SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD
Today is the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, which has been designated by Pope Francis as a special day to reflect of the Word of God. In these days after Christmas and Epiphany we are continually invited through the liturgy to reflect on the mystery of Christ, the Word-made-Flesh, who has lived among us. Pope John Paul II, at the start of his pontificate, implored humanity, 'to let Christ speak to man'. Christ, who is God's living Word among us, speaks to us and reveals to us his Father. His words of the Gospel, which are always new and life-giving, continue to form us and show us the way of life. Perhaps today there may be an opportunity for each one of us to reflect on these truths and spend some time praying with the readings we have heard at Mass.

YEAR OF ST JOSEPH
150 years ago, St Joseph was declared Patron of the Universal Church by Bl. Pope Pius IX. To mark this anniversary, Pope Francis has declared 2021 to be a special 'Year of St Joseph'. As we know, Joseph was the guardian and protector of the Holy Family, just as now he has a special care for the family of God which is the Church. Perhaps during these months we can renew our devotion to St Joseph as we seek his heavenly protection at this difficult time. St Joseph: pray for us!

THE PARISH TEAM WRITE
A big thank you to all who made Christmas go smoothly and successfully here at Our Lady of Lourdes—especially those who manned the carpark and church doors, and to those who cleaned and decorated the church and altar. Special thanks to the children in Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School who made the decorations for the Christmas tree—it looks fantastic! Thank you for the many kind messages, cards and gifts that we have received. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We’re exhausted but enjoyed being with you either in person or in prayer over the Christmas liturgies. God bless you all and have a happy New Year.
Fr David, Fr Andrew, Fr Johnson, Deacon Ian, and the parish office team.

FR DAVID WRITES
Today is the Feast of the Lord's Baptism. This event at the River Jordan is a kind of Epiphany when there was a revelation of God's love at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. The voice of Father is heard and the Spirit is seen when Jesus is anointed as the Christ of God. God is love and his overwhelming love for each of us is revealed in the mystery of Christ, the Word-made-flesh and the Saviour of the world.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT—END OF TERM
Today is the Fourth Sunday in our Advent journey. Since 17th December we entered the inner heart of the Advent season, which really prepares us to celebrate the great feast of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.  This week was also the end of term for children and staff in our schools. We send them all our thanks and best wishes after a very challenging school term, and every blessing for the Christmas holidays.

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