St. Raphael’s Catholic Church, Yeading

31st December 2017 - The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Cycle B

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St Raphael’s House, Morrison Road, Yeading, UB4 9JP

Masses: Sat 7pm, Sun 9am, 10:30am, 12pm

Mon-Thu 9:30am, Fri & Sat 12pm

Confessions: Saturday 11:30-11:45am & 6:30-6:45pm

Rosary: 30mins before daily Mass - Mon - Sat

Parish Priest: Rev Fr. John Welsh

Parish Administrator Paulina Louison - paulinalouison@rcdow.org.uk

Catechetical Coordinator: Jane Foskett - janefoskett@rcdow.org.uk

Tel: 020 8845 1919 Email: yeading@rcdow.org.uk

First Reading: Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 God fulfils his promise to Abraham, and Sarah gives birth to a son.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 105:1-6,8-9

A prayer of thanksgiving to God for his faithfulness to his covenant. Second Reading: Hebrews 11:8,11-12,17-19

Paul examines Abraham’s example of faith. Gospel Reading: Luke 2:22-40

Mary and Joseph present Jesus at the Temple.

REFLECT

“Lord Jesus, you are my hope and my life. May I

never cease to place all my trust in you. Fill me

with the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit that I

may boldly point others to your saving presence

and words of eternal life.”

Do you know the favour of the Lord? After Jesus' birth, Mary fulfils the Jewish right of

purification after childbirth. Since she could

not afford the customary offering of a lamb, she gives instead two pigeons as an offering

of the poor. This rite, along with circumci-sion and the redemption of the first-born

point to the fact that children are gifts from

God. Jesus was born in an ordinary home where there were no luxuries. Like all god-

ly parents, Mary and Joseph raised their son

in the fear and wisdom of God. He, in turn, was obedient to them and grew in wisdom

and grace. The Lord's favour is with those

who listen to his word with trust and obe-dience. Do you know the joy of submission to

God? Do you seek to pass on the faith and to

help the young grow in wisdom and maturity? The Holy Spirit reveals the presence of the

Saviour of the world What is the significance of Simeon's encounter

with the baby Jesus and his mother in the tem-ple? Simeon was a just and devout man who

was very much in tune with the Holy Spirit.

He believed that the Lord would return to his temple and renew his chosen people.

The Holy Spirit also revealed to him that

the Messiah and King of Israel would also bring salvation to the Gentile nations.

When Joseph and Mary presented the baby Jesus in the temple, Simeon immediately

recognized this humble child of Bethlehem

as the fulfilment of all the messianic proph-ecies, hopes, and prayers. Inspired by the

Holy Spirit he prophesied that Jesus was to

be "a revealing light to the Gentiles". The Holy Spirit reveals the presence of the

Lord to those who are receptive and eager

to receive him. Do you recognize the indwell-ing presence of the Lord with you? The 'new temple' of God's presence in the

world Jesus is the new temple (John 1:14; 2:19-22). In the Old Testament God manifested

his presence in the "pillar of cloud" by day

and the "pillar of fire" by night as he led

them through the wilderness. God's glory visibly came to dwell over the ark and the

tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38). When the

first temple was built in Jerusalem God's glory came to rest there (1 Kings 8). After

the first temple was destroyed, Ezekiel saw God's glory leave it (Ezekiel 10). But God

promised one day to fill it with even great-

er glory (Haggai 2:1-9; Zechariah 8-9). That promise is fulfilled when the "King of Glo-

ry" himself comes to his temple (Psalm

24:7-10; Malachi 3:1). Through Jesus' com-ing in the flesh and through his saving death,

resurrection, and ascension we are made

living temples of his Holy Spirit (1 Corinthi-ans 3:16-17). Ask the Lord to renew your

faith in the indwelling presence of his Spirit

within you. And give him thanks and praise for coming to make his home with you. Mary receives both a crown of joy and a

cross of sorrow Simeon blessed Mary and Joseph and he prophesied to Mary about the destiny of

this child and the suffering she would un-

dergo for his sake. There is a certain para-dox for those blessed by the Lord. Mary

was given the blessedness of being the

mother of the Son of God. That blessed-ness also would become a sword which

pierced her heart as her Son died upon the cross. She received both a crown of joy and

a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not di-

minished by her sorrow because it was fuelled by her faith, hope, and trust in God

and his promises. Jesus promised his disci-

ples that "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22). The Lord gives us a su-

pernatural joy which enables us to bear any

sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take way. Do you know the peace

and joy of a life surrendered to God with faith

and trust? The Holy Spirit renews our hope in the

promise of God Simeon was not alone in recognizing the

Lord's presence in the temple. Anna, too,

was filled with the Holy Spirit. She was found daily in the temple, attending to the

Lord in prayer and speaking prophetically

to others about God's promise to send a redeemer. Supernatural hope grows with

prayer and age! Anna was pre-eminently a woman of great hope and expectation that

God would fulfil all his promises. She is a

model of godliness to all believers as we advance in age.

Advancing age and the disappointments of

life can easily make us cynical and hopeless if we do not have our hope rightly placed.

Anna's hope in God and his promises grew

with age. She never ceased to worship God in faith and to pray with hope. Her hope

and faith in God's promises fuelled her in-

domitable zeal and fervour in prayer and service of God's people. Our hope is anchored in God's everlasting

kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy What do you hope for? The hope which God places in our heart is the desire for the

kingdom of heaven and everlasting life and

happiness with our heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus has won for us a kingdom of

righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy

Spirit (Romans 14:17). The Holy Spirit gives hope to all who place their trust in the

promises of God. God never fails because his promises are true and he is faithful. The

hope which God places within us through

the gift of the Spirit enables us to persevere with confident trust in God even in the face

of trails, setbacks, and challenges that may

come our way. Is there anything holding you back from giving

God your unqualified trust and submission to

his will for your life? Allow the Lord Jesus to flood your heart with his peace, joy, and

love. And offer to God everything you have

and desire - your life, family, friends, health, honour, wealth, and future. If you

seek his kingdom first he will give you eve-rything you need to know, love, and serve

him now and enjoy him forever.

Parish and Sacramental Programme News

Last Weekend £1628.22

May the Lord reward your

generosity.

Lucky 200+ Draw

24th Dec

Winner

John Kiss Envelope 33

The Rosary is

recited every

day 30mins be-

fore daily Mass.

Please join us if

you can.

All are welcome!

Confirmation 2018

The Parish Confirmation Mass will be celebrated by Bishop John Wilson on Saturday 30th June

2018 at 12:00 noon Mass. Confirmation Application Packs are available to collect from the Parish Office.

All applicants must be baptised Roman Catholics, who have received the sacraments of First Reconciliation

and First Holy Communion. They must be in year 9 or above at senior school, also attending Mass regularly in this parish and living within the parish boundary.

The Closing Date is Sunday 7th January 2018. Applications received after this date will not be accepted.

See posters displayed in the porch at the back of the church for further details. Any concerns please contact Jane in the parish office or by her email address.

Change of Mass Times

Daily Masses from Monday 1st January - Saturday 6th January 2018 will be at 12noon.

Funerals in the Parish This Week

Sheila Sisk RIP: Funeral Mass Thursday 4th January at 10am

Bridget Wilson RIP: Funeral Mass Friday 5th January at 12noon

May their souls rest in peace. Amen

Christmas Offering The Christmas Offerings £2056.64 the Lord reward your generosity. Many thanks to all parishioners for your great kindness at Christmas.

Thank you

Fr John and Staff wishes everyone a very happy and peaceful new

year 2018.

Hospital Visits

In case you are admitted to hospital, and in light of data protection

please indicate on entering the hospital that you would like the RC

Chaplain to visit you and pass your details onto accordingly.

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God - Feast day January 1

Way back in 431, there was a bitter controversy among theologians over the role of Mary in the Catholic Church. They debated the question: Who is Mary in God’s plan?

In the end, the bishops declared that Mary is really the mother of Jesus and Jesus is really God. So it must be said that Mary is the

Mother of God. The oldest Christian greeting of Mary was proclaimed when Mary’s relative Elizabeth called her “Mother of my Lord.” When Elizabeth welcomed Mary, she recognized both the great privilege God had given Mary and Mary’s great faith in accepting it.

For centuries, Mary has been praised because she believed. She is Mother of God because of her faith in God. The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, celebrates Mary’s faith and trust in God alone. The Church wants us to imitate her faith

A Thought for the day - “...there was no room for them in the inn...” On that first Christmas night, Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem to a situation, which for them, was unforeseen, unexpected and unfamiliar. At the very least they would have expected to find a room in Bethlehem which would give them the privacy and shelter for

the birth of their child. But there was no room.

As a people coming together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and giving thanks for his presence among us, we realise that there is much to distract everyone from the joy that is proper to Christmas.

The economic downturn for instance means that Christmas is very different for many. Many have lost their jobs, some feel that essen-tial services in education and health services are in imminent danger and the vulnerable in our society are the most effected.

The pressing need is to recover faith and hope in the future. So we can look to the gospel… Things must have looked blue for Mary

and Joseph when they found they could not get accommodation in Bethlehem; the birth had not yet taken place so there was nothing to celebrate. But they were undaunted, hoping that God would guide them through this unfamiliar and unforeseen situation.

Then the baby was born, but there was no improvement in the accommodation or in the material comforts of the Holy Family. But

Mary and Joseph got a greater gift than improved accommodation or material comforts; they got the gift that enabled them to face up to the trials of life and to make a positive contribution to their community, and to humanity.

That identical grace is working among us now helping us to face up to our present trials of life and to make a positive contribution to

our community.

FIRST FRIDAY ADORATION

Adoration will take place on Fri 5 Jan.

Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to ask if the Eucharist is a “moment of true communion with the

Lord, but also with my many brothers and sisters who share at this same altar?” and if when “adoring Christ truly present in the Eucharist, do I allow myself to be transformed by him?”

(Source: Catholic Herald, Feast of Corpus Christi, 2013)