01942 822324.

COME AND SEE PROGRAMME IN WIGAN: As part of the Come and See programme in December, Fr David Potter delivered a talk on “Mary for Saints and Saints in the Making”. If you missed it, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/gykc_BrGqz8
"Come and See" is an evangelisation program in St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Wigan. It is on the first Friday of every month starting at 6:30pm with tea and coffee and then Preaching the Gospel and worship songs/ hymns, finishing at 8pm with prayer. There are different preachers every month. 
On Friday, 3 January 2025 at 6:30pm Fr. Francis Marsden is leading a talk on the topic – “From Galileo to Stephen Hawking, from Darwin to Dawkins: God and Science”. The address is: Sacred Heart Church Parish Centre, Wigan, WN6 7AR. All are very welcome. 

DOUBLE YOUR LOVE FOR MARY’S MEALS THIS WINTER!   
Our Christmas Day collections will go to Mary’s Meals, to help feed children. From 12 November, donations made to Mary’s Meals will be doubled by a group of generous supporters, up to £1.1 million!  
This means your kindness will go even further and we can reach even more hungry children with a life-changing school meal. With rising costs, climate change, and conflict creating fear and uncertainty for many children in the countries where we work, our nutritious school meals are needed more now than ever before.   
It costs just £19.15 to feed a child with Mary's Meals every day for a school year. And, with Double The Love, a donation of £19.15 will feed two children.  
Thank you for helping us to reach more than 2.4 million children around the world with Mary’s Meals every school day, so that they can achieve their ambitions and look towards a brighter future.   
Together, through Double The Love, we can transform the lives of many more desperately hungry children waiting for Mary’s Meals.  Gift matching will end when donations reach £1.1 million, so donate today to ensure your kindness goes twice as far. For example, Today in Zambia – 10 years after we began our programme here, 400,000 children eat Mary’s Meals every school day. Across the Eastern Province children are coming to school – amid the current catastrophic hunger crisis – because they know they will eat there. 


CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES
Christmas Eve (24th) - 18.00 (Carols From 17.30.)
  Christmas Day Mass - 11.00  


Parish Priest: Fr Francis Marsden
Secretary: Mr Frank Webster 
Parish Office: St Joseph’s Presbytery, 28 Bolton Road, Adlington, PR6 9NA
Wednesdays 10.00-13.00
Tel: all calls now to 01257- 262537 (St Mary’s Chorley)

E-mail: stjosephs.anderton@tiscali.co.uk
Parish Website: www.stjosephsanderton.com

ARCHDIOCESE OF LIVERPOOL Registered Charity No. 1199714
























​     

​