11 Dec 2023 – Monday of Advent, Week 2 Optional Memorial: St Damascus 1, c 304-384, pope who commissioned St Jerome to prepare the Vulgate version of the Bible. 1st Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10 They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the ransomed exiles shall return to Zion The desert and the dry land…
Presider’s Page for 10 December (Second Sunday of Advent) John the Baptist is the focus of the liturgy on the Second Sunday of Advent each year. His challenge to us to ‘prepare a way for the Lord’ is at the heart of the Advent message. We worship the one who will surely come to us….
10 Dec 2023 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, B John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ by raising expectations. Once Jesus had arrived, there only remained for John to quietly disappear from the scene. 1st Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 God is coming to save his people and to open up our way into the…
09 Dec 2023 – Saturday of Advent, Week 1 Optional Memorial: St Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, 1474-1548, saw the vision of our Lady of Guadalupe in December 1531. 1st Reading: Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26 Future days of blessed enlightenment, when the people turn aside from idolatry. Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep…
08 Dec 2023 – The Immaculate Conception 1st Reading: Genesis 3:9-15, 20 Enmity between the serpent and the woman But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid…
07 Dec 2023 – Thursday of Advent, Week 1 Memorial: St Ambrose, 339-97, patron of Milan, beekeepers and domestic animals. 1st Reading: Isaiah 26:1-6 A hymn of confidence in the Lord God, our everlasting rock On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; he sets…
06 Dec 2023 – Wednesday of Advent, Week 1 Optional Memorial: St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (Turkey), patron of Russia, sailors, pawnbrokers and children. 1st Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10 “God will wipe away the tears from all faces.” — a Messianic vision of the final age. On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for…
05 Dec 2023 – Tuesday of Advent, Week 1 1st Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of…
04 Dec 2023 – Monday of Advent, Week 1 Optional Memorial: St John Damascene, 675-749, a Syrian theologian and priest in the monastery of St Sabas near Jerusalem. 1st Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5 In the Messiah’s day, they shall beat their swords into ploughshares The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem….
03 Dec 2023 – 1st Sunday in Advent, B 1st Reading: Isaiah 63:16-17, 64:1-8 The prophet admits his people’s sinfulness but recalls God’s mercy too For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our father; our Redeemer from of old is your…
02 Dec 2023 – Saturday of Week 34 1st Reading: Daniel 7:15-27 Daniel begs for an explanation of the vision. The persecuted saints will receive the kingdom As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. I approached one of the attendants to ask him the…
01 Dec 2023 – Friday Week 34 First Reading Daniel 7: 2-14 In the vision I saw during the night, suddenly the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea, from which emerged four immense beasts, each different from the others. The first was like a lion, but with eagle’s wings. While I watched,…
30 Nov 2023 – St Andrew, Apostle 1st Reading: Romans 10:9-18 How will they hear the faith, unless it be preached? If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with he heart and so…
29 Nov 2023 – Wednesday of Week 34 1st Reading: Daniel 5:1-6 etc The writing appears on the wall and Daniel interprets its meaning King Belshazzar made a great festival for a thousand of his lords, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar commanded…
Presider’s Page for 3 December (First Sunday of Advent B) Advent begins today; the season is at its shortest this year. During these first two weeks, the Church focuses on the end of time, when Christ will come in glory. Then, for the last week of Advent, we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ….
28 Nov 2023 – Tuesday of Week 34 1st Reading: Daniel 2:31-45 In a vision, Daniel sees four kingdoms destroyed by a stone falling from the mountain, which proceeds to fill the whole earth Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, “You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its…
27 Nov 2023 – Monday of Week 34 Optional Memorial: St Fergal (Virgil), lived in France, then Bavaria, appointed bishop of Salzburg, c 754 and died in 784 – a reputation for learning and holiness. 1st Reading: Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 Daniel and his companions are more respected than all magicians and counselors in Babylon In…
26 Nov 2023 – Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – 34th Sunday, (A) On this, the last Sunday in the liturgical year, we honour Christ the King. It is a feast on which to renew our loyalty to Jesus our Saviour, shown in the way that we love our neighbour. The shepherd-theme…
25 Nov 2023 – Saturday of Week 33 Optional Memorial: St Catherine of Alexandria, martyred c 310. St Clement, third successor of St Peter as bishop of Rome (88-97), exiled and martyred, his relics returned to the church of…
24 Nov 2023 – Friday of Week 33 Memorial: Ss Andrew Dūng-Lac, priest, and Companions – in 17th, 18th and 19th centuries many were martyred in Vietnam – 117 (96 native Vietnamese men and women, 11 Dominican missionaries from Spain and 10 French missionaries) were canonised in 1988 by Pope JP11. 1st Reading: 1 Maccabees…
