A missionary from Bethlehem, The Holy Land, will visit us once again on the weekend of 25th - 26th July to briefly talk about the Holy Land and sell religious articles made out of Olive Wood to help and support the poor Christian families, any help you could give to them will be highly appreciated.

This is one of Jesus’ more famous parables, commonly called “The Parable of the Sower” or “The Parable of the Seed.” It briefly describes a scenario that makes sense to most listeners. Of course, seeds sown on a path, on rocky ground, and among thorns wouldn’t produce much, if any, harvest. And, of course, seed sown in fertile soil should produce a very good harvest. Anyone who knows anything about seeds and plants would understand this, so what is the point Jesus is trying to make? Knowing Jesus, the disciples immediately realise that a seemingly straightforward parable has a deeper meaning than what we under stand on the surface. They also recognise that not everyone will read a more profound message into a simple parable, so they ask Jesus why he teaches like this.  This Gospel passage comes after Jesus has just clashed with the scribes and Pharisees, the ones who think they know-it-all when it comes to God and religion. He had been healing people and casting out demons, and many people in the crowds received him with humility and gratitude. The scribes and the Pharisees, on the other hand, wouldn’t accept the good work he was doing at face value, and they accused him of working for Satan. Jesus points out to his disciples that those religious leaders are just like their ancestors who refused to listen to the prophets of old. As the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink.” The Pharisees and scribes could see the good and miraculous things Jesus was doing, but they wilfully closed their ears and eyes to how God was acting in and through Jesus. At the same time, many people in the crowd were proving to be “good soil,” hearing and seeing how God was acting in the world. Questions of the week  Share about a time when you have witnessed someone open to experience God’s amazing or miraculous growth.  At this point in your life, what kind of soil would you say you are?

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) . . . . . .