MESSAGES FROM FR DAVID
Dear Parishioners
Last Sunday I was on the Church of Notre Dame at St. Hilaire du Harcourt inLower Normandy. There was a great gathering of people for the 11am Mass which was the enrolment Mass for the First Holy Communion candidates. St.Hilaire is a small town about the size of Farnham and it was encouraging to see 40 children enrolled for the First Communion Course. There was a real buzz of excitement about the occasion and you could see that not only parents and grandparents, but the whole community was involved in celebrating this special event.
This Sunday is our First Holy Communion Enrolment for the Parishes of Holy Angels, Ash and Holy Family, Heath End. Although we have less children being enrolled than they did at St. Hilaire, the joy and excitement is no less, both for parents, grandparents and for the whole parish.
First Communions in any parish are a sign, like baptisms, of new life in a parish. They help us focus on our faith and our relationship with God in a busy and often distracting world. I would like to thank the parents of the First Holy Communion candidates for encouraging and supporting their children to make their First Holy Communion and in taking this important step in their relationship with Christ in their journey to adult life.
I would also like to thank our First Holy Communion Team who give generously of their free time to help and encourage our young people in preparing for their First Holy Communion.
As we celebrate the enrolment of our children this Sunday, we can also hold in our thoughts that at this time of the year there will be about a million children throughout the world also beginning their preparation for their First Holy Communion in 2012. A million children, possibly 2 million proud parents and even more proud grandparents, as the joy of this occasion brings new life to the church each year and all because Jesus said “Let the children come to me” and “Unless you receive my body you can have no real spiritual life in you”. May God Bless all who are taking part in our First Holy Communion enrolment this Sunday.
This Sunday we are also with other Christians in our area observing Harvest Thanksgiving. Your gifts of food today will go to the Farnham Foodbank and Fairtrade Coffee and Tea will be served after the 9.15am Mass at HF and the 11.00am Mass at HA’s. Please spare sometime to join us for coffee or tea and a chat if you can.
CAFOD Harvest Family Fast Day will be on Friday, 7th October and the collection for your harvest fast will be on Sunday, 9th October. Envelopes for the Harvest Fast are available today.
A thank you to all who helped to cover whist I was away on holiday. Knowing that the parish was in good hands and being well cared for (together with a little local French wine) really helped me to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing time. God Bless you all – Father David
Peace and Joy
Peace and happiness, peace and joy
Is like a child with a new toy.
Peace descends from above
Like the pure wings of a dove.
Peace in the heart and peace in the home
Peace to those who still mourn.
Peace and comfort to those in the cold.
Peace and warmth to the very old.
Soon we will celebrate on Christmas morn,
When our Heavenly Prince of Peace is born.
Peace on earth and good will to all men.
Will there be peace, if so when?
Peace to those who suffer hatred and abuse.
Peace to those who feel they are of no use.
Peace and joy to those who find work.
Peace to their conscience to those who shirk.
May the peace of Christmas descend upon you
And remain with you the whole year through.
While we continue to strive for peace as long as we live
PEACE IS WHAT THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE!
© Newton Abrew (November 23rd 2011)
A Prayer suggestion Before Mass
Dear Lord, it is not always easy to think of You in this busy world in which we live.My time is often taken up by my work or the attention I have to give to others. Today, Lord, I have come here to be close to you in a very special way.Help me now to free my mind of those things that have kept me from thinking of You during the past week.Help me to realise that You have invited me here today so that You may come to me in Holy communion.Give me the grace to prepare for the coming week, so that each day we may be together in our love for each other.Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
A Prayer After Mass
Dear Lord, the time has come for me to face again the challenges in my daily life and in the world in which I live.Be with me each day in all I think or do or say until we meet again in this glorious Sacrament of your love.Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
GENERAL
Mother and Toddler Group
Our Mother and Baby Group is held every Thursday from 9.30am – 11.30am in the Church Hall. £1 per child (for further information please contact Ann on 01252 501226)Mother and Toddler Group
Holy Family with Holy Angels - Under 12s Christmas Party with Santa
Thursday 22nd December 11:00-14:00 in Holy Family Hall
Bookings £1 per child includes a plate of finger food - Tel: Ann on 01252 501226
Mass Intentions
Mass Intentions are accepted on the understanding that there are times when unforeseen pastoral commitments make it impossible for that Mass to be said on that day and will therefore be transferred to the next suitable date. Where possible we will also notify the donor.
CRUSE – Do you know what Cruse is?
Cruse is bereavement support for anyone who has lost a family member.
On Saturday, 12th November the South West Surrey Cruse Bereavement Care will be holding a Fund Raising Concert. The Reading Male Voice Choir will be attending at HighCrossChurch, Camberley. The concert will also feature soprano soloist Lori Tingay Weber. The choir in its fortieth anniversary year, together with Lori enjoy a superb reputation. You are warmly invited to support this worthy cause. Tickets £10. You can either telephone 07787 729869 or email: southwestsurrey@cruse.org.uk alternatively tickets can be purchased from Chris Michie of Holy Angels Church. Please contact the office for further details.
Information
Your Parish needs you. We need more help in the following areas. If you are interested please make contact with the coordinator. Remember many hands make light work and reduce the overall commitment.
Children's Liturgy - Kerry Guy
Church Cleaning - Mary Norton
Grounds - Deacon John – 321383
CHURCH CLEANING PLEASE We really need your help.
Can you spare an hour every six weeks to help keep our church clean?
We have lost quite a few of our team of longstanding volunteers recently for various reasons so we really need YOU.
Maybe you could join up with a couple of friends to form a group. Obviously the more groups we have the less often our turn comes round.
Please give serious consideration to this appea
If you can help or want more details please ring Mary Norton on 716175 or Ann Whitworth on 327533.Thank You
Mass Intentions
PLEASE NOTE: If you request a Mass Intention and wish to make an offering by cheque please make it payable to Father David Buckley, this is the same for Weddings, Baptisms and Funerals
Mother’s Prayer Group – for more information please see Church Notice boards.
BAPTISM
Next baptism sessions to be held at 20:00 @ Holy Family on
January 16th and January 23rd 2012
Contact: Maria Kellock: kellocme@live.co.uk
Please note:
Before attending Baptism Classes, please arrange an initial meeting with either Fr. David or Deacon John Edwards. Following your meeting with the Priest or Deacon, you can attend the Classes and once these are completed a date for the Baptism of your child can be arranged with either the Priest or Deacon.
GARDENING AND MAINTENANCE At mass last week I spoke of Breda and Richard Read’s retirement from garden maintenance. I would like to record here my thanks to them both for all their hard work. Following on from that I would really like someone else to volunteer to co-ordinate the maintenance of the gardens for us. Do you have green fingers and an hour or two to spare. Please get in touch or I will have to pay contractors for the work.
CATECHIST NEEDED: Do you feel the call to serve as a catechist? We are hoping to have one more person join the First Communion team for the upcoming programme year. Working as a team was very beneficial as we are all busy mums with other family commitments. The team consists of Lorraine Brown, Kerry Guy and Maria Kellock. Ideally someone from Holy Angels will step forward in order to have two catechists from each parish, but it isn’t essential. Please contact Fr. David or Lorraine Brown at lorrainebrown@tinyworld.co.uk if you would like more information.
Gift Aid for Holy Family – the total amount returned to the parish as a result of your Gift Aided donations was £7443 so thank you to all who use this method and for your continuing generosity which as you know we need!
Pastoral Visits to Hospital Patients: NHS Trust hospitals (private ones too) have a duty to protect patient confidentiality. Consequently they will not disclose any personal information concerning patients without the patient’s permission. As far as Pastoral visits by the catholic Hospital Chaplain are concerned, they should not take place unless you have said specifically that you wish to be visited. It also means that the chaplain should not disclose the fact that you are in the hospital to any other person without your permission.
In practice, if you wish to be visited by a Roman Catholic chaplain, you need to say that you are a Roman Catholic when you supply details on your admission form and, if there is a place on the form to indicate you wish to be visited, say so. Emergency admissions tend to run ahead of the paperwork, but you can always ask ward staff to let the Chaplain’s office know your wishes.
www.sfo-chilworth.co.uk
The Secular Franciscan Order. Chilworth Fraternity issue a set of weekly meditations each month. Go on to the website and click on to Meditation. Give it a try this month.
Sick and retired Priests in the Diocese need our support: THE SOUTHWARK BRETHREN is a long standing charity which helps sick and retired Priests who are in need in our Diocese. Last year the charity was able to give £1000 each to 32 Priests in the Diocese of Southwark and Arundel and Brighton, and also helped 7 working Priests who had serious sickness, to make their situation a little easier. In addition, there is a Gift Aid Scheme for those who pay tax. Please send donations to and request a Gift Aid form from: Reverend Paul Hough, by post to: St Elpheges Presbytery, 120 Stafford Road, Wallington Surrey SM6 9AY Tel: 020 8647 5079 or at: stelphegesoffice@yahoo.co.uk Thank You for your support
Calling all green thumbs: A start has been made on tidying the gardens at Holy Family. If you can spare ANY TIME your help would be greatly appreciated. At the moment the rose beds are the priority. The flower bed at the rear car park at Holy Angels also needs weeding. Please feel free to do some weeding
at either parish. You don’t have to do it all. Your help will be greatly appreciated!
Sacred Space - Many of us work at computers for much of our day. And many of these computers are connected to the internet. If you have a spare ten minutes you might like to look at “Sacred Space”. Their web site says “We invite you to make a 'Sacred Space' in your day, and spend ten minutes, praying here and now, as you sit at your computer, with the help of on-screen guidance and scripture chosen specially every day.” I have used it and so does Fr Richard Incledon and you might find it a help if you are permitted to use the internet in this way too.
GIFT AID DONATIONS (G.A.D.) A 2% cut in basic rate of income tax sounds like good news. However, this has the effect of reducing our revenue from HM Revenue and Customs by 3%. For that reason we would request that all donors consider raising their level of giving to compensate. Please note that this does not take into effect the rate of inflation which we all experience each year. If, at present, you do not donate your offertory contribution under the GAD Scheme, would you please consider joining and thereby, automatically, increasing your contribution by 25p in the pound. For further details please contact Alan or Florence (in confidence) either after Mass or telephone 687246 for Holy Family, or contact Teresa in the office who will forward your details to David Tuttlebee for Holy Angels. Many thanks.
NEWSLETTER BY EMAIL – If anyone would prefer to receive the weekly newsletter via email please send me your details office@holyangelsash.org.uk
ARE YOU A NEWCOMER? If so - WELCOME! Please make yourself known to Fr David after mass or to one of our welcomers. There are also Welcome Packs at the back of both of the churches with some general information and a form so that we can enter your details on our database. Please return it to Fr David or send it to the Parish Office. Thank you.
Catholic Singles is an organisation which helps single, widowed, separated and divorced Catholics of all ages (over 18 years) meet, either one to one or through social events. All members receive a monthly bulletin, called Catholic Networking. For more information please tel. 0161 941 3498, visit the website www.catholicsingles.org.uk or email info@catholicsingles.org.uk
Please note that whilst we have many separated & divorced Catholics amongst our members (I am widowed myself), we do not encourage them to remarry, though they do of course meet socially and for friendship, and a link to the A.S.D.C. is on our website.
We are now fairly well known, and have raised over thirty two thousand pounds for charities & parishes over the last nine years, but if you would like to receive more information about Catholic Singles please let me know. We are very grateful to previous help in this respect from parishes such as your own, which is vital if we are to continue.
THE CATHOLIC CENTRAL LIBRARY, with over 70,000 books and pamphlets and 150 periodicals has moved to St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough. For details of access etc ‘phone 01252 543818 or go online www.catholic-library.org.uk
VOCATIONS
Vocation to the Priesthood Events
Please see Church Noticeboards for more information
The Vocations Discernment Community in Hammersmith offers young men in their twenties or thirties a year (September – July) where they can learn about priesthood and the various forms of religious life, and come to some conclusion about where God may be calling them. During their year in community they can be working full-time in normal jobs or doing voluntary work or in studies. Cost: £90 per week. For further details check out the website at http://vocationscommunity.org.uk or contact Fr. Stefan Park OSA. parkstefan@hotmail.com
Prayer for Vocations
God our Father,
look in love upon our homes, our families
and our communities.
Raise up from among us worthy priests:
to teach the Gospel to all people,
to minister at your altar,
and to care for your flock.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit,
and make us faithful and inspiring witnesses
to your Kingdom.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen
JUSTICE AND PEACE
YOU DID IT! Thank you to everyone who signed a petition or postcard in support of the campaign we were running from last summer, seeking to prevent Vulture Funds from pursuing poor countries through the British courts for the full amount of debts which they had bought for pennies in the pound. On 8 April 2010 the law went through the Lords, preventing British jurisdiction from being used in this way. Liberia and Zambia had already been sued by companies which are often based in tax havens, and make their profits from some of the poorest countries in the world. Particular thanks go to parishioners who telephoned their MP to seek support for this legislation
FAIRTRADE
Thank you to all those parishioners who helped buy, served coffee and washed up at the Fairtrade coffee morning on Sunday. A profit of £31.40 was made and has been sent to Step by Step (for the homeless).
YOUTH
YOUTH GROUP meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month in St Mary's Hall, Holy Angels.
Call or email Gloria Benson 07968030163 or Gloria.benson@chyp.com
Farnborough Hill Open Days:
Friday 7th October 2011
Tuesday 15th November 2011
(For further details please refer to the Church notice-board)
YouthGather 2011
To be held at the Towers Convent School, Henfield Road, Upper Beeding, Nr. Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3TF
(For further details please contact Gloria Benson) Farnborough Hill Open Days:
Friday 7th October 2011
Tuesday 15th November 2011
(For further details please refer to the Church notice-board)
Cabrini Children’s Society - The parish’s recent donations on behalf of Cabrini Children’s Society raised in excess of £100.00 They have been in touch to ask us to pass on their appreciation for your continued support of their work providing services to vulnerable children, young people, families and to adults with learning disabilities. If you would like to be on the Cabrini mailing list and receive their Child newsletter and other communications, please contact Ann Hoggan on 020 8668 2181 or email ann.hoggan@cabrini.org.uk Alternatively to find out more about their work or get involved visit them online at www.cabrini.org.uk
Children’s joke corner
Dad: “Bert, why are your school reports so bad lately?”
Bert: “Oh, that’s the teacher’s fault, Dad.”
Dad: “What do you mean, it’s the teacher’s fault? Your exam marks used to be always very good, and you’ve got the same teacher, haven’t you?”
Bert: “Yes, but I haven’t got the brainiest boy in the class sitting next to me, Teacher’s moved him!”
CELEBRATING LITURGY WITH CHILDREN
A day in the series arranged around the diocese for all those interested or involved in celebrating liturgy with children.
YOUTH LEADERS - We currently have small number of young people who attend a monthly youth group meeting on a Saturday. The group is lead by Gloria Benson and Dominic Getting. We need more people to help with the youth and support Gloria and Dominic. Can you help? THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT because if we neglect our youth they will just drift away to people who WILL show an interest in them. So please, can you help? If interested please speak with Gloria Benson on 01252 677414 or email: gloria.benson@chyp.com
FOR YOUR PRAYERS:
The sick: Peter Maddock and Ann Gorman
Please note:
If you have a relative or a friend who is sick, we can only include their name if they have given their permission. If we include them they will automatically be included for the next following four weeks.
Please let Rita, the Parish Secretary, know if you have the permission of somebody who is sick to publish their name in the request for Prayer.
Reconciliation
If you are expecting a guest at home or perhaps you might be going to a special event we usually go out of our way to make special preparations so that we are ready for the event. The same applies within the Church especially at Easter (Lent) and Christmas (Advent). The time before the event is often referred to as a time of pilgrimage and / or renewal.
In Lent, in particular, we are also encouraged to pray, do works of mercy and give alms in atonement for our sins. This is the way of the Church across two millennia. We are also encouraged to reconcile ourselves with God, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This seems to be a sadly neglected sacrament. (More about this later.)
Firstly let’s look at why we should consider a need to be reconciled with God. We are all sinners, to a greater or lesser extent. This is not judgemental but plain fact. All of us contravene the two basic principles of loving God with our whole heart and mind and loving our neighbour as ourselves. We do it without any effort on our own part. Whenever we ignore these commands even in small ways we create a rift between us and God. “But isn’t God the almighty loving and forgiving Father?” I hear you say. Well of course He is, but that forgiveness, which comes at the cost of the life of His only Son, can only be offered if we recognise our wrong doings and turn around, ‘repent’. This is most effectively carried out within the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This Sunday we will hear the familiar, perhaps too familiar, Gospel of the Return of the Prodigal Son. So let’s spend a short time reflecting on it. Firstly we have to recognise that the real centre of this story is the loving Father. His love is present at the very beginning of the story. His youngest son (it could easily be daughter in this day and age) decides that he wants his share of the inheritance now as he wants to go off and enjoy himself with that money. The Father does not say ‘no’ or remonstrate with his child, as most of us probably would, but hands over the cash and says goodbye. This demonstrates very clearly the freedom that we are given by God, His extraordinary gift of freewill. He allows us to hurt and ignore Him regardless of the cost to Him. Would you freely give your child all their pocket money (let alone their inheritance) in one sum and allow them to go off on such a trip? I doubt it very much, I know I wouldn’t.
Just for a moment we will look at the child. What real difference is there between him and us? How often do we do what we want to do without any regard as to what God would want us to do? How often do we satisfy our desires and wants? How often is it that we can’t be bothered to exercise self-control? Just in case you have any difficulty in this, here are some frequent examples. Losing my temper in a traffic queue or being cut up in the car; making sure I get the next place at the checkout in Tesco’s, at all cost. Not being courteous,
acknowledging a kindness or saying thank you with a smile. More seriously; ignoring God, missing out on prayer, deliberately missing mass and receiving communion in a state of un-grace. These are just some of the ways in which we too exhibit the type of behaviour seen in the child.
Returning to the Father, does He ignore the Son (or us) when he turned away. Definitely not! We read that he was waiting for the son to return and saw him when he was a long way off. It is pretty obvious that the son sent no warning of his return, he was too afraid of rejection. Therefore the Father must have been on the lookout every single day.
Many of us get disturbed by the elder son’s response. Once again we must listen to the Father and hear the real meaning of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. As for the party “..there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7
Through the eyes of this parable we can see that God has a great desire for us to be reconciled to Him, that is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. So why do so few of us make use of this wonderful grace?
Are we too embarrassed to be seen going to ‘confession’? Remember we are all sinners.
It is such a long time! All the more reason for returning to the sacrament.
I have forgotten what to do. The priest will always guide you.
“I couldn’t go to Father.” Why not?
I have to remind myself that when I go to the sacrament I am not going to any person but to a priest who is waiting for me in persona Christi, waiting to embrace me with the words of absolution and welcome me back into the family of God. Our priests are trained to hear our sins they know they are living out their ordination and being Christ for us and as such become unaware of us as individuals and certainly do not talk about our sins to other priests.
Don’t wait until you are on your spiritual uppers, as the Prodigal Son was on his material uppers, to return to the sacrament. Go to an unfamiliar priest if necessary, make use of the reconciliation services this Lent – see elsewhere in this newsletter.
Experience the Amazing Love of the Father.