The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . As expected, with the schools recommencing their Autumn Term, a very busy week around The Presbytery . . . . . . Lot has happened over the summer holidays, in terms of maintenance works - the removal of conifer hedging ready for new fencing; replacing rotten sections of wood, preparing and painting the tower of the church; preparing and painting all the church gutters and down-pipes; removing several bucket loads of cement mortar from rainwater gullies (some replacement will be required when the weather is suitable); and, a ‘deep clean’ of the Parish Centre. Fr D is particularly pleased that all the outstanding high-level maintenance on the roof is now completed. At our Saturday Vigil Mass last weekend we celebrated the Confirmation of a young man from the Parish who is presently away at university. This meant that he was not able to take part in the normal Confirmation Programme that we have in the Parish each year and had to prepare, at a later age, in a different way. Fr Daryl was delegated by Bishop Richard to celebrate the sacrament for the young man. On Monday Fr D went over to the Notre Dame School to celebrate Mass for the staff who were beginning two staff training days before the beginning of the new term. After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesday Fr D was off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley, where he had a interview with one of his new annulment applicants. By the time he got back in the evening he was shattered, the interview taking nearly four hours! Preparations are now also underway by our singers and musicians for our annual Parish Carol Service (21st December this year). On Wednesday, following Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D was trying to make inroads into the newsletters that will be required whilst he is away on holiday - he has to undertake this carefully otherwise he gets confused as to which week is which!  After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was once more at Notre Dame School to celebrate Mass for the senior school at the beginning of their new academic year. In the late afternoon Fr D was able to help the sisters to get their phone and broadband back once their provider had sent some replacement kit . . . . .

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past fortnight . . . . A very busy time around The Presbytery over the past two weeks as a lot of high level maintenance was completed . . . . . . . Fr D was delighted that with the arrival of an articulated cherry picker long awaited works at high level on the church building could be commenced. Following the last quin-quennial buildings survey we knew that there was a reasonable amount of ‘at height’ work to be done in order to keep up with the necessary maintenance on the church. Earlier in the year spot-work on the roof tiles was completed (not to fix leaks but to help ensure that leaks do not develop due to tile movement and breakages). It was decided that the most cost effective way to undertake the maintenance of the tower, various wooden features, and high level guttering/downpipes, would not be to use scaffolding (very expensive to erect and take down and then, in between, has to be rented!) but to use a cherry picker. When the workmen got up to the tower it was not a moment too soon as several isolated sections of rot were discovered which would not have lasted much longer before spreading throughout the structure. Matters were caught just in time and the offending sections were removed and new wood sections made and fitted in before painting (the workmen commented that the wood was just drinking up the undercoat layer!). Working around the building the cast iron gutters were wire brushed to remove flaking paintwork before being sanded down and repainted with specialist paint; afterwards the same routine was used on the downpipes. When the workmen came to the metal cross above the entrance to the church it was originally assumed to be black but, on rubbing down, it was discovered that it was originally gold in colour, so this was restored. Whilst we had the equipment on site time was taken to make sure that the various gullies between expanses of tiles were functioning properly - several of them needed to be cleared of old sections of cement which had fallen out and new cement inserted where gaps had formed over the years. It is hoped that all these works will mean that no major works will be necessary again until between ten and fifteen years time - Fr D certainly hopes that he will never have to face roof works on the church whilst he is still here! At the time of writing we are waiting for the cherry picker to be collected and returned, giving us back the whole of the car park . . . . . . . .

Luke’s Gospel, more than any others, has an emphasis on money, possessions, and wealth. Luke includes parables about riches (such as last week’s parable about the rich man who built bigger barns) that are not found in Matthew, Mark, or John. The Gospel also states several times that Jesus directed his disciples to go out and continue his ministry without taking any personal belongings along with them. It’s a challenge that is hard for most of us to hear, and we can quickly go to rationalizations about why we may not be called to do the same thing. Of course it would have been just as hard for Jesus’ disciples to hear too. But instead of reacting to what sounds like bad news to us (“sell your belongings and give alms”) can we instead listen for the good news in the directive? After all, Jesus didn’t come to make our lives more difficult, or impoverished. He said that he came so that we may have life, and have life in it’s fullness. So if he is asking us to sell our possessions, he must have good reason.  The good news is that in letting go of physical possessions, we get an “inexhaustible treasure” in return that no thief can reach, nor corruption can touch. “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” When we come to our last moments on this earth, where do we want our treasure to be? In our material belongings? Or in the store of love we have given and received amidst our relationships? Questions of the week  What might you be invited to let go of (“sell”) so that you can have more freedom in following Jesus?  What does it mean to you that “where your treasure is, there al so will your heart be”? Where is your treasure at this time in your life?

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Around The Presbytery it has still been busier than usual for the summer holiday time . . . . . As he had no families to be working with on Saturday morning Fr D had a young couple wishing to marry next year. Most of the paperwork that is required has now been completed and we are awaiting confirmation of the dates of the Deanery Marriage Preparation Day which normally takes place in the New Year. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D was looking at the progress of the landscapers who were removing the hedging from around the car park. Sarah had ‘coned-off’ part of the area on Monday so the men could begin without any cars ‘in situ’ when they arrived at 08.30. By the time Fr D looked in, great progress had been made on the project (which made him think that the estimate of three days would be achieved). When he looked again at the end of the afternoon three quarters of one side had been completed and a very different scene was exposed (a view of the Leg of Mutton field)! Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D set about work on the newsletter, very different this time as it was to be a ‘double issue’ whilst Sarah has a well-earned rest. In order to do this Fr D needed to amend the template and cope with a Holy Day (Assumption) during the first week as well - it was quite a challenge. The landscapers continued their work in the car park, turning the corner, removing the remaining greenery to leave half a length of trunks by the end of the day. Thursday morning, having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D checked in with the landscapers who said that they would be finish by mid-afternoon. After this he was off in the car down to the diocesan offices at Crawley where he pursued work on another of his marriage cases that he hopes to bring to judgement early in September. He also had a list of queries to respond to that had built up in his ‘in-tray’ since he was last in at the office. When he arrived home in the evening and looked at the car park it was very different. He has now told the fencing contractors that all is prepared for the new fence to be erected which will probably begin in late August/early September.  Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday Fr D heard that the workmen will be coming next Tuesday to start work on the spire – it’s all go . . . . .

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? 

Applications are now available for our Infant Baptism, First Reconciliation, and First Eucharist Preparation Programmes for the next academic year (Confirmation Applications will be made available once Bishop Richard provides a date for the celebration). PLEASE NOTE that these programmes are only for candidates from families who are Registered Parishioners who are actually regular members of our worshipping community - if this is not the case at present then talk to Fr Daryl about what can be done to rectify the situation for some point in the future.

Jesus’ Jewish listeners would have been immediately suspicious about the immense wealth of the rich farmer in the parable today. Any good Jew of the time would have known the common teaching in many Old Testament readings of the responsibility for land owners to share their excess produce with the poor, the widow, the orphans or the strangers. For example, Deuteronomy says “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow ... When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt: therefore I am commanding you to do this” (Deut. 24: 19-22). Likewise, Leviticus teaches, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien” (Lev 19:9-10). On top of these teachings were continual reminders that the first tenth of all produce should be tithed, or given back to God. So Jewish listeners probably understood Jesus’ parable as a warning against the greed of a farmer who may not have shared his excess with the poor as his religion required of him. The ending of the parable also reminds us that no matter how wealthy or comfortable we are in this life (maybe at the expense of the poor) we cannot take anything with us when we die. We’ll never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul! Questions of the week  What is your first reaction to this parable? How or what do you think about the rich man?  What are you attached to in an unhealthy way which you would like to find freedom from before you die?

A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to her baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Saint Teresa becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau, Germany - now Wroclaw, Poland - Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen, Edith became fascinated by a branch of philosophy, earning a doctorate in 1916. She continued as a university teacher until 1922, when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the Nazi regime. After living for four years in the Cologne Carmel, Sister Teresa Benedicta moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands, in 1938. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for being denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9th , 1942. Pope John Paul II beatified Teresa Benedicta of the Cross in 1987 canonising her 12 years later.

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 more parishioners go off on their summer holidays . . . . After the 11.00 Mass on Sunday our Tea & Coffee Team were working in the Parish Centre for the last time until September - now taking a well-earnt rest during August. Fr D (after a quick change) went off to St Joseph’s in Epsom where he had ben invited to the Epsom Catenians’ Presidents Sunday Lunch. It was good to see many of our own parishioners who are members of the Catenian Circle present. Following on from Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley to continue his work on a Penal case that he has been working on for the bishop. He was delighted that he completed his work and it now waits for the bishop to return from the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Staying later at the office than he would normally do to get the bishop’s case completed by the time he got home in the evening Fr D found himself falling asleep as he ate supper! Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday morning Fr D was delighted to hear that the ‘tree man’ had spoken to Sarah in the Parish Office and said that he thought he might be starting on the hedge removal on Tuesday of next week. This will require keeping all the parking spaces along the hedge free from vehicles so that he can get the necessary works done. Once he has done this the spaces can be used again until the fencing people need the spaces to erect the new fence. Fr D has also instructed the rebuilding of the car park wall where a car caused damage to it a couple of weeks ago. All of these jobs were not even on the horizon in June - but things do seem to sometimes change very quickly! In the afternoon Fr D began work on his parts of the newsletter, ready for Sarah to do hers. Fr D was off to the diocesan offices again on Thursday after celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass. Having got the bishop’s special case out of the way he was able to start work on the next marriage case to ‘hit his in-tray!’ Friday morning there was no celebration of Morning Prayer due to the requiem Mass of a parishioner taking place in the church.  Saturday Fr D had a young couple coming to see him for their next marriage preparation session . . . . . .