In this first week of Advent, we celebrate our community as a people of hope. We draw inspiration from each 
other, and especially from those amongst us who are shining examples of the hope of the risen Lord to others.
We celebrate 120 years as a Parish at this time, and 20 years of gathering in our hall for friendship and nourishment, in the company of our parish family.
Today, we take the first step forward together on our Advent journey.
At the foot of the altar, we place a pot that will become the vessel of nurture of a St Brigid’s rose that will be planted into our garden on the weekend of the Feast of St Brigid in February.
The rose represents our history, our present and our future as a parish family. The pot we place this morning, in preparation to receive the plant, symbolises the strength, the support, and the home we each find in our beautiful church, as the vessel of hope for all who worship here.
May God bless each member of our parish family, those who have gone before us, those who walk beside us, those who will carry our parish name forward into the future. May we dwell in the hope of Emmanuel, God with us, knowing that we belong.
(Prepared by our Pastoral Associate Mrs Debbie Edwards. Please see the “Living Faith” page for our 2019 Advent prayers.)
