30th August, 2014 – First Mass (22nd Sunday of the year in Ordinary Time)

WELCOME

Times of Mass and Devotions

HA = Holy Angels Church, Ash GU12 6LU   HF = Holy Family Church, Farnham GU9 0LH

Sat 30 Aug  5.30pm HA First Mass Special Intentions of the people of the Parish
Sun31 Aug  9.15am HF 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time For James Foley (RIP) and all those held hostage in Iraq
  11.00am HA   Elizabeth Ann Lanaghan (RIP)
Mon 1 Sep     NO MASS  
Tue 2 Sep   7.30pm HA NO MASS  
Wed3Sep  9.30am HA Liturgy of the Word  
Thu 4 Sep     NO MASS  
Fri   5 Sep 12.00pm HA NO MASS  
Sat 6 Sep   5.30pm HA First Mass – Fr. John Nuttall Frank and Mary Leahy (RIP)
Sun 7 Sep   9.15am HF 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Special Intentions of the people of the Parish
   11.00am HA Mass: Father Aidan Rossiter Bernard Berry (RIP)

 

 Liturgy

31st August 2014 (22nd Sunday of Year A)
Theme: The problem of suffering

Ent:                      HA: 212   HF: 31 All ye who seek ..
Offertory:         HA: 956  HF: 288 I watch the sunrise
Final Hymn:  HA: 964   HF: 830 You shall cross ..

Responsorial Psalm:

During the month of August and the first week of September whilst some of our musicians are away on holiday the Responsorial Psalm will be said but the Gospel Acclamation (The Alleluia will be sung as usual)

Collections for 24th August, 2014
Holy Angels Offertory:                  £ 202..94
Holy Family Offertory:                    £ 184.04

Information

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice’s new fundraising event, Dash of Colour, whichwill be taking place at 11am next Saturday 6th September at Frimley Lodge Park, Frimley Green.

 

 

Confirmation 2015:  If you will be 13 or over NEXT YEAR and would like to join the Confirmation Discovery Programme, please fill in a leaflet TODAY or speak to Fr. David, Deacon, John, Gloria or Hilary or call Rita at the Parish Office. The Programme planners need to know as soon as possible to get a date for Confirmation. i.e. by the 1st October, 2014.

First Holy Communion Programme 2014-2015

Application forms are now available at the back of each church for the First Holy Communion Programme 2014 – 2015. Your child must be in YEAR 3 or above to be considered for the programme and as a family you are requested to be registered with the parish. Location of classes alternates between Holy Angels, Ash and Holy Family, Heath End and all the childrenmust attend all lessons (you will find the dates on the sheet attached to the application form). If you require further information please contact Amanda Watson (amandawatty@sky.com).

Prayer Requests for the sick

Deacon David Morgan, Newton Abrew, Linda Weston and Michael Brandon.

We pray for all those in our two Parishes who are sick and need our prayers.

 

Holy Angels

200 Club Winners

The July Draw was effected on the 18th August 2014

1st Prize           Ticket No:         137       Mrs. G. Benson
2nd Prize           Ticket No:         67        Mr. C. Mann
(joint prize)      Ticket No:         168       Mrs. C. Allgood

Why not join the Club – Try your luck
Contact: Paul Tremlett Phone: 01483 810086 Mobile: 07899750949 Email: paulwtremlett@btinternet.com

Prayer Group: takes place once a month on a Tuesday at Holy Angels Church in the Parish Office: 7.45pm for an 8.00pm start. Dates are: 9th Sept. 7th Oct. and 4th November.

 

Holy Family

Children’s Liturgy on Sunday

The children’s liturgy at Holy Family will resume next Sunday 7th September and will take place most Sundays, apart from those either side of half-term and when there is a First Holy Communion Mass at Holy Family, until the 21st December inclusive.

Harvest Soup and Cheese Lunch – 7th November

The Holy Family J&P team are holding a Harvest soup & cheese lunch in aid of Disability Africa, on Friday 7th November (time yet to be confirmed). Sue Haworth-Edwards, a Trustee of the above charity, and member of J&P team will be giving a short talk about the charity with literature available to view.

Today’s Gospel

“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself”.

I wonder how many of us have really thought about what it really means to be a true follower of Christ. Those of us who come to Mass on Sunday and endeavour to live a good and decent Christian life, following our Catholic Faith. Most of us, I am sure, feel that we are doing our best, we love the Lord, we try to follow his teachings, ‘To love our neighbour as ourselves’, ‘To do unto others as we would wish they do unto us’. All these things that our Lord has taught us in the Bible. However, do we really appreciate that when we ask the Lord to come into our lives and we make that choice to follow him, do we fully take on board that not only is the Lord asking us to follow in his ways and to follow his teachings, but he also asks of us to ‘Take up our cross daily and follow him, renouncing self!’This is a very big ask and not one that many of us find easy. We are happy to go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation, or when we can on week days, but when anything interferes with our every day lives it is then we start to feel a little uncomfortable, as we may feel that this is getting in the way of what we would rather be doing. But this is in fact what our Lord is asking of us according to today’s Gospel. If we truly love him, we should be prepared to renounce ourselves. (Many of Jesus’ disciples left wives and families to follow him.) To be willing to give up whatever it might be that makes us happy, albeit for sometimes only a short while, and to be obedient to walk the path that the Lord has prepared for us at that time in our lives.

It would seem, that only when we are able to put our hands up and say, “Ok Lord, I hear you, this is not really what I had planned, but if this is where you are leading me and you are asking for my obedience, then I will accept and do your will”.It is then and only then, we can really say that we are a true disciple of Christ. Happy to go that extra mile, happy to renounce self and our own interests to enable the Lord to use us for a greater purpose and this almost always means giving of ourselves for the benefit of others.

There are many followers of Christ from all denominations who do in fact go that extra mile and give up their lives to go out into the world to help others in need. I can think of one man in particular, William Pooley who at present is in an isolation hospital in the UK having contracted Ebola whilst working in Sierra Leone. William was heard to say, “It’s great seeing them [the patients] walk away after some of them have been in a terrible state and seeing them on the wards.”

This young man found so much joy in helping others and seeing them get well. (we pray for William’s complete recovery) Missionaries too often risk their own lives to preach the Gospel in distant parts of the world where they have never heard of Christ. Nurses and Doctors work such terribly long hours to help to make us well. Even closer to home, our own Catholic Priests, they give their lives to the Lord. Giving up ever having a family life of their own. We, the people in Church are their family and they take on the responsibility of guiding us in our faith. They are the ones who go the extra mile to reach out to others. Giving of themselves freely and solely dependent on the generosity of donations made by those who they have helped, be it conducting the wonderful happy event of a wedding, or celebrating the birth of a child in Baptism or sharing in the grief of someone after the death of a much loved relative or friend by conducting the Funeral Service for them. This is what their God has called them to do and they do this willingly, just as Christ willingly gave himself when he suffered death on a Cross for us, for our sinful nature, that through him we might be forgiven and saved to share one day in eternal life with our Father in heaven.

The Lord I am sure is just as pleased with us even when we do the smaller things in life. It could be helping out in our own Parish by using the talents God has given us. Or it may be visiting someone sick in hospital, or helping out a neighbour or friend in need. All these small and what seem insignificant things we do but with a willing heart must, I am sure, make the Lord smile. (Written by the Editor)

What finally counts is not whether we know Jesus and his words but whether we live our lives in the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of Love. Jesus himself makes this clear when he speaks about the last judgement. There people will ask: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?” and Jesus will answer: “In so far as you did this to one of the least of mine, you did it to me”. (Matthew 25: 37, 40)
This is our great challenge and consolation. Jesus comes to us in the poor, the sick, the dying, the prisoners, the lonely, the disabled and the rejected. There we meet him, and there the door to God’s house is opened to us.
(taken from the book, Bread for the journey)