Applications for our Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage are open now! Is Our Lady calling you to Lourdes this summer? Travelling to Lourdes is a wonderful experience full of fun, companionship, faith, friendship and laughter. Each person on our pilgrimage brings distinctive gifts and graces with them, benefitting those they meet during the week. What do we do during our Pilgrimage Week? We have a daily programme of events which includes a number of Masses and liturgies in different settings, with different themes. The Pilgrimage opens with a Mass of welcome for everyone and opening ceremony, where everyone is invited to have their hands blessed in recognition of the service we offer each other as we make our pilgrimage together. We also celebrate Mass at the Grotto where we remember friends and family members who have died, and a Mass of farewell shortly before we leave Lourdes. There is a Holy Hour during the week, a time for Lectio Divina, and many other opportunities for private and group prayer at the Grotto and in the Sanctuary.

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

18th February Ash Wednesday Masses 09.30 & 19.30 Lent Sundays Evening Prayer & Benediction 15.30 Lent Fridays Way of the Cross 12.30 (followed by Bread & Soup lunch) 

After Jesus’ baptism and temptation in the desert (a peak experience followed by a period of intense testing) he is primed to begin the work that he has prepared his whole life to be able to do. Jesus begins in the small, non descript town of Capernaum populated mostly by Gentiles (nonJews). Looking back in scripture, Matthew noticed that specific area had been promised a saviour who would bring light to their world of darkness. For all the Jews in his audience, Matthew makes the point that Jesus was the fulfilment of that promise from the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years earlier. Matthew is trying to show that Jesus came to live and minister to and among both Jews and Gentiles and to invite all of them to the fullness of life he was teaching.  Jesus begins his public ministry sounding like John the Baptist. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We might interpret that now as “Get busy. Get serious. It’s time to start living in God’s way. There isn’t much time left.” Then Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his helpers and companions as he gets busy healing the sick and proclaiming the Good News. If only everyone who preached repentance and the kingdom of God would get busy practicing what they preached! Questions of the week  What leaders or spiritual teachers have you experienced to be exclusive in terms of who they are speaking or preaching to? What leaders or spiritual teachers have you experienced to be open and inclusive in the way they welcome and invite all to be a part of a larger movement?  Whom do you know who lives with integrity and regularly practices what they preach?

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . At our 09.00 Mass last Sunday this year’s First Eucharist families were present for the enrolment of this year’s candidates. The candidates renewed their baptismal promises (which were made for them by their parents at their baptisms), before their parents reaffirmed the promise to be ‘the first and best of teachers to their child in the ways of faith.’ The candidates were then presented with the workbook that they will be using over the next few months to prepare for First Eucharist (on 14th June). In the evening Fr D was delighted to see so many parishioners at the annual Christian Unity Week Service at the United Church in Stoke Road - Sacred Heart Parishioners outnumbered any other group! On Monday evening Fr D came home early from his day off in order to attend a meeting of the ‘Shadow Parish Finance Team.’ Although with Bishop Richard having been appointed to Westminster and, therefore, no changes being possible within the diocese, it is possible to carry on with preparatory work and sharing of good practice by this team (none of this will be wasted if the new Bishop does not wish to continue with the new arrangements for our Deanery parishes). After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley. He completed his judgement on one of his cases and started preparing the judgement for the next case. Once he has the two ready he will call a meeting of the judges to finalise the Sentence for both cases. When he returned from Crawley in the evening Fr D was meeting for the first time with the prospective candidates and parents for this year’s Confirmation (9th May). Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday morning Fr D spent some time gathering the details that he needs to complete his tax return for last year before starting work on his parts of the newsletter.  After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was off down to Crawley again where he had a meeting with his opposite numbers in the Marriage Tribunal in Southwark, sharing with them how he deals with Penal Cases when they crop up. When he got back in the late afternoon Fr D was meeting with a young couple who are preparing for the baptism of their young daughter in a few weeks time . . . .

The Order of Franciscan Friars Minor has announced that 2026 will be a Franciscan Jubilee Year, with a Plenary Indulgence linked to the Jubilee. Francis of Assisi was born in Italy in 1181 or 1182. After a carefree youth, he amended his ways and the Order of Friars Minor - commonly known as the Franciscans - began. A young woman, Clare of Assisi, wanted to share St Francis’ choice of life, with the Order of the Poor Clares originating from her. Francis received the stigmata on the mountain of La Verna in 1224. The following year he composed the famous Canticle of Brother Sun, a poetic prayer of praise to God the creator of everything; this prayer and his attitude of respect for creation inspired his proclamation in 1979 as the patron saint of ecologists. Francis died on 4th October 1226 in Assisi and was declared a saint in 1228. In a letter to the Franciscans, Pope Leo writes: “In this age, marked by so many seemingly interminable wars, by internal and social divisions that create mistrust and fear, [St Francis] continues to speak. Not because he offers technical solutions, but because his life points to the authentic source of peace.”  “The Franciscan vision of peace is not limited to the relations between human beings, but also embraces the whole of creation. Francis, who calls the sun “brother” and the moon “sister,” who recognises in every creature a reflection of divine beauty, reminds us that peace must be extended to the entire family of Creation. This insight resonates with particular urgency in our time, when our common home is threatened and cries out under exploitation. Peace with God, peace among human beings and with creation are inseparable dimensions of a single call to universal reconciliation.”

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 . . . . .