30th January, 18.30, Arundel Cathedral. People across our diocesan family are invited to join a special Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop Richard, followed by a reception in the Baron’s Hall, Arundel Castle, by kind permission of His Grace, the Duke of Norfolk. All are welcome

This takes place each year from 18th to 25th January , providing an opportunity to focus our prayers on Christian unity and to join with our brothers and sisters in Christ. This year the Week of Payer takes Ephesians 4:1-13 as its central text; this includes the words “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Here in Cobham we are joining with the other Christian communities of the area in a United Service at 18.00 this Sunday (18th ), at the United Church in Oxshott Road.

Almost nothing is known of this Agnes except that she was very young - 12 or 13 - when she was martyred in the last half of the third century. Various methods of death have been suggested for her demise - strangulation, burning, beheading . . . Legend has it that Agnes was a beautiful girl whom many young men wanted to marry. Among those she refused, one reported her to the authorities for being a Christian. She was arrested and confined to a house of prostitution. The legend continues that a man who looked upon her lustfully lost his sight and had it restored by her prayers. Agnes was condemned, executed, and buried near Rome in a catacomb that eventually was named after her. Afterwards the daughter of Constantine built a basilica in her honour.  Like that of St Maria Goretti in the 20th century, the martyrdom of a virginal young girl made a deep impression on a society enslaved to a materialistic outlook. Also like St Agatha, who died in similar circumstances, Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend on length of years, experience, or human effort. It is a gift which God offers.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Normal service is now resumed around The Presbytery and Parish . . . . . . With the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord last weekend Christmastide came to an end, the crib, wreath, tree, and decorations were removed and packed away until next year, and the Church entered into the first section of what is called Ordinary Time. During Ordinary Time green is the prevailing colour of the season up until Ash Wednesday which this year falls on 18th February - slightly earlier than last year. On Tuesday, having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition, Fr D was off down to Crawley in the car ‘on a mission’ to prepare another judgement for next month. When he came back home in the late afternoon he was preparing for the launch meeting, with parents, of this year’s First Eucharist Programme. Having celebrated their First Reconciliation at the beginning of Advent our candidates and their parents are now embarking on preparations for the reception of the Eucharist (on June 14th this year). After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D was dealing with some letters and then started work on this week’s newsletter before going off for lunch with Fr Ruslan (Walton-onThames). They do this once a month generally as a support to one another. When he got back in the afternoon Fr D was able to catch up on some reading that he has got behind on, before going upstairs for an early night. Thursday morning, after celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D was back down to the diocesan offices at Crawley once more where he had a few queries to answer before continuing to finish one of his judgements for next month and doing the reading before beginning another. On the way home Fr D stopped off at one of the nursing homes in the Parish where he was able to anoint a parishioner. In the evening he finished ‘his parts’ of the newsletter so that Sarah could have them in the Parish Office on Friday morning to complete ‘her parts!’  Getting up a little earlier on Friday Fr D started the Notices and Universal Prayers for the weekend Masses before he had his breakfast. After celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass he went back to these to finish them and hand them over to Sarah to complete and print off along with the newsletter . . . . .

All four gospels give us an account of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. This story by the author of John’s gospel (who was not the same person as John the Baptist) is perhaps the most puzzling of the four. John speaks in somewhat odd and cryptic language, beginning with “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” As Catholics today, we recognise that phrase from the Mass when the priest holds up the consecrated host before Communion. However, readers and hearers of John’s Gospel would have understood it as a reference to their Jewish heritage. In Jesus’ day, Jews would take a lamb to the Temple in Jerusalem to be sacrificed as an atonement for their sins. When John stated that Jesus was the Lamb of God, he was making quite a claim - that Jesus was taking the place of a sacrificial lamb and that he was taking on the sins of the entire world!  There are suggestions in several of the gospels that some people were beginning to think John the Baptist was the long-awaited Messiah. In this Gospel, John says everything he can to convince people that it isn’t him, but Jesus, who deserves that recognition. Clearly, he had a profound experience after baptising Jesus when the Spirit came “down like a dove from heaven,” leaving him without a doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, not him. Questions of the week  If you have either children or godchildren who were baptised, what was that experience like for you?  Jesus is given many different titles in the Gospels: Lamb of God, Lord, Saviour, Teacher, Christ, Messiah, etc. What title do you relate to the most? Why?

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: https://abdiocese.churchsuite.com/events/

This Tuesday (6th) is the Solemnity of the Epiphany and is a Holy Day of Obligation when ALL Roman Catholics are expect to attend and assist at Mass. Attendance at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation is an important part of the practice of our faith for all members of the Catholic Church and wilful failure to do so is a serious matter. Masses in the Parish will be at the normal Holy Day times of 09.30 and 19.30 on the day

It is a traditional practice for Catholics (especially families) to make a visit to the Christmas Crib over Christmastide (25th December - 11th January), to pray especially for those persons/families who do not have the great gift of spending Christmas as we do. The Catholic Children’s Society (C.C.S.) is helping local disadvantaged families facing severe hardship through the Arundel and Brighton Family Crisis Fund, providing quick, practical support to families in need. Recently the C.C.S. helped a young mother who had given up work to care for her five-year-old daughter who had been diagnosed with cancer. Here daughter often felt cold, so the mother would keep the heating on to help the child feel warm and comfortable. The family could just afford their rent and food but had no way to address their rising energy bills. C.C.S. provided a one-off grant to help the family through the winter. The mother said: ‘I felt so helpless and scared. All I wanted to do was look after my daughter, but I couldn’t stop worrying about how I would pay our bills. You have taken that worry away and now I can focus on caring for my child. Thank you.” There are many more vulnerable families in need of support and our Parish will be donating our Crib Offerings to support this important work. Every penny donated will be give out via the C.C.S.’s Arundel and Brighton Crisis Fund to support local families in need. You can donate using the box at the Crib; if you are a registered Gift Aid member please complete and use the special envelopes by the Crib to make your donation tax efficient.

Trying to understand the true significance of an event like Christmas can not be done in a single day. Much like the epic natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, or the Baroque majesty and splendour of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, we need multiple visits to take the whole thing in. So it is with the mystery of the Nativity. For Catholics, Christmas is not just over and done with on December 25th. It’s only just begun! At a time when many are taking down their decorations and throwing their Christmas Trees to the kerbside, Catholics should still be celebrating. Christmastide is the name given to the Christmas season in the liturgical calendar. This begins with the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and ends on the Sunday celebrating the Baptism of the Lord (11th January). This usually results in a Christmas season of around twenty days or so. Of special note is that the Christmas season licks off with a gift - seven special days other than December 25th, designed to extend our focus on the mystery of Christ’s birth. During these days, we’re to take in all the joys and graces associated with such a momentous event. These days are called the ‘Octave of Christmas,’ and you can remember their timing because the Octave starts and ends with a solemnity - the Nativity of the Lord on December 25th, and Mary, Mother of God on January 1st . At one time there were actually fifteen feast days in the Church that included Octaves, but since 1969, only Christmas and Easter are extended by these special days of celebration.  Ultimately, while all these details of the season can get a little confusing at times, the major conclusion to draw is this: our Christmas celebrations are often way too short, and end far too early! So do not miss out on the opportunity to stay in a holy, holiday spirit, by celebrating for the entire Christmas season this year