Dear brothers and sisters,

Word of God for the week

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. (Phil 4:4-5)

Q&A: Because Christmas is a Monday this year, do I need to go to Sunday Mass as well?

Yes. Christmas Day is a Holy Day of obligation,  so  all Christians need to be at one of the Christmas masses. Sunday Mass is one of the commandments, so we all need to be there for that too. In other words one mass for Sunday/Christmas this year is not sufficient: all of us need to be at both a Sunday Mass (23 Dec 5:00pm, 24 Dec 8:00am or 10:00am), and a Christmas Mass (24 Dec 5:00pm, 12:00am, 25 Dec 8:00am or 10:00am) this year as every year.

A simple way to discover God’s love for you

Do you want a simple way of deepening your experience of how much God loves you? Of beginning and deepening a personal relationship with Jesus? Of having the way you do everything in daily life transformed by the Holy Spirit? The Alpha Course has been shown to be a simple and effective way to help anyone do this. Our parishioners will start running Alpha in our parish from 2024. We encourage everyone of the parish to do this course at least once in your life. We will be providing dates from next year.

 Confessions evening 22 December 7:00pm-9:00pm

It is important to prepare well for Christmas by begging God’s pardon for our sins.  Confessions are available Tue-Fri 7:15-7:45am, and Saturdays 8:30-9:30am.  For those unable to come, we will also have 2 priests available from 7:00pm to 9:00pm in the church on 22 December.  

New after-school care for our parish

With the generous support of Trinity Regents Park Campus in addition to the parish, Saint Peter Chanel Primary school are partnering with Village OSHC to offer all our families after-school care for all parish students.  It will be based in the Trinity Regents Park Hall. Enrolment of children can be done very easily via the online booking system. Village have a good record of working with our Catholic schools in Sydney, having worked with the schools at Merrylands and Randwick for a number of years. We are delighted to be able to offer families this opportunity.

2024 Change to the Mass of Anointing

In 2024 the monthly Saturday anointing of the sick will be moved to three Sundays throughout the year – to the 10:00am mass on 25 February, 30 June and 27 October 2024. This will be followed by the usual sit-down morning tea in the Jubilee Hall.  The reasons for this change are that it underlines the importance and dignity of our sick and elderly brothers and sisters; it gives a chance for all of us to show our care and pray together for them; it teaches our people and children about the importance and place of this very special sacrament; and it frees Father for other pastoral work on Saturdays. As per this year, candidates for the anointing will be called forward by name. Front pews will be reserved for the sick and elderly. If you would like to receive Anointing of the sick at one of these masses, please speak to Father in the weeks leading up to a Mass.

New presbytery resident

A young man discerning his vocation has taken up residence in the presbytery for a couple of months: his name is Luke, please make him feel welcome and pray for his discernment – may many more young men choose our parish to help them consider how God is calling them!

Yours in Our Lord,

J+