JUBILEE YEAR PILGRIMAGE TO ROME - 5 - 10 November (Cost £1,220 inc. travel, accommodation & half board; single supp. £188). Join two of our diocesan priests Fr Gus Campanello & Fr Nick Harden on pilgrimage to Rome. To find out more and book:-  sarah@tangney-tours.com or  01732 886666

Join the priests of our Diocese who are celebrating their 25th, 40th, 50th and 60th years in priestly ministry, to give thanks for their years of service at this special Mass in Arundel Cathedral 12th June , midday, Arundel Cathedral.

The priesthood is a special gift to the Church, through which Christ is always present to pour out His Spirit on His people through the holy sacraments. In this 7th week of Eastertide, let us pray for greater numbers to respond generously, to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass. If you have not yet managed to collect one of the diocese’s special leaflets, they are available in the narthex as you leave Mass - please take and use one.

As we near the end of the Easter Season and prepare for Pentecost next week, the Church proclaims the story of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. Immediately before the passage read from Acts of the Apostles today, some Jews falsely accused Stephen of claiming that Jesus wanted to overturn their religious laws and customs. Although Stephen proved that he was steeped in the Jewish tradition and education, the crowd did not want to hear Stephen’s critique that they were not living up to God’s laws. The mob rushed upon him and stoned him. As he died, he spoke words similar to Jesus at his death “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” The author Luke pointedly writes that Saul (later to be come Paul) was a witness to the stoning, apparently in an approving role. The Gospel passage today is part of a lengthy prayer that Jesus addresses aloud to his Father while the disciples are gathered around him at the Last Supper. Not only is it a prayer for the disciples, but it is a prayer for us and for all those believers who came before us and will come after us: “also for those who will believe in me through their word.” Jesus speaks again of the union between him and the Father “as you, Father, are in me and I in you” and prays in hope that we will also experience this union with him and each other. When there is infighting among parishioners, between Catholic “factions,” or among Christian denominations, this prayer for union can help us to reset. It challenges us to consider if we are working toward unity rather than division.  Like previous Sunday Gospel readings, Jesus reminds his friends before his departure that they are to love one another as he loved them. Their love for each other will make God’s love known to the world. The Christian song “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” inspired by this section in John’s Gospel summarizes the message well. Questions of the week  Think about those who have passed on their faith to you so that you believed through their words. Whom do you have to thank for this?  Do you think outsiders might know you are Christian by your love? Why or why not?

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Not quite such a busy week around The Presbytery this time as the schools are all on their half term breaks. They begin again on Monday with the older students all facing exams - please pray for them at this decisive time in their school lives . . . . . On Saturday morning Fr D was down at Arundel Cathedral with some of our teenage parishioners to celebrate their Confirmation with Bishop Richard. Our Parish was part of the first celebration for the Epsom Deanery, another scheduled for the afternoon. Fr D was particularly pleased when Bishop Richard remarked to him afterwards that he could tell the youngsters from Cobham as they all spoke up when he was confirming them.  Monday Fr D decided to have a long leisurely breakfast. Towards the end of it he could hear some strange banging sounds which seemed to emanate from the corner of the kitchen. Not being able to locate a cause and with the strange sounds still occurring he went and opened the front door to find a workman ‘capping off’ the two pipes into the gas meter. This was the final stage of requirements before the gas company come and remove the meter entirely. The complete removal of the meter has been necessitated because the new diocesan supplier had started to make a standing charge since last October (after no charges for three years) which was only discovered when a bill arrived. Having spoken about the unreasonableness of such a charge when no gas was being used (indeed Fr D turned the whole thing off three years ago) Fr D said that we’d have the meter removed! They then informed us that this could cost up to £10,000! Fr D said that he wanted a quotation for removal (which turned out to be just under £300); the quotation proved to be far less than they thought (trying to get us to back off!). Fr D said to go ahead, they wanted payment before, then said that we had to disconnect and purge the pipes (more delay tactics!). Finally with the disconnection, purging, and capping of the pipes, they have run out of excuses and now need to come and do the work we requested over two months ago (subject to any more ridiculous excuses and delays). This now means that at the Presbytery there is no more gas supply (or meter) and no more standing charges - we should not expect any more dealings with the gas company nor any more invoices, finally . . . .

Boniface, known as the apostle of the Germans, was an English Benedictine monk who gave up being an abbot to devote his life to the conversion of Germanic tribes. Two characteristics stand out: his orthodoxy and his fidelity to the pope. How necessary this orthodoxy and fidelity were is borne out by the conditions Boniface found on his first missionary journey in 719 at the request of Pope Gregory II. Paganism was a way of life. What Christianity he did find had either lapsed into paganism or was mixed with error. The clergy were mainly responsible for these latter conditions since they were in many instances uneducated, lax, and often disobedient to their bishops. These are the conditions that Boniface was to report on his first return visit to Rome. The pope instructed him to reform the German Church. The pope sent letters of recommendation to religious and civil leaders. Boniface admitted that his work would have been unsuccessful, from a human viewpoint, without a letter of safe-conduct from Charles Martel, the powerful Frankish ruler, grandfather of Charlemagne. Boniface was made a regional bishop and told to organize the whole German Church. He was eminently successful. On a final mission, Boniface and 53 others were massacred as he was preparing converts for confirmation.  To restore the Germanic Church to its fidelity to Rome and to convert the pagans, Boniface had been guided by two principles: to restore the obedience of the clergy to their bishops in union with the pope, and the establishment of many houses of prayer which took the form of Benedictine monasteries.

Each year ALL Catholic Parish communities are expected to have a period of extended Eucharistic worship. Many parishes throughout the world take the Opportunity of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi to do this, and for the past few years our Parish has held a period of Extended Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Accordingly we will be doing this from after the 11.00 Mass and ending with Evening Prayer and Benediction at 15.30 on Sunday 22 nd June. As always we will need to make sure that there are parishioners present in the church during this time and to this end there is a ’sign-up’ sheet at the rear of the church for parishioners to choose a twenty minute slot where they commit to being present. Please make a point of making sure that we are covered for the entire period on the day.

9-23rd August. Walking over the Surrey Hills and along the Sussex coast, this year’s route will visit every deanery in the Diocese, with pilgrims welcome to join for a day or two, or the whole 2 weeks. To find out more and book a place:-  thepilgrims.org.uk/book/home.php

Arundel Cathedral, 17-19th June. Experience Arundel’s beautiful Carpet of Flowers, in celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi. View the carpet 09.30 - 19.00 (Weds) and 09.30am - 17.30 (Thurs). Mass, followed by a procession to Arundel Castle, begins at 17.30 (Thurs). All are welcome.