With the story of Jesus’ birth still fresh in our minds on this first Sunday after Christmas, the church uses the opportunity to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family with all of the readings focused on families. The Gospel readings are from Matthew this year, so the focus this week is on Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph. (When we read from the Gospel of Luke, the focus is on his mother, Mary.) If the story of Jesus’ birth warmed our hearts with its tale of the star over Bethlehem and the magi who travelled long distances to worship and bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the story today takes a terrible turn. Mary and Joseph have no time to savour his birth or let the wonder of the magi’s visit sink in because suddenly their baby’s life is in danger. Like millions of refugees throughout history, they must flee their home country on short notice with just a vague sense of a distant destination. Because they trust the guidance the angel gave Joseph in a dream, they save their son’s life.  Tragically, however, many families lost sons to Herod’s cruelty when he ordered all baby boys killed in his efforts to kill Jesus. (These verses are omitted from the Gospel passage today.) So the Feast of the Holy Family is not “The Feast of the Perfect Family in a Perfect World.” The Church celebrates this family today because of Mary and Joseph’s willingness to say “yes” to raising God’s son, even though it brought them great fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and even anguish because of the evil one man, Herod, wreaked on so many families. They were a holy family, but they did not escape any challenges of being a human family. Questions of the week  Does it change anything for you to think about Jesus’ family in terms of being a refugee family like so many millions today and throughout history? How so?  Mary and Joseph changed course unexpectedly when they needed to in order to protect Jesus’ life. When have you had to change direction suddenly? Can you see the hand of God at work in that change?

The Christmas Season began with the Christmas Vigil Mass (24 th Dec. 18.00) and lasts until the 11.00 Mass on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (11th Jan.). Between these two dates it is customary for parishioners (particularly families) to pay visits to the Crib to pray for their own families and also for those throughout the world who do not have the advantages of a family life like our own

CATHOLIC RESPONSES TO WAR AND PEACE - Five Tuesdays from 13th January, 12.00 - 13.00, online (Cost: £60). An exploration of the history and development the of Catholic ‘Just War’ theory with Dr Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, starting in late antiquity and tracing the story of the Catholic response to war and peace up to the present day.  www.londonjesuitcentre.org to book. CATHOLIC UNION PUB TALK : ‘Reflections on a First Year in Parliament’ - 19 th January, 18.00, London, SW1V 1AU. Sojan Joseph MP will talk about his reflections on his first year in Parliament, drawing on his background working in the NHS in mental health for 22 years and inclusion in the community.  www.catholicunion.org.uk/eventscalendar/ to book. DAY OF REFLECTION FOR MINISTERS OF THE WORD - 24th January, 11.00-16.00 at St Michael’s Church, Worthing, BN13 3AL. Led by Bishop Richard and Catherine Christmas (diocesan Liturgy & Music Adviser) this day will include talks on the Scriptures, the Lectionary and its use in the Liturgy, the Liturgy of the Word, and preparing to minister as a reader. Register your free place:  www.abdiocese.churchsuite.com/events/ MAKING CHOICES WITH ST IGNATIUS - 31st January, 10.00 - 16.00, The House of Prayer, Molesey, KT8 0PB (Cost: £35). Ignatius offers wisdom to help us make choices: both the big decisions about what kind of life we lead, and the smaller ones of how we live out our day. The day will offer input on praying about our choices.  www.christian-retreat.org for details/booking MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAINING - 7th February, 10.00 - 15.00, St Philip Howard Centre, Crawley, RH10 6RP (£40). The number of people experiencing poor mental health is rising. This course will help attendees understand the impact and reality of poor mental health, enabling them to identify the early signs and symptoms and signpost people effectively.  www.abdiocese.org.uk/diocese/events to book your place.

Many, many thanks for all the Christmas wishes, thoughts, and cards received over the past couple of weeks - they are very much appreciated. Every good gift comes from the Father of light. May he grant you all his grace and every blessing, and keep you safe throughout the coming year. May he grant you all unwavering faith, constant hope, and love that endures to the end. May he order your days and works in his peace, hear your every prayer, and lead you to everlasting life and joy. Fr Daryl

Mary’s motherhood broadens our Christmas spotlight. Mary has an important role to play in the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. She consents to the invitation conveyed by the angel. Elizabeth proclaims: “Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary’s role as mother of God places her in a unique position in God’s redemptive plan. Without naming Mary, St Paul asserts that “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” Paul further states that “God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out ‘Abba, Father!’” helps us realise that Mary is mother to all the brothers and sisters of Jesus. Some theologians also insist that her motherhood of Jesus is an important element in God’s creative plan. God’s “first” thought in creating was Jesus. Jesus, the incarnate Word, is the one who could give God perfect love and worship on behalf of creation. As Jesus was “first” in God’s mind, Our Lady was “second” insofar as she was chosen from all eternity to be his mother.  The Council of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling the holy virgin Theotokos. In its chapter on Mary’s role in the Church, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church calls her “Mother of God” twelve times.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A hectic week, given all the preparations for and celebration of the Nativity of the Lord . . . . . Sunday afternoon and evening was quite full-on: our last Advent Evening Prayer and Benediction, the annual Parish Advent Carol Service, followed by a Parish Social with mince pies and mulled wine. The Carol Service was really very, very good (Fr D met people from outside the Parish who come along because they find it so good!). Afterwards at the Parish Social there were a lot of people who stayed around enjoying the event and chatting with others for some while. This was a great start to our immediate Christmas celebrations. On Monday morning Fr D finalised the Vigil and Midnight Mass homilies and prepared the Intercessions for the Christmas Season. He was also able to get to the supermarket to get the fresh veg for the next few days (though he was less enthused about the numbers of people who obviously thought that the shops were not going to be open again for the next six months!). In the evening he went out to supper with the new Parish Priest of Weybridge - a very enjoyable evening, and very restful. The Christmas tree was erected and decorated in the church in the evening and the basic crib structure put in place (it was due to be decorated with the various statues during the Children’s Crib Service on Wednesday afternoon). Tuesday morning after Mass Fr D was pleased that the heating engineer for the church boiler came to find out why it had been working well throughout November and up to Sunday midday before it cut out before Evening Prayer & Benediction? In the event it appears that something was not reset at the service in October and the system thought that it had done it’s allotted hours! In the afternoon Fr D was trying to finish the newsletter for next week (so that Sarah didn’t feel that she had to find time to come in and print it before starting again next week). He also got started on looking at his diary to see what dates he could put aside in the new year to look at Confirmation with our four younger parishioners who have expressed an interest in exploring being confirmed in May. In the early afternoon the ladies came and prepared the flowers used to decorate the church over Christmas - wonderful!!! Having celebrated the last Mass before the Christmas season began in the morning. Fr D got the statues out and hid them behind the altar ready for the Children’s Crib Service in the afternoon. He then had time to say some prayers . . .

The day following Christmas Day is known in the Church as St Stephen’s Day (not the more secular Boxing Day). Mass will be later (at 11.00) and as many of our servers are asked to come to Mass to renew their dedication to the St Stephen’s Altar Serving Guild.

On Christmas Eve (Wednesday) there will be a special short service for our younger parishioners (0 > 8 years) in which we will sing three children’s carols as we talk about and prepare the Crib for our Christmas Season. This is not a Mass but is perhaps a chance to ‘calm things down’ before tea time.

Next Sunday (21st) we will be celebrating our annual Carol Service in the church at 18.00 where we will have the opportunity to join together singing our most loved seasonal carols. Afterwards there will be a Parish Social in the Parish Centre serving mulled wine and mince pies.