The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Just when Fr D thought that things were beginning to die down as the holiday period a whole lot of things suddenly arrived in his lap during this week . . . Fr D was delighted that last Sunday Fr Tony was able to celebrate our two morning Masses whilst he was in Ewell celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Fr Graham Bamford’s ordination as a priest in 1975 (Fr D would only have been fourteen years old at the time). The celebratory Mass was followed by a reception in the parish hall where lots of people who knew Fr D when he was an assistant priest in Epsom were re-introducing themselves. When he arrived home in the afternoon he thought that he would get some reading done for one of his marriage cases, but having climbed into his armchair he woke up at 19.50! On Monday the quotation came in for the fencing that will replace the conifer hedging that needs to be removed due to the increased risk of fire; it was considerably less than Fr D was expecting so he was delighted. In the afternoon he had to attend an eye clinic at Epsom hospital - one of two checks he has to undergo each year - everything was fine. Then in the evening Fr D joined a presentation (via Teams) on his computer about the proposed changes in our local councils (the government want to merge the county and borough councils so that there is only one local authority to be dealt with). On Tuesday Fr D was up early to get the reading done that he had tried on Sunday afternoon. Having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition he was off in the car down to the diocesan offices in Crawley where he managed to get quite a bit of work done on the case he was working on. When he got home in the late afternoon he got ready for his meeting with the Parish Finance Committee in the evening. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D was able to get some correspondence that has built up on his desk out of the way and get most of his bits for the newsletter done (he knew that he’d have no time on Friday as he was celebrating Mass with Bishop Richard and opening a new section of one of the Bosco Catholic Education Trust schools).  Once again, after Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was off down to the Tribunal at Crawley. Whilst there he got a text message from a parishioner to tell him that someone had managed to hit the boundary wall of the car park when they were trying to enter - it never rains when it can pour . . . . .

There will not be a celebration of Morning Prayer or Mass this Friday ( 11th July )

On Saturday afternoon this weekend Bishop Richard ordained two new priests for service in the diocese, Scott Coleman and Gary Carter. They will begin their priestly ministry in September having received their appointments from the bishop. We pray that they will be happy in their respective ministries and that God will inspire other men to think about offering themselves for service in the Church.

Unfortunately no contemporary biography was written of the man who had the greatest influence on monasticism in the West. Benedict was born of a very important family in central Italy, studied at Rome, and in his early in life was drawn to monasticism. First he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world - pagan armies on the march, the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a very low ebb. He soon realised that he could not live a hidden life in a small town any better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the mountains for three years. Some monks chose Benedict as their leader for a while, but found his strictness too much. Still the shift from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of bringing various families of monks into one ‘Grand Monastery’ to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and worship in one house. Finally he began to build what was to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world - Monte Cassino, in the mountains north of Naples. The Rule he developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labour, and common living under an abbot. Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding countryside.  In the course of the Middle Ages, all monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Benedict’s Rule.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A slight slowing down this week around The Presbytery, as sacramental programmes for the year come to an end and schools get ready for the long summer holidays . . . . . Saturday morning Fr D met with the First Eucharist families for their final ‘input session’ and at our 09.00 Mass on Sunday, together with our newly confirmed, those who have just received the Eucharist for the first time received their Certificates. This brought to an end the 2024/5 programmes and Fr D announced that the applications for next year’s programmes are now available (see newsletter announcement). After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D picked up Fr Tony and they went off to the annual Clergy In-Service in Horsley. These take place every year and cover areas of ministry of current importance. They are an overnight occasion but Fr D, living so close, prefers his own food and bed! On Wednesday Fr D was back at the hotel for the In-Service to continue. The clergy were led in reflections about the changing environment in which they exercise their ministry, especially with regard to the Diocesan Pastoral Plan and the changes that this will involve in a relatively short space of time. (The Council of Priests was meeting at some point this week to advise the bishop on the first three Deaneries to be transformed into a Parish with a Team Ministry providing for their needs.) On Thursday Fr D was able to spend some time on this week’s newsletter - somewhat delayed by the In-Service. Having celebrated Mass and Morning Prayer he also had a contractor coming to look at the recent fire damage (second time in two years) to the hedging around the Parish car park. Fr D is thinking about having the hedging removed because it is an ongoing fire hazard, requires trimming twice a year, and replacing it with a maintenance free, fireproof fence which has a twenty-five year guarantee. He’ll be discussing this with members of the Finance Committee on Tuesday evening this week. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday Fr D had to go down to the Tribunal Office in Crawley (not having been down during the rest of the week) where he held a judgement session for a marriage case that he has spent some considerable time on . . . .

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? 

In a statement on the precarious situation facing care homes and hospices, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and Archbishop John Sherrington, Archbishop of Liverpool, said: “Parliament has now rejected amendments that would have allowed [many care homes and hospices] not to be involved in assisted suicide. Stephen Kinnock MP, Kim Leadbeater MP, as well as other MPs, indicated that the rights that this Bill will give to individuals to seek assisted suicide, and to employees to participate in an assisted suicide, are likely to trump the mission and values of institutions such as hospices and care homes. “In other words, a right to assisted suicide given to individuals is highly likely to become a duty on care homes and hospices to facilitate it. Institutions whose mission has always been to provide compassionate care in sickness or old age, and to provide such care until the end of life, may have no choice, in the face of these demands, but to withdraw from the provision of such care.  “The widespread support which hospices attract from local communities will also be undermined by these demands which, in many cases, will require institutions to act contrary to their traditional and principled foundations.

St. Thomas was a dedicated but impetuous follower of Christ. When Jesus said that he was returning to Judea to visit his sick friend Lazarus, Thomas immediately exhorted the other Apostles to accompany Him on the trip which involved certain danger and possible death because of the mounting hostility of the authorities. At the Last Supper, when Christ told His Apostles that He was going to prepare a place for them to which they also might come because they knew both the place and the way, Thomas pleaded that they did not understand and received the beautiful assurance that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  But St. Thomas is best known for his role verifying the Master’s Resurrection. Thomas’ unwillingness to believe that the other Apostles had seen their risen Lord on the first Easter Sunday merited for him the title of “doubting Thomas.” Eight days later, on Christ’s second apparition, Thomas was gently rebuked for his scepticism and furnished with the evidence he had demanded – seeing in Christ’s hands the point of the nails and putting his fingers in the place of the nails and his hand into his side.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . It has been fairly hectic around The Presbytery this week with Fr D having to be away from the Parish more often than normal for a variety of reasons . . . . . Fr D was greatly heartened last Sunday, as we celebrated our annual opportunity for a period of extended Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, as many parishioners took the opportunity to spend some time in prayer before our Lord. The Blessed Sacrament was left on the altar from the end of our 11.00 Mass until a celebration of Evening Prayer and Benediction at 15.30. The attendance at this event seems to be increasing each year which is good to see. In the evening Fr D joined the sisters, the senior management team and the governors of Notre Dame School as they celebrated the end of another school year - one which has not been easy for independent schools, with several punitive changes in government legislation. Having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was off down to Crawley once more in the car; he was putting the finishing touches to his arguments for a marriage case judgement at the end of next week. In the evening Fr D met for the last time on their own with the parents of those children who have recently celebrated their First Eucharist. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D was able to spend some time catching up with Parish business. In particular he is having to put in an insurance claim for the hedging that recently caught fire between the car park and the Leg of Mutton field. He’s also working on getting quotations for rectifying the situation, including the possibility of erecting a fireproof metal fence instead of the hedging (particularly as this is the second incident in two years). Thursday, having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D had to travel to a school in Sussex in order to be a panel member for the Bosco Catholic Education Trust looking at employing a ‘Director for Chaplaincy Services.  On Friday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D managed to finish the timetables for next year’s Infant Baptism, First Reconciliation, and First Eucharist Programmes within the Parish. Infant Baptism application forms can be sourced from the Parish Office and the First Reconciliation and Eucharist Applications are now available from the sacristy after the weekend Mass that the families normally attend. All these applications can only be obtained by parents (NOT grandparents or friends). Once again Fr D is unable to produce a calendar for Confirmation as the Bishop has not set a date yet . . . . . . .