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Welcome to the 'Parish News' section for Sacred Heart, Cobham
IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING ADMISSIONS TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND THE CERTIFICATE OF CATHOLIC PRACTICE Parishioners may be aware that the Diocesan Education Service has updated its model Admission Policies to bring them in line with the National Catholic Education Service and to ensure compliance with the mandatory School Admission Code which all Admission Authorities are legally required to follow. Our schools will still prioritise Catholic applicants and a certificate of Baptism will still be used to identify this. As schools adopt these new models, the requirement to seek a parish priest’s signature on the Supplementary Information Forms' (SIFs) will be removed. However, in any case where a school is oversubscribed with Catholic applicants, it will be necessary to rank further the Catholic applicants. To do this a 'Certificate of Catholic Practice' (CCP) will be used which affirms that 'this child and his/her family are known to me and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the child is from a practising Catholic family'. (The Guidance from the Diocese, following the National Catholic Education Service model, states that for the purposes of the Certificate of Catholic Practice, a person is a practising Catholic if they observe the Church’s precept of attending Mass on Sundays and holidays of obligation.) This certificate will be needed for those applying from this autumn for a place at St Andrew’s for Admission in September 2027, and going forward. Initially, in moving to a new system, the onus will be on parish clergy to make a judgement on these matters. However, Deanery clergy and the Diocesan Education Service are working on a form for use in coming years whereby families can indicate and celebrate their participation at Mass; indeed families should regard the change as a reminder of the need to be engaged with the life of the local Church, that is, the parish – not simply because they desire a school place for their child but because it is first and foremost their faith community, because worshipping God and being fed by Christ in word and Sacrament is what we are about and because, as children of God, families want their children to be supported in their journey of faith. All clergy are committed to supporting parishioners in the difficult task of parenting and the joyful task of sharing faith and are not oblivious to the challenges that families face. Please trust them in this new situation - but please do not put them in the awkward position of being asked to provide a certificate for someone they have hardly ever seen before.
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Another full-on time this week around The Presbytery, as we prepare for our annual period of extended Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and final preparations for our younger members to receive the Eucharist for the first time . . . . . After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was making an early start on his parts of the newsletter as he knew that the rest of the week was fairly full. He also spent time preparing the last session with parents before their children receive the Lord for the first time in the Eucharist (June 14th). In the afternoon Fr D continued working on the Parish Calendar for all the Sacramental Programmes for the next year (2026-7), trying to fit them around school holidays and his own diary. In the evening he met with the First Eucharist parents for the last time before the ‘Big Day!’ On Wednesday following Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D pulled together the last pieces of information for the Parish Calendar and began the work of producing the next year’s Application Forms (Baptism, First Reconciliation and First Eucharist). In the early evening Fr D had his last ‘input’ evening with our newly confirmed youngsters, reflecting on the course and the celebration of the sacrament and looking forward to ‘What’s Next.’ After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was off in the car to the diocesan offices at Crawley where he wrote up two marriage case sentences that had been judged a couple of weeks ago before starting the work on another case which he will call a judgement session for later. At the present moment in time the Tribunal has received as many cases this year so far as the whole of last year produced! When he returned in the late afternoon he finished up the last of his parts of the newsletter ready to hand the rest over to Sarah in the Parish Office. Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday morning Fr D made preparations for meeting with the family of a parishioner whose requiem will be celebrated here in a couple of weeks time. Whilst working in his office in the morning Fr D also emailed the church lighting engineers to schedule ‘phase two’ of the new church lighting system (this will involve the following: new LED units to light the Stations of the Cross; new LED lighting units for the wall wash lights; new LED fittings for the Altar; an LED reading lamp for the Ambo; new LED units for the ‘Quiet Room;’ a new LED unit for lighting the Stained glass window; and the Organ area lighting) . . . .
Last Monday 25th May, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical letter, Magnifica humanitas, was presented in the Vatican’s Synod Hall. Professor Anna Rowlands, a theologian and Professor at Durham University, was one of the speakers at the presentation. Following the launch event, Professor Rowlands reflected on this significant day and what it means for the Church and for the world: “The day has been pretty exciting, intense and momentous, as you would expect. This is the first time that a Pope has attended in the modern era, at least, the launch of a papal encyclical. Today there was a sense of a really important issue and set of topics being addressed, but also of a real gathering together with a spirit of appropriate celebration of a text that I think is a gift to the world.” Turning to the encyclical, Professor Rowlands noted that Pope Leo has been focused on AI as a central issue since the beginning of his papacy. She explained: “I think he genuinely feels that we’re living on the cusp of a new phase of the industrial revolution, and that we’ve entered a new moment where those same issues, in an intensified way, are now present to us again.” Describing the urgency with which Pope Leo is approaching the topic, she said: “[The Pope] thinks that this is an issue we should have been thinking about yesterday, and I think he worries, genuinely, that people don’t feel confident to tackle the AI conversation. He wants people to feel confident; their expertise doesn’t need to be in science or tech to engage with this issue. We do need the people with those bodies of expertise, but we are experts in humanity. We know what it is to inhabit a human body, to desire real human relationships rather than mere artificial connection with each other.” The central focus of Magnifica humanitas is the dignity of the human person, and the need to ensure “the genuine flourishing of human beings.”
There is a global debt crisis causing immense suffering for our brothers and sisters in low-income countries. Money that should be spent on healthcare and education is flowing out from countries that can least afford it. Complex factors have caused this crisis and now governments have an impossible choice between serving their people or paying their creditors. Often, they have paid their original debt back, but spiralling interest means they will never break the cycle. There are practical solutions are available. Please sign the petition at: www.cafod.org.uk/cancelthedebt
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A time of being all over the place for Fr D this week and two requiem Masses to celebrate as well . . . . . At our 11.00 Sunday morning Mass last weekend Fr D celebrated the ‘Rite of Welcome’ for a toddler who will be baptised in June. The ‘Rite of Welcome’ is the front part of the baptism ceremony that used to be celebrated at the church door when parents brought their child for baptism. The Rite enables the community in which the child will be baptised to acknowledge that they are preparing to join the community. On Bank Holiday Monday Fr D had lunch with two former parishioners from Reigate his (first parish as a Parish Priest), one of whom used to be his cleaner. Lunch took place at a local hostelry and many, many old times were called to mind. Tuesday morning Fr D celebrated the first of two requiems this week and following this he went to the Tilt Cemetery to celebrate the burial. By the time that he returned home afterwards he thought that he was melting and quickly changed out of ‘the black’ and into shorts and a t-shirt. It still took copious amounts of drinking cold water from the fridge before he felt anything approaching human again. Wednesday morning saw another blistering day weather-wise and another requiem for Fr D to celebrate. This time after the service Fr D went off to Randalls Park Crematoria with the family afterwards. Once again he was overheating by the time he returned and the shorts and another t-shirt appeared, along with several bottles of water from the fridge. On Thursday Fr D did not have a Mass to celebrate in the Sacred Heart owing to the annual Jubilarians celebration down at Arundel Cathedral. This was an opportunity for all the clergy of the diocese to celebrate with this year’s Jubilarians 60, 50, 40, and 25 years of ministry as a priest in the diocese. After the Mass there was a photocall for the Jubilarians in the Cathedral precincts before a nice lunch in the Cathedral Hall, just along the road. Because there was a reasonable breeze on the day Fr D took his time driving home what he called “the scenic route” - involving no motorway driving at all. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday, Fr D had just a few bits to do for the newsletter this week before handing it over to Sarah in the Parish Office. In the evening he went out for a meal with two parishioners . . . .
A usual the Diocese asks all Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist to renew their commitment to their important ministry on the feast of Corpus Christi. At present we only receive the chalice at the 09.00 and 11.00 Masses on Sunday so the renewal will take place at these two Masses on Sunday 7th June (Corpus Christi). Ministers will be asked to come and stand at the front of the sanctuary by Fr Daryl when they are required, renew their commitment and then return to their places in the congregation (except for those who are ministering at the Mass that day). Immediately after Mass those who have renewed their commitment are asked to go to the sacristy and sign next to their name.
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?
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Quite busy around The Presbytery this week as more immediate preparations begin for our celebration of First Eucharist (14th June) and Fr D starts to look at the timings for next year’s sacramental programmes within the Parish . . . . . . Last Saturday Fr D was at a reunion of the children’s group that he went to Lourdes with just after Easter this year. He was delighted to meet up with the children once more, who were all desperate to come again next year! Canon Tony Churchill was kind enough to celebrate our 18.00 Saturday Mass so that Fr D could attend. Monday, Fr D was up and breakfasted by 08.30 to meet the plumber who was fitting a new kitchen tap. The previous ceramic tap had been dripping for a little while and being over twenty -five years old was not repairable. Fr D had spent some time researching and generally asking around and decided that as well as the hot, cold, and filtered water, the new tap should deliver boiling water (hopefully replacing the constant need for a kettle which uses a fair amount of electricity ever time it is turned on). After it had been fitted Fr D was very pleased with the results and now makes his pots of tea without a kettle straight from the kitchen tap! After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D met with the diocesan IT engineer to ‘tidy up’ the cables etc from the IT projects that have taken place to reduce our telephone bills (two lines now working as one and billed accordingly) and improve our internet connections across the whole site (again a reduction in billing). When (if) Openreach decide to bring fibre to the premises (anticipated but no date yet) there will be another improvement in quality of connection. On Thursday afternoon Fr D had to attend the doctors for one of his six-monthly check-ups before going off in the car to a board meeting of the Bosco Catholic Education Trust in Haywards Heath. He did have an Infant Baptism preparation meeting in the evening but he got delayed on the motorway and had to reschedule the meeting. On Friday Fr D went off after Mass to the Diocesan Offices to deal with two marriage annulment judgements of cases that he had been working on. In the evening he went to the Deanery 24 hour Prayer Vigil, over in St Joseph’s, Epsom, where he was able to help out celebrating Reconciliation for some of the attendees . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A slightly less ‘full-on’ week around The Presbytery this week, but still full of meetings . . . . On Saturday evening Fr D was delighted to celebrate our own Parish Candidate’s Confirmation for them. Although a priest celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation is possible it does not happen very often (this time, of course, because of the lack of our own bishop at present). A total of five candidates were involved in the celebration, four of whom had been prepared by Fr D over the past few months here in the Parish and one who lives in the Parish but attends a boarding school during the week and was prepared in another parish. It was very affirming to see the candidates, their sponsors, and their families alongside them entering into this new stage of their journey of faith - please remember to keep them in your prayers as they go forward. Straight after Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D picked up Canon Tony and went off to St Joseph’s, Epsom, for this months Deanery Clergy Meeting. The meeting was also attended by three of the Diocesan Schools Team who were talking about the new schools admissions procedures coming into effect in the next year or two. There was also an update on the 24 hours Prayer Vigil preceding Pentecost next Friday and Saturday. Wednesday after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D started work on a funeral service for a couple of week’s time before going to have his monthly lunch with Fr Ruslan (Walton-on-Thames). In the evening he was in Tadworth for a meeting of the (Shadow) Parish Leadership Team - again discussing the Prayer Vigil next weekend. Thursday, of course, was the Ascension Holy Day of Obligation, so Fr D celebrated Mass at 09.30 and at 19.30 in the church. Between the Masses he got most of his parts of the newsletter completed and emailed off details of the coming requiem to relatives of the deceased. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday Fr D was seeing relatives for the upcoming requiem and also blessing a new car for a parishioner. In the Afternoon he was celebrating Mass at St Andrew’s School, Leatherhead. Canon Tony Churchill celebrated the Saturday vigil Mass because Fr D was at his Lourdes Group Reunion . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Fr D has been away at the annual Canon Law Conference for the past week; this time held in Glasgow . . . . . Mon. - Flight to Glasgow from London Heathrow - Arrivals and Check-in - Registration and Afternoon Tea - Opening of Conference - Session 1 ‘Marriage Preparation and the Validity of Ecclesiastical Marriages Today.’ - Dinner Tue. - Breakfast - Mass - Group Photograph - Session 2 ‘The Canonical Implications of Assisted Suicide.’ - Session 3 ‘Conscience, Ecclesial Communion, and Canon Law.’ - Session 4 ‘Diocesan Marriage Tribunals or Inter-Diocesan Tribunals.’ - Dinner Wed. - Breakfast - Mass - Session 5 ‘Canonical Considerations for Parish Governance after an Unplanned Priestly Absence.’ Thu. - Breakfast - Mass - AGM Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland. - Session 7 ‘Comparative Analysis of the Penal Judicial Process and the Metropolitan Police Service Gross Misconduct Procedure.’ - Session 8 ‘Q & A Session Marriage Tribunal and General Canonical Matters.’ - Drinks Reception and Gala Dinner Fri. - Breakfast - Flight from Glasgow to London Heathrow After all of this he came back exhausted! . . . . . .