St Simon Stock Catholic Church

Brookfield Road, South Ashford, Kent TN23 4EU

27th DECEMBER 2009
Tel: 01233 622399
Parish Priest: Fr John Boyle THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS,
MARY AND JOSEPH
Saint Simon of England RC Primary School,
Noakes Meadow, Ashford, TN23 2RB. Tel: 01233 623199 YEAR C
Head teacher: Mrs Elizabeth Willis

MASS TIMES AND INTENTIONS TODAY’S MASS TEXTS

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Sunday 27 Entrance Antiphon: Luke 2:16
The Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph (C) The shepherds hastened to Bethlehem, where they found
10.00am Mass (Thanksgiving) Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
12.00noon Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal) (Sunday with the Octave First Reading: 1 Samuel 1:20-22.24-28
of the Nativity) (Elizabeth Honywood RIP) Samuel is made over to the Lord for the whole of his life.
6.00pm Mass (For the people of the parish)
Monday 28
th Responsorial Psalm: Ps 83
The Holy Innocents, martyrs, feast R: They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord.
10.00am Mass (Deceased relatives and friends of Msoka How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
family RIP) My soul is longing and yearning,
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Tuesday 29 is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
St Thomas of Canterbury, bishop and martyr, feast My heart and my soul ring out their joy
10.00am Mass (Holy Souls in Purgatory RIP) followed by to God, the living God. (R)
Divine Mercy Chaplet & Exposition of the Blessed They are happy, who dwell in your house,
Sacrament until 11.00 for ever singing your praise.
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Wednesday 30 They are happy, whose strength is in you,
Sixth day of the Octave of the Nativity they walk with ever growing strength. (R)
6.45pm Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal)
O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer,
(The Holy Father, bishops and priests)
Thursday 31
st give ear, O God of Jacob.
Turn your eyes, O God our shield,
Seventh day of the Octave of the Nativity
look on the face of your anointed. (R)
10.00am Mass (Healing of SOLT brothers seriously injured in
car accident) Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-2.21-24
4.30pm – 5.30pm Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Act of We are called God’s children; and that is what we are.
Thanksgiving for the 2009 with sung Te Deum, First Gospel Acclamation: Acts 16:14b
Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of Alleluia, alleluia! Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the
God, Consecration of the new year to Mary. words of your Son. Alleluia!
Benediction
st Gospel: Luke 2:41-52
Friday 1 January 2010
Jesus is found by his parents sitting among the doctors.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Solemnity
10.00am Low Mass (Latin, 1962 Missal) Preface of Christmas I, Eucharistic Prayer 1
(Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord) Communion Antiphon: Baruch3:38
12.00noon Mass (deceased members of Kelleher family and Our God has appeared on earth, and lived among men.
friends RIP)
Saturday 2
nd PRAYERS FOR THE SICK
SS Basil and Gregory Nazianzen, Please pray for all our sick parishioners especially Rita Redman
bishops and doctors of the Church and Joe Dean. Names of those who need our prayers can be
9.00am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament placed in the box in the church foyer.
10.00am Mass (Private Intentions) SANCTUARY LAMP OFFERINGS
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Sunday 3 If you would like the sanctuary lamp by the
The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Solemnity tabernacle to burn in memory of any particular
10.00am Mass (Fr. Ben Kiely – Anniversary of Ordination) person or for any particular intention, please hand a
6.00pm Mass (For the people of the parish) note of the intention with an offering (suggested £5)
in an envelope to the parish office or place it in the
CONFESSION TIMES offertory basket. The intention will be mentioned in
Weekdays: before or after Mass upon request. the weekly newsletter.
Saturday: 10.30am; Sundays: ½ hour before Mass
THIS WEEK’S SANCTUARY LAMP INTENTION
CHURCH CLEANING Private Intention
st th th nd th th
1 Sue; 8 Tara; 15 Kilda; 22 Agnes, 29 Bridie; Feb 5 Sue;
CHURCH CLEANING
COLLECTIONS LAST SUNDAY
Many thanks to those who answered the call for additional
Offertory: £268.59, (Gift Aid: £113.45, loose plate: £155.14) +
cleaners; please keep an eye on the rota (printed left) for your
£96 approx by standing order. Second collection: Parish
week to clean. Grateful thanks to Sheila who has decided to
Maintenance and Development Fund £88.34. Thank you.
stand down from the rota after many years service to the parish.
Second collection today and next Sunday: Parish Maintenance
and Development Fund. CRIB OFFERING
CHRISTMAS CARD REMINDER The crib will remain on display throughout the Christmas season
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Please remember to check the Christmas card rack in case and up to 2 February, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord
someone has put a card there for you. If you have put a card for (Candlemas). Your kind donations to the crib will go to the Good
someone, do ensure it has been taken. The rack will be removed Counsel Network to support their work in reaching more
next Sunday and any remaining cards discarded. abortion-minded women to change their hearts.

Parish email: parish@stsimon.org.uk; Parish website: www.stsimon.org.uk; Diocesan website: www.rcsouthwark.co.uk

Fr John’s blog: http://caritasveritas.blogspot.com/ Parish blog: http://st-simon-parish.blogspot.com/
 FR. JOHN’S DESKTOP
In the last couple of weeks there have been many lovely items in the media (at least those
that I listen to or read) about Christmas. The air waves still carry the central message: that God
became Man, in fact a baby, in a stable in Bethlehem. This is not just a lovely story but is
historically true. St Luke goes to great lengths to tell us who were the rulers, governors, tetrarchs
and high priest at the time of Jesus’ birth and John the Baptist’s preaching by the Jordan. We
should not doubt that God came among us at a particular moment in history according to His
eternal Wisdom. The many carols and readings that have been played on the radio over recent
days remind us of this fact.
One thing that has slightly annoyed me, however, is the description of Mary as a single mother. I do not wish to
reproach in any way the good single mothers that we have among us as faithful members of our parish. The reasons for
their single state are many and it is not for us to judge them. The Church offers her support and welcome to all who wish
to follow the ways of God. But Mary was most decidedly not a single mother. Marriage is at the heart of God’s plan. ‘It is
not good for a man to be alone.’ And neither was it good for the young woman Mary to be alone. God chose a just and
wonderful man named Joseph to be Mary’s husband, to care for her and for the Child that she was bearing by the power
of the Holy Spirit. In being born into a family, God wished to show that the family, consisting of husband, wife and
child(ren) is essential to His plan for mankind. There is no doubt that not all families perfectly reflect this Divine plan, just
as we as individuals so frequently fail to live according to our divine calling. This is because we live in a world affected by
sin, especially our own personal sins, and the sins of others are not without their effects upon us. The great promise of
Christmas is that the sin-broken world we live in is not fatally flawed but can be redeemed. And every family, including
those that have been broken in one way or another, is capable of redemption and healing by God’s grace.
On the other hand, Mary would have been a teenager when she conceived. Had she been a young girl in Britain at
the present time, she would very likely have been considered a failure in the Government’s efforts to reduce the incidence
of teenage pregnancies, and we know the options that would have been offered her. And the pharmacist/doctor/school
nurse would have assured her that her parents and her husband would be kept in the dark.
Far from the political correctness that pervades the modern world, we need to get back in touch with God’s wisdom
and rediscover the true nature of things, particularly of all that concerns marriage, family and the sanctity of life. On this
feast of the Holy Family, I hope you have all had the opportunity to be with or at least be in touch with your families over
this Christmas time, and that you will continue to keep the mystery of Christmas before your hearts and minds throughout
this Christmas season. Fr. John
REGULAR EVENTS – COME ALONG! in your own special ways to keeping the presence of Christ alive
DIVINE MERCY PRAYER GROUP in our parish community, in your families, homes, etc. Visitors at
after the 9.30am Mass on Tuesdays. Prayers of the Christmas Masses commented on the happy sense of
intercession for various needs and silent community they experienced. May we all seek to be messengers
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament till 10.30am. of peace, joy, hope to the people of our time. Happy Christmas!
CHOIR PRACTICE THURSDAYS 7.30PM A SERMON OF POPE ST LEO THE GREAT FOR CHRISTMAS
Newcomers always welcome CHRISTIAN, REMEMBER YOUR DIGNITY
BIBLE STUDY WEDNESDAYS 7.30PM Today our Saviour is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have
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Next meeting – 6 January. no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been
YEAR OF PRAYER FOR PRIESTS swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal
Come and pray the Rosary for our priests 20 happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same
minutes before the weekday morning Masses. This week you are reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding
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asked to pray for: Sun 27 Dec Fr. Bernard Heaphy, Mon 28 Fr.
th no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as
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Richard Hearn; Tues 29 Fr. John Hearty, Weds 30 Fr. William he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he
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Hebborn; Thurs 31 Fr. Thomas Heneghan; Fri 1 Jan Fr. John receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as
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Henry, Sat 2 Fr. Seamus Hetherton, Sun 3 Mgr. Edward Hill. he is summoned to life. In the fullness of time, chosen in the
unfathomable depths of God’s wisdom, the Son of God took for
devotion @ BALHAM himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its
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A prayer festival for young people (late teens/twenties) 29 Dec. creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in
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– 1 Jan at Holy Ghost Church, Balham, London, run by Youth that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind. And so at
2000. A dynamic programme including Mass, Adoration, talks. the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the
Donation only. Under-18’s need parental consent form; under- highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will as they see
16’s need to be accompanied by an adult. Anyone interested see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the
Fr John, or see notice board. world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this
THANK YOU… marvellous work of God’s goodness, what joy should it not bring
For your kind Christmas offerings, for all your other tokens of to the lowly hearts of men? Beloved, let us give thanks to God
appreciation and your assurances of prayer. I should like to the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his
thank all who help throughout the year in matters concerning the great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in
liturgy: Guy and Catarina Beresford for generous and selfless our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might
dedication to sacristy and altar, our servers and readers, our be a new creation. Let us throw off our old nature and all its ways
choir who give so generously of their time to practise music, and and, as we have come to birth in Christ, let us renounce the
our organists. Thanks to our extraordinary ministers who take works of the flesh. Christian, remember your dignity, and now
Communion to the housebound; to those who decorate our that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your
church with flowers throughout the year and particularly for the former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of
festive floral decorations at this season; to those who clean the whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have
church and help in other ways to ensure that all is prepared so been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the
that we are able to worship in a House befitting the presence of light of God’s kingdom. Through the sacrament of baptism you
God; to my secretary Thereza for her generosity in responding have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so
beyond the call of duty to the needs of the parish; to any whom I great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the
may I have omitted from this list and to all of you who contribute devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.
To catch up on previous newsletters visit http://www.stsimon.org.uk/Newsletters/