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St. Mary Magdalen's
Catholic Church
Willesden Green
London NW10
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
3rd Sunday of Advent 16th December 2012
An Alternative Nativity Given the current drive for gay marriage, I wonder how long it will be before variations on the traditional nativity scene start to appear on Christmas cards. In response to this proposed legislation the Archbishops of Westminster and Southwark “urge everyone who cares about upholding the meaning of marriage in civil law to make their views known to their MPs clearly, calmly and forcefully, and without impugning the motives of others. It is not too late to stop this Bill.” So here are a few sound bites you might like to use. “There was no electoral mandate in any manifesto, no mention in the Queens’ speech; no serious or through consultation through a Green or White Paper, and a constant shifting of policy before even the Government response to the consultation was published.” Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith The government has chosen to ignore the views of over 620,000 people who signed a petition for the current definition of marriage to remain. The Government is not able to offer a cast-iron guarantee of religious freedom not to be forced to celebrate such marriages because any protections are susceptible to amendments in future Parliaments and to challenges under equality laws in the European Court of Human Rights. Archbishop Peter Smith This is a tragic moment for British society with serious implications for religious freedom. Bishop Mark Davies. In sex education and citizenship classes will it become compulsory for Catholic teachers to say that there is equivalence between same-sex marriage and the traditional form as we have it today? Bishop Michael Campbell The Prime Minister is luring the people of England away form their Christian values and Christian patrimony, and forcing upon us a brave new world, artificially engineered. Bishop Philip Egan. I hope you will do as the Archbishops ask. And while you’re at it, send a religious card to our Prime Mister too. I’m sure it will make his Christmas. Fr Kevin

posted by Sinead Reekie at 12:21 pm

Tuesday, December 11, 2012
2nd Sunday of Advent 9th December 2012
Antisocial Behaviour From next week until Christmas the priest won’t be going to the back of the church to greet you. This is not because we’ve become grumpy old men but because we will be going into the confessional to give you the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In addition, we’ll be offering the same after Masses during the week and a visiting priest will be available in the church from 7:00pm-8:00pm on Wednesday 12 and Tuesday 18 December. In the run up to Christmas it may seem odd to be offering extra confessions while the rest of society is focussing on shopping and parties. But Advent is a penitential season although not as “strict” as the time before Easter. Indeed, it used to be known as St Martin’s Lent because of its proximity to the feast of St Martin of Tours. That sense of a dilution of the normal joy of a Sunday celebration is still much in evidence as the priests wear purple vestments for example, and we suspend the Gloria until we join with the angels in celebrating the birth of our Saviour. Moreover, the scriptures provide us with the Second Coming of Christ when we will be judged on the way we live. They also confront us with the challenge of St John the Baptist to examine how easy we make it for Christ to come to us. And how right he is since at times we create massive detours for the grace of God to enter our lives and sometimes plumb the depths of our own moral standards and feel far from God. Yet Christ still comes and as that voice in the wilderness says, “all mankind shall see the salvation of God.” However, while we may see it, St Paul warns that we must strive to be “pure and blameless” in preparing for the Day of Christ for only then will we “reach the perfect goodness.” As Blessed John Paul II said, “When we go down on our knees in the confessional because we have sinned, at that very moment we add to our own dignity. The very act of turning again to God is a manifestation of the special dignity of each person, of their spiritual grandeur, of the personal meeting between each person and God in the inner truth of conscience.” That sounds to me like a really good present to get ourselves for Christmas. Fr Kevin

posted by Sinead Reekie at 11:05 am