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? 

Anyone may request a Mass to be offered for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include thanksgiving, praying for someone’s intentions (such as on a birthday), for the repose of the soul of a deceased person, for the well-being of someone who is ill, or nearly any other intention. To book a Mass Intention, simply complete a Mass Intention envelope (available at the back of the church or from the Parish Office). If you prefer to keep the intention private, you can write ‘Private Intention’ on the envelope. Please return the completed envelope to the parish office or put it through the Presbytery letterbox. The custom of offering Masses for specific intentions is an ancient tradition in the Church. The Mass is the perfect prayer of Christ and the Church, and it is considered the greatest possible prayer of intercession. This is because the Mass makes present the paschal mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection and offers it to the Father. When a member of the faithful requests a Mass, they generally make a donation to the priest, who then celebrates the Mass according to their intention. This offering allows the faithful to associate themselves more closely with Christ by parting with something of their own. Additionally, the stipend helps support the clergy. To ensure that this practice remains sacred, the Church regulates the receiving of stipends. Normally, a priest may only accept one stipend per Mass, even if he is offering the Mass for several intentions.  It is important to understand that offering a stipend does not mean “buying a Mass,” which is impossible. Rather, the priest is committing to celebrating a Mass for the specific intention requested by the person making the offering. Masses can be offered for various intentions, such as thanksgiving, anniversaries, memorials, or petitions.

There are teachings of Jesus that seem to sum up his message perfectly. The Golden Rule-“Do unto others as you would have them do to you”-is one example. Another appears in the Gospel passage from John today. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” ( Jn. 13:34 ). If Jesus had left this new commandment at “love one another,” it would have been open to more interpretation. What one person might consider love (“I beat my child to teach him a lesson because I love him”) would be offensive to another person’s understanding of love. If we think only in terms of “love one another” we might be tempted to reduce it to something like “Do no harm.” That could let us off the hook for not being proactive to help others, as long as we aren’t actively making someone’s life harder. Adding the line “as I have loved you, so you also should love one another” calls us to measure how we define love against how Jesus lived it out. Jesus was honest and direct in calling people to accountability for their actions, and he challenged them to stretch to be better. But he didn’t shame people. He didn’t withhold forgiveness, no matter what the sins were. He always moved to bring people back into the community rather than condemning them to be out casts. He stood up for those being cheated or exploited by the wealthy and powerful. He reached out to the sick and the lame, offering his healing presence no matter how grotesque their illness or disfigurement was. Let us then love one another as Jesus showed us how.  Questions of the week  Share an example of something done under the guise of “love” when deep down you know that is not what Jesus would have done.  What changes for you when “love one another” becomes “love one another as I have loved you”?

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Fr D arrived back home on Friday evening having been away since Monday at the annual Conference of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Despite its name the conference is a really international affair with many participants travelling from Australia, India, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Italy, Malta, Africa, Canada, and the USA. Whilst on the conference (this year taking place in Harrogate) the participants take part in lectures which cover many of the different areas of Church Law - Education, Marriage, the Sacraments, Church structures, Religious Life, Temporal Goods, Penal Law . . . . This year the topics covered:- Dr. Philip Milligan , Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life ‘Taking Recourses Seriously. Promoting the Rights of the Faithful through Canons 57 and 1732-1739.’ Professor Chad Glendinning, Professor of Canon Law at St Paul’s University, Ottawa ‘Together for Mission: Exploring Possibilities for Greater Participation of the Lay Faithful in "Ecclesial Discernment" and the Decision-Making Process.’ Professor Hildegard Warnink , Professor Canon Law, Catholic University, Leuven ‘The relationship between matrimonial consent and faith, especially deficiency of faith as a possible ground for nullity.’ Monsignor Shane Kirby , Substitute Promoter of Justice, Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura ‘Ten Years of the Processus Brevior: reflections on law and praxis.’ Father Thomas Kulandaisamy, Diocese of Clifton ‘Recourse to the Apostolic Signatura: Challenging Administrative Decrees of Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, with a focus on DIVCSVA for Dismissal from Religious Institutes.’ Also during each conference there are two Question and Answer Sessions, one for General Subjects and One for Marriage. The Annual General Meeting of the Society also takes place during the week. Over the years it has become customary for the conference to take place on a four-yearly cycle between England (Harrogate), Ireland (Galway), Scotland (Stirling), and Rome. . . . . .

Today’s Gospel reading emphasizes that Jesus is the ultimate good shepherd. “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” We might wonder how we can recognize Jesus’ voice as humans living in the 21st century, not sheep following a shepherd in the first century. It begins by trusting that the shepherd wants what is best for the sheep. Do we believe that God wants what is best for us? Because he does. Jesus also said, “I have come that they may have life in abundance.” God wants us to have joy, freedom, fulfilment, and love, not deprivation, emptiness, and loneliness. If we have internalized the latter message, we have been tricked into following a shepherd who is not interested in our care and protection. In that case, the first step is to ask God for a greater trust that he wants us to have life in its fullness, here and now, not just after we die. When we believe that Jesus loves us enough to have our very best interests at heart, we can practice listening for invitations that bring us more energy, excitement, joy, and peace. Maybe a new job offer is particularly invigorating-that is probably Jesus’ voice calling us to follow. Perhaps an invitation from a friend or acquaintance leads us to a sense of greater joy or contentment than what we are currently spending our time on. That could be the voice of Jesus calling us to follow.  Maybe an activity or relationship we are engaged in is contributing to depression, anxiety, self-hatred, or substance abuse. In that case, the thought of ending that activity or relationship may give us a glimpse of freedom and relief. If that is the case, perhaps it is the voice of Jesus calling us to leave that behind us. There are many ways Jesus can call to us. If we listen for and follow the invitations that lead to greater life, then we can trust we are following Jesus’ voice. Questions of the week  Share about a time when you have followed an invitation that you felt was from Jesus. How did you know the “voice” was from God?  Describe a time when you went astray by following another shepherd who didn’t care for you as a good shepherd cares for his sheep. How did you realize you were astray? How did you find your way back to God’s path?

In 1964, Pope Paul VI, launched Vocations Sunday, which we celebrate on the fourth Sunday of Easter, also called Good Shepherd Sunday. This year it falls today (11th May 2025), which marks the 62nd Anniversary of World Day of Prayer for Vocations. As Catholics and the ‘People of God’ we all know that God is calling us and has a plan for each and every one of us. He called each of us by name through our Baptism to holiness; and he continues to call and cry out to us each day to be his disciples, some to the married life, some to the priesthood, some to religious life or to live as single people. Everybody is called! What is God calling you to? Along with the whole Church, let us pray for vocations today. Let us take time to stir the hearts and minds of the people around us to think about the topic of Vocation. The National Office for Vocation (NOV) invites you to talk and encourage children, young people, grandchildren, students, family members to respond generously to the calling of the Lord.  Today’s Retiring Collection is for the Ecclesiastical Education Fund which provides the Bishop with funds to train the future priests of the diocese; please be as generous as possible with your donations.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A very busy week indeed around The Presbytery this time around as things begin to ‘hot up’ regarding our Eucharist (15th June) and Confirmation (24 th May) programmes; along with Fr D preparing for this year’s Canon Law Society Conference . . . . . On Bank Holiday Monday Fr D decided that he’d best make a start on newsletters as he had to create two weeks worth. Having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D was off down to Crawley to the Tribunal Office. Now that Lent is over he is back to being down there twice a week (normally - Tuesdays and Thursdays). When he came back home in the late afternoon he was getting ready to meet with the parents of this year’s First Eucharist candidates in the evening. Following Morning Prayer, Mass, and Rosary on Wednesday Fr D was able to do a little more on the upcoming newsletters before a lunch appointment with a couple of parishioners. When he got home again he was preparing to meet with the Confirmation candidates in the evening for their last ‘input’ session until the actual celebration at Arundel Cathedral with Bishop Richard. On Thursday, after Morning Prayer, Mass, and Rosary, Fr D again went off to the Tribunal Office where he was archiving all of the 2022-3 cases now that they were completed. Initially the complete case (application, letters, interview evidence, decrees, and sentences) are filed and, after ten years these files are thinned out to just the evidence pack and final decree. They are then kept in the archives for 100 years after the final decree! When he got home again in the evening Fr D was just able to note the news that we had a new Pope before meeting with a young couple who are in the process of preparing for their child’s baptism in June.  After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Rosary on Friday Fr D completed his parts of the newsletters for the next two weekends before passing them on to Sarah in the Parish Office to finish and print/send off. He discovered that the covering sheets for sending out the newsletter had now been exhausted and had to make up several weeks worth (looking for useful ‘Catholics Can Laugh’ stories/jokes). In the afternoon Fr D had an appointment to have a scan for abdominal aortic aneurisms (I think that he’s reached some age when they call people in to check them out!) . . . . . . . .

With all the questions, doubts, and dangers facing them, the apostles focussed their attention on finding a twelfth apostle. Why was this important? Twelve was a very important number: twelve was the number of tribes of Israel. If the new Israel was to come from the disciples, a twelfth apostle was needed. But Jesus had chosen the original twelve. How could they know whom he would choose? 120 people were gathered for prayer and reflection in the upper room, when Peter stood up to propose the way to make the choice. Peter had just one criterion, that, like Andrew, James, John, and himself, the new apostle be someone who had been a disciple from the very beginning - Jesus’ baptism until the Ascension. Two men fit this description - Matthias and Joseph called Barsabbas. They knew that both these men had been with them and with Jesus through his whole ministry. But which one had the heart to be a witness to his resurrection.  Then they knew that only the Lord could know what was in the heart of each. So, they cast lots in order to discover God’s will and the lot fell to Matthias. He was the final apostle and the group was whole again as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The tradition of dedicating the month of May to Mary, came about in the 13th century. In her unique way, Mary gave new life to the world when she gave birth to our saviour Jesus Christ. The link between Mary and the month of May became popular among the members of the Jesuit Order and, by 1700, it had a firm hold among their students at the Roman College and a short time later it was publicly celebrated in the Gesu Church in Rome. From there it spread to the rest of the Church. The pious practice of honouring Mary during the month of May has been especially promoted by several Popes characterising it as one of those “other exercises of piety which although not strictly belonging to the Sacred Liturgy, are nevertheless of special import and dignity, and may be considered in a certain way to be an addition to the liturgical cult: they have been approved and praised over and over again by the Apostolic See and by the Bishops” Devotion to Mary is one an important part of the Catholic identity.  During May we will be praying one decade of the Rosary after our weekday Masses