Dear Lectors,

For July, I call your attention to the Parish Feast Day which honors our patron St. Anne, mother of the Virgin. There is a special booklet that will be used for the English services, and the readings will be taken from that booklet and not the red Missal.

I have attached the booklet for those of you who need to prepare and practice for the Parish Feast Day readings. The booklet was prepared for a bilingual service, but Father John confirmed that the English community and the Chinese community will have their separate services, so you can ignore the Chinese portion of the booklet.

Summer holidays may have already come upon some of you; if not, they are soon to come. So, I wish you good rest, exciting travel and rejuvenating activities for the summer months. And thank you for your contribution to the Lector Ministry.

Vivian

FHC banners are available for pick up in the entry hallway of the church until June 16. They will be thrown away after that date.

FHC and Confirmation pictures will be available soon for view and purchase. An e-mail with the link to the photographer's site will be sent via e-mail to all families once it becomes available.

2016-2017 CCD Registration will open in late June, early July. Please check the website closer to those dates. Classes will begin late August / early September.

CCD teacher volunteers and student teachers are needed for the new program. Please contact Paul Munder at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are available to volunteer August 2016 - May 2017. We would be very grateful for your assistance and commitment.

As this is almost the end of the school year, we'd like to take this chance to thank all of the people who volunteered their service and talents to the music ministry this year. In particular, thanks to the following musicians:

• Big thanks to Agnes Lee for coordinating the music ministry for half of the year and for arranging voice lesson for us.
• To Agnes Lee, Stella Woo, and Jam General for helping choose the music line-ups.
• To Hunmin Kim, Agnes Lee, Hubie Lem, and Jennie Li for their keyboard accompaniment.
• To cantors/soloists Lea Faigmani, Jam General, Pat Kozyra, Jocelyn La-ab, Oliver Wong, Teresa Peabody, Jano Donato, and Stella Woo.
• To Paul de Guzman, May Clarito, and Jano Donato for guitar accompaniment.
• To Amar Bhardwaj (trumpet) and Mary Byrne (violin) for their instrumental accompaniment.
• Thanks to all the friends of the music ministry who help out on special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and the May ceremonies.
• And, last but not least, to all the regular members of the music ministry, especially the Legion of Mary and the Filipino choirs, who come to sing every week. You are the backbone of the music ministry and there would be no music without you.

As you pack for the Summer, if you find small (or large) collections of spare change in a jar or drawer then please consider donating those unused coins to St. Anne's. 

All currencies are welcome. You can leave them at the Parish Office.

As activities wind down during the Summer months, if you have not already done so in the last few years then please consider giving your family the special gift of peace of mind by updating your Will.

Dear Music Ministry members,

The line-up and schedule for June are attached. Thanks to Jam General for the June hymn selections.

The May 8th 8:45 mass was broadcast on RTHK Radio 4. I think the broadcast came out very well. If you'd like to listen to the archive it is at:

http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/programme.php?name=radio4/churchservice&d=2016-05-08&p=629&e=357399&m=episode

Thanks to the singers who came for the Confirmation and First Holy Communion services in May. Congratulations - we made it through another year!

As this is almost the end of the school year, I'd like to take this chance to thank all of the people who volunteered their service and talents to the music ministry this year. In particular, thanks to the following musicians:

• Big thanks to Agnes Lee for coordinating the music ministry for half of the year and for arranging voice lessons for us.
• To Agnes Lee, Stella Woo and Jam General for helping choose the music line-ups.
• To Hunmin Kim, Agnes Lee, Hubie Lem and Jennie Li for their keyboard accompaniment.
• To cantors/soloists Lea Faigmani, Jam General, Pat Kozyra, Jocelyn La-ab, Oliver Wong, Teresa Peabody, Jano Donato and Stella Woo.
• To Paul de Guzman, May Clarito and Jano Donato for guitar accompaniment.
• To Amar Bhardwaj (trumpet) and Mary Byrne (violin) for their instrumental accompaniment.
• Thanks to all the friends of the music ministry who help out on special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and the May ceremonies.
• And, last but not least, to all the regular members of the music ministry, especially the Legion of Mary and the Filipino choirs, who come to sing every week. You are the backbone of the music ministry and there would be no music without you.

Thank you all so much!

Peggie

*** below is the attached line-up ***

JUNE 5TH - 10TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

• Entrance: Lord of All Faithfulness - 560
• Responsorial Psalm: I Will Praise You, Lord - 30
• Offertory: Only in God - 591
• Communion: Behold the Lamb - 824
• Recessional: God has Chosen Me - 669

JUNE 12TH - 11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

• Entrance: All are Welcome - 741
• Responsorial Psalm: Forgive, Lord, the Guilt of my Sin - sheet
• Offertory: Remember Your Love - 851
• Communion: In Remembrance of You - 819
• Recessional: The Kingdom of God - 639

JUNE 19TH - 12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C (Father's Day)

• Entrance: Embrace My Way and Cross - 698
• Responsorial Psalm: My Soul is Thirsting - 43
• Father's Day Song: God of Adam, God of Joseph - 870
• Offertory: God is Love - 608
• Communion: Now We Remain - 696
• Recessional: Lift High the Cross - 785

JUNE 26TH - 13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

• Entrance: We are Called - 710
• Responsorial Psalm: You will Show Me the Path of Life - 19
• Offertory: Here I Am, Lord - 671
• Communion: The Love of the Lord - 680
• Recessional: Jerusalem, My Destiny - 399

Dear Readers, I attach the Lector Schedule for June.

If you cannot make your assigned time, please find a replacement in good time through the group e-mail.

Wishing you all a nice summer ahead.

Kind regards,

Markus 

As our CCD program draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that made it possible for our students to continue on their important faith journey.

Our sincere gratitude to all the teachers, student teachers and parent volunteers, some who traveled great distances every week, who donated their time and spent countless hours preparing these young people and helping them get closer to Jesus; to the choir and flower ministries who helped make the Confirmation and First Holy Communion ceremonies; to the church staff, Jacqueline and Desmond, for their flexibility and hard work, and to Father John for his support and guidance. This program could not happen without everyone's dedication and commitment and we are eternally grateful.

Registration for the new CCD year will begin in late June, early July - please check the website then. Program will resume late August.

Have a great summer everyone!

Dear Fellow Parishioners. We are a group of men from St. Anne's who have been meeting for fellowship and Bible Study for over 5 years, under the guidance of Fr. Bill Galvin. We have covered many books, including the gospel of Matthew, Genesis, Exodus, Job, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Acts, and several of Paul's letters. 

We meet every Monday night at Maryknoll,8:30-10:00 p.m.and our discussions are always stimulating and wide-ranging. 

Please join us as we start our next book, the Letter to the Hebrews. For more information, please call or email Markus Shaw:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 9700-6122. We always welcome new members.

We still need singers for Confirmation on May 14th and First Holy Communion on May 21st. 

Also, if you'd like to sing at Fr. Bill Galvin's memorial mass on Friday, May 13th, please let me know.

Many of our regular choir members are not free to come on a Friday or a Saturday, so we welcome singers from the parish community.

For more details, or to volunteer, please contact Peggie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For choir members, there will be another choir lesson with Eric Monson on May 15th at 4pm, and all are welcome to join.

This weekend the Little Sisters of the Poor have again been invited to St. Anne's. 

They are a very hands-on international community of religious women who care medically and spiritually for those among us who otherwise would not have access to long term clinical treatment or palliative care. Their patient-clients are lay people, usually aged, who are either uninsured or underinsured, but they also care for religious women and men in similar circumstances. They have two centers in Hong Kong, and many others throughout the world.

On this Mother's Day, I ask that you please respond generously to the annual appeal for support from these women who are true Mothers to those who, though adults, are as vulnerable and dependent as children.

The St. Anne's Filipino Community will again host the traditional May Crowning in honor of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the High Queen of Heaven and the Queen of May. 

In this regard, we would like to invite all parishioners to join us in this pious activity. It will be held on May 29th at St. Anne's Church. The assembly time is 1:30 PM and the procession will start at exactly 2:00 PM, followed by recitation of the Holy Rosary, singing Marian songs, flower offering, and crowning of our Blessed Lady. 

We will be reciting two mysteries wherein we will be making the petitions for PEACE and UNITY for the whole world. 

If there are boys and girls who want to dress up as angels and join in this activity, please contact Lorenda Rafanan in advance so that appropriate attire can be provided for them. Lorenda Rafanan can be reached at 9107-9805 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information.

Father William Galvin died at Mission St. Teresa's on April 21, 2016. He was 86 years old and would have celebrated his 60^th year of ordination in June 2016.

William Joseph Galvin was born in Kew Gardens, New York on June 25, 1929, the youngest child of Eugenia Bannin and John F. Galvin, Jr. His sister, Ella, and his three brothers, Jack, Tom, and Paul, are all deceased. He graduated from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Grade School, Forest Hills, and Bishop Loughlin High School, Brooklyn, both in New York City. A life-long association with and appreciation of the De LaSalle Brothers dates from his Loughlin days.

He entered Maryknoll September 11, 1947 at the newly opened Maryknoll Apostolic College, Lakewood, New Jersey. His final year of Philosophy was taken at Maryknoll, New York, where he received his B.A. in Philosophy in 1951. After Novitiate at Bedford, Massachusetts, he obtained his Master of Sacred Theology degree in 1955, and his Master of Religious Education in 1956, both at Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining, New York. He took his Final Oath to Maryknoll in June 1955, and was ordained a priest in the new Maryknoll Chapel by Francis Cardinal Spellman on June 9, 1956.

Father Galvin's first mission assignment was to Hawaii. He was Assistant Pastor for three years at St. Joseph Parish, Hilo. In 1959, the year Hawaii became a State, he was transferred to the new Maryknoll mission on the Island of Mindanao in the Philippines. After language school in Davao City, he was assigned, along with Fr. Jim Collins, as the first Maryknollers on the East Coast of Davao, to the parish of St. Francis Xavier, Manay. In 1961, he was named the first Maryknoll pastor of Senor Santiago Parish in Cateel on the East Coast. There he built and was director of the Maryknoll High School of Cateel.

Cardinal John Tong will offer a memorial mass for Fr. Bill Galvin at St. Anne's Church on May 13^th, Friday at 7:30 PM. Please come to remember a true, humble missionary disciple, mentor and friend.

Fr. Bill died at Mission St. Teresa's on April 21^st, 2016. His funeral took place at Maryknoll, New York on April 26.

DONATIONS in lieu of flowers to support Father Bill's work in Cateel, Davao, Philippines. Please send cheques payable to: "MARYKNOLL" and in the memo, write "Cateel School" (if you don't indicate, funds will not go to the school but to their general fund). In Hong Kong, please post your check to Maryknoll House, 44 Stanley Village Road, Stanley, Hong Kong.

The many parishioners in St. Anne's who donated to the Middle East Christians as part of their Lenten Almsgiving, have raised an astounding, and unprecedented, total of HK $180,000! That figure includes some generously large checks. This is an outstanding act of mercy in this Jubilee Year of Mercy, especially for the most vulnerable Christian individuals and communities in the world, our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters.

May the benefits and the many graces that result from this effort redound upon the supporting St. Anne parishioners tenfold! (From Fr. John).

HELP WANTED! We are recruiting singers for two upcoming ceremonies: Confirmation on May 14th and First Holy Communion on May 21st.

Many of our regular music ministry members are not free to come on Saturdays, so we need singers from the parish community. Let's come together to sing at these joyous occasions for the youth of our parish.

For more details, or to volunteer, please contact Peggie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dear Music Ministry Members,

The schedule and line-up for May are in the attached PDF files.

As usual, we have two ceremonies in May. The Confirmation Ceremony will be at 4pm on May 14th, and the two First Holy Communion Ceremonies will be at 10:30am and 3:00pm on May 21st. We need singers, so if you can sing, please let me know.

On May 15th, we will have another voice lesson with Eric Monson at 4pm, and all choir members are welcome to join.

The May Crowning is on May 22nd at the 11:15 mass. 11:15 choir, please choose an appropriate hymn in honor of Mary and amend the line-up for that mass.

Peace,

Peggie 

An official from the Diocese of Hong Kong made a visit to St. Anne's Parish on April 20th to announce that the diocesan kindergarten, St. Teresa's School, will close at the end of the next new academic year, on August 31, 2017; one year from this August. 

St. Teresa's School is immediately adjacent to St. Anne's Church.  We share the schoolyard with them, and hold our CCD classes in the classrooms that are part of the school.) The Diocese wants us to know that this closure will not affect in any way the current use of the land, nor will it change the use of the building by the parish. Both will remain as they are now. Instead, the Diocese is developing plans with the government on educational endeavors for children of primary school age.

Dear Lectors,

1. Please find attached the REVISED schedule for May. If for any reason you cannot make your assignment, please seek a replacement through this group email as soon as you can.

Non-St Anne's people who come to visit have remarked that the level of lectoring at St. Anne's is high. We recognize we have an important role to proclaim God's Word to His people. So please take time to first read your passage at home for understanding, then practice preferably twice out loud, BEFORE you come to church. Read slower than you normally do, and project your voice. Arrive early and announce yourself to Fr John.

Thank you for your continued service to St. Anne's and happy reading!

2. On a different subject, we are trying to identify one or two more people to help co-ordinate this ministry. At the moment, we have 2 people co-ordinating the assignments, keep the directory current, run lector training, and attend Parish Council meetings. If an additional person can be identified, the work will be divided and each person will be responsible for every third month. Please volunteer! It won't take up too much of your time to do this.

Vivian

The 53rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations will be celebrated on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, 17^th April 2016. 

The theme for this year is: "The Church, Mother of Vocations".

A second collection in support of the diocesan Holy Spirit Seminary is to be taken up at all public Masses