PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE DIOCESE HAVE WELCOMED THE APPOINTMENT OF FR STEPHEN WANG AS OUR NEW BISHOP - Speaking about the appointment earlier this week, Fr Stephen, expressed “gratitude, trepidation, excitement and curiosity.” In an interview, Fr Stephen highlighted the importance of getting to know the people of the Diocese: “I’m sure there’ll be a lot of time and energy to put into meeting people and getting to know them,” he said, “that will be the most important thing, along with praying with them, learning what’s going on for them, and them getting to know me as their bishop, and their friend as well.”

The new edition of our Deanery newsletter is now available at the back of Church/on the Parish website (www.sacredheartcobham.org.uk) and is an invitation to celebrate so many wonderful things that have been going on in the Deanery. There's also an account of the conversations that clergy have been having about pastoral provision in the times to come and some of the important principles that have been at the heart of their discussions. Please do have a read, and, as we look forward to welcoming Fr Stephen Wang as our new Bishop, let’s remember Archbishop Richard’s constant refrain that ‘all is to be rooted in prayer.’ VIEW THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE

James was the brother of John the Evangelist. The two were called by Jesus as they were working with their father in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had already called another pair of brothers from a similar occupation: Peter and Andrew. “He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.” James was one of the favoured who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, and the agony in the garden of Gethsemane.  On another occasion, James and John gave evidence that the nickname Jesus gave them - “sons of thunder” - was an apt one. The Samaritans would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to hated Jerusalem. “When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?’ Jesus turned and rebuked them…” James was apparently the first of the apostles to be martyred. “About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. ”This James, sometimes called James the Greater, is not to be confused with James the Lesser or with the author of the Letter of James and the leader of the Jerusalem community.

We are in the midst of a period of hearing Gospel readings about the Kingdom of God and how God is active in the world, sometimes in subtle ways. At the same time, the First and Second readings point out other characteristics of God. The First Reading, from the book of Wisdom, was written in the decades around Jesus’ birth. The author stresses how mighty and powerful God is, yet how God is also tolerant, forgiving, and kind. Paul’s words to the Romans teach that the Spirit of our God speaks in and through us, especially when we don’t know how to pray. Taken together, all three readings today provide hope that God is alive and active in our lives, whether we always recognize it or not. The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast which leavens the bread are well-known parables that point to God’s ability to bring about great things starting with something small and seemingly insignificant. In fact, that is a theme found throughout the Bible. The entire Jewish race begins because of Abraham and Sarah’s faithfulness. The boy David defeats the giant Goliath. The small band of Hebrew slaves escapes the mighty Egyptian army. An unwed teenager says yes to bearing the Son of God. God is born into a stable and wrapped in rags because his parents are poor refugees. Jesus reminds his disciples to have hope and trust that God can and does, work through small things to do great things.  On the other hand, the parable about the wheat and the weeds seems to make a different point: we must have patience when we experience good and evil existing side-by-side in our world. Just as the farmer had no control over the fact that weeds were growing amidst his wheat crop, we have no control over bad things that happen to us. We can do all that is possible to cultivate the good (by sowing good seeds), but we have to live with both unexpected and disappointing outcomes. As the farmer teaches his crew, it is not their job to sift out the bad from the good. Ultimately that is God’s job. In the meantime, God invites us to live, and still grow together with the bad in the world. Questions of the Week • When have you seen some small act of courage or love have a profound effect on others? • What “weeds” or unwanted problems are you allowing to grow in your life?

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.

Many thanks to all our volunteers who help to provide coffee after church and to those parishioners who come along and make it an enjoyable social event. Due to the generosity of everyone we have been able to donate £500 to Cobham Food Bank this year, which is sorely needed. We are grateful to our volunteers who are taking a step back and welcoming several new volunteers in September. There will be coffee after 11 o'clock mass up to 19th July and then a break for the summer, see you in September. If anyone would like to help in any way, please get in touch with Diane Yearley 07927 397936.

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? 

Application Forms for next year’s 1st Reconciliation and 1st Eucharist Programmes are now available from the Sacristy after our weekend Masses. Prospective candidates: • need to have been born before 31st August 2019, • be in at least Year 3 when schools re-commence in September, • and, of course, be attending our weekend and Holy Day Masses along with their family. It is very difficult to imagine that someone who is not presently attending our community on a regular basis could possibly be prepared and ready to receive a sacrament within the next year. Parents only (not grandparents or friends) should collect the application which needs to be completed and returned by 18.00 on 31st August 2026 (sorry, no late applications can be accepted).

Born in 1221, St Bonaventure was baptized John, but became Bonaventure when he became a Franciscan at the age of twenty-two. While St Francis died about five years after Bonaventure’s birth, he is credited with healing Bonaventure as a boy of a serious illness. Bonaventure’s teaching career came to a halt when he was elected to serve as Minister General. His seventeen years of service were not easy as the Order was often involved in conflicts over the interpretation of poverty. Some friars even ended up in heresy saying that St Francis and his community were inaugurating the era of the Holy Spirit which was to replace Jesus, the Church, and Scripture. But because he was both a man of prayer and a very good administrator, Bonaventure managed to structure the Order through effective legislation. But more importantly, he gave the Friars an organized spirituality based on the vision and insights of St Francis. Always a Franciscan at heart and a mystical writer, Bonaventure managed to unite the pastoral, practical aspects of life with the doctrines of the Church.  Shortly before he ended his service as General Minister, Pope Gregory X created him a Cardinal bishop of Albano. But a little over a year later, while taking part in the Second Council of Lyon, Saint Bonaventure died suddenly on July 15, 1274. There is a theory that he was poisoned.