Fr. John Hartley - Funeral Gallery

DECEMBER 2025 6/7: 5pm Maggie; 9am Ross; 11am David, Simone, Margaret(H) 13/14: 5pm Marian; 9am Angela; 11am Phil, Lisa, Mary(H) 20/21: 5pm Carolyn; 9am Jim; 11am John, Giannina, Gabrielle(H) 24: 6pm Linda, Regina, Paul; 12Midnight: Lizzie, Lorenza, Patricia 25: 11am: Marian, Ross, Maggie(H) 27/28: 5pm David, 9am Angela, 11am Margaret, Simone, Phil(H) Thank you to our wonderful Ministers of the Eucharist who have accepted the Lord’s invitation to this awesome, sacred ministry, by their willingness to give up their own plans and convenience in order to do God’s will rather than their own. Let us pray for them because they too fight the same personal weaknesses we all have to fight against and they too have to fight the same temptations we all have to fight. God be with them.

OLDE FORGE CAFE BAKERS/PROVIDERS ROTA DECEMBER 2025 6: Anderson 13 Caroline 20: Sophie 27 Mary Lawlor Please, if possible, could you provide enough cakes for the whole of each week. Thank you to everybody who is helping to provide cakes. To avoid having too many cakes, Coral mentioned to me that non-perishable cakes can be safely stored in the Cafe for a short while. When it is your turn to provide a non-perishable cake, please bring your cake to the Cafe a few days before the date of your turn. OLDE FORGE CAFE - HOSTS ROTA DECEMBER 2025 2: Gardening group 6: David, Kelly-Ann 7: Patrick, Regina 9: Gardening group 13: Lorenza, Paul Mould 14: Giannina, Patricia, Jenny - nb after 3.00pm Advent Service 16: Gardening group 20: Ross, Jim 21: Collette, 23: Gardening group 27: John, Mary  28: Marian, Emmanuela Please note that for each of the above dates when the Cafe is open, one of the two Hosts has been trained in the use of the new coffee machine. Please would that trained person be the only person operating the machine and also please train the other person in its use. Many thanks. Thank you to everybody who acts as a Host. If an unexpected emergency occurs on the date you are scheduled to be a Host, please don’t worry about the Cafe. No need to try to find someone to ‘stand in’ for you. There is no need whatsoever to ‘swop’ with someone! We are not a Business, having to stay open to make money! - we open when and if we can. We take this role of ‘Host’ as a Vocation from the Lord to be his Missionary and his Prophet. Actually, the Cafe has, at times, functioned well with just one Host. The success of our Evangelisation Cafe depends on us. The more we speak to others of our Cafe, inviting them to visit us, the more successful it will be. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and colleagues. Please check when it is your turn to be a Host (or a Baker!). Please see this role as a Calling, a Vocation from the Lord which you are generously telling the Lord you will do”. Thank you so much for your trust in the good Lord

Please note in your diaries: Advent Service of ‘Light in Darkness’, followed by Tea in the Olde Forge Cafe: Sunday 14th December at 3.00pm. Advent Penance Service and Individual Reconciliation: Wednesday 17th December at 6.00PM Christmas holy Masses and Carols: Wednesday 24th December - Carols at 5.30pm, holy Mass at 6.00pm; Wednesday 24th December - Carols at 11.30pm and holy Mass at 12.00Midnight;  Thursday 25th December - Carols at 10.30am and holy Mass at 11.00am

6/7: 5pm Lizzie; 9am Gerry; 11am Chinwe 13/14: 5pm David; 9am Claire; 11am Richard 20/21: 5pm Phil; 9am Marian; 11am Lorenza 24: 6.00pm Paul; 12Midnight Lisa 25: 11am Mutsa 27/28: 5pm Collette; 9am Maggie 11am Jim

“Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” These words of the Lord Jesus apply to the people held in our prisons as much as they apply to anyone. Christmas Day in prisons is often experience of Hell! People locked in and sharing a 3 metre by 2 metre space called a ‘Cell’ for almost all of Christmas Day, perhaps alongside somebody unpredictable and dangerous! Christmas is the worst day of the year in prisons, for attempted and successful suicides and when the incidence of self-mutilation (self-harm)is at its highest. May I invite you, this Christmas, to share the love of the Lord Jesus with some of the women and men who will spend Christmas Day behind bars, separated from but thinking of families and loved-ones on the outside. Many people in prison feel forgotten, but they are still our sisters and brothers. In the Bible, we read: “Remember those in prison as if you yourselves were imprisoned.” (Hebrews 13:3) How can we help? I invite you to join me in a very practical way of showing the Lord’s loving presence to our sisters and brothers held in our prisons. I invite you to assemble and donate ‘Christmas Gift Bags’ which will be distributed to people in prisons by our Prison Chaplains. Your generosity can help to bring the light and love of the Lord Jesus into those places that often feel very dark. Please use a small paper or plastic bag and put in it the items, listed below: A sachet of hot chocolate A sachet of coffee 10 tea bags A standard size chocolate bar (eg Mars Bar, Twix. Nb Must only be in paper wrappers!) A small wooden Christmas Decoration (Nb Baubles and anything with sharp edges and points, not allowed!) A Christmas card from our parish (Do not use your own name; only sign the card ‘From all at Holy Family Catholic parish, Sanderstead’) A blank Christmas card (to be used by the person in the prison to send to a family member or friend on the outside) A pair of socks Please note that all bags must only contain what is mentioned on the list above and no more than the quantity listed above. The bags must not sealed and must be left open, in order for the contents to be checked by Prison Security. Please bring your filled Christmas Gift Bags to church in the next few weeks and leave them in the porch of the church. I’ll bring them to one of our prisons or I’ll ask one of our Prison Chaplains to please collect them.  A Christmas Gift Bag is much more than a gift. It is a message from us which says: “You are part of our family. You are not alone. The Lord Jesus loves you and we do, too. We will keep this Appeal open until Sunday 13th December. Thank you for your compassion, generosity and kindness.

Thank you to the thousands of people who took part in the Called to Bear Fruit consultation. We are grateful to you all for sharing so openly your hopes for the life of the Church in our Archdiocese. The consultation response, which includes 15 actions points for renewal, is available at https://rcaos.org.uk/calledtobearfruit and hardcopies will be sent to every parish. The consultation revealed a burning desire within our parishes to be missionary and evangelising disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, who work together to help people encounter His love. So, as we move forward on the next steps together, let’s build up the Body of Christ in Southwark with faith and confidence, becoming ever more a community of missionary disciples filled with joy and hope for the future. As an Archdiocese, we will continue to discern the process of renewal, and further updates will be provided in due course. There are hard copies of the ‘Report on the Consultation’, in the porch of the church. I’m afraid they are rain-damaged but hopefully still readable.

The Gardening Group for their great work in the Cafe as well as in the grounds around the church. On Tuesdays, our cafe is hosted by Bridget, Linda and Jannine. Their warmth, kindness and week by week consistency has led to our Cafe on Tuesdays becoming a place of great welcome for many Visitors as well as our own parishioners. This is exactly what our Evangelisation Cafe should be. Very well done and thank you.

Tuesday: Collette Wednesday: Maggie Thursday: Paul  Friday: David

We began again our ‘Liturgy of the Word’ for children of Primary School age on Sunday November 2nd and will continue on the following consecutive Sundays. Dear Parents please bear these dates in mind when you bring your children to holy Mass. During these ‘Liturgy of the Word’ sessions, our children will have opportunities to understand and enjoy God’s loving Word during the 11.00am holy Mass.