Teas and Coffees available after Mass on Sunday and Thursday.

Churches Together Carol Singing: Burntisland High Street (at St Andrew’s Court), Saturday 14^th December, 11.00am. Join us if you can!

Advent Penance Service on Monday 16^th December at 7.00pm. Fr Paul Lee will join us to offer Confession/Absolution in preparation for Christmas.

Parish Social Event, Friday 27 December 2024, 7.00 pm to 10.30 pm in Church Hall:  If you added your name to the list in the porch, you are in. Please just pay on the night (£15 per person). If you are a vegetarian, please email jud7214@gmail.com as soon as possible so that the caterer has an idea of how many people will need a vegetarian lasagne.

🎅🎄St Joseph`s Children`s Christmas Party 🎄🎅  will take place in the Church Hall on Saturday 21^st December from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. There is no charge for the party, but we ask parents to bring along some party food on the day. Please sign your child(ren)’s name(s) on the list in the porch and add the party food you can bring along. We look forward to seeing all the children there!

Mass for the Opening of the Jubilee Year: Archbishop Cushley will solemnly open the Jubilee Year 2025 for the Archdiocese with Holy Mass and the blessing of the Jubilee Cross at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, at midday on Sunday 29 December. Follow 'Holy Year Scotland 2025' on Facebook and visit www.iubilaeum2025.va for more details about this special year.

Explore the new Lectionary: Join Fr Jamie McMorrin at 7:00pm this Wednesday (18 Dec) on Zoom as he continues his series exploring the new Lectionary. Register at bit.ly/lectionaryadvent. Catch up on the YouTube channel of the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh. 

The Diploma in Catechetics is filling - Register now: Live your faith more integrally in 2025 through the Diploma in Catechetics. The course explores the fundamentals of Catholicism in an engaging manner. Beginning in January, it consists of a weekly lecture on Zoom, readings from the Catechism and regular one-to-one support. Holy Year discount: £125 (normally £200). Non-Catholics welcome. Learn more and register at bit.ly/diploma2025

Lourdes Carol Service:  The annual Carol service organised by the Lourdes Hospitalité Committee takes place on Sunday 15 December 2024 at 3pm in St Margaret's Church, Davidsons Mains, Edinburgh. All welcome.

Anecdote: Pay It Forward:  The film, Pay It Forward, (based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde) has the same premise that underlies the source of the joy and happiness celebrated in Sunday’s liturgy.  The film tells the story of a seventh-grade teacher (Eugene Simonet) and his eleven-year-old student (Trevor).  On the first day of class, the teacher puts this challenge on the blackboard: “Think of something new that will change the world, and then act on what you have thought.”  The idea captivates the boy, who lives with his single parent, an alcoholic mother.  The boy attempts to put this idea into practice by helping people, who will, in turn, “pay it forward” by helping others.  The boy draws a circle in his homework book and puts his name in the middle.  From that circle, he extends three lines, at the end of which are three more circles.  In the first circle he writes his mother’s name.  He will try to get her to give up her alcoholism.  In the second circle he writes the name of a classmate who is being bullied by the larger boys in school.  He will make it his duty to defend this fellow.  In the third circle, he writes the name of his teacher, whom he will try to persuade to fall in love with his mother.  These are huge challenges for the boy.  The film then shows the steep obstacles he faces in his attempt to improve his world. — In the end, Pay It Forward inspires us to imagine the possibilities of making the world a better place, transforming one person at a time by a series of “random acts of kindness” and love.  The movie teaches us that when someone does a good deed for us, we should “pay it forward” by making “an act of Faith in the goodness of people.”  The net result is lasting peace and joy, the central theme of Advent third Sunday’s readings. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

Have a good week. Take care. Fr James