Christianity has a long-standing tradition of teaching “natural law,” the belief that all people can understand and agree with objective, universal moral teachings, regardless of their religion or education because they flow from nature. Because we all have a conscience, we can discern what is objectively good and what is objectively evil. Accordingly, anyone who hears Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan should recognize that it is the Samaritan, not the priest or the Levite, who does the right thing when he comes upon the victim who was beaten and robbed. The lawyer who was testing Jesus in the finer points of the law knew it was the Samaritan who acted as a neighbour, but he had trouble swallowing this fact because the Jews despised Samaritans. The irony is that the Good Samaritan wasn’t Jewish and didn’t live according to the 613 Jewish laws. What is even more ironic is that the priest and the Levite who passed by the victim were following the letter of the law which said they shouldn’t touch a person who is bleeding, lest they become defiled themselves. If they were defiled they would not be allowed to minister in the Temple or function in the community without first going through a detailed process of purification. What this passage comes down to is the question: Where do we fall? Do we fall on the side of the lawyer, the priest, and the Levite who know and keep the letter of the law, or do we fall on the side of the Good Samaritan who responds spontaneously out of compassion because it is the right thing to do? Questions of the week  When have you, like the priest and Levite, passed by someone who needed help, maybe with good reason?  Share an example of a time when you or someone you know acted like the Good Samaritan, even though it was a sacrifice.

This weekend our Retiring Collection is our monthly contribution to our Parish Buildings Fund. We are awaiting (good weather permitting) the repairs and ongoing maintenance to the tower of the church to be undertaken. We will then begin works on the re-roofing of The Presbytery which we know will be part of the next buildings survey.  Next weekend (13th) the Retiring Collection will be for Stella Maris (formerly the Apostleship of the Sea). Seafarers and fishers play a vital role in all our lives, but they often work in difficult, hazardous conditions. Sea Sunday is when the Church prays for all those who live and work at sea. Our support make a big difference to seafarers and fishers in need. Thank you.

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 . . . .

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.

Twice in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus sends disciples out to spread his mission by curing the sick and preaching the Kingdom of God, a realm of peace, justice, and compassion for all. The first time, in the chapter before this reading, Jesus sent out his 12 apostles. In the passage today, he sends out a larger group of 72 others. It seems Jesus realizes that he needs more than 12 helpers in this work! It’s likely that this larger group of 72 included women as well as men. In chapter 8, Luke mentions by name several women who accompanied Jesus in his ministry including Mary Magdalen, Joanna, and Susanna, “and many others, who provided for them out of their resources” (Lk 8:2-3). When Jesus sends out the 72 they are sent out in pairs. In the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters, there are references to married couples who work and travel together as missionaries.  Jesus’ instructions were practical for missionaries of his day when the early Christians relied on the hospitality and generosity of other open-minded individuals who wanted to hear about Jesus’ teachings. He did not want them weighed down or slowed down by hauling their material possessions, and he challenged them to stretch to trust in God’s care for them provided through others. He also gave them advice about what to do when they were not received well, the proverbial “shake the dust from your feet” which Jesus demonstrated in last week’s reading when he wasn’t received in Samaria. Although we may not be full-time Christian missionaries today, all of Jesus’ instructions for how to conduct ourselves in our daily lives can still be relevant and offer guidance for our work and personal relationships. Questions of the week  What might you be invited to let go of to lighten your load and free you up for easier movement in your life’s work right now?  Where/when have you offered your skills, gifts, or time only to have them rejected? What was it like to try to shake the dust from your feet and move 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?