Now that we have completed all the updated mandatory ‘Barring & Vetting’ checks for our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion we hope to recommence offering the chalice to parishioners at our weekend Masses from Saturday 4th January 2025.  The Church teaches that under the species of bread alone a communicant receives the full grace of the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “For pastoral reasons this matter of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite” (No. 1390). Yet the Catechism adds that “the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly” when Communion is given under both species.

ALL Catholics are urged to contact their MPs as soon as possible to stop the legalisation of Assisted Suicide now going through parliament. Our nation stands on the brink of a major change in how we treat human life, particularly the lives of the most vulnerable. If this radical proposal to introduce assisted suicide passes, thousands of vulnerable lives will be at risk. Over the coming years. Mounting evidence from the small number of places around the world that have legalised assisted suicide shows that these laws are incremental, that safeguards do not work, and that the changed law can have devastating consequences. It is therefore vital that this Assisted Suicide Bill is defeated on Friday 29th November. To ensure that the Catholic voice has as big an impact as possible PLEASE would all parishioners take one of the postcards this weekend to complete and send to our local MP in good time before the vote on 29th November. We only have days left to stop this terrible change to our laws!

In the city of Rome there was a virgin named Cecilia, who came from an extremely rich family and was given in marriage to a youth named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, fasted, and invoked the saints and angels, beseeching them to guard her virginity During her wedding ceremony she was said to have sung in her heart to God and before the consummation of her nuptials, she told her husband she had taken a vow of virginity and had an angel protecting her. Valerian asked to see the angel as proof, and Cecilia told him he would have eyes to see once he travelled to the third milestone on the Via Appia and was baptised by the Pope. Following his baptism, Valerian returned to his wife and found an angel at her side. The angel then crowned Cecilia with a chaplet of rose and lily and when Valerian’s brother heard of the angel and his brother’s baptism, he also was baptised and they then dedicated their lives to burying the saints who were murdered each day by the Prefect of the city. Both brothers were arrested and brought before the Prefect and executed after they refused to offer sacrifice to the gods. As her husband and brother-in -law buried the dead, Cecilia spent her time preaching and in her lifetime was able to convert over four hundred people, most of whom were baptised by the Pope.  Cecilia was later arrested and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for one night and one day, as fires were heaped up and stoked to a terrifying heat - but Cecilia did not even sweat. When the Prefect heard this, he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the baths.

Just before we get to Advent, we always hear “apocalyptic” readings about the end of the world. The first reading today from the book of Daniel and the Gospel fit into this category, as does the Book of Revelation. Apocalyptic writing is a particular type of literature that was popular in Jewish and Christian circles from about 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. Such literature originated in times of persecution and crisis when Jews or Christians were severely threatened. It offered readers the assurance that God would ultimately overcome Satan despite the horrors of the present time. (The Left Behind series of books and movies is a modern-day equivalent to such ancient writings.)  Apocalyptic literature is known for its extravagant symbolism (“the stars will be falling from the sky”), supernatural visions (“They will see the ‘Son of Man coming in the clouds’”), natural disasters (earth quakes, famine, fire) and symbolic numbers (seven, 12, 666), none of which are meant to be taken literally. Scholars agree that the point of these types of readings was to encourage followers to stand firm in their faith despite threats to their lives, and to look forward to Christ’s return in glory. It’s encouragement we can all use with the seemingly unending onslaught of “little apocalypses” in the news this year. Questions of the week • Jesus’ language in the Gospel reading today is very different from most of his other teachings and sayings. What your main takeaway? • Given the above explanation of apocalyptic writing, do you find it comforting and strengthening or off-putting? Why?

The date for this year’s Parish Christmas Bazaar is Saturday December 7th,

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A reasonably hectic week once more around The Presbytery as things begin to ‘heat up’ for our annual Parish Christmas Bazaar. If you’ve not yet managed to collect your FOUR books of Grand Draw Tickets to sell to family, friends, and work colleagues please make a point of collecting them as you leave Mass this weekend (don’t forget, if you fill in the ticket stubs correctly and you sell the first ticket drawn out you too win a prize! Last Sunday afternoon at 15.30 we celebrated the annual ‘Blessing of the Graves’ at Cobham cemetery. This took the form of a short outdoor service near the entrance to the cemetery chapel followed by parishioners going and standing at the graves of their loved ones for Fr D to locate them; then he would bless each grave with holy water whilst saying a prayer over the grave. Afterwards there was tea and scones on offer at the Parish Centre. On Monday Cobham was ‘playing host’ to Fr D’s Ministry to Priests Support Group - slightly lower numbers than usual as one member has just had a hip replacement operation and was convalescing in Rustington. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was heading off to St Michael’s (Ashtead) for the November Deanery clergy meeting. Fr D had hoped more information would become apparent concerning the bishop’s Pastoral Plan for our local area (Epsom) but this was not the case. In the evening Fr D spent time with the parents of this year’s First Reconciliation candidates - preparing them for what they were going to be doing with their children on Saturday morning. One remaining session to go now before the ‘big day’ when they meet the Lord in the sacrament of Reconciliation - remember to keep both the candidates and their families in your prayers as this approaches. Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D was able to spend a little time thinking ahead to the advent season (Evening Prayer & Benediction; Reconciliation Services; Advent Homilies; Parish Advent Carol Service). In the evening he met up with the Parish Finance Committee to look at the third quarter’s finances and whether or not we are on track with our projected budget at present.  Thursday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D was down at the diocesan office in Crawley to write up the Sentences for three marriage cases that he judged last Friday . . . . .

 What is happening and why? The Lectionary, which is the book that contains the Scripture readings for Mass and the Sacraments, is changing as part of the continuing process of revising liturgical translations. The process began with the Roman Missal in 2011 and has continued with all the other liturgical texts.  What translation will the new Lectionary use? The new Lectionary will use both the English Standard Version - Catholic Edition of the Bible and the Abbey Psalter for the psalms.  What effect will the changes have on the readings? The changes are intended to make the biblical translations more faithful to the original languages, to reflect current biblical scholarship, and to provide a text for use in liturgical setting that is easier to proclaim and, where appropriate, more inclusive.  When are the changes taking place? The lectionary will become mandatory for use in all Catholic parishes and Mass centres in England and Wales, and in Scotland from Advent 2024 (1st December).  Here at the Sacred Heart our new ritual books have arrived and we have started using them already. There are some new Peoples Sunday Lectionaries available from the Repository (£19.95), more can be ordered if the need is established. A weekday Peoples Missal is in production and should be available in the early part of the new year (price to be confirmed). We are expecting a delivery of Mass Books with the new translation but these will not work until the First Sunday of Advent - this is why the readings are slightly different for three weeks

This weekend’s Retiring Collection is the annual one for the Retired Priests Fund. At present, we have about 30 retired priests which the Diocese cares for. Each one of these priests have given many decades of service to the people in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. Every year at least £200,000 is required by the Diocese for the ongoing support of these retired priests; this amount is likely to increase in the coming years as more reach the age of retirement. This financial support ensures that priests do not have to face fiscal hardship when the time comes for their parish ministry to come to an end. While in active parish ministry, priests’ accommodation and domestic needs are met by the parishes in which they serve and they receive a modest personal income from Offerings at Christmas & Easter, Mass stipends, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. There is no charge placed on parishes for pension contributions to fund the future needs of their priest. The Retired Priests’ Fund supplies these needs, whether the priest is able to live independently or perhaps needs ‘sheltered accommodation’ as more care is required. Over recent years, this collection has contributed only a fraction of the amount needed. So, please help our retired priests by giving generously to our Retiring Collection today. Your donations can also be Gift Aided, using the Parish Envelope, making it tax efficient.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Once more, a fairly busy week around The Presbytery as Fr D tries to bring several projects to a head before the year end . . . . On Monday evening (coming back from his day off) Fr D was attending the opening of the new Notre Dame School ‘Innovation Centre,’ where he was asked to bless the building. Fr D was extremely impressed with the new facilities now available to the girls at the school. Tuesday morning, after Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition, Fr D rushed off to have his annual flu jab (he’d received his latest Covid jab the day before he went off on holiday and he’s due a pneumonia jab next Friday)! Returning home Fr D was chasing up the possibilities of having two electric vehicle points installed in the car park, offering users more facilities. He’s been trying to get things sorted in the same way as St Erconwald’s in Walton and has been trying to make contact with the company that did the job. In the evening, after the half-term break, Fr D met with the parents of this year’s First Reconciliation children to look at the next section of the preparation course. Fr D teaches the parents on a Tuesday evening to ready them for any questions that may arise from the children when they meet (along with the parents) with Fr D on Saturday morning. In this way the parents are able to ‘make good’ on the promise they made at their child’s baptism to be “the first and best of teachers to their children in the ways of faith.” After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D began work on his parts of the Newsletter for the weekend. He also started chasing up the diocesan IT manager to complete the telephone project that has been ongoing. Some time ago Fr D discovered that the Parish was paying for two BT Business lines (house & office). Nowhere else had he been on business lines before and researching costs he was concerned. In discussion with the diocesan IT manager a plan was hatched to reduce the situation to one telephone line (not BT Business!) and join up the Presbytery and Office so that Sarah and Fr D could actually contact one another without having to phone. Part of the project was done just before we hit the holiday period in the summer (this involved rewiring and setting up wifi access points in each of the meeting rooms in the Parish Centre.  Fr D was down at the diocesan offices in Crawley on both Thursday and Friday this week, judging three cases on Friday . . . . .