A Parish of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton
SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH
Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil Mass 18.00, Sunday 09.00 & 11.00
For more details please look at our weekly newsletter
Upon hearing the famous story of the Prodigal Son, we may instantly feel a connection with one son or the other. Maybe we have strayed in our lives - or even intentionally walked away from friends, family, and home-and have been welcomed back despite feeling we didn’t deserve to be. Or perhaps we feel like the older son who has been working his tail off to do what he thinks is expected of him and then feels resentful when his wayward brother gets welcomed home. What if instead of focusing on one or the other sons, we focus on the father’s response to both of them in the parable? The father has generosity and joy enough for both sons. He wants both at the party-not just the sinner or the do-gooder. He throws the party so the younger son knows he is welcomed home wholeheartedly, and he tells the older son “everything I have is yours.” In that society, what the father possessed did not belong to the sons until he died; they had no claim on it until after his death. So it is highly unusual for the father to give the younger son his part of the inheritance prematurely, and just as unusual for the father to tell the older son “It’s already yours.” The father wants to share all he has and celebrate his relationship with both sons equally. It’s not about favourites; it’s an invitation for everyone to join the party. Tax collectors and sinners were joining Jesus “at the party.” Will the Pharisees and scribes too? Questions of the week Who do you usually relate to in the parable of the Prodigal Son? Why? Have you ever had an experience of being in the father’s position, either welcoming home a “sinner” or trying to convince a “righteous son” of your love for him too?
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A much quieter week this time around The Presbytery, enforced on Fr D by the events of last Sunday morning . . . . At our Sunday morning 09.00 Mass we welcomed our Confirmation Candidates among our community as they celebrated the Rite of Inscription; the candidates have taken part in several sessions now and this was their opportunity to decide to go ahead and present themselves before Bishop Richard in May to celebrate the sacrament. Just as they had completed this rite with Fr D, stepping backwards, Fr D caught his alb under his feet and fell over backwards, hitting his head on the marble base of the altar. Fortunately two medics from among the parishioners were present and came up to attend to him. Whilst they were doing this Fr D had deacon Paul lead the Prayers of Intercession and the reader continue as normal; during this Fr D went off with the medics into the sacristy where they were able to ‘tidy him up.’ Deacon Paul managed to set the music running for the Offertory Hymn and by the time this ended Fr D was able to get to the altar and continue Mass (though communion under both kinds had to be abandoned) and Fr D sat through the distribution of holy communion. At the end of Mass Deacon Paul took the newsletters to the back along with the server and Fr D retreated to the sacristy where the medics worked on stopping the bleeding. Fr D arranged for Fr Tony Churchill to celebrate the 11.00 Mass as he went off to Epsom hospital where he ended up with eight stitches into the back of his head! On Monday, with a ringing headache Fr D was taken out for a pre-arranged lunch by a couple of parishioners from one of his old parishes. Later in the afternoon he prepared a homily for the following day (Annunciation of the Lord), before having a sandwich and taking himself off to bed. Going to bed early seemed to become the pattern for the week as his headache continued, being particularly bad when he woke up in the morning (the doctor at A & E had told him that the concussion could take two to three weeks to disappear). On Tuesday evening Fr D went across to St Michael’s, Ashtead, to take part in the Deanery Adult Lenten Reconciliation Service which Bishop Richard was leading. As the week progressed Fr D was managing to get over the shock of the fall but the headache was very definitely still with him . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Again, not quite as mad busy around The Presbytery this week, although things began to ‘heat up’ as we neared the weekend . . . . . On Sunday afternoon, after our morning celebrations of Mass, there was a celebration of the Evening Prayer of the Church and Benediction. This takes place on every Sunday of the Lenten Season and is an opportunity to spend some quiet time with the Lord, out of the normal hustle and bustle of life. The service is approximately 40 minutes in length. On Monday (Fr D’s day off) there was a delivery of a new Paschal Candle Stand for use from this coming Easter. The stand matches the benediction candelabra and some of the flower stands and is black wrought iron in manufacture. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesday morning Fr D made a start on this week’s newsletter and dealt with some paperwork that had begun to buildup on his desk. In the later part of the afternoon Fr D got prepared for his meeting with this year’s Confirmation candidates in the evening. This session was about the Holy Spirit and the ‘Gifts’ and ‘Fruits’ of the Spirit. Wednesday morning, following Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D finished off his parts of the newsletter for this week and completed a Charity Aid Foundation form (six pages!) to allow someone (anonymous) to make a donation to the Parish Buildings Fund. He’s now waiting to see what transpires. In the evening Fr D began working on his homilies for Holy Week this year. Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D went off in the car to the diocesan offices at Crawley, he had not been for a couple of weeks because his secretary had been off sick. Several of his marriage cases had moved on slightly and were nearer to coming back to him for completion and there were several queries to be attended to. After leaving Crawley Fr D had a meeting of the Bosco Catholic Education Trustees to attend at a school on the south coast. By the time he got back home he just had supper and took himself off to bed. After morning Prayer and Mass on Friday, Fr D worked on this weekend’s intercessions before joining parishioners at our Lenten Soup Lunch for CAFOD. Afterwards he was over in Ashtead for a meeting about the bishop’s Diocesan Pastoral Plan . . . . .
The first reading from Exodus takes place with Moses standing at the burning bush. It is when God reveals himself to Moses and declares that he will lead them out of slavery into their own land. We can imagine Moses’ puzzlement when God reveals his name as the cryptic “I am who I am.” The phrase in Hebrew, which gets translated into “Yahweh,” is a mystery to translators. The thrust of it seems to be that God is who God is, not who humans say God is. Also, there is a sense that God is in the present, not the past or future, but always present. In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares several times “I AM,” using the exact same words that God used in speaking to Moses. All of his listeners understood then that he was equating himself with God. In the Gospel, John the Baptist and Jesus both had a sense of urgency about them. They were serious about spreading their message quickly: “Repent! The Kingdom of God is near!” They seemed to understand there was no time to waste. There were hungry people to be fed, people in need of healing, people suffering discrimination be cause of their culture or religion, people trapped in sin, and people used as pawns in unjust economic and military systems. There wasn’t time to stand around and wait for God to swoop in and make everything right in the world. Jesus came ready to do God’s work in the world, and he was eager for others to begin doing it with him “right now!” Was Jesus impatient like the owner of the fig tree? Does he want results now? Or was he like the gardener, ready to demonstrate more trust and patience and give people more time to bear fruit? Maybe Jesus was both. He has little time for laziness or excuses. But he also knows that as humans we take time to grow and mature. The point seems to be that Jesus wants to see movement. We all have a gardener tending to us and advocating for us, but will we allow ourselves to fruit? We don’t have unlimited time. Let’s start growing. Questions of the week • What do you think Jesus feels most urgent about in the world today? • How do you need to begin bearing fruit in your life now?
Welcome to the Parish of the Sacred Heart
The Parish of the Sacred Heart is an active Roman Catholic community within the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton for those living in the environs of Cobham, Stoke D’Abernon and Oxshott. Comprised of people from all walks of life, from different age groups and diverse cultures the Parish is an active community offering spiritual and pastoral support in the Catholic tradition. If you are thinking about coming to live in the area or are already in residence you are very welcome to join our community you can be assured of a welcome, being offered a wide range of spiritual and educational support. We also run a thriving Sunday school providing Religious Education for children from four to fourteen years of age and provides preparation for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation.
LIVESTREAM STATUS: SEE SCHEDULE FOR MASS TIMES
Quote of the week
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives
fully is
prepared to die at any time - Author unknown
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Our very latest news updates and information about Parish activities.
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A much quieter week this time around The Presbytery, enforced on Fr D by the events of last Sunday morning . . . . At our Sunday morning 09.00 Mass we welcomed our Confirmation Candidates among our community as they celebrated the Rite of Inscription; the candidates have taken part in several sessions now and this was their opportunity to decide to go ahead and present themselves before Bishop Richard in May to celebrate the sacrament. Just as they had completed this rite with Fr D, stepping backwards, Fr D caught his alb under his feet and fell over backwards, hitting his head on the marble base of the altar. Fortunately two medics from among the parishioners were present and came up to attend to him. Whilst they were doing this Fr D had deacon Paul lead the Prayers of Intercession and the reader continue as normal; during this Fr D went off with the medics into the sacristy where they were able to ‘tidy him up.’ Deacon Paul managed to set the music running for the Offertory Hymn and by the time this ended Fr D was able to get to the altar and continue Mass (though communion under both kinds had to be abandoned) and Fr D sat through the distribution of holy communion. At the end of Mass Deacon Paul took the newsletters to the back along with the server and Fr D retreated to the sacristy where the medics worked on stopping the bleeding. Fr D arranged for Fr Tony Churchill to celebrate the 11.00 Mass as he went off to Epsom hospital where he ended up with eight stitches into the back of his head! On Monday, with a ringing headache Fr D was taken out for a pre-arranged lunch by a couple of parishioners from one of his old parishes. Later in the afternoon he prepared a homily for the following day (Annunciation of the Lord), before having a sandwich and taking himself off to bed. Going to bed early seemed to become the pattern for the week as his headache continued, being particularly bad when he woke up in the morning (the doctor at A & E had told him that the concussion could take two to three weeks to disappear). On Tuesday evening Fr D went across to St Michael’s, Ashtead, to take part in the Deanery Adult Lenten Reconciliation Service which Bishop Richard was leading. As the week progressed Fr D was managing to get over the shock of the fall but the headache was very definitely still with him . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Again, not quite as mad busy around The Presbytery this week, although things began to ‘heat up’ as we neared the weekend . . . . . On Sunday afternoon, after our morning celebrations of Mass, there was a celebration of the Evening Prayer of the Church and Benediction. This takes place on every Sunday of the Lenten Season and is an opportunity to spend some quiet time with the Lord, out of the normal hustle and bustle of life. The service is approximately 40 minutes in length. On Monday (Fr D’s day off) there was a delivery of a new Paschal Candle Stand for use from this coming Easter. The stand matches the benediction candelabra and some of the flower stands and is black wrought iron in manufacture. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesday morning Fr D made a start on this week’s newsletter and dealt with some paperwork that had begun to buildup on his desk. In the later part of the afternoon Fr D got prepared for his meeting with this year’s Confirmation candidates in the evening. This session was about the Holy Spirit and the ‘Gifts’ and ‘Fruits’ of the Spirit. Wednesday morning, following Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D finished off his parts of the newsletter for this week and completed a Charity Aid Foundation form (six pages!) to allow someone (anonymous) to make a donation to the Parish Buildings Fund. He’s now waiting to see what transpires. In the evening Fr D began working on his homilies for Holy Week this year. Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D went off in the car to the diocesan offices at Crawley, he had not been for a couple of weeks because his secretary had been off sick. Several of his marriage cases had moved on slightly and were nearer to coming back to him for completion and there were several queries to be attended to. After leaving Crawley Fr D had a meeting of the Bosco Catholic Education Trustees to attend at a school on the south coast. By the time he got back home he just had supper and took himself off to bed. After morning Prayer and Mass on Friday, Fr D worked on this weekend’s intercessions before joining parishioners at our Lenten Soup Lunch for CAFOD. Afterwards he was over in Ashtead for a meeting about the bishop’s Diocesan Pastoral Plan . . . . .
CAFOD LENTEN FAST DAY – Last Friday (14th March) was the occasion of the annual CAFOD Lenten Fast Day. Our Retiring Collection today(16th March) is the opportunity to donate the results of your self-denial, and to be a ‘pilgrim of hope’ with CAFOD this Jubilee Year. You’ll be supporting communities suffering the impacts of war, poverty, and climate change to find solutions and hope. To make your donation tax efficient please use the CAFOD envelope in the church narthex.
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Another busy week around The Presbytery as we begin our remote preparations for the great Easter ceremonies at the end of Lent . . . . . Last Sunday morning members of our Parish Gift Aid Scheme, who use weekly envelopes, were able to collect their next year’s supply of envelopes from our Gift Aid Organiser. Many thanks to these and all our Gift Aid Scheme Members who have joined the scheme, it makes a big difference financially to the Parish, with a further 25p coming from HMRC for every pound donated. Sunday afternoon we celebrated the first of this Lenten Season’s Evening Prayer of the Church and Benediction services. This short service (about forty minutes) gives parishioners to join with the rest of the universal Church in celebrating the ‘Prayer of the Church’ as well as some quality time before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament - time out from the normal hustle and bustle of daily life. On Monday Fr D was ‘playing host’ to his Ministry to Priests Support Group. They met at midday in the church, spending an hour before the Lord, before celebrating the Prayer of the Church, and retiring to a local hostelry for lunch. In the afternoon they spent time reviewing life since the last meeting and sharing experiences in ministry. The day ended with Evening Prayer and all returning to their respective parishes. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D took off in the car with Fr Tony to Epsom where this months Deanery Clergy Meeting was taking place. It was a packed agenda this time round with substantial discussion taking place concerning aspects of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan in our area. There is an enormous amount contained in the plan that the bishop has put forward and it will mean major changes in the way in which our respective communities operate going into the future. In the evening Fr D met with this year’s Confirmation candidates for their next session as they prepare to be confirmed by the bishop in May. Wednesday evening our singers and musicians met once more, preparing for the services of Holy Week at the end of Lent. They would be delighted if any further parishioners wanted to join them at their rehearsals (scheduled as follows - Sat. 22/3 10.30, and Tue. 15/4 19.30). Don’t forget that during the Lenten Season parishioners are invited to take part in the traditional ‘Way of the Cross’ devotion at 12.30 on Fridays; there is a bread and soup lunch afterwards in aid of CAFOD . . . . .
Parish Priest Notices
Important items highlighted by Fr. Daryl. These will contain news elements & important requests
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on 5th March
The Parish of Effingham & Fetcham have arranged for Fr John Seddon OSB, one of the monks at St Augustine’s Abbey, Chilworth, to present five talks during Lent. Fr John will cover topics including The Existence of God, the Problem of Evil, the Resurrection, Life after Death and Objective Truth. They will help to broaden our knowledge of he Faith and assist us in deepening our spiritual journey through Lent. Each talk will be about 35 minutes and will be followed with an opportunity to ask questions. The talks will be on Wednesdays 19th and 26th March, 2 nd and 9 th April at 19.30 in St Alphege’s Hall, Effingham
This year the ecumenical Lent groups will study the book ‘Wild Bright Hope:’ 12 writers address what gives them hope in our troubled times, They write passionately about what gives them hope on topics such as Prayer and the religious Life, Evangelism and witness, Reconciliation and the future, The political church, and Ministry and life in the church.” We will discuss how we ourselves might play a role in taking this hope forwards. The course will run for 6 weeks from early March to Easter. To sign up, please email ct@standrewsoxshott.org.uk indicating your choice of daytime or evening and whether you might like to host or lead a group.
Upon hearing the famous story of the Prodigal Son, we may instantly feel a connection with one son or the other. Maybe we have strayed in our lives - or even intentionally walked away from friends, family, and home-and have been welcomed back despite feeling we didn’t deserve to be. Or perhaps we feel like the older son who has been working his tail off to do what he thinks is expected of him and then feels resentful when his wayward brother gets welcomed home. What if instead of focusing on one or the other sons, we focus on the father’s response to both of them in the parable? The father has generosity and joy enough for both sons. He wants both at the party-not just the sinner or the do-gooder. He throws the party so the younger son knows he is welcomed home wholeheartedly, and he tells the older son “everything I have is yours.” In that society, what the father possessed did not belong to the sons until he died; they had no claim on it until after his death. So it is highly unusual for the father to give the younger son his part of the inheritance prematurely, and just as unusual for the father to tell the older son “It’s already yours.” The father wants to share all he has and celebrate his relationship with both sons equally. It’s not about favourites; it’s an invitation for everyone to join the party. Tax collectors and sinners were joining Jesus “at the party.” Will the Pharisees and scribes too? Questions of the week Who do you usually relate to in the parable of the Prodigal Son? Why? Have you ever had an experience of being in the father’s position, either welcoming home a “sinner” or trying to convince a “righteous son” of your love for him too?
The first reading from Exodus takes place with Moses standing at the burning bush. It is when God reveals himself to Moses and declares that he will lead them out of slavery into their own land. We can imagine Moses’ puzzlement when God reveals his name as the cryptic “I am who I am.” The phrase in Hebrew, which gets translated into “Yahweh,” is a mystery to translators. The thrust of it seems to be that God is who God is, not who humans say God is. Also, there is a sense that God is in the present, not the past or future, but always present. In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares several times “I AM,” using the exact same words that God used in speaking to Moses. All of his listeners understood then that he was equating himself with God. In the Gospel, John the Baptist and Jesus both had a sense of urgency about them. They were serious about spreading their message quickly: “Repent! The Kingdom of God is near!” They seemed to understand there was no time to waste. There were hungry people to be fed, people in need of healing, people suffering discrimination be cause of their culture or religion, people trapped in sin, and people used as pawns in unjust economic and military systems. There wasn’t time to stand around and wait for God to swoop in and make everything right in the world. Jesus came ready to do God’s work in the world, and he was eager for others to begin doing it with him “right now!” Was Jesus impatient like the owner of the fig tree? Does he want results now? Or was he like the gardener, ready to demonstrate more trust and patience and give people more time to bear fruit? Maybe Jesus was both. He has little time for laziness or excuses. But he also knows that as humans we take time to grow and mature. The point seems to be that Jesus wants to see movement. We all have a gardener tending to us and advocating for us, but will we allow ourselves to fruit? We don’t have unlimited time. Let’s start growing. Questions of the week • What do you think Jesus feels most urgent about in the world today? • How do you need to begin bearing fruit in your life now?
As the apostles followed Jesus around the land of Galilee, they would have had plenty of ordinary moments with a seemingly average human: hiking from town to town, looking for places to camp or sleep, meeting all sorts of different people and sharing meals and wine with them, praying in synagogues on the Sabbath, etc. Then there were the incredible experiences that would have convinced them Jesus was more than an ordinary human: feeding crowds of thousands, healing the sick and crippled, speaking words of forgiveness that Jews thought only God could speak. Then, one day, three of the apostles witnessed this mysterious transfiguration of their friend on a mountaintop as two people from their history books appeared with him. The experience was something the apostles couldn’t have understood with their minds, yet they were asked by the voice from the cloud to listen to Jesus. They were asked to trust in him, to listen to him, and to follow him, even though he was such a mystery to them. The transfiguration may not have cleared up any of the apostles’ questions about Jesus’ identity, but they were still asked to trust in this person who was bringing healing, freedom, and new life to so many people. It’s as if God was giving them a gift in saying “You don’t have to understand how this is happening, how Jesus’ clothes look whiter than white, or how two dead men are alive here. What I do want you to do is to listen to him.” Only that. Don’t worry about understanding with your head. Follow with your heart. Questions of the week Have you had any experience of being asked to trust Jesus/God even though you couldn’t under stand something with your mind? In what ways is God inviting you to give up trying to understand his workings so that you can more freely follow Jesus’ call to you?
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As a Parish we encourage our community to pray for our shepherd, Bishop Richard as he leads our Diocese.
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This will take place from 10th - 18th March 2025 at St Joseph’s Church, Maidenhead. Every year, the Mill Hill Missionaries prepare for the Feast of St Joseph, their Society Patron, with a special Novena of Masses and prayers to ask for God’s blessing on the Society’s missionary outreach, and for the intentions of all those who support their work. If you are able, and it is possible to attend, Masses are at 10.00am every day of the Novena, except Sunday, when it is 11.00am. These Masses will be available to follow on Zoom via the Mill Hill website: www.millhillmissionaries.com/novena
• 25-31 July (by air) • 24 July-1 August (by coach/Jumbulance) Our pilgrimage to Lourdes is one of the most significant pastoral events in our annual Diocesan calendar. Pope Francis has declared 2025 is a Jubilee year, the Lourdes theme is ‘With Mary, Pilgrims of Hope’. We are invited to set out on our pilgrimage journey with our Lady and St Bernadette, in the ‘hope born of grace, which enables us to live in Christ and to overcome sin, fear and death.’ (Pope Francis, Spes non Confundit 2025) Lourdes is a place of renewal, a place where our relationship with Christ is deepened. Unlike tourists, visiting a popular attraction, we are pilgrims, making the journey together and staying together, entering a space in which we can be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in ways that, perhaps, we would never have thought possible before. A priority for our pilgrimage is that we support the sick and vulnerable to travel and experience Lourdes alongside us, for this purpose we need others to volunteer their time and skills every day in Lourdes. Because of this, the allocation of transport and accommodation puts the assisted pilgrims and their supporters as a priority. Travel is inevitably a challenge when planning a pilgrimage. The flights and coach bookings that are available to us will vary in time and location. Our first Mass, with the opening ceremony, is held on Saturday to ensure all are all together in our first celebration of Mass in Lourdes. More Information and Bookings: www.abdiocese.org.uk/lourdes/home
Bishop Richard - A talk on Mary leading us to Her Son
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Vocations
Are you feeling increasingly compelled to spend time with Jesus? Do you find that your time is spent seeking him and all things connected with him?
