ST JOSEPH’S JOURNAL Volume 53 No: 46
CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION & SAINT JOSEPH
23 ST JOHN’S STREET, HERTFORD SG14 1RX
Email: hertford@rcdow.org.uk
Parish Priest: Canon Terence Phipps Tel: 01992 582109
DATE: 19 December 2021
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
The page numbers for the prayers for this Sunday’s Mass are at the front of The Parish Mass Book. Please note that there is a Loop system in the Church.
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THE VIEW FROM THE PRESBYTERY
This newsletter will have to do for three weekends, since our timetable is heavily congested over the Christmas and New Year period. Celebrating Christmas on a Saturday is never easy, because it means that Boxing Day is a Sunday – so not the Feast of St Stephen – and we celebrate it as the feast of the Holy Family. This means that there will not be a 6pm Mass on 25 or 26 December, so please tell anyone who might be thinking of coming that those Masses will not happen. Apologies for any inconvenience.
As you can see, the crib was put up last Monday by a gallant team of volunteers. However, we had one bit of a problem in that the rope which we used in the pulley to pull up the canopy over the crib snapped and we have had to leave the crib much more open this year with no canopy or angel hovering over the crib. Sadly, the pulley is right at the top of the church roof and we shall need scaffolding to replace it, so this year we shall have to cope with how it is at the moment. Many thanks to those who came to do the work. The crib still looks wonderful and will be a great asset to us in our prayer and meditation over the Christmas Festival.
I have received a few of the Confirmation forms from those young people who wish to join the preparation course. I know there are more to come, so please get the forms to me as soon as possible. Meetings will be on Monday evenings from 6.15 until 7.30 at the latest and the first meeting is on Monday 24 January in the small hall. I would hope to give a full timetable for the course at that meeting.
I have also received a few responses to the written questions about the Synod of 2023 and if there are more to come then please get them to me as soon as possible. As I said last week, there also an online survey, if people prefer to use that, and you can find details of that on the back of this newsletter and on the parish website. Not everyone can manage to do a computer survey easily on their own, but we can usually ask family or friends to help us. It would be good to have a significant number of responses to these questions and any answers would be entirely anonymous. Thanks, as always, for your cooperation.
Given the very large numbers of Covid infections at the moment we are strongly urged to wear masks in church and to get the vaccinations that are available. This is not just a silly idea. There are good reasons for us to comply with this advice and the safety of ourselves and other people is compromised if we just ignore it. Please cooperate with the suggestions to help us all.
I have decided, with great reluctance, that we would be irresponsible if we went ahead with the New Year’s Day lunch in the hall after Mass on 1 January. We shall therefore cancel that event and arrange something a little later in the year. Sorry for any disappointment, but in the meantime, keep smiling, keep safe and keep going! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
God Bless – Fr Terry
POPE’S INTENTION DECEMBER
CATECHISTS
Let us pray for the catechists, summoned to announce the Word of God: may they be its witnesses, with courage and creativity and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
IF YOU GO IN TO HOSPITAL: If someone is sick in hospital, please let us know here at the Presbytery, and/or ask the staff on the ward, so that your loved one can be visited whilst in hospital, and receive Holy Communion and any other Sacraments from the Chaplain.
SYNODALITY SURVEY
In order to obtain as many responses as possible so that we may provide a full parish response to Westminster, an online survey has been created in which everyone is invited to participate.
It will take only 10 minutes of your time, and the responses will remain entirely anonymous. Pope Francis wants all the baptised to feel they can participate in the synodality process, so please encourage all of your family and friends to join in, including those who rarely attend Mass and those who do not attend at all. We need to know what all Catholics think at this important time when the future of the Church is being discussed in what is effectively a continuation of the 2nd Vatican Council. Here is the link:
https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90408106/a0cc4c376c43
If you go to the online version of this newsletter there is a hyperlink that may make life easier!
Thank you in advance for your help.
CHRISTMAS ITEMS are now on sale in the repository.
Margaret Hogg’s funeral is on Monday 20th December at 11.15am.
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION PHOTOGRAPHS
Are ready to be collected from Mrs. Walker, Monday – Friday 7.30am – 12noon. Or from the sacristy after the weekend Masses.
The last orders for the photos is Sunday 19 December.
ROSARY GROUP: Come and join us in the church on Tuesday evenings at 7pm for recital of the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
RECENTLY DECEASED:
Margaret Hogg, Sheila Cunningham
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday:
6.00pm: Bob Chanin (RIP Anni)
Sunday: Fourth Sunday of Advent
8.30am: Mary O’Brien (RIP Anni)
10.30am: Sr Judith Penkert (RIP)
6.00pm: People of the Parish
Monday:
10.00am: Private Intention
Tuesday:
12.15: Margery Rossi (RIP Anni)
Wednesday:
10.00am: Josephine Wright (Ints)
Friday: Christmas Eve
4.00pm: Robert McComb (RIP)
6.00pm: Patrick Cusack (RIP)
12 Midnight: People of the Parish
Saturday: The Nativity of the Lord
8.30am: Mary & John Barbour (RIP)
10.30am: George Robert Emmett (RIP)
Sunday: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
8.30am: John Mulgrew (RIP)
10.30am: Sr Pam Penkert (Ints)
Monday: St John, Apostle
11.00am: Nicola Westcott (RIP Anni)
Tuesday: The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
11.00am: Margaret & John McLoughlin (RIP)
Wednesday: St Thomas Beckett, Bishop
11.00am: Joyce Pearson (RIP Anni)
Friday: 7th Day of the Octave of Christmas
11.00am: John Coghill (RIP)
Saturday: Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God
11.00am: Margaret Hogg (RIP)
Sunday: 2nd Sunday after the Nativity
8.30am: Edward & Delia McKenna (Ints)
10.30am: Pauline Lewis (RIP)
6.00pm: People of the Parish
Monday:
10.00am: Rita Connors (RIP)
Tuesday:
12.15pm: Vetti Vettivelu (Ints)
Wednesday:
10.00am: Fr Dominic Byrne (RIP)
Thursday: Epiphany
10.00am:Patrick & Michael Connolly (RIP)
8.00pm: Linda Radford (RIP)
Friday:
12.15pm: The Wright Family (Ints)
Saturday:
6.00pm: Joanna & Thomas Coleman (RIP)