Bishop Richard: “For many of us, when we think of Rome, we think of St Peter’s Basilica. In a Jubilee Year such as this, the entry through the Holy Door of St Peter’s is a high point of any pilgrimage. It is from the Apostolic Palace, next to St Peter’s , that the Holy Father makes his Angelus addresses and it is there that the public audiences take place, as well as significant celebrations in the life of the Church: canonisations, the inaugurations of new popes and the requiem Masses for deceased popes.  Yet it is the Lateran Basilica, built originally by the Emperor Constantine, that is described as “the mother and head of all the churches of the City and the World.” It is the Cathedral Church of Rome, and popes lived in the Lateran Palace for hundreds of years. It is the Pope’s Cathedral, for he is the Bishop of Rome. It is for this reason that the whole Church celebrates this feast. It is a celebration of our unity with the Holy Father, the successor of St Peter.”

During the month there will be the blessing of graves at Dorking Cemetery at 12 pm on Sunday 23rd November . Everyone is welcome to attend. Aware that we will all die one day, and hopefully get to Heaven, for most of us who are not saints, there will be a time of purgation or purification in Purgatory before we finally attain the vision of God in Heaven, the 'Beatific Vision'. As a part of the Body of Christ, the Church, we should be encouraged to pray for the souls in Purgatory as they are unable to do anything for themselves. A good time to pray for them would be at 'Grace after meals': ''We give thee thanks, Almighty God, for these and all thy benefits, who live and reign for ever and ever.’ followed by ‘May the Divine assistance remain always with us and may the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.’

You may have noticed the commercial world is further hijacking Advent and Christmas by using terms such as ‘festive season’ ‘hosting season’ ‘winter festivities’, all the more reason then, for us to send Christmas cards which reflect the reality, namely, the birth of the Christ child. Amongst others, various charities, one of which is, ‘Aid to the Church in Need’ (a charity which particularly supports the persecuted Church) produce beautiful Christmas cards, with both Greek icons and Renaissance images of the Nativity, which are available for you to purchase in the narthex / lobby/ church porch. Purchasing their cards supports the persecuted Church and reminds all of us, that it is the Christmas Season into which we will be entering after Advent. P.S. when buying stamps for your Christmas cards, do ask for the ‘Christmas stamps’ in doing so, others, over-hearing your request, will be reminded of the reason for the season.  On the weekend of the 29th November and 6th December, the parish ‘Christmas’ repository will be selling items in the parish hall after the Masses. If you don’t have a Christmas crib for the family this would be an opportunity to buy one to use as a ‘centre piece’ at home, perhaps adding figures to it, year by year.

A significant amount of work has been undertaken in recent months with individuals from across the existing parishes of the Epsom Deanery working together- as we move towards merging the existing parishes into one. Amongst the concerns identified, finance would obviously be one of them, and just as an assurance, the Diocesan Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sarah Kilmartin, met with parish clergy and Chairs of Finance Committees to address some of these concerns. The existing parish finance committees will become ‘stewardship teams’ responsible for the local church and properties, while a ‘finance committee’ would be constituted to have oversight of all the church buildings and properties within what is currently the Epsom Deanery. Essentially, local communities, would still be responsible for the financing and upkeep of the local church and properties, while much larger expenditures would be addressed by the newly constituted finance committee. It is proposed that the finance committee consists of individuals from the local ‘stewardship teams’ ensuring prudent oversight of funds. In regard to other arenas, we need to be aware of the underlying principles of the pastoral plan which are ‘prayer, formation and mission’ and that we all need to be prayerful, we need to grow in a knowledge and understanding of our faith and thereby become effective witnesses to Christ in the World.