St Mary's Gears up for the Family Festival 2012

With the theme “One Family, One Community, One World”, the ambitious St Mary’s Family Festival 2012 will be celebrated on Thursday 12 January and Friday 13 January 2012 at the church premises.

As in the past this great event of the parish is organised as a platform for various cultures, communities, traditions and all families that make up the huge parish, to come together as one family, interact, share, enjoy and have fun.  The organising committee is working hard to emphasise the family spirit and organise various stage shows, cultural programmes, food stalls and games – for both adults and children.  As a build up, the sports festival is already mid-way with regular tournaments over the weekends.

With its cultural and social flavour, the Family Festival also aims to generate revenue to the much needed community welfare activities of the parish and the Vicariate.  The organising committee is therefore actively seeking sponsor support in cash or kind.

For further information, please contact the church parish office or Maria on 050 5532568.

Here below are some of the photographs from the previous event.

Source: www.saintmarysdubai.com

 

St. Mary's Catholic Church - Dubai Christmas 2011 and New Year 2012 Programme

Invitation for the Lighting of Christmas Tree

St Francis of Assisi Church, Jebel Ali PROGRAMME FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON 2011

St Francis of Assisi Church, Jebel Ali

Tel: 04-8845251\104 website: www.stfrancisjebelali.ae

PROGRAMME FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON 2011

December 15^th Thursday

Beginning of Novena in Preparation for Christmas

Daily: 6.30 pm Rosary – Meditation – Solemn Benediction Followed by Holy Mass

Daily 8.00 pm Tagalog Mass in St.Clare Hall (see full details below)

Parish Carol Singing at 8pm followed by BBQ for the evening. All communities are encouraged to participate..

December 16^th Friday                    

Malankara Mass in St.Clare Hall 8.00am

Weekdays programme as usual

Confessions throughout the week:

Daily 6.15am – 7.15 am,

9.00 am – 10.00 am

6.30 pm – 8.00 pm

December 23^rd Friday

6.1 5am

9.00 am

7.00 pm

December 24^th Saturday                                                                      

6.15am, Mass in English

December 24^th Saturday                   CHRISTMAS EVE

5.30 pm Carol Singing:

6.0 0pm Family mass

8.00 pm Mass in English

10.00 pm Carol Singing:

10.45 pm Examination of Conscience with General Absolution:

11.00 pm Christmas High Mass

01.00 am Malayalam Mass \Syro Malankara Mass (St. Clare Hall) 7.00pm

December 25^th Sunday                      Christmas Day Masses

6.15 am English Mass (Church)                                                                                     

12.30 pm Italian Mass (Church)

8.00 am English Mass (Church)                                                                                   

3.00 pm Tamil Mass (Church)

9.00 am English Mass (Church)                                                                                      

4.30 pm French Mass (Church)

10.00 am Singhalese Mass (Church)                                                                                                                    

6.00 pm Arabic Mass (Church)

10.30 am German Mass (Parish Hall)                                                                                 

6.30 pm Polish Mass (Hall No.5)

11.00 am English Mass (Church)                                                                                                                          

7.00 pm English Mass (Church)

11.30 am Spanish Mass (Parish Hall)                                                                                                                     

8.00 pm Tagalog Mass (Church)

8.00 pm Korean Mass (Basement)

December 26^th Monday                                                                        

Feast of St.Stephen

December 27^th Tuesday                                                                                                   

Feast of St.John the Evangelist

December 28^th Wednesday                                                                                     

Feast of the Holy Innocents

10.00 am Special children’s Mass with Blessings

December 30^th Friday                                                                                                                                                

Feast of the Holy Family:

6.15 am

8.00 am

9.00 am

10.15 am

5.00 pm

7.00 pm

8.00 pm Malayalam

December 31^st Saturday                                                                                 

6.15 am,Mass in English

The New Year’s Eve

Thanksgiving Mass 8.00pm

10.00pm Holy Hour of Adoration

11 .00pm High Mass

1.00 am Malayalam Mass

January 1^st 2012 Sunday

New Year’s Day Mother of God & World Peace Day

7.00 am (English) Church

4.30 pm (French) Parish Hall

8.00 am (English) Church

5.30 pm (Arabic) Church

10.00 am (English) Church

5.30 pm (English) Parish Hall

12.00 pm (English) Church

7.00 pm (English) Church

3.00 pm (Tamil)

January 6^th , 7^th & 8^th                                                                                                                            

Feast of the Epiphany of Lord.

January 9^th                                                                                                                      

Baptism of the Lord

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Good News!! We will have our Simbang Gabi @ St. Francis. Please invite your friends & family to attend and kindly take note of the time & place which is given below.

Day	Date	Time	Venue
Thu	15-Dec-11	9:00 PM	Main Church
Fri	16-Dec-11	9:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Sat	17-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Sun	18-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Mon	19-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Tue	20-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Wed	21-Dec-11	8:00 PM	Main Church
Thu	22-Dec-11	8:00 PM	Main Church
Fri	23-Dec-11	8:00 PM	Main Church

 (If you have mass intention, please put it in envelope & hand it over to the ushers & usherettes or to the lector before the mass. We are also inviting families or individuals who wish to participate the offertory processions every mass)

 

Simbang Gabi @ St. Francis Church Dubai (15 – 23 Dec)

Blessed Day Mga Kapatid!!

Good News!! We will have our Simbang Gabi @ St. Francis. Please invite your friends & family to attend and kindly take note of the time & place which is given below.

Day	Date	Time	Venue
Thu	15-Dec-11	9:00 PM	Main Church
Fri	16-Dec-11	9:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Sat	17-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Sun	18-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Mon	19-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Tue	20-Dec-11	8:00 PM	St. Claire Hall - Basement
Wed	21-Dec-11	8:00 PM	Main Church
Thu	22-Dec-11	8:00 PM	Main Church
Fri	23-Dec-11	8:00 PM	Main Church

  (If you have mass intention, please put it in envelope & hand it over to the ushers & usherettes or to the lector before the mass. We are also inviting families or individuals who wish to participate the offertory processions every mass)

Dubai Shopping Festival 2012 to open on 5th January

The Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) has announced the dates for the 17th edition of the globally renowned event - Dubai Shopping Festival. The 32-day festival will be held from January 5 to February 5, 2012.

Attracting millions of visitors each year, the festival showcases the region's best in shopping, winning, and family entertainment.

'Dubai at its best' is the marketing slogan for the 2012 edition of DSF and symbolises the best of what Dubai has to offer for residents and visitors. More than 6,000 retail outlets are expected to offer spectacular discounts throughout the festival in addition to chances of winning prizes ranging from luxury cars and gold to cash each day of the event. It is interesting to note that around Dh1.4bn worth of prizes has been given away since the first DSF in 1996.

In addition to the shopping and prizes, hundreds of events await residents and visitors. From international concerts, musicals, and shows to sport, outdoor, and fashion events, Dubai Shopping Festival caters to every age segment.

"Dubai Shopping Festival is renowned as a global event that attracts visitors from across the world making Dubai a meeting point for diverse cultures. DSF celebrates its seventeenth edition in 2012 with 32 days of intense shopping, entertainment, and chances to win prizes worth millions of dirhams. Apart from being the anchor in Dubai's annual events calendar, DSF is a celebration of Dubai at its best," said the DEPE Media Centre in a statement.

Launched in 1996 under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to position Dubai as a leading tourist destination, DSF attracts people of over 200 nationalities, reflecting its famous slogan 'One World, One Family, One Festival'.

Source: www.emirates247.ae

Arroyo to have her say

 

 

Ex-Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will get fair hearing according to current president Benigno Aquino

Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, under guard in a Manila hospital after being arrested on charges of electoral sabotage, will be given a chance to defend herself in court, Philippine President Benigno Aquino vowed.

Aquino, who swept to power last year on a platform of tackling corruption, including a vow to pursue allegations of fraud against Arroyo, also said those guilty had to be held accountable or it would encourage others to commit crimes.

“She will have a fair chance to defend herself in court. That is the right of every Filipino. It is but fitting that the process for all Filipinos be equal,” he said. Arroyo, president from 2001-2010, has consistently denied the allegations against her.

Arroyo was arrested at a Manila hospital on Friday. She had been there since Tuesday night, when the government stopped her from boarding a flight at the airport. Arroyo says she needs to travel for treatment on a spine condition, but the government believes she wants to evade investigation and possible prosecution by authorities. The former president was wearing a neck brace when police took her mugshot and fingerprints in the hospital on Saturday.

Arroyo’s legal team have said the charges were trumped up and they will question a lower court’s jurisdiction to handle the electoral sabotage charges when they appear before the Pasay City regional trial court. The alleged vote-rigging happened in the restive southern Muslim province of Magu­indanao. The charges carry a life sentence.

Arroyo also faces allegations of fraud over a 2004 presidential election and corruption in her administration, which the government says it is still investigating. Meanwhile, Philippine officials say it’s business as usual in the country and there is no army unrest despite Arroyo’s dramatic arrest.

Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said yesterday that there was no sign of unrest within the 120,000-strong military since Arroyo’s arrest. The ex-president once had strong ties to the army.

Source: wwww.7days.ae

No Emirates ID? No traffic services across UAE

Persons dealing with the traffic police must produce their national ID card under new regulations that linked the ID to all traffic police departments across the UAE, a senior police officer was reported on Sunday as saying.

Persons who do not hold the ID card will be denied all services offered by the traffic police and this should prompt all nationals and residents to register with the national ID, said Brigadier Gaith Al Zaabi, director general of the traffic coordination division at the ministry of interior.

“All traffic and vehicle licensing departments through the UAE are now enforcing a mandatory rule stipulating those who seek to benefit from their services to produce an ID card,” he said, quoted by the Arabic language daily Alkhaleej.

“Those who do not have an ID card can still benefit from these services by registering for the ID and producing a receipt showing they have registered…without the ID or the receipt, the traffic and licensing departments have been instructed not to receive any paper or application.”

Zaabi did not elaborate on the services but traffic police sources said they include car registration and renewal of the present vehicles, issuing and renewal of driving licences, replacement of number plates and other facilities.

Authorities have already linked the ID to immigration and residence departments and this means expatriates can not issue or renew a visa without that card.

Source: www.emirates247.ae

No new UAE taxes in 2012

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have delayed the application of the planned value-added tax (VAT) indefinitely and the UAE won’t impose any new tax this year or next year, Sharjah-based Al Khaleej daily reported last week citing an official of the UAE’s Ministry of Finance.

Younis Haji Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, told the Arabic daily that after consultations among the various parties concerned in the six-member economic bloc, the GCC states have decided to defer the application of VAT until every member is ready with the internal systems and specialized staff required to implement such a tax.

Khouri added that while the GCC as a bloc was keen to unify its taxation standards and procedures, that wouldn’t impede the individual nations’ right to study and identify other types of indirect taxes to be applied independently.

He also stressed that the UAE would not impose any new tax in the country this year or the next, as the Ministry had not submitted any bills or proposals for a new tax in the State during 2012.

The Ministry of Finance has, in cooperation with other concerned authorities, prepared a three-year study on the dimensions of the application of VAT on the UAE society economically and socially, he said, and the report includes the potential scope of VAT, which, when implemented, would include goods and services.

 

Source: www.emirates247.ae