The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . After a reasonably quiet August things really sped up very quickly after Bank Holiday Monday . . . . . . . After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D shot off in the car to Notre Dame School where he celebrated Mass for all the staff during their ‘in set day.’ When he got back home he spent time preparing for his first meeting in the evening with the parents of this year’s First Reconciliation and First Eucharist children. This year we have seventeen children who are about to commence their preparations to receive these two great Sacraments during this academic year (Reconciliation, Saturday 28th November 11.00; and Eucharist, Sunday 13th June, 11.00). On Wednesday Fr D was off early, up to London for a day watching cricket with friends. This trip takes place usually once a year. Rain delayed the start and later in the afternoon bad light stopped play; but Fr D was very happy with the play that he did get to see! Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D managed a ‘catch-up’ with Sarah in the Parish Office having missed her for much of the week. He was also preparing for a meeting in the afternoon. When the time of the meeting came around he joined the rest of the clergy of the Epsom Deanery as they finalised the plans they have been making for the future provision of Masses in the Epsom area now that Fr Charles (Effingham and Fetcham) is going off on sabbatical and not being replaced by another priest - this will be a permanent loss of a priest in the Deanery and the local clergy have been asked to develop a plan to deal with the situation. After the meeting had taken place Fr D was delighted with the progress that had been achieved (he actually said to Fr Tony Churchill that he thought that he had died and gone to heaven but nobody had told him - such was the unanimity of the clergy about the plan!). The clergy will now present the plan to the ‘Parish Leadership Team’ when they meet later in September before announcing it in all the Parishes at the beginning of October.  Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday morning, Fr D again shot off in the car to Notre Dame School where he celebrated Mass for the senior school at the beginning of their new school year. He was expecting our electrician to come for several small works around the parish plant but this had to be cancelled owing to larger project over running - the appointment will be re-arranged for a later date . . . . .

The issue of Assisted Suicide will return to the Houses of Parliament this month, following the failure of MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to make it through the necessary legislative stages in time to become law. A new Private Member’s Bill, which is broadly identical to Kim Leadbeater’s 2024 legislation, was reintroduced to Parliament by Labour MP Lauren Edwards in June, with Members of Parliament facing a vitally important vote next Friday (11th) which will determine whether Assisted Suicide moves closer to becoming law, or is rejected. The Catholic Church teaches that every human life from conception to natural death is sacred, with the dignity and value of each person central to an effective moral vision for society. Assisted Suicide is strongly opposed by the Church with bishops across Scotland, England & Wales calling for better provision and funding for palliative care which aims to manage pain and other symptoms, looking after a person’s emotional, practical, and psychological needs while supporting their loved ones. Speaking in July, Prime Minister Andy Burnham (who plans to abstain from September’s vote) suggested it would be difficult to implement Assisted Suicide before social and palliative care were improved. Hospices face significant financial pressures currently, with the UK Government providing around a third of the sector’s running costs and local fundraising teams expected to make up the shortfall. MP Lauren Edwards’ Bill arrives at a time when the wider National Health Service (NHS) is in crisis. Patients are facing increasing delays in seeing General Practitioners (GPs), with long waiting lists for treatment and support services – not least for mental health. The strong arguments being made in favour of Assisted Suicide don’t answer the right question; we must protect and improve the provision of ethical end-of-life care. The vote next Friday can be won. As the previous assisted suicide bill passed the House of Commons by a small margin, only twelve MPs need to change their minds for the revived suicide bill to be defeated at its second reading. A number of MPs have already expressed reservations about bringing it back or forcing it through parliament. The Prime Minister has now said that the debate should wait until palliative and social care are properly funded. Mounting evidence from the small number of places around the world that have legalised assisted suicide show that safeguards do not work, and that changing the law can have devastating consequences. If assisted suicide becomes law, thousands of individuals will be placed at risk for years to come. One of the most effective ways to persuade MPs to oppose this dangerous bill is through physical letters or postcards from constituents asking them to vote NO to the bill.  PLEASE TAKE A POSTCARD FROM THE NARTHEX THIS WEEKEND AND MAKE A POINT OF SENDING IT TO OUR LOCAL MP TO INFORM HIM OF YOUR IMPLACABLE RESISTANCE TO THIS MEASURE.

DREAMS FOR HOPE - a local charity run by one of our parishioners (Jim Vizzini), provides beds for children in and around the Borough of Elmbridge who are suffering from bed poverty. Our local Waitrose in Cobham have chosen the ‘Dreams for Hope’ charity to take part in the Community Matters Scheme, one of only three charities to have been picked. The scheme runs from July 1st to September 30th and you can help by dropping a token into the "Dreams For Hope" box when you exit the store.  When Fr D was dropping off his tokens after a shop this week he thought that parishioners may have forgotten about the scheme - more tokens needed ! ! !

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Finally, it would appear that things are slowing down for the summer period and Fr D can start playing a bit of ‘catch-up’ and planning for the future . . . . . . Last weekend at all of our Masses we were fortunate to have someone from the ‘Bethlehem Nativity Group’ to explain something of the present situation for Catholics in the Holy Land and to display and sell some of their olive wood carvings in the Parish Centre afterwards. On Monday morning the electrician came to install an unswitched fused spur in the Parish Office ready for the security engineers on Wednesday. We are very lucky to have discovered a really good electrician who is able to complete all of these small (but important) jobs for us as we make sure that our Parish ‘plant’ is up to date and safe - keeping the wolves of Health and Safety well away from us! Having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition Fr D was once more off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley to get on with his commitments at the Tribunal. At present he has two cases waiting for a judgement session that has been booked, another two cases that he is working on with a view to booking judgements, and an interview with one of his clients booked in. Early on Wednesday morning the security engineers arrived at the Parish Centre to fit a new system for access to Sarah and the Parish Office. This is necessary because Sarah is classified as a ‘lone worker’ and as such needs to control who gets into the office whilst she is working. We have been looking at these works for over a year now and have looked at several different solutions, the chosen solution consists of an electric door lock that Sarah can open from inside the office after a video conversation. Once again, this should keep the Health and Safety wolves away from us! At lunchtime Fr D was meeting Fr Ruslan (Walton-on-Thames) for their monthly lunch - a chance for them both to catch up with the latest goings on in the diocese. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D spent time preparing for the funeral of a parishioner that he was celebrating on the Friday. He was also on a mission to get the newsletter started as Sarah was having a day off on the Friday.  On Friday morning Fr D celebrated a requiem Mass in the church followed by a burial at Cobham cemetery . . . . . . .

OUR PARISH SUPPORTS THE COBHAM AREA FOODBANK Please can you help local people in crisis by purchasing items on the list below and placing them in the Foodbank’s collection point in the narthex when to come to Mass at the weekend? 

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A slightly less busy time around The Presbytery this week as the final schools start their summer holidays (what a difference in traffic on the roads!) . . . . . After celebrating our Masses on Sunday morning Fr D went on to celebrate the baptism of three infants at 12.15. These were the final families from the Parish who had completed the course of preparation for Infant Baptism this academic year. The Baptism Preparation Programme will recommence in the Autumn with eventual baptisms taking place on Sunday 22 nd November (Christ the King). All children (under school age) from practicing families the Parish need to undertake the course of preparation before a celebration of Baptism can take place - the Application Form for attending a course is available from the Parish Office during normal office hours. On Monday evening Fr D met with a young couple from a previous parish whom he is to celebrate marriage for in the latter part of August. This will be the third out of four children from the family where he has been asked to celebrate the marriage. One of those occasions when a priest realises how close he has become to a family . . . . . . . Tuesday morning, having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition, Fr D went off in the car down to the diocesan offices in Crawley. He has completed another two of his marriage cases and has called a judgement session with the two other judges for the beginning of August when a decision concerning the cases will be rendered. He also began work on another case which he’d like to get ready for a judgement before he goes off on holiday. In the evening he almost didn’t know what to do with himself since his diary said that he didn’t have a meeting to go to! After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D had the electrical engineers completing the final bits of ‘phase two’ of the refurbished lighting system in the church, as well as the fencing contractor to look at the next stage of the fencing project around our properties. The biggest section (around the car park) was completed last August and now the completion of the project will involve a short run along the ‘Leg of Mutton’ field, then down the dividing line between The Presbytery and the Sisters next door, and finally a run delineating the fire exit route down the back of the Parish Centre.  On Friday Fr D was meeting with the widow of a parishioner whose requiem we will celebrate next week and then had a ‘House Blessing’ to celebrate . .

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Once again a busy week around The Presbytery, as schools and families begin to get ready for the summer holiday . . . . At our Parish Masses last Sunday an infant celebrated the Rite of Welcome as part of the family’s preparations for Baptism at the 09.00 and at the 11.00 we celebrated the Baptism of three older children who have spent nearly a year in preparation for their ‘big day.’ This Sunday we will be celebrating the Baptism of three infants at 12.15 - all proof of the existence of a vibrant Catholic community here in Cobham! On Monday (supposedly a day off!) Fr D had to attend yet another Deanery Clergy Meeting to continue looking at the provision of Mass and pastoral care in our Epsom area. This has been made more urgent with the news that Fr Charles Howell will be leaving Effingham and Fetcham in the autumn and will not be replaced. (More news on developments locally in this new edition of our Deanery newsletter.)  Tuesday after celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition Fr D was down in the diocesan offices in Crawley and, whilst there, met Fr Stephen Wang who will be ordained as the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton during October. In the evening Fr D met with the Parish Finance Committee for their second quarterly meeting for the current year. The project to ensure a ‘lone worker’ safety zone for Sarah in the Parish Office which has been on the agenda for over a year finally seems to be coming to fruition. The door to the Parish Office upstairs in the Parish Centre will soon have alterations made to it leading to a video doorbell with two way communication and electronic lock which will give admission control. This will enable us to ‘tick off’ a health and safety issue that we have known about for a while. Later in the summer it is hoped that the second phase of the security fencing around the parish property (Leg of Mutton field and sisters garden) will be completed - this will ease the sisters worries concerning occasional ingress to their property through ours. Late September/October it is hoped that the third and final phase of the renovated church lighting will be completed - this will see all of the oblong halogen units along the main roof area removed in favour of lighting hidden above the pelmet around the church. There have also been issues with some of the rainwater drainage behind the Parish Centre and either side of the bicycle rack outside the church, this will involve excavating the drains and building a new soakaway.

Many thanks to all our volunteers who help to provide coffee after church and to those parishioners who come along and make it an enjoyable social event. Due to the generosity of everyone we have been able to donate £500 to Cobham Food Bank this year, which is sorely needed. We are grateful to our volunteers who are taking a step back and welcoming several new volunteers in September. There will be coffee after 11 o'clock mass up to 19th July and then a break for the summer, see you in September. If anyone would like to help in any way, please get in touch with Diane Yearley 07927 397936.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Another busy week here at The Presbytery as Fr D got together materials for several meetings that he was involved in through the week . . . . At all of our Masses last weekend there was an appeal for the HCPT Lourdes Pilgrimage Group that Fr D travels with each year after Easter. The leader of the Group was able to talk a little about the origins of the Children’s Pilgrimage and give a little taste of what the children do during their week each year. Several parishioners took the opportunity to talk to the two Group representatives after each Mass and at coffee after the 11.00 Mass. Early on Monday morning Fr D was up and about to give access to the electrical engineers who made a start on ‘Phase Two’ of the reworking of the church lighting system. This involved altering the round spotlights throughout the building from halogen units (240w) to LED units (50w) and ensuring each was reinforced where necessary to take bulbs that are four times the weight of the old ones! Just to be certain each unit is now held with a short length of aircraft grade wire to ensure that there will be no accidents! The smaller amount of power that the new units use will make a considerable dent in the lighting electricity bills in the future (as well as lasting much longer before replacement becomes necessary)! After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday, Fr D took off down to Crawley in the car to continue work on two cases he will soon call to judgement, as well as answering an increasing number of canonical queries that seem to come in to the Tribunal office. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D had a meeting with the Clergy Welfare Officer for Surrey. This involves a chat during which the officer checks that Fr D is looking after himself (eating properly etc.), taking his day off each week, and being in reasonable contact with other clergy locally. She also reminded him that he really ought to avail himself of the diocesan ’health check’ at some point (when there’s time).  Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D did not go down to Crawley for his second day of Tribunal work as he had a Teams Meeting of the Trustees of the Bosco Catholic Education Trust. Fr D joined via teams because the meeting was taking place in Hastings and he had other things that he needed to do which precluded travelling for that long (and the heat was not the best thing to be driving in) . . . . . .