From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 10th December, 2023

Hi everyone!

Christmas is coming fast, and there is still much to prepare beforehand. So I thank all of you in advance for offering to help out at the Christmas liturgies, letterbox drop, penitential service and the like. Especially for the Christmas Day services, we normally are in need of extra help, as we may need to put chairs and television screens out, and there is always the need for parking wardens on the day. More about that next week.

This Year's Letter Box Drop
Christmas Day falls on a Monday this year, so we need to get the Christmas Letter Box invitations out (with the new Mass times) next weekend. That will give a week of notice to people living around us of our updated Mass times and locations. So, we are going to need quite a few of you to 'pound the pavements' of our parish area, and get these into letterboxes in time for the big event. I rely on all of you at this time to 'get the word out' and deliver those 'Postcards' into letterboxes, and be like Christ's 'arms and legs' in both practical and pastoral way. Great way to keep in shape at the same time...

Christmas at the Cathedral Thursday 14th December
We have had a huge response to the invitation to 'get on the bus' to Christmas at the Cathedral, so the bus is now fully booked. You can still jump on a public bus into the city and we would love to see you there. Should be a lovely evening. Those who have tickets for the bus, please be at SCB 5.30 pm next Thursday 14th December to ensure our bus leaves on time.

The Rosters for Christmas Masses are now available
The rosters for the Christmas Masses have all gone out on Friday. We have tried to be as accommodating as possible to the requests made. If you see there is a clash or you can help with any of the vacant ministries, could you please get in contact with the Parish Office next week so that we can finalise all the arrangements? Thank you.

Volunteers 'Thank You' Mass
The Volunteer's Thank You Mass last Saturday morning was a lovely occasion to get together and 'meet and greet' each other. It was also an opportunity to hand out the certificates of completion of the Readers, Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, and Acolytes. If you did the course, but could not get along last Saturday, pass by the Parish Office and pick up your certificate from there. A huge thanks to all '232' of you (as registered in the Parish Volunteers register), for helping us out week after week.

Peter Watkins Farewelled this Week.
It was nice to give Peter Watkins, Executive Principal of St. Charles and Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary Schools, a lovely farewell Mass this week, with many of his family members present. The kids sang beautifully, and the Mass was a fitting way of expressing our heartfelt gratitude for his 13 years of service to our Parish community. and schools.

We wish Peter all the very best with his future work in Sydney Catholic Schools and the 29 schools he will be overseeing. God bless you, Mr. Watkins!

And that's about it for this week.

Fr. Greg