Tel: 020 8778 9460 email: stphilipneri@btinternet.com 208 Sydenham Road London. SE26 5SE www.rcchurch.org.uk/sydenham Parish Priest: Fr. Peter Mansfield Assistant Priest (Sydenham & Catford): Fr. Regis Rubaya Year B; EP 3 Deanery website: lewishamdeanery.com 3rd Sunday ~ Ordinary Time 25 January 2015 Parish Mass Book … Readings: P129 Mass Prayers P8. THIS WEEK 2nd Collection - Parish Development Fund NEXT WEEK 2nd Collection - Catholic Education Services Mass Intentions for the coming week Vigil Mass Sunday 25th Monday 26th Tuesday 27th Wednesday 28th Thursday 29th Friday 30th 6.30pm 9.30am 11.00am People of the Parish Christine Doe RIP Connolly & Lee families - deceased members Coffee in the Hall after 11am Mass 9.30am May Nelson RIP SS. Timothy & Titus 9.30am James Fee RIP 9.30am Alice Knott RIP St. Thomas Aquinas Light of Christ Prayer Group - 8.00pm Mass in the Hall Mass at Church of The Resurrection 165 Kirkdale 9.30am 9.30am Amelia Stafford RIP Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction until 10.30am Fourth Sunday - Ordinary Time Vigil Mass Sunday 1st Feb 6.30pm 9.30am Betty & Henry Clark RIP People of the Parish Sacrament of Reconciliation - Confession Every Saturday - 7.20pm (after evening Mass); First Saturday of the month at 12.30pm. The sacrament can also be arranged at other times by making an appointment with the Priest. The Legion of Mary meets Sundays in the Hall after 11am Mass New members are always welcome. SYDENHAM CATHOLIC CLUB (Watlington Grove) … SVP Next meeting Thursday 8.00pm. Sky sports, darts, pool table and BIG screen showing Premiership and GAA games. Families and new members always welcome. Club available for all private functions and funeral receptions. Thursday night Quiz in aid of St. Christopher’s Parent/ Carer and Toddler Group. All are welcome to come along to the Church Hall on Tuesday and Friday mornings, 9.30 ‘til 11.30 am (term time only). Call Paula: 07761 530739 to find out more. Collections last weekend: Offertory: £738 Standing Orders £272 2nd Collection: £284 for Parish Development Fund Thank you. Recently Deceased. Shirley Young RIP, - a member of our Parish, died on Saturday 10th January. Shirley has been confined to her home for most of the time for many years. Her last visit to a Parish event was the Parish Fair last summer. Our prayers and thoughts are with Shirley’s good friend Maureen who gave dedicated loving care to Shirley throughout her long illness. Paddy Conaty RIP. - Funeral Mass on Monday 2nd February at 11am. Michael Ouzman RIP. - Funeral Service at Beckenham Crematorium on Tuesday 3rd Feb We remember those who are sick: Sr. Agnes, Canon John Naughton, Jimmy Hartigan, Jeanne & Joe Williams, Vince Vella, Howard Byers, Maeve Laverty, Myra Donnellan, David Camp, Mercy Aerifa, Baby Edward Kowal, Anne Mackie, Trudi Foster, Steven Murray, Joe Hughes, Victor Walker, Hugh Garvey, Declan Daly, Sonny Caldinez, Bernard Loughran, Antoni Kowal, Dusty Miller, Patricia Edwards, Yvonne Knight, Patrick Freeney, Elaine Felix, Edward Garas, Christine Flannagan, Shirley Young, Ellen & Alexander Sweeney. Also those housebound or in our Residential Homes: Muriel Felix, Kathleen Keeffe, Antoinette Remice, Jan Wilson, Adrienne Hyde, Violet Miller, Elizabeth Turner, Ann Sheehan, Ellen Sweeney, Vera Curren, Margie George, Noleen Armstrong, Giovanna Ghezzi, Zeta Ghelfi, Margo Stafford, Margaret Rivers, Joseph & Charlotte Hadji, Genevieve Stanislaus, Madeline Edwards & Winifred Powell. Please pray for those recently deceased: Paddy Conaty, Michael Ouzman, Shirley Young. and for those whose anniversaries occur at this time: Victor Ashinze, David Hutton, Bachoo Islam, Ghebremariam Yohannes, Gaetana Farruggio, Betty Clark, Angela Furlong,, Martin Connolly, Baby Charlie Goodger, Kathleen Simpson, Vincent Powell, Thomas Coffy, Pauline McDaily, Candida Amatima, Thomas Marshall, Bill McDonald and John Cocksedge. Anniversaries Please pray for………………………………… my………………………… who died on ………………….. My Name: …………………. ….. Telephone:…………………. Sacrament of Confirmation 2015. Enrolment forms available from Fr. Peter. It is the young person themselves who must request the enrolment form. The must also complete it and bring it back to Fr. Peter as soon as possible. Bishop Pat Lynch will be visiting our Parish on Friday 19th June 2015 to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation at 7.30pm Mass. Candidates must be at least in year 8 of Secondary school. There is no upper age limit. Those who apply must attend Church regularly. It is important that the young people concerned take responsibility for putting their name forward themselves and not their parents. The Newsletter and Church notices will give information about the programme in the coming weeks. The start date is Sunday 1st March at 5.30pm. Prospective candidates take on a commitment to come to the preparation programme every week during term time. On the application form they are asked to write a short letter in their own words saying why they wish to be confirmed. The preparation is aimed at helping those who enrol to come to a better understanding of this Sacrament so that they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to go ahead this year or not. To ask to be confirmed is to say 'yes' to playing a part in Regarding Confirmation of Adults: We have a separate programme for Adult Confirmation !8 years and over. This is part of our 'Journey in Faith' process which begins in the Autumn. If any adult has not been confirmed, please contact Fr Peter. Calling All Young Adults. St Philip Neri, Sydenham has started a Young Adults group for those aged 18-35 which is open to neighbouring parishes. Please join us for our next meetings 27th Jan & 10th Feb, 7:30-9:00pm in St. Philip Neri Church Hall, 208 Sydenham Rd. SE26 5SE. The programme is a mixture of social activity and faith formation. We plan to have outings and entertainment as well as delving into Scripture, Catholicism, and the moral issues which are part of life. Please come for fellowship, conversation, spiritual nourishment and help plan the coming months … all with cake and a drink! READING INTRODUCTIONS FOR 3rd. ORDINARY SUNDAY, YEAR B By Dom Stephen McGurk OSB INTRODUCTION TO LITURGY OF THE WORD Last week’s readings were principally about calling and repentance, the main theme of John the Baptist’s mission. We saw how it was John who pointed out his own successor, Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God’. In his own words, he said, “He must increase, I must decrease”. From this moment on, Jesus takes over the mission though, according to Mark, Jesus waits until John is arrested. His message of repentance is the same as John’s but he introduces an altogether new horizon of hope, that of the Kingdom of God. FIRST READING Prophet Jonah What most people remember about Jonah was that he was swallowed by a whale as a punishment for running away from God who had called him to evangelize the city of Nineveh. He escapes on a ship but when there is a terrible storm the sailors cast lots for who is responsible. The lot falls on Jonah who has to confess and is tossed overboard. The story is an allegory of salvation: of God’s determination to stick to his chosen missionaries, and in Matthew chapter 12 Jesus uses it in a prophetic reference to his own time in the tomb. Once coughed up on the shore Jonah realizes that God is serious and still want his mission accomplished by Jonah. We read now of Jonah’s achievement. SECOND READING St. Paul to the Corinthians Last week, I was extolling the virtues of I Corinthians and its practical wisdom for our own times. Today’s episode is perhaps a little more obscure owing to its context which is Paul’s belief that the end of the world is imminent. With this in mind perhaps it is not a good idea for us to just carry on as normal; perhaps it is best that all try to live as near perfectly as possible for the short time ahead. We should not engross ourselves in the things of this world because it is simply passing away, and very soon. GOSPEL Holy Gospel according to St. Mark Today’s Gospel is Mark’s version of what we had last week from John. Again, it is Peter and Andrew who are called first but this time they are actually out fishing. They are followed by James and John. The context is simply that John the Baptist has been arrested so Jesus takes this as a sign that he must push ahead with the same message of LIFE press release. Genetically Modified (GM) Babies: what does this mean? The Government announced just before Christmas that it is shortly going to ask Parliament to legalise the production of human beings who, in order to eliminate some rare but very serious diseases, have had part of the ova (their mother’s eggs) from which they themselves came replaced by material taken from other ova. These re-constructed ova would have then been fertilised artificially (i.e. by In vitro fertilisation - IVF - in laboratories) and inserted into their birth-mothers’ wombs. So these children would effectively have three parents. This would be something we have never before dared to do – or been allowed to do - to human beings. It is genetic modification (GM). Parliament banned this in 2008. But the Government is trying to pull wool over our eyes by calling it genetic ‘donation’. And they hope to smuggle it past Parliament without it reaching ‘the floor of the House’, i.e. being debated and voted on by all MPs and then the Lords. They plan to send it via a small committee of MPs which meets in a back room. They say that what they propose is not GM and is therefore not unlawful. If it were already lawful there would be no need to ask Parliament to approve these regulations. GM could have all sorts of very serious side-effects because it is tampering with the basic constituents of human beings. It could cause new congenital abnormalities in not just the children themselves but their descendants. GM experiments using animals have had some horrifying results. Most countries are holding back. The US Food and Drugs Administration, for example, has recommended extreme caution. Britain is rushing ahead. GM will not cure any diseases. Rather, it could take away the incentive to conquer them. And it will inevitably result in ever more use of the technique. It’s a slippery slope… Above all we object to it because it is yet another assault on the sanctity and dignity of human life, yet another example of unacceptable manipulation and trivialisation of human life. We must do all we can to stop it. First Communion 2015 All the Children who made their First Confession in December 2014 will automatically be registered for First Communion preparation which begins 30 / 31 January. Parents of the Children must attend the ‘parents evening’ on Thursday 29th January at 8.00pm in the Hall. 200 Club: The £75 January prize has been won by Helen Dawkins (196). Congratulations. Special Ministers, Readers and Welcomers: The new rota is available in the usual place in the church porch for all those who did not receive it via email. As you will see from this rota, we will soon have to plan for Holy Week so can you all let us know your availability during Easter