News
If you are a reader or an extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and would be able to assist at Mass, please put your name and number on the list by the side entrance to the church. (You don’t have to be a ‘listed reader’ to assist with the Liturgy of the Word, but do speak to Fr. Ian) Many thanks.
To all who have kindly agreed to distribute the annual bowl of flowers to the housebound and others :The bowls of hyacinths will be available from Saturday 13th December after 11 am.They will be at the front of the church, together with a Christmas card for each person, signed by Fr. Ian. Please take them as soon as you can. If you have any concerns, please contact Hazel on 01306 711562 leaving a message if necessary. Thank you very much.
We take the opportunity to remind you that the collection at the Christmas Masses is your personal offering to Fr. Ian. This collection, along with the Easter Offering, is his major source of income for the year, through which he has to finance car depreciation and replacement, clothes, books, holiday etc. etc. As we now live in a ‘cashless society’ ( most people using bank cards and BACS ) any offering you might make in this way would be additional to any weekly or monthly standing transaction you have for the parish and would need to be clearly annotated ‘Christmas Offering’ or ‘Fr. Ian, Christmas’ for the parish bank statements and bookkeeping purposes. That said, there are ‘Christmas Offering’ envelopes available for cash or cheques as well, which are just as graciously accepted. In case you are going to be away over Christmas, you might like to use the ‘Christmas Offering’ envelopes which are readily available at the entrances to the church, these can be returned at any time. In whatever way you are able to contribute, we ask you to be as generous as you can. Many thanks.
Decorating the church for Christmas sometime between lunchtime on Sunday 21st Dec and 12 mid-day on 23rd Dec . We need a co-ordinator and some volunteers, please; especially those who can make Christmas trees look amazing! Many thanks.
Our Advent Course begins this Tuesday at 11am in the main hall. "ILLUMINATE" looks at Christ coming as the Light of the World and asks us to reflect on what this means for us and for the world. Meetings will last about an hour for four weekly sessions.
Christmas Mass Times Monday 22nd December: 9.30 am Tuesday 23rd December: 9.30am Christmas Eve Wednesday 24th Vigil / Children’s Mass: 6pm – 11.30pm Carols & Reading CHRISTMAS DAY 25th: 12.00 midnight (Midnight Mass) Dawn Mass at 8.00am 10.00am Mass of Christmas Day Friday 26th December: 10.00am Saturday 27th December: 9.30am Vigil for Sunday at 6pm Sunday 28th December: 8.00am & 10.00am
Diocesan Pastoral Plan: -Further to the appeal made on the First Sunday of Advent, and the request to respond to the invitation which has been made through the ‘postcards’ you are encouraged to reply this weekend! One side of the card has the question ‘How can I be involved?’ followed by two sentences and a question: ‘There’s an opportunity here …..’ ‘A challenge will be ……………’ ‘I have a question……….’ Your responses are important for moving the discussion forward for our meeting on Sunday 25th January, as Fr. Chris Bergin makes his rounds of the existing parishes to address the changes as we move towards the nine existing parishes of the Epsom Deanery becoming one by the summer of 2026. Although the Pastoral Plan is light on the detail of how we go about fostering the Mission of the Church, this is because it leaves space for individual communities to decide on what their particular priorities are and how best to achieve them.
There is a new ‘Rosary Circle Chart’ on the noticeboard, to encourage us all to pray for vocations to the Priesthood. The ‘Chart’ lists the 20 decades of the Rosary and a number of columns for people to put their initial or a tick in a box to indicate they will commit to praying the particular decade each day for the month of November, and hopefully, this will create a number of ‘circles’ praying for this intention. This is a very simple spiritual exercise many of us could join in with; at least 20 people praying one decade of the Rosary each day, so the whole of the Rosary is prayed for this particular intention, thus creating a ‘Rosary Circle’. Let it be said, however, that anyone can join the Rosary Circles at any time.
CHILDREN’S LITURGY at the 10.00 am Sunday Mass The remaining dates are each Sunday during the Advent Season: December 14th, and 21st. Let’s keep growing together in faith and friendship!
THE SEASON OF ADVENT: A penitential season in which the Church calls us to conversion of mind and heart as we begin to focus our thoughts upon the humble birth of our Lord in Bethlehem. So, like the season of Lent, the liturgical colour is purple, reminding us that prayer, fasting, abstinence and the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Confession, should be part of our preparation for the of the birth of our Lord. Just as we might clean and tidy our homes, investigate the Christmas decorations so we should make the spiritual preparation to celebrate the great feast of the Incarnation. It is a celebration which reminds us that ‘God sent His Son into the world so that everyone who believes in him, may not be lost, but may have eternal life.’ (Cf. Jn 3:16) So, for all of us then, to make the effort to have a penitential season, with prayer, fasting, abstinence and almsgiving, our self-denial, saying ‘no’ to self for the sake of Christ, offering our penance so as to be more conformed to the person of Christ and for the conversion the world, then we will be truly able to rejoice in the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ Jesus, our Lord and God become a man like us in all things but sin. To help us in our spiritual preparation we will have a Penitential Services on Sunday 21st December at 3.00 pm . Additionally, there will be Penitential Services on16th Dec at Epsom at 7:30 pm;19th Dec in Cobham at 7:30 pm. We should remember and be reminded that in this Sacrament, it is the grace and mercy of our Lord which is being offered, and that it is through His priests, both worthy and unworthy, that He chooses to minister to us.