Newsletter

20th July, 2013 – Sunday Vigil Mass (Sixteenth Sunday)

WELCOME

Times of Mass and Devotions

Sat   20 July 5.30pm HA  Sunday Vigil Mass William Buckley (RIP)
Sun   21 July 9.15am HF   Special Intentions of the people of the Parish
  11.00am HA   Special Intentions of Richard & Colleen Rutter
Mon  22 July     NO MASS NO MASS
Tue  23 July  9.30am  HF St. Bridget Special Intentions of Connie Tekesbury
Wed 24 July 9.30am HA Week 16 in ordinary time Special Intentions of Molly Llanwarne
Thu  25 July 7.30pm HF St. James Special Intentions of Francesca
Fri     26 July  12.00pm HA Sts. Joachim and Anne Special Intentions of Sister Marguerite
Sat    27 July  5.30pm HA Sunday Vigil Mass Mass Intention available
Sun   28 July 9.15am HF Seventeenth Sunday Mike & Fatima on their Ruby Wedding Anniversary
  11.00am HA   Mass Intention available

Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confessions)
Holy Angels, Ash: First Friday of month after 12pm Lunchtime Mass
Holy Family, Farnham:  First Thursday of month after 7.30pm Evening Mass
Special Services with Confessions at both Churches for Advent and Lent

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will commence on Wed. 4th Sept at Holy Family @ 7.00pm (in Church Hall)

 (Parish Office Hours: 9.30am – 1.30pm)

                        Please note:  HF = Holy Family, Heath End, Farnham and HA = Holy Angels, Ash

 

Second Collection

NEXT SUNDAY – collection for A Day for Life

 

Liturgy

16th Sunday of Year
Theme:  Our relationship with Christ

Entrance:         HA:  806           HF:  706 The Lord’s my ..
Offertory:
        HA:  720:         HF:   72 Be still for the presence of the Lord
Final Hymn:
      HA:  883          HF:  S10 or 891 Longing for ..

 

Baptisms

 

Please make an appointment to see the Priest/Deacon to discuss what you need to do to prepare for your child’s baptism. If you are new to the Parish, please complete pink Registration Form and make yourself known to Father David or Deacon John after Mass.

 

Prayer Requests

Sharon O’Brien’s Mother, Barbara, Jordan, Sister Bernadette and Olivia Peck.

Please remember in your prayers all those who are sick in our two Parishes and for any family members or friends in need of our prayers. Thank you.

 

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION PROGRAMME 2013-2014

Application forms are now available at the back of each church for the First Holy Communion Programme 2013 -2014.

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 children must 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).

 

 Two Parishes Prayer Group

The prayer group for both Holy Angels and Holy Family Churches takes place once a month on a Tuesday. The next Prayer Group meetings are as follows:

10th September, 8th October and 5th November at 7.45pm in Parish Office at Holy Angels..

 

Holy Family Church Catholic Parish Farnham, Hale, Weybourne & Badshot Lea

Presentation of Guild of St. Stephen Gold Medal

On Sunday, 1st September at the 9.15am Mass Peter Davies will be presented with a Gold Medal in recognition of his 60 years as MC at HolyFamilyChurch.  This is a time when we thank Peter for his loyal and dedicated service to our Church for which we are all grateful. May God Bless him and his family on this special day.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament now until Wednesday, 4th September, 2013 when this will re-commence.

 

Mary’s Meals Children’s Backpack Project

With the help of parishioners, Holy Family will be repeating the Mary’s Meals Children’s Backpack project again this year.  During winter months it is difficult to find flip-flops and summer clothes, so we are requesting that parishioners could start buying these items (especially flip-flops) while they are still stocked in the shops during these ‘hot’ Summer months!  Please leave in the foyer at either church, or pass to any of the J&P team namely: Susan Burton, Karmelin Adams, Ann Scrase, and Sue Hawarth-Edwards at Heath End.  (J & P Team)

 

Ruby Wedding Anniversary – Mike and Fatima James will be celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary (40 years) next Sunday, 28th July. They ask you to pray for them and would like to invite Parishioners to join them in the Church Hall after Mass for coffee and cake to help them celebrate this joyful occasion.

 

Mother and Toddler GroupThursday morning from 9.30am until 11.30am in the Church Hall

 

Holy Angels  Catholic Parish for Ash, Nr. Aldershot,  Ash Vale, Tongham & Normandy

The Guild of St. Stephen – at this evening’s 5.30pm Mass 2 of our young altar servers, Reegan Woods and Lara Rawnsley will be enrolled with the Guild of St. Stephen and tomorrow at the 11am Mass Lucy and Natasha Redknap and Altea Bertani will also be enrolled.  All will receive their medals.

 

Bric-a-brac Sale TODAY – We are holding a Bric-a-brac sale today after the 11.00am Mass to raise funds for St. Mary’s Church on the Isle of Wight for their Jubilee.

 

Mother and Toddler Group – St. Mary’s Room on a Tuesday, from 10.30am until 12.00pm. 

 

Father David’s Message

Pope Francis has written his First letter (called an encyclical) to the Bishops, clergy and people of the World entitled:  Lumen Fidei –The Light of Faith.  The Vatican Radio made the following comments in a recent programme on the Pope’s letter.

The first chapter takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the Old and New Testaments, from Abraham, who first hears God’s call, through the Israelites travelling towards the light of the Promised Land, to Jesus@ death on the Cross, the ultimate act of God’s love for humanity.  The more we are touched by the transforming power of that love, writes the Pope, the better we are able to understand our relationship to all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Chapter two insists on the essential link between Faith and Truth, without which our beliefs seem nothing more than a fairy story, an illusion of happiness, unable to sustain us when the going gets tough. Contemporary society, the encyclical says, tends to see technological progress and individual pleasure as the only objective truth, viewing any broader questions about the origins of our existence with deep suspicion.  Without love in our hearts, truth becomes cold, impersonal, oppressive, unable to transform the lives of others.  But by listening seeing and believing in Christ’s presence in our lives today, we can broaden our horizons and find better ways of serving the common good.  The light of our faith in Christ can also contribute to a more fruitful dialogue with non-Christians and non-believers, showing how all those who search for God or seek for truth will be welcomed and illuminated by that light.

The third chapter of the encyclical centers on the Church as the place where the light of faith is safeguarded and transmitted from one generation to the next.  Through the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, through profession of the Creed, praying the Our Father and obeying the Ten Commandments, the Church teaches the language of faith and draws us into the Trinitarian relationship of love, so that ‘whoever believes is never alone’.  The final chapter focuses on Faith and the common good and shows how the light of faith can promote peace and reconciliation, and teach respect for God’s creation.  The encyclical also considers those areas illuminated by Faith, starting with the family based on marriage, understood as a stable union between man and woman.  Faith, writes the Pope, cannot eliminate suffering in our world, but it can accompany us and bring a new sense of hope in God’s love.  The encyclical ends with a prayer to Mary, Mother of Jesus and icon of faith, who can lead us into the light of God’s love.

From Paragraph 4:  “The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence.  A light this powerful cannot come from ourselves but from a more primordial source:  in a word, it must come from God.  Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives.  Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realise that it contains a great promise of fulfilment and that a vision of the future opens up before us”.

From Paragraph 16:  “If laying down one’s life for one’s friends is the greatest proof of love, Jesus offered his own life for all, even for his enemies, to transform their hearts.  This explains why the evangelists could see the hour of Christ’s crucifixion as the culmination of the gaze of faith; in that hour the depth and breadth of God’s love shone forth”. (for more info go to our two websites, addresses at top of this newsletter)