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St. and St. Stephen Harding Church 53 Great Hales Street, Market Drayton TF9 1JL E-mail: [email protected] www.ss-thomas-stephen.org.uk Priest: Father Anthony Wild Tel: 01952 811299 : Hill Tel: 01952 813004

Date Time Service Intention Sunday 6 December 11am Mass - 2nd Sunday of Andrew Durber Monday 7 December St , Bishop Tuesday 8 December 7pm of Mary Evening Prayer over Zoom Wednesday 9 December 10am Mass - Wednesday of 2nd week of Advent Andrew Durber Thursday 10 December Thursday of 2nd week of Advent Friday 11 December 7pm Friday of 2nd week of Advent over Zoom Saturday 12 December Saturday of 2nd week of 13 December 11am 3rd Sunday of Advent Beryl Dutton

Why not join us at Parish Evening Prayer and Rosary Thank you to those who have expressed an interest in joining Evening Prayer (Tuesday 7pm) and the Rosary (Friday 7pm) over Zoom. If you haven't yet been in touch it's not too late, please can you let us know by responding by email or phoning Wilf on 07983 981931. If you have not used Zoom before, full instructions will be available so do not let this put you off!

The ’s Prayer Intention for December For a Life of Prayer - We pray that our personal relationship with Christ be nourished by the Word of God and a life of prayer.

Please keep the following Parishioners in your prayers..... Christine Pritchard, Richard Byrne, Sheila Bloxham, John McGrath, Doreen Dodd, Faye Hargreaves, Mary Goodwin, Julian and Dawn Huxley, Sheila Minnery, Emmie Justice, Shane McGroggan, Doreen Warrilow, Sylvia Mary Stanworth, and all the sick and housebound of the parish. Readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent year B Psalter week 2 Ent People of Zion, will come to save all nations, and your hearts will exult to hear his majestic voice. 1st reading 40:1-5, 9-11. Response Let us see, O Lord, your and give us your saving help. 2nd reading 2 Peter 3: 8-14 Acclamation Alleluia, alleluia! Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight, and all mankind shall see the of God. Alleluia! Mark 1: 1-8. Comm ant Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights, and see the joy that is coming to you from God.

Gospel A voice cries in the wilderness: prepare a way for the Lord The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the book of the Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way. A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. and so it was that appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’ Commentary Each Advent has two John-the-Baptist Sundays, the first when we see John preparing a community for the Messiah, the second when he points out Jesus as the Lamb of God. Today is the first of these. John chose a point where the busy road from Jerusalem to the East crossed the Jordan River. There he button-holed all the busy financiers, merchants and other travellers and tourists, warning them to change their ways – and to change them now, before it was too late. ‘I am too busy’, no doubt they said, ‘I have other things to worry about; I have a wife and family to feed.’ John was forming a community of repentance. Do we give ourselves a moment of pause to ask whether we have our priorities right?

Saint of the Week St Ambrose of Milan (340? - 397) Ambrose was born and educated in Trier (now Germany) to a Roman family. He was made prefect of Liguria and Emilia, whose capital was Milan. In 374 when the bishopric of Milan fell vacant the people demanded that he become the bishop. He was a layman and not yet baptized, common at that time, and so he was baptized, ordained, and installed as bishop within a week, on 7 December 374. He immediately gave his money to the poor and his land to the Church and set about learning theology. He was assiduous in carrying out his office, acting with charity to all: a true shepherd and teacher of the faithful. He was unimpressed by status and when the Emperor Theodosius ordered the massacre of 7,000 people in Thessalonica, Ambrose forced him to do public penance. He defended the rights of the Church and attacked the Arian with learning, firmness and gentleness. He also wrote a number of hymns which are still in use today. He died on , 4 April 397. Ambrose was a key figure in the conversion of St Augustine to Catholicism, A late antique mosaic of Ambrose in the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan. This could be an actual portrait, made while Ambrose was alive.

RORATE CAELI The Advent Prose (texts from Isaiah) Refrain: Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One. 1. Be not angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold the city of the Holy One is become a desert: Sion is become a desert: Jerusalem is desolate: the house of thy and of thy glory, where our fathers praised thee. 2. We have sinned and are become as one that is unclean: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have carried us away: thou hast hidden thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hold of our iniquity. 3. Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people, and send forth Him Who is to come: send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the Rock of the desert, to the mount of daughter Sion: that he may take away the yoke of our captivity. 4. Be comforted, be comforted, my people: thy salvation cometh quickly: why art thou consumed with grief: for sorrow hath estranged thee: I will save thee: fear not, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy .

Christmas Angels Please either drop your angels off at the Foodbank - St Mary's Parish Rooms on Tuesdays or Fridays 9-11am or at Gail Ackerley's House - 20 Forest Road, Market Drayton TF9 3HX (You could do this when taking your daily exercise during lockdown) Thank you!

Red Missio Boxes Please can parishioners bring their Missio Red Boxes to Church. If you are not attending Church and would like your box to be collected, please contact David Milburn on 01630 478042 or email [email protected]. Thank you.