Besides sending out the November schedule, I would like to post again Fr John's instructions to all lectors. Sorry the November schedule is coming out a little late. We usually like to have lectors received the schedule by the middle of the month before, so lectors who cannot make it will havw time to seek a replacement through the group email.

Download the November Schedule!

As Markus has said many times, good reading depends on :

• understanding the passage, and this is by reading it first at home
• practicing, and this is by reading out loud and listening to yourself at least twice before coming to Mass.

Happy reading!

Vivian


FR JOHN'S REQUEST TO ALL LECTORS and REPLACEMENT LECTORS:

1. Please arrive 15 minutes before Mass and ANNOUNCE yourself to Fr John.

a)  This is in order to prep lectors in order to make announcements -  e.g. a special collection that day or a reminder that it is Service Sunday, or Mission Sunday that day - in the opening greetings BEFORE Mass begins.

b)   It is also to prevent Fr John from furiously looking for a replacement thinking the original lector had not shown up. (This has happened in the past.)


2. Please incorporate a message of WELCOME to anyone who is new to the parish or those who are visiting, in the opening greetings.

"We welcome anyone who is new to the parish or those who are visiting."


3. FYI from the month of December, there will be TWO readers assigned to the 6 PM Saturday Mass instead of one currently.

Thank you to Grade 5 CCD Class (with Teachers Kerry Barto & Rebecca Nicholls) who sponsored the Hospitaity table contributions this Sunday.

The next Hospitality table date is Sunday, November 1^st sponsored by the Grade 6 CCD class (Teachers Sara & Karl Buch).

Questions?  Email Celine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Students from our CCD program's Pre-Confirmation class sponsored our 11:15 Mass last Sunday.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers of our young people in religious education and faith formation. 

The 51^st International Eucharistic Congress will be held next January in the Philippines. From Hong Kong, Bishop Stephen Lee, together with the TOUCH Community, will be organizing a delegation to attend, and they are now inviting all to join.

The Eucharistic Congress is an international gathering of people aimed at promoting an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church. The Roman Ritual De Sacra Communione et de Cultu Mysterii Eucharistici extra Missam defines the Congress as “a pause for commitment and prayer to which a particular Church invites the universal Church”. During this time “the celebration of the Eucharist becomes the center and vortex of all forms of piety, of theological and pastoral reflections, of social commitment”.

There will be a talk and promotion briefing by Bishop Lee this coming Friday, October 16^th, from 7:30-9:30pm, at the Diocesan Centre 9/F, Caine Road, Central. All are welcome.

Please also visit the IEC Website for additional information.

CCD families please note the following important upcoming dates:

October 25^th, 10:30 am, Parish Hall - Pre-Confirmation Parents meeting

November 1^st, 10:00 am, Parish Hall - FHC meeting #1

November 8^th, 10:00 am, Parish Hall -  FHC meeting #2 (for those who could not attend meeting 1)

November 15^th, 10:00 am, Parish Hall - Confirmation Parents meeting

A friendly reminder for all CCD families who have yet to submit payment, to please do so no later than October 18^th.

All FHC families are reminded to submit two passport size photographs of the students, indicating name and DOB on the back of the photograph, by the end of this week please.

All Confirmation students need to submit one passport size photograph by the end of this week as well.

Attention CCD 2014-2015 First Holy Communion and Confirmation families:  Students who received the sacrament of First Holy Communion or Confirmation this past May, and who did not pick up their doves or banners, may still do so until the end of October. These are available in the CCD office on Sundays until the end of the month, after which time they will be discarded.

Praying mothers of our parish invite you to join us on Thursday, October 15^th, at 8:00 am, to pray the rosary and the five Mysteries of Light, in honor of Holy Rosary month.

We pray for true peace and to be drawn more deeply into the life of the Church.

The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary.  The St. Anne's Filipino Community will once again host the traditional Living Rosary on October 25, 2015. The assembly time is 1:30 pm and the procession will begin at exactly 2:00 pm, followed by the Rosary, Flower Offering, and the Crowning of our Blessed Mother Mary. We would be grateful if you can join us on this day wherein we will be making prayer petitions for Peace and Unity for the whole world.

Also, if there are boys and girls who want to dress up as angels and want to join in this activity, please let Lorenda Rafanan know in advance so that appropriate attire can be provided for the children. For more information, please contact Lorenda Rafanan (Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Mobile: 9107-9805).

1. October Choir schedule and music line up

October Music Line-up
October Choir Schedule

2. Location of Choir and Musical Instruments

Please give feedback to see if this arrangement will allow all singers and instrumentalists to see and hear each other better. 

3. Monthly Choir Practice at St. Anne’s Church

There will be an additional 1.5 hr evening Choir Practice once a month. We have a professional musician Mr. Eric Monson of American Vocal Studio to give us voice coaching. 

The schedule is as follows: 

You are welcomed to come on either one of the practices, so hopefully you can make up if you missed the earlier one. 

Group A @ 4-5:30 PM (1st Sunday of the Month) 2015- Oct 4, Nov 1,  2016 -  Jan 3, Feb 7, Mar 6, Apr 3 
Group B @ 7-8:30 PM (3rd Thursday of the Month) 2015- Oct 15, Nov 19,  2016 -  Jan 14, Feb 18, Mar 17, Apr 14

Unfortunately, Mr. Monson can only come on Thursday evening. I will see if he allows me to tape the session, so I can share with the Sunday group. 

Purpose for lessons:

1. Improve in intonation, breathing, diction
2. Sing in parts, 2 part or with harmony and descant
3. Learn to chant for Latin Mass
4. Increase repertoire  

This year’s theme of the campaign is ‘Love and Hope’, and you can support it by purchasing some Raffle Tickets from our volunteers or the Parish Office.

Each ticket only costs $20, and if we all just buy a few of them, many will be helped.

The Acolyte Ministry is in need of altar servers for the coming year. Parishioners who are at least 9 years of age and have received their First Holy Communion are very welcome to join the ministry.

The Acolyte training session will take place on Sunday, September 20th at 12:15pm in the main church. The training is expected to last 1.5 hours. Please note that the training is mandatory for all new altar servers.

For further information, please contact: Moka Quinlan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Seeks volunteers to help CCD class teachers coordinate rotational snack tables offered to parishioners once, or twice, a month. Parishioners gather on these occasions in the courtyard after the Sunday 8.45AM Mass on a pre-determined schedule linked to the religious education class timetable. Help with set-up/clean-up, snack contributions, coffee/lemonade drinks on a sign-up basis as suits your schedule. Email Celine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

Some of St. Anne's Confirmation and Pre-Confirmation students and parents volunteered at Sunshine Action on Saturday, September 5th :

They worked all morning to sort, pack, tie and carry 400 bags containing canned food, rice and noodles.  The large room was packed with about 100 volunteers who altogether packed 4000 bags . It was exhausting work for sure! The reward was knowing that the food bags would be delivered to needy families this weekend. A great service experience for our kids who managed the factory lines well with minimal rest!

We welcome back all CCD students to St. Anne's for another great year of Religious Education. We also welcome all new families who have registered their children, and we look forward to continuing their faith formation in our parish.

A reminder that all new registrations are now closed. Registered families may still update their records and upload required documents, but any new registrations must be pre-approved by the program's director, Paul Munder, who may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We still need some teachers and encourage parents to participate by assisting with any special events the classes may be having. Please note that the latest CCD calendar is also on the website.

Applications closed. Successful applicants, who have received an email from the Parish Office, please kindly come to collect their car park labels on or before 30 September 2015.

Labels unclaimed after 30 September 2015 will automatically go to those on waiting list.

Dear Lectors, 

I attach the lector schedule for OCTOBER. Apologies for the early release; I will be travelling for most of September. 

As usual, if you cannot read at your assigned slot, please email the googlegroup to ask for a replacement. 

May I please remind all readers to practice the readings OUT LOUD before the Mass. Arrive a bit early to give yourself time to do this. Believe me, it is noticeable when this hasn’t been done. Conversely, those who have prepared by reading out loud give a noticeably quality performance! 

God bless all, 
Markus 

Download the schedule here:  Lectors' Schedule October 2015

Thank you all who have completed the registration for CCD. 

The cut-off date for any new registrations is this Sunday, September 6.

Classes begin Sunday, September 13 at 10:00am. We are happy to announce that due to the parent volunteers of a few students, we are able to offer a special class on Saturday evenings at 5 pm only for students preparing for First Holy Communion who play rugby on Sundays. This class will begin on Saturday evening, September 12 at 5:00 pm, to enable students and their families to attend the 6:00 pm Mass.

We are still in need of a few teachers and teacher assistant volunteers. Please prayerfully consider participating in this important ministry.

Thank you

Please find the updated St. Anne's CCD Calendar 2015-16 here.

CCD 2015-6 Revised Calendar

Blessings

Dear music ministry members,

I’d like to let you know that that Agnes Lee has volunteered to share the responsibility with me for coordinating the music ministry.  She will take over the coordination and direction for half of each year, from October through April.  She is sure to bring new energy, ideas and talents to our music ministry; we can all learn a lot from Agnes.  Welcome and thank you, Agnes!!!

Service Sunday is next weekend.  Please encourage your friends and fellow parishioners to join us in the music ministry.  Here's what we need:

• We now have 3 guitarists and 4 keyboard accompanists, but it would be nice to have more accompanists to fill in when people are away. 

• Our singers are all mostly sopranos and altos; it would be good to have some tenors and basses for four part harmony and good to have more expat members to join.

• Youth singers and instrumentalists are very welcome to join (it is one way for them to fulfill their Confirmation service hours).  Many of them play instruments or sing in choirs at school, so they have talents to give. 

The line-up and schedule for September are attached below.   Thanks to Stella Woo for the line-up selections.

September Music Line-up
September Schedule

Peace,
Peggie

 

Do you wish you could spend three days off to rediscover your faith and the life-enhancing power of the Holy Spirit? If the answer is "YES" (or even "maybe"), then the Walk to Emmaus retreat is for you.

The Walk to Emmaus is a 3½ day residential weekend retreat held at Maryknoll House (in Stanley).  It is an ecumenical retreat linking Christians from many churches in Hong Kong.  You will spend three busy, but very enjoyable days in study, prayer, worship and discussion, centering around 15 talks given by both laity and clergy.  A great many St. Anne's parishioners have taken part in a Walk to Emmaus retreat over the years and have found it to be a life-changing experience.

The upcoming walks, #67 and #68 in the series, will be held on 1-4 October 2015 (Men) and 8-11 October (Women).  Additional information can be found on the WTE website at www.hkwalktoemmaus.org

For any questions or to express interest, please contact:

MEN: Patrick Kaye at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Paul Munder at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 
WOMEN: Vivian Lee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Karen Hartman Brown at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..