Please be sure to get this date into your diary now!

Nicholas was born at Patara, a seaside town in Licia, in southern Turkey, in the third century. He came from a good family that raised him as a Christian. His life, from his earliest days, was marked by obedience. When he was orphaned at a young age, Nicholas, remembering the rich young man in the Gospel, used his inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the poor. He was elected Bishop of Myra, and under the emperor Diocletian was exiled and imprisoned. After being freed, he attended the Council of Nicea in 325. He died in Myra on 6 December 343.  Many stories have been handed down about Nicholas, all testifying to a life spent in service to the weak, the small, and the defenceless.

The Word Who is Life: The Call to Mission Continuing to Develop Our Response . . . . . . Background As many of you already know, over several years, Bishop Richard has met with clergy and parishioners to reflect on the opportunities and challenges our Church is facing and how best to respond to them. He then published The Word Who Is Life — our Diocesan Pastoral Plan — which was then presented to everyone in the Diocese (there are synopsis’ still available in the church narthex). Locally, as part of this Plan, the nine parishes that today make up the present Epsom Deanery will come together to form a New Single Parish at some point in 2026. The central message of the Pastoral Plan is “ The Call to Mission ” — inviting all of us to help to shape our parishes into strong, lively, and welcoming communities. What’s happening now So what is happening now? Here in Epsom Deanery, a team formed from clergy and parishioners from EVERY parish has been discussing how we should respond to this The Call to Mission . One of the first things the team asked itself was how to get everyone involved. To that end, a meeting is planned in the New Year in each of our existing parishes to share information of what the Pastoral Plan means, how any necessary changes will be decided, and to get the participation of all communities in shaping what our response will be. For our Sacred Heart community this meeting will take place at 19.30 on Wednesday 21st January - Please put the date in your diary today! What we are now asking of you The Pastoral Plan is a call to all parishioners, and we know that our communities are blessed with many different gifts. That is why your participation is needed even before this meeting take place. On your way out of church today, you are asked to take a “ You’re Invited! ” POSTCARD and a FLYER which outline how we are shaping our response to this call and what we can expect to be different over the coming months and years. For example, one of the goals is a wider expansion of parishioner leadership, participation, and engagement. Another goal is for our parishes to work more closely with one another and with our schools. Both postcards and flyers include QR codes or a link to a website where you can find more information to help you make your contribution: in particular, we are asking you to get involved by helping us to identify: Opportunities, Challenges, and any Questions . There are several ways for you to share your thoughts:  You can fill in one of the “You’re invited!” postcards and return it before Sunday 14th December  You can use the online form whose address you will find on the flyer  Or, if you prefer, you can email directly to epsomdeanerynewsletter@gmail.com

Our Gospel reading can be unsettling. A reminder of how so many died in the catastrophe of the flood in Noah’s time, the image of some people being snatched away from their work while others are “left behind,” the description of a thief coming in the night - all are disturbing images. The final words of the passage “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour” can feel frightening in this regard. In Jesus’ time, when his Jewish people were oppressed under Roman rule, they envisioned God’s arrival in terms as we have just heard. Rather than being frightened at the prospect, they looked forward in hope to God’s arrival in the world to pronounce final judgment. When Jesus used the term “the coming” of the Son of Man, he used the Greek word “parousia.” At that time, it referred to the arrival of a ruler, god, or deity who would visit a particular city or his people and bring salvation to them. Jesus was reminding them to hang onto that hope as they waited for what must have seemed like forever. Today our attention is more likely caught up on the daily matters at hand rather than longing for God to put an end to a miserable world. If that is the case, Jesus challenges us to stay awake, be more alert, and be present to what we are doing because we don’t know when things might change in an instant. If we knew we or a loved one only had a year to live, or a month, or a day, what would we want to be doing up until the end? Posting on social media? Working overtime? Eating or drinking until we feel sick? Probably not.  This gospel passage is an invitation to reevaluate how we spend our time - and to not take tomorrow for granted. How would Jesus want us to spend our time if we were to die tomorrow? Let’s awaken to that - and start today. Questions of the week  Thinking about people and peoples today and throughout history who have been oppressed and mistreated, can you see how they might find hope in such a passage?  What do you want to be more vigilant about this upcoming week? How do you think Jesus is inviting you to spend your valuable time and energy?

Please be sure to put these dates into your diary now!

After much waiting Fr D has now received the date of next year’s Confirmation which will take place on Saturday 9th May and will take place at St Joseph’s Church, Epsom. Possible candidates for Confirmation need to be presently in Year 10 at Secondary School and be regularly in attendance at our weekend and Holy Day Masses. Possible Candidates fulfilling these criteria are invited to write to Fr D telling him your name, address, mobile & tel. numbers, email address, who your parents are, which school you attend, where and when you were baptised, and why you would like to consider being confirmed. These letters should arrive at the Presbytery by 18.00 on Sunday 14th December

Andrew Dung-Lac, a convert ordained to the priesthood, was one of 117 martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. The Companion members of the group gave their lives for Christ between the 17th and 19th centuries, were beatified on four different occasions between 1900 and 1951, and were canonized during the papacy of St John Paul II. Christianity came to Vietnam through Portuguese Jesuits, who opened their first mission in 1615. Originally ministering to Japanese Catholics driven from Japan. Severe persecutions were launched at least three times in the 19th century. During the six decades after 1820 100,000 to 300,000 Catholics were killed or subjected to great hardship. Foreign missionaries martyred in the first wave included priests of the Paris Mission Society, and Spanish Dominican priests and tertiaries. In 1832, the Emperor banned all missionaries, trying to make the Vietnamese deny their faith. Much like the priest-holes in England during persecution, many hiding places were offered in homes of the faithful. Persecution broke out again in 1847, when the emperor suspected foreign missionaries and the Vietnamese Christians of sympathising with a rebellion led by of one of his sons.  The last of the martyrs were executed in 1862. That year a treaty with France guaranteed religious freedom to Catholics, but it did not stop all persecution.

On this feast day of Christ the King, the first reading tells us of King David’s anointing as the king of Israel. He was the one who unified the twelve tribes of Israel and brought them together as a people for the first time. Ever since, he has been upheld as the preeminent king in Jewish history. Many of the misunderstandings about Jesus’ identity stem from the fact that he did not fit the description of what the Jews were expecting in a king who was the “son of David.” They expected a military warrior who would save them from the oppression of who ever the current ruling empire was. They thought he would usher in an everlasting reign of national peace. They certainly didn’t expect a king like Jesus who sided with the poor and the outcast and had no patience for social climbing. They never expected a king who would resist all manner of violence, even to the point of accepting suffering on the cross rather than lashing out in retaliation. At the heart of the celebration of Christ the King (which always falls on the last Sunday of the year before Advent begins) is an understanding of Jesus as a king who talked and acted very differently from the descendant of David whom the Jews expected. When Jesus walked the earth, Jews were looking forward to a king who would once again unify their country and liberate them from the world powers who historically oppressed them. In a world where “might makes right,” it would be natural to presume that the coming Saviour would be a powerful political figure who would lead the Jews in throwing off Roman rule and reestablishing national independence. Such a king would naturally enjoy the prestige, wealth, and trappings of a worldly kingdom. No wonder so many Jews had trouble coming to terms with Jesus’ behaviour or flatly denied that he was their expected saviour.  No wonder that Jewish rulers, Roman soldiers, and a condemned criminal mocked Jesus as “the King of the Jews” at his crucifixion. Jesus rejected any nationalism that included violence or oppression, and he preached love of enemies instead of the death of enemies. His refusal to play the part of a worldly king went so far that he refused to use his divine powers to save himself from horrific suffering. Questions of the Week  Give examples of worldly rulers in history who used their power and authority appropriately and for the benefit of their people.  Share examples of rulers who “lorded it over others” and used their power to

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Lots of rushing around this week, as the roof works came to an end and various smaller electrical jobs began to be sorted out . . . . . On Monday the roof workers were completing the works with some painting of woodwork and fitting new guttering at lower levels where there was none before or where the wrong size had been fitted at some point in the past. All of the guttering is now ‘deep flow’ rather than having some shallow (which means that the water enters and flows straight out over the side and down the nearest wall!). Following Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday, Fr D was off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley where a case has arrived in his ‘in-tray’ which is ready for him to begin the process of judgement on. In the evening Fr D met with the parents of this year’s First Reconciliation candidates for their last session before the great day on Saturday 29th November. The candidates will meet with Fr D on Saturday (along with their parents) for their last session as well. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday, Fr D met with our electrician who had come to begin several minor works that Fr D had made a list of (light above main entrance to church; confessional speakers; lighting tubes in St Francis room and kitchen of Parish Centre; removal of old single pendant bulb and replacement with LED battens in the loft; additional sockets in the loft). At lunchtime Fr D was meeting with Fr Ruslan (Walton) for their monthly lunch. In the evening Fr D had a meeting with representatives of the other parishes in the deanery to further the work on the bishop’s ‘Pastoral Plan’ along with two of our parishioners. The preparations for a series of presentations in the New Year (Cobham’s Wednesday 21st January 19.30) now seem to be ready and will be informed through an opportunity in every Parish during Advent to find out how YOU can be involved as the plan progresses. Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was off to Notre Dame School to celebrate Mass for the school’s major Feast Day (the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple in Jerusalem).