Newsletter

WELCOME

Times of Mass and Devotions
Sat   27 Apr	5.30pm	HA	Sunday Vigil Mass	Special Intentions of the people of the Parish
Sun  28 Apr	9.15am	HF	Fifth Sunday of Easter	Golden Wedding Anniversary of Bob & Daphne Konowicz
	11.00am	HA		Jordan seriously injured after a road traffic accident
Mon  29 Apr			NO MASS
Tue  30 Apr	9.30am	HF	MASS	Alexandra & John Birchak (RIP) Nov. List
Wed   1 May	9.30am	HA	MASS	Marion Jenkins & Betty Roxbury (RIP) Nov. List
Thu    2 May	7.30pm	HF	St. Athanasius (followed by Confessions)	The Maher Family (RIP) Nov. List
Fri       3 May	12.00pm	HA	Sts Philip & James (followed by Confessions)	John and Michael Cash (RIP) Nov. List
Sat     4 May	5.30pm	HA	Sunday Vigil Mass	Elizabeth Morris (RIP)
Sun    5 May	9.15am	HF	Sixth Sunday of Easter	Special Intentions of Sister Marguerite
	11.00am	HA		Special Intentions of the people of the Parish

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

 

Liturgy

 5^th Sunday of Easter (C)

Entrance: HA: 970    HF: 74 Be though my vision
Offertory: HA: 920    HF: 4 A new commandment
Final Hymn:  HA: 722 HF: 190 Give me joy in my heart

 

Information

PRAYER GROUP – The Prayer Group for both Holy Angels and Holy Family Churches will take place once a month on a Tuesday. The next Prayer Group meeting is on Tuesday 7^th May and thereafter 4^th June and 2^nd July, 2013. Please come along as and when you can and you will be made to feel most welcome. Coffee at 7.30pm for 7.45pm start to be held in the Parish Office.

 

FASHION SHOW – 4^th July, 2013 at Holy Family Church Hall at 7.30pm  (see Church Notice Boards for more information)

NOTE: Mass on this day only will be held at 7.30pm at Holy Angels Church.

 

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.

Once you have met with Father David or Deacon John You will be asked to attend a Baptism Class which is one evening and only takes up an hour or so of your time.  Also Father David asks that parents obtain the booklet entitled, ‘Your Baby’s Baptism’ available on line from Redemptorist Publications, Shawton, Alton, Hants. Tel: 01420 83255 Email: enquiries@rpbooks.co.uk

Also for the Godparents, the booklet ‘Your Godchild’ ISBN: 978-0-85231-364-0) again available from details above.

 

Prayer Requests

Please remember in your prayers our sick: Maggie Larkin for a speedy recovery after her knee operation. Barbara mother of Sharon O’Brien. Jordan for a speedy recovery after a road traffic accident.

 

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

Mother and Toddler Group – Our Mother and Toddler Group meet every Thursday morning from 9.30am until 11.30am in the Church Hall.  Why not join us and have a chat over a cup of coffee whilst your children enjoy some playtime with other young children.

 

Mother and Toddler Group – We would love to see more young Mums at our Mother and Toddler Group who meet in St. Mary’s Room on a Tuesday, from 10.30am until 12.00pm. 

 

Father David’s Message

From the 11^th October 2012 to 24^th November 2013 has been designated by the Church as “A Year of Faith”.  What the Pope wanted to do in declaring a Year of Faith was to give us an opportunity to look more closely at our faith and what we believe and so enrich our daily lives.  This designation of the Year as “A Year of Faith” also calls on the Church to support people with articles, discussion and opportunities for them to have easy access to the information and material they need to explore the challenges of faith in a modern world.  The Internet is becoming more dominant in communications than the traditional papers and magazines (although they still have their place).  Even in the Parish we note the increasing number of parishioners that tell us they go straight to the Parish web site for their news of what is going on in our two Churches.

The following internet sites may be useful to you when you have a spare moment to look further into the “Year of Faith”.

www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/Featured/Year-of-Faith
www.catholic-year-of-faith.com

The following article is taken from one of the year of faith publications:

God can be known by the light of human reason

Can God really be known with certainty by human reason alone?  The Catechism (CCC 31) uses a phrase from Blessed John Henry Newman: ‘converging and convincing arguments’.  Newman meant that there are a whole number of different evidences in the world:  the existence and beauty of creation, the witness of good or holy people and so on.  These things come together, like individual threads that make up a strong piece of string, and convince us of the existence of God.  The signs of a spiritual soul in human beings and the order and beauty of created things all suggest something beyond ourselves and upon whom we depend namely god!

Lord, help me to recognise both in myself and in the world around me the signs that speak to me of your existence.  You are the real explanation of the beauty and order that I see, and of all the goodness, in spite of evil, that I sense in the world.

Is reason enough to know the mystery of God?

A great dignity we possess is the capacity to come to know God by use of our reason.  We cannot fully know him by reason alone.  Furthermore, in reality there are many obstacles that prevent us from using our reason properly anyway.  We can resist the truth in our hearts, perhaps because it makes us uncomfortable.  Maybe the prevailing attitudes in our society blind us.  The Catechism teaches that revolt against evil in the world, bad example on the part of believers, the power of the cares and riches of this world and finally original sin can all make us hide from God . Hence only with great difficulty do we find God by reason alone.

O God, although you have given me the gift of reason and have placed a desire for you in my heart, I still struggle in my search for you.  I have a need for your grace.  Please come to me in my need.

Lillian Bray:  Please remember in your prayers Lillian Bray, a longstanding Parishioner who has died at the age of 94.  Her funeral will take place on Wednesday, 8^th May at 11am.  Enquiries concerning flowers can be made at the Co-operative Funeral Directors. Enquiries for Masses of Remembrance can be made through the Parish Office at Holy Angels.

Waiting for Pentecost

The days in between Easter and Pentecost are very special – it is for Christians a time of reflecting on the Apostles and the EarlyChurch waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the effect it had on their lives.  We too share in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit –First when we were baptised – but also when we accepted personally as adults to hear the call of Christ and be confirmed for our Mission as Christians in the world today.  Please remember especially at this time the Young People in our two Churches preparing for Confirmation this year.

 

A brief message from Rita

Well I am now back in the Parish Office after my break on the Isle of Wight to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary.  We were certainly truly blessed with glorious weather as the sun shone brightly every day and in fact only changed on the day we returned home. 

We had a lovely time spent with two of our three daughters who came over on the Friday and stayed until Sunday together with our two grandchildren and not forgetting Finbar our chocolate brown Labrador who thoroughly enjoyed himself as he got to swim in the sea every day. 

Judging from the weather outside (Thursday) we have brought the nice weather back with us, not before time as we are all in need of some nice warm sunny weather.

It is nice to be back and Father David can now give up his part-time job of answering the phone whilst I was away!        God Bless, Rita