Our Christmas Mass Times

Our Christmas Mass times are:

Monday, 24th December    3.30pm Children's carol service followed by Mass at 4.00pm

Christmas Eve                     11.30pm Carol service followed by Midnight Mass 

Tuesday, 25th December   9.00am Mass of Christmas Day

Christmas Day            

Monday, 31st December     9.30am Mass

New Year's Eve

Tuesday, 1st January          9.30 am Mass

New Year's Day

For more information about our Parishes in Communion Mass times please click here

Our Parish 75th Anniversary Celebration

Everyone had a wonderful time at our Parish celebration on Saturday!

Our priests, Fr. Frank and Fr. Jim, were joined in celebrating Mass by our previous priest Fr. Patrick Auger, who travelled up from Chard especially. Children from the school, also joined in our celebration by taking part in the offertory and reading. The school choir sang beautifully, uplifting our spirits!

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us. It was wonderful to see again old friends and families who have contributed to Parish life over the years.

Thank you also to everyone who worked hard behind the scenes to organise the celebration.
  

Our Parish 75th Anniversary Celebrations

Come and celebrate with us on the Church's 75th Anniversary, 7.00pm Saturday 1st December.

We will have a Mass of praise and thanksgiving in the Church at 7.00pm followed by an American Supper in the School Hall. 

Everyone who has been part of the Parish over the years is welcome to come along to  reunite with old friends and share your memories of the Parish!

Christmas Fayre

Our Parish Christmas Fayre will be held on Saturday 24th November from 12 midday until 4pm.

Come along and visit Father Christmas in his grotto, get some Christmas bargins, enjoy the children's crafts and have some refreshments!

All welcome!

Solemnity of All Saints

Mass for the solemnity of All Saints, a holy day of obligation, will be held here at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Wednesday 31st October at 7.30pm.

All Time Dance 2012

A big thank you to the Social Committee for their All Time Dance fundraiser last Saturday. 

50 tickets were sold and as you can see from our photos the evening was great fun for all who attended! And £335.56 was raised for Parish Funds!

Special thanks go to Sharon Kitchen and Lisa Young for their hard work.

September Social Event

Come to our  ALL TIME DANCE on Saturday,15th September at 7.30pm until late.

There will be music to suit all tastes, a buffet and a bar so get your dancing shoes ready!

Tickets cost £5 per person and can be purchased after Sunday Masses or from the Parish Office Tel:0117 9498743 or email olol@catholic.org

Prayer at the Start of a School Year

Dear Lord,
We ask you to bless the pupils, staff and families of our School
as we begin this new school year.
We thank you for the opportunity to pray, work and learn together.
We pray that You will guide us in all ways
so that we may be nourished with Your wisdom, united in Your love
and strengthened by Your presence.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen

Serving at OLOL - Emily, Eve, Alaina & Leonie

I had a wonderful welcome and morning at Our Lady of Lourdes today. Sunday morning Mass at OLOL is always joyful, so many happy faces. This morning I was particularly impressed with our new alter servers Emily, Eve, Alaina & Leonie. They served really well, paying attention and making sure Fr. Frank and myself had the candles, books and chalices at the place and at the right time.

Chatting to Emily and Eve's Mum before Mass she was telling me how they had been up late last night. They had all been to the balloon festive and had got stuck in the car park for three hours. The girls had been very concerned because they were so excited about coming to church today and didn't want to miss church and the opportunity to be an alter server.

There is something special about serving at Mass. A server is dressed in a white alb, covering their day to day clothes, setting them aside to do Gods work, to be holy reserved for Christ, like the Chalice's they pass me. Over the next few months they will learn more about there faith and what it is to be a server in the Guild of St Stephen. I am overjoyed to see Emily & Alaina, who were part of this years first communion programme, to see them putting their faith into practice.

Well Done Girls and thank you.

If you would like to know more about being a server at Our Lady of Lourdes the ask at Mass or drop me email.

God Bless,
 Deacon John Scanlon.

Our Lady of Lourdes - Virtual Tour

Here's a new look at our Church. It's a 360 degree photo taken from the Deacon's chair and allows you to see the church as I do each Sunday. To see all the church, you can rotate the picture by clicking and dragging it with you mouse. [Note: Not all browsers support this functionality.]

You can look at other views of our church here:

OLOL From the middle of the Church.

Father Frank preparing for Mass.

A Joyous Welcome for May Pene Woodman

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is with great joy that we welcome and introduce to you May Pene Woodman, the newest Christian in our community. May, the beautiful baby in the photo, was baptised here at Our Lady of Lourdes in July.

Baptism is a truly wonderful experience, it's the start of a relationship with God. With May, her parents and God parent's made promises on her behalf, they are the promises we all made at our baptism. During my christian life I have often repeated these promises at Easter as part of the congregation. However, nothing prepared me for the tingling and raw emotion I feel as a Deacon reading aloud these questions each time I do a baptism.

• Do you reject Satan?
• And all his works?
• And all his empty promises?
• Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
• Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the father?
• Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

It was after Paula and Tom, May's Mum and Dad, with the God Parents James, Geraldine and Georgia, answered "I Do" to all these questions, that water was poured over May's head and she was baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The baptism finished with special blessings for Paula, Tom and big brother Danny, who all promised to help May grow up strong in her Christian faith.

Please pray for our newest family member May Pene Woodman, and her family Paula, Tom and Danny.

God Bless,
Deacon John.


From Left to right: Danny, Paula, May, Tom and Deacon John.

Day for Life – Sunday 29th July 2012

'Use your body for the glory of God' 1 Corinthians 6:20

Every year on the last Sunday in July, the Church in England and Wales gathers together for  'Day for Life'. 

Day for Life invites us to show respect for the dignity of our body in every moment of its existence, from conception to natural death. We also remember in our prayers all those in authority who care for and nurture life.  

There will be a second collection in parishes to support Day for Life. Proceeds of the collection will be used to support the Anscombe Bioethics Centre and other life-related activities supported by the Church.

 www.dayforlife.org

Day for Life Prayer

I thank you Lord for the precious gift of my body.

Whatever its strengths or limitations;

whatever it brings me in terms of joy or suffering, help me always to see it as your gift.

As I run the race of life, help me to have a healthy attitude to my body

and a reverence for its part in my eternal future.

Help me to give glory to you by treating my body and the body of others,

with care and respect.

As I marvel at the wonder of all of your Creation,

may the whole human family work together to protect creation

and especially the precious gift of human life, from conception to natural death.

Enable us by your grace to promote the well-being and dignity of every person,

serving you and the Gospel of life in a spirit of generosity, faith and love,

through Christ Jesus Our Lord.

Amen.

New Foodbank Scheme

'Feed the hungry’ is what Jesus told us to do!

Many in the UK are now going hungry - for some it is now a question of ‘heat or food?’, pay the mortgage or food?’. Some children are going to school hungry. We can help!

The foodbank for Yate, Chipping Sodbury and surrounding area provides emergency, nutritionally balanced, non-perishable meals for 3 days to those people in short term crisis.   This can be provided two or three times to allow longer term fixes to be established by the appropriate services. It is an invaluable service, removing people's worry of feeding their families whilst their problems are sorted out.

The crisis can be the result of many things such as benefit delay/withdrawal, separation, unexpected bills (car breakdown, heating failure or even just the winter fuel bill), debt, bereavement, redundancy, etc.

A box will be permanently in the Church Porch for donations of TINNED, DRIED AND UNPERISHABLE FOOD WELL WITHIN IT’S SELL BY DATE. This will be taken to a ‘foodbank’ in Station Road, Yate  where a specially trained team will sort and distribute it. 

Could we have volunteers please to transport the food to Yate either on a Tuesday 2-4pm or Friday 10am-12 noon. Please contact Pat Mallin or Claire Westbury if you are able to help.

Click here for further details of the foods required or go to the foodbank website at  http://yatechippingsodbury.foodbank.org.uk/

Parish Retreat 2012

Please click here for a synopsis of this year's Parish Retreat held on Saturday, 23rd June at the Monastery of Our Lady and St. Bernard, Brownshill.


The theme of the day for reflection was 'Could you spot the Holy Spirit?'


The next Parish Retreat will be held in the autumn. Watch this space or check the weekly newsletter for more information you are welcome to come along!

Listen to Deacon John's Homily

Deacon John's homily for this Sunday (14th Sunday in Ordinary Time B) titled 'Faith, Weakness and God's strength' is now available.


Please click here to read it or to listen to it as a podcast on iTunes click here

Prayer at the End of a School Year

O God of all beginnings and endings,

We praise and thank you for the gift of this year.
It has been a time filled with grace and blessings,
With challenges and opportunities, joys and sorrows.

Give us the rest and refreshment we need this summer.
Let our efforts of this past year bear fruit.
Bring all of your plans to a joyful conclusion,
And bless us, according to your will,

With the fulfilment of our summer hopes and dreams,
Watch over us in the weeks ahead,
And guide each day as you have done this past year.
Help us return to you with a new spirit and a new energy.

May we continue to grow
In age, wisdom, knowledge and grace  
All the days of our lives. AMEN

Anonymous

Last Saturday's Parish Summer Fayre

A very big thank you to everyone who organised, ran a stall, helped and came along to support this year's Summer Fayre .

The disappointing 'English Summer' weather, meant many of the outdoor activities had to be cancelled this year but in typical 'keep calm and carry on' British spirit, the Fayre was held indoors....and a fantastic £2007 was raised for Parish Funds! 

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped to make this event such a success!  

First Holy Communion

Congratulations to the 30 children in our parish who have made their First Holy Communion over the last fortnight.  
Thank you to all those who have played a part in this joyous occasion and to our catechists who have led the children through their preparation. Thank you also to all the parents for undertaking the responsibility of bringing up their children in the practise of the faith.

New Awakenings

This weekend  saw the start of our mission week, we hope you were able to meet Fr Matt at one of the Masses. Today he has been in Yate and Chipping Sodbury and we hear Fr Jim cooked a huge breakfast for everyone. You can see and read more about this on Deacon John's website www.deaconjohn.co.uk

The mission breakfast is here at Our Lady of Lourdes tomorrow, Tuesday, at 7am and we are hoping for a huge turnout and are looking forward to seeing you all there. We also have a Mass of Anointing of the Sick at 3pm and St Augustin's has a mission mass tomorrow at 10am. Please come along the Spirit is calling.

Our Website goes Live

We are really excited this week to announce the launch of our new website.

Our Web Site being developed

Mission Prayer

As we prepare for our Mission please remember to pray our mission prayer:


New Awakenings
Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
to reawaken in us a thirst and passion for mission.
Grant that your gifts of faith, hope and love
will lead us in true discipleship,
so that the Good News of Jesus Christ
will find a home in our hearts,
and open us to the needs of all.
Then, trusting in your Almighty power,
give us the desire and the courage
to proclaim our faith in Him to a broken world.
Amen

Confirmation Mass

We would like to congratulate all the young men and women who received the sacrament of confirmation yesterday from Bishop Declan. A special Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes for all the candidates from our communion of parishes, and we were pleased to welcome guests from Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Downend and Frenchay.


A wonderful evening was shared by all.