13th July 2013 – Sunday Vigil Mass (15th Sunday)

WELCOME

Times of Mass and Devotions
Sat   13 July	5.30pm	HA	Sunday Vigil Mass	Special Intentions of the people of the Parish
Sun   14 July	9.15am	HF		In Thanksgiving for the Graham family.
	11.00am	HA		Margaret Best (RIP)
Mon  15 July			NO MASS	NO MASS
Tue  16 July	9.30am	HF	Week 15 in Ordinary time	Special Intentions of Pat Harman and family
Wed 17 July	9.30am	HA	Week 15 in Ordinary time	Elizabeth Wells (RIP) Nov. List
Thu  18 July	7.30pm	HF	Liturgy of the Word (Deacon John Edwards)
Fri     19 July	12.00pm	HA	Liturgy of the Word (Deacon John Edwards)
Sat    20 July	5.30pm	HA	Sunday Vigil Mass	Special Intentions of Sister Marguerite
Sun   21 July	9.15am	HF	Sixteenth Sunday	Special Intentions of the people of the Parish
	11.00am	HA		Special Intentions of Richard & Colleen Rutter

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 on Wednesday 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

TODAY There will be a Special Collection for Apostleship of the Sea.

Today is Sea Sunday, when the Church prays for all those who live and work at sea.  Many of us have never stopped to consider how important seafarers are to our standard of living.  Without them we would not have most of the items we use in our everyday lives.  Many of these seafarers are unable to practise their faith due to long periods away from home, whilst others are denied basis rights and working conditions that we take for granted.

Today’s second collection is our opportunity to support the work of the Apostleship of the Sea (AoS), the official maritime welfare agency of the Catholic Church in Great Britain.  This annual collection is absolutely vital to enable AoS to continue its work with seafarers.  Please give generously and remember seafarers in your prayers.  Thank you.  For more information on the work of AoS please visit their website at www.apostleshipofthesea.org.uk

 

Liturgy

15^th Sunday of Year

Entrance:          HA:  963           HF:  152 Eternal Father
Offertory:         HA:  888           HF:   800 When I needed a ..
Final Hymn:      HA:  356           HF:   238 Hail Queen of …

 

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

Please remember in your prayers our sick:
Barbara mother of Sharon O’Brien, 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.

 

Two Parishes Prayer Group

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

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

 

Information

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

Thank you!  The J & P Team were most grateful to the parishioners who supported the Fashion Show last Thursday.  It was a lovely fun-packed evening and we were able to make a profit of £400 which will be shared between the Holy Family Church Building Fund and Chiks’ orphanages in Kerala, India.

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.  We have pens and pencils left over from last year and nearer Christmas time we will attach to the newsletter a list of items still required.  However, during the winter months it is difficult to find flip-flops, and also some 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)

 

Mother and Toddler Group – meet every Thursday morning from 9.30am until 11.30am in the Church Hall. 

 

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

 

Repository: As Peter and Brenda Sawyer will be moving away shortly we are looking for someone to co-ordinate the running of the Repository. If you are interested in taking on his role, please let the Parish Office know.

 

Afternoon Teas – 3.00pm – 4.30pm Holy Angels

 

Today’s Gospel

Today we will hear again the great parable of the Good Samaritan.  In this parable Jesus tells us that God wants us to care for one another.  The Priest and the Levite stand condemned for a sin, not of commission but of omission – they refused to help the man who got beaten up.  Sins of omission may be our worst sins, yet we don’t always think of them as sins.  Jesus is the Good Samaritan.  He binds up our wounds. 

Lord Jesus, you have compassion for us in our sorrows and sufferings. Lord, have mercy.
You heal in us the wounds of sin and division.  Christ, have mercy.
You bring us to the inn of eternal life.  Lord have mercy.

The Test of Character

According to Tolstoy, a drama does not tell us the whole of a person’s life.  What it does is place a person in a situation.  Then, from the way the person deals with that situation, his or her character is revealed to us.

This is precisely what Jesus does in his story.  He places the Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan in a situation.  They are faced with a decision:  To stop and help the wounded man, or to continue on about their own business?  There is no escape for them, and no place to hide.  They have to commit themselves one way or another.  The priest and the Levite decide to pass by; the Samaritan decides to stop and help.

Crisis does not create character, it merely reveals it.  In times of crisis people reveal what is already inside them – the generous person or the selfish person, the hero or the coward.  One moment or event may cause a person to reveal his essential being.  The encounter with the wounded man was such a moment for the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan.

What did it reveal about the characters of the Priest and Levite?  It revealed a very damning thing, namely, that they were self-centered persons.  They would not put themselves out to help another person.  When the crunch came, they put themselves first.

And what did it reveal about the character of the Samaritan? A very admirable thing, namely, that he was a caring person.  He was the kind of man who could not pass another human being in pain without wanting to relieve that pain.

Life is continually testing us.  Every day we are tested in little ways, and now and again in big ways.  These tests reveal the kind of people we are – fundamentally unselfish people, or fundamentally selfish people.

Big opportunities are rare, and few could perform them.  But we get many small, less spectacular opportunities to show care and concern for another human being in need.

The extent of our virtue is determined, not by what we do in extraordinary circumstances, but by our normal behavior.  It is modest, everyday incidents rather than extraordinary ones that most reveal character.  Every little action shapes our character.