Parish News
Parish News
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Welcome to the 'Parish News' section for Sacred Heart, Cobham
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Busy, busy, busy all week long! . . . . . Monday, Fr D’s Ministry Support Group was supposed to be meeting here in Cobham but another member was expecting a skip to be delivered (by the diocese) at some point in the morning for him to do a final ‘thinning’ before he retires from active ministry in July. Fr D said that the easiest thing to do was to swop around venues. Said priest is looking forward to his retirement by the coast in Sussex. Before Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday the tiler arrived early to begin re-tiling the toilet in the church ready for it’s refurbishment (walls first); also the new sanitary ware for the toilet was delivered just before Fr D went into the church. After Exposition Fr D was off to Tadworth where this month’s Deanery Clergy Meeting was taking place (the last before the summer). After the meeting the clergy retired to a local restaurant where they had a Turkish lunch! By the time that Fr D got away from the lunch he had to go straight down to Crawley where he was due at a presentation, given by the Catholic Education Service, concerning a number of new things happening in the field of Catholic education. By the time that Fr D got back home in the evening he was glad that he’d eaten at lunchtime and just had a sandwich before going off to bed exhausted! Early on Thursday morning the tiler was back continuing the wall tiles in the church toilet and, after celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass, when he got back in the house, the plumber had arrived to replace the old shower (put in at the beginning of Canon Tony Clarke’s time) in Fr D’s bathroom. Fr D just had enough time to answer some questions about what he wanted before he took off in the car for Crawley wearing his Tribunal cap. When he got back in the evening he met with a family for their third and final Infant Baptism Preparation Session - their child being baptised this weekend after our Sunday morning Masses. On Friday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D completed his parts of this week’s newsletter and then began to think about the infant baptism on Sunday morning, a baptism during Mass on Sunday morning of an older child and an adult Confirmation taking place during our Saturday evening Mass (Pentecost - a great day for confirming an adult)! He was trying to be very careful about managing not to ‘mix-up’ the three different rites in his head . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A very busy week around The Presbytery as all sorts of projects begin to come to realisation . . . . . On Monday evening Fr D had a phone call from a contractor who is dealing with the refurbishment of the church toilet saying that he wanted to come early on Tuesday morning to strip out the old tiling and sanitary ware. Fr D was not expecting this to happen so soon so was delighted that this was happening. He also rang his godson to discuss new sanitary ware (with the appropriate discount!) for the project. Before Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning (08.00) the workmen were ripping out the said tiles and removing the units. Whilst the workmen were in the church the order for the new shower unit to replace the failed one in the Presbytery was made (the old one had been fitted very early on in Canon Tony Clarke’s time as parish priest, so it didn’t owe us anything!). Fr D also went off in the car to celebrate two ‘House Blessings’ in the Parish. In the evening Fr D met with the parents of this year’s First Eucharist group teaching them about the part of the Mass that we call the Eucharistic Prayer - they will then be teaching their children about it on Saturday morning. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday the IT engineer was back to continue the install of the telecom/IT system which will reduce the number of business telephone accounts that are presently in use (saving £1,200 a year!). One of the ‘side benefits’ of the new install is that WiFi will now be available throughout the Parish Centre instead of just the Parish Office. Thursday was, of course, the Holy Day of the Ascension and after celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass in the morning Fr D met with the IT engineer once more as he continued with the install. By the end of the morning the wiring and equipment side of things was complete and it will now be left for a fortnight to let the broadband settle down before deleting one account and going with a new provider for the other. Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday were followed with Fr D finishing off his parts of the newsletter ready for Sarah to complete. Sadly part of the newsletter was having to make some points about behaviour at our Masses; mobile phones, getting to Mass on time and not leaving straight after receiving Holy Communion . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A very busy week around The Presbytery this time round . . . . At our Sunday 11.00 Mass last weekend we were joined by this year’s Confirmation Candidates, their families, and their sponsors as they celebrated a Lucenarium (Service of Light) before being sent off by the community to celebrate their Confirmation with Bishop Richard this Saturday. During the service the candidate’s parents lit the Baptismal Candle they were presented with on the day of their child’s Baptism and solemnly handed it over to their child as a sign that they are now considered adults in the Church and are responsible for themselves for keeping the flame of faith alive in their hearts. After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D had several specialist engineers coming in: - the electrician was around to replace a failed ‘Fire Exit’ sign in the main hall of the Parish Centre, check on a failing fire escape ceiling light in the back corridor of the Centre, confirm the death of a tea urn in the Centre kitchen, and finally, to connect-up a ‘penny heater’ for the airing cupboard in the Presbytery - the LiveStream engineer came up (from Cardiff) to re-instate the set-up after some sort of an energy spike caused a failure two weeks ago; whilst here he serviced the security alarm in the Presbytery and replaced a camera on the church CCTV system that had failed. - By the time that all the workmen had departed in the middle of the afternoon Fr D was quite exhausted! Wednesday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D needed to make a start on the newsletter as he was losing both Friday and Saturday with events involving the bishop, so would not have the time he usually has. In the afternoon Fr D and a workman were sorting out which replacement shower he needed for his bathroom the old one that Canon Tony Clarke had put in having ‘given up the ghost’ last week (Fr D has been dashing across the landing to the guest bathroom since it failed!), Between them they worked out what the new version was and are now looking for a supplier before fitting it. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D was down in Crawley, working on his marriage cases. When he came back he was meeting with a family whose child will be baptised later in May . . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A ‘full-on’ time around The Presbytery this week as Confirmation, First Eucharist, and Baptism programmes are all coming to a ‘high point.’ On Monday Sarah & Fr D were chasing the engineers for our LiveStream service on the Parish Website to get things back to working order. Sarah was sent chasing all around the system machinery to see if it would ‘re-boot’ in some fashion but all to no avail. The conclusion is that the engineers will have to visit (Fr D thinks that one of the machines has died!). Tuesday morning after Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition Fr D was following the activities of the engineers who were running an optical cable between the Presbytery and the Parish Office ready for ‘the great telephone switchover’ which will get rid of one of the present telephone accounts (which will be a saving of £1,200 a year!). An extra benefit is that we will now have wifi access points in each of our upstairs meeting rooms and the main hall (one step closer to being able to renew the audio visual set-up in the hall). The engineers will be back next Wednesday to complete the new wiring. We also discovered a fire detector in the loft of the Parish Centre which we didn’t know existed! In the evening Fr D met with the Parish Finance Committee for one of their quarterly meetings. On Wednesday evening Fr D met with our Confirmation Candidates for their last ‘input session’ before the Confirmation ceremony with the Bishop at St Joseph’s Church, Epsom next Saturday morning. Fr D was also able to give the group the final instructions concerning the celebration which he had just received from the co-ordinator. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday Fr D went off in the car to the diocesan offices as usual, but this time (for the first time in ages) went there using the motorway. This meant that he was able to see exactly what the new car could do! When he got to his Tribunal office there were several Decrees for cases that required his signature. There was also a little celebration given by the Tribunal Secretary to mark her six months in the position (lots of Polish food)! In the evening Fr D was to have had the second session of the present Infant Baptism Course but one of the parents had gone down with food poisoning so the session was moved to the following week. Once Morning Prayer and Mass had been celebrated on Friday morning Fr D completed his bits of this week’s newsletter . . . . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Things slightly ‘hotting-up’ around The Presbytery this week as people and organisations come back online after the Easter festivities . . . . . . Monday Fr D set about reading up on the ‘charging instructions’ for the new car. The first time he attempted charging (in the dark one evening) he couldn’t work out why the socket in the wall box wouldn’t let him plug in? When all else fails of course we tend to read the instructions which stated that the wall socket need to be ‘plugged’ first and then the car! So he spent some time ‘reading up’ in detail on the charging instructions. He is still chasing the electricity supplier to switch to the tariff that gives electric car charging lower prices between 23.30 and 05.30, which will make the whole change over even more economic. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D had a telephone call consultation from the Dr’s Surgery which told him that diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure readings had all been reduced by the medication they have put him on! (He wanted to know when he could stop all the tablets, of course!) at 12.30 Fr D was celebrating a funeral in the Crematorium chapel before a burial in the attached cemetery. In the late afternoon he began the bones of the newsletter for this weekend. Wednesday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D (with Sarah) was chasing up our previous electricity company once more - trying to get the full and final bill (from last December). Fr D is convinced that the company don’t actually know how to do this and has now threatened (having already raised the matter to a complaint) to refer the situation to the energy Ombudsman! When he went down to the diocesan offices, after Morning Prayer & Mass on Thursday, Fr D continued working several of his cases and started looking at how cases ready for judgement could be sent to judges electronically in a secure and coded manner as the normal postal service is breaking down in some areas (and has become extremely expensive). When he got back home in the evening he put his new ‘charging skills’ to good use before meeting with a family who are preparing to have their child baptised in May. Friday, after Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D completed the newsletter for the weekend as well as the Prayers of Intercession and Notices so that he had everything he needed for the weekend . . . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A fairly quiet week around The Presbytery as the children are still on holiday and Fr D recovers from his trip to Lourdes with special needs children . . . Fr D returned home from his trip about 17.00. He had worked on a shopping delivery which was timed for between 18.00 and 20.00 on Sunday evening. This had the advantage of giving a couple of days food and refilling bulkier items in the storeroom without having to make trips out of the house. Having popped in to see the sisters to tell them he was back Fr D just had time for a sandwich and some real tea before taking himself off to bed! Giving himself a little lie-in on Monday morning Fr D soon set about emptying his suitcase and putting all his clothes through the washing machine (three loads), by the time that he’d done all of this he was able to have a first look at the post and emails that had built up whilst he was away - as usual lots of it was junk (no matter how much he takes the address off of mailing lists it all seems to come in just the same! Having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D had some time with Sarah in the office to ‘catch up’ (principally about the electricity company that the diocese placed us with when the British Gas contract ran out (it took six months for them to accept that we did not want their services and we are still awaiting a final bill!). Wednesday morning, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D was off in the car to the Diocesan Office in Crawley to see what delights were sat in his ’in-tray’ after the Easter holidays. It seemed strange to travel down in the new car - not being able to hear any engine noise at all! After Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday, Fr D was again off down to Crawley where he was working on a new (hopefully more efficient?) management scheme for the different types of Tribunal cases. He has discovered that the new Tribunal Secretary is quite proficient in Excel, so he can make some changes that he has been thinking about for a little while now. On Friday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D needed to finalise this week’s newsletter. This had to take place up in the Parish Office as his own computer is giving him great grief at present. He has a new one ready to replace it but needs the diocesan IT man to set it up alongside the two in the Parish Office, which will hopefully be done towards the end of April when work on the telephone lines takes place . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A very quiet week around The Presbytery as Fr D has been away in Lourdes with special needs children since Monday. He has been doing this during Easter week for thirty-five years now and, although really tired from all the Holy Week and Easter liturgies he really enjoys another aspect of his priestly ministry. The year the group flew out to Lourdes on Easter Sunday (which is why Fr D did not fly out with them!) from Stansted airport. By the time they got to the hotel (Myosotis - forget-me-not) it was early afternoon and they went straight into the dining room for a late lunch, even before finding their rooms. Once they had found their rooms and left their luggage in them they went down for a first visit to the Grotto at which Our Lady appeared to Bernadette. On the way back there was a café stop where a few of the traditional HCPT children’s Lourdes songs were taught. Then the group were finally able to unpack before dinner and an early night! Monday morning the group went off on a ‘tour of the town,’ taking in some of the important buildings (Boly Mill, Cachôt, Parish Church, Maison Paternelle) and a diorama of the story of Bernadette. On the way back for lunch there was another café stop before a rest. In the afternoon they walked up to the Cité San Pierre where Fr D (who had arrived via Bordeaux) was able to join them and celebrate Mass in a replica of Bernadette’s sheepfold. On the way back to the hotel there was another café stop and postcards were bought to send home to parents. After dinner the group paid a late night trip to the Grotto (and a café stop!) before bedtime. Highlights of Tuesday were Mass, another trip to the Grotto, a ‘water service’, a slow afternoon on ‘the prairie,’ a trip to the ‘HCPT Funzone,’ and joining in with the evening torchlight procession. Wednesday the group followed the Way of the Cross at the very big outside stations, went on a visit to Hosanna House (where they celebrated Mass) and had a games night in the evening. Thursday is always the main day of the week for HCPT when all the groups gather together to celebrate the Trust Mass (nearly 4,000 people this year). In the afternoon there was a visit to the Fort at the top of the town before joining in the Blessed Sacrament Procession. In the evening a very big candle decorated with outlines of all the group members hands was lit opposite the Grotto . . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A very busy week around The Presbytery, as might be expected as we are now in Holy Week . . . . Last Friday evening and on Saturday morning we celebrated our Adult and Children’s Lenten Reconciliation Services. The Adult one which we now celebrate with the Effingham and Fetcham Parish was reasonably attended (given that we had arranged five priests!) but Fr D was disappointed that the majority of persons seemed to be from the other parish and not many from our own? (Fr D was explaining to the other priests that he obviously lived in a parish made up of angels!) On Monday Fr D was checking that we had got all the slots filled on our Holy Week ministries rota, and was delighted when it worked out that we had. He was then working in finalising the Triduum booklet that we will be using Thursday - Saturday. After celebrating Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was out (in the new car) visiting on the way to Brooklands to do some final shopping (he doesn’t need to get much in at this time as he will be going away to Lourdes with sick children on Sunday afternoon). In the afternoon he started thinking about Intercessions and Notices (for two weekends). Wednesday, after Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr D changed the sanctuary in the church from Lent mode to Holy Week mode in preparation for Holy Thursday onwards. It was quite time consuming because the sacristan is away until after Easter and he had to find lots of things that he normally just mentions and they are there! In the afternoon Fr D was getting rid of last year’s Holy Oils ready for this year’s new oils which were blessed at the Chrism Mass in Arundel Cathedral on Wednesday Evening. Thursday morning Fr D was putting the finishing touches to the Easter Sunday newsletter before going off to Epsom to collect this year’s oils; these were brought up in the evening just before the Holy Thursday Mass began. After the Mass several parishioners were present for the traditional ‘watching’ at the altar of repose until midnight. Friday being Good Friday Mass is not celebrated in favour of the Commemoration of the Passion in the afternoon. In the morning Fr D led a Way of the Cross for children up to eleven years old . . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . A really busy week around The Presbytery as Fr D finalised the necessary preparations for the celebration of Holy Week. On Saturday afternoon, last weekend, Fr D met up with the members of the HCPT group that he will be joining in Lourdes during Easter week. The helpers met to do some training and to find out about the children they will be looking after for the week in Lourdes. Later the children and their families arrived in time for tea and to be introduced to the key helper for each child. At some point before Easter the key helper will be visiting their child at home before they meet, very early in the morning on Easter Sunday for the flight to Lourdes. Having celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesday morning, Fr D was completing the final edits of the booklet that we’ll use during the Triduum this year. He also began to put together our Adult Lenten Reconciliation Service ready for the end of the week (Friday 19.30). In the evening Fr D was in Tadworth parish to assist with their Reconciliation Service. The last discussion group meeting for the diocesan ‘Invited’ programme took place upstairs in the Parish Centre. After Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday, Fr D was ‘reading up’ the various ceremonies of Holy Week to make sure that he’s covered all the bases! In the evening he was opening up for the Easter choir to have one of their practices for Holy Week. The last of the local Churches Together ‘Alpha’ meetings took place in the Parish Centre. Once he had celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass on Thursday, Fr D went across to the garage in Leatherhead where he was picking up his new car for the handover. He had originally been told that the handover would probably take a couple of hours but, in the event, it only took just over an hour to complete before he was leaving the forecourt. In the afternoon Fr D was off, in the new car, to Burgess Hill where he had a meeting of the Trustees of the Bosco Catholic Education Trust. This is one of two trusts in the diocese which look after all the Academy Catholic Schools (Bosco looks after Sussex and Xavier looks after Surrey). When he got back in the evening Fr D set the car charging up for the first time - hoping that he was getting it right! After Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday Fr D had to go down to the diocesan offices in Crawley for a meeting . . . . . .
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . This week at The Presbytery has been significantly busy as things start ‘hottingup’ for our Holy Week and Triduum liturgies (Fr D is still concerned that there are a lot of gaps on the ‘Ministries lists’ at the back of the church – waiting for parishioners to volunteer . . . .) On Monday Fr D was playing host once more to his Ministry to Priests Support Group. They arrived in the church for an hour before the Blessed Sacrament at midday. After this they gathered in Fr D’s study to celebrate Midday Prayer of the Church before retiring to a local hostelry for a good lunch, over which they began their ‘review of life’ for the past month. When they got back to The Presbytery for a cup of tea before leaving to go back to their parishes they wanted to see and ask questions about the Air Source Heat Pump which now provides the heating and hot water for The Presbytery. Some are thinking about this for reasons of economy and being aware that the time is fast approaching when gas boilers will no longer be available. One eagle-eyed priest saw a new box on the wall outside of the kitchen back door and started asking questions. It was the newly fitted (January) electric car charger box ready for the imminent arrival of Fr D’s new car. When the solar panels were fitted two years ago Fr D had the workman do the necessary wiring in preparation for the box. He is now negotiating with the electricity provider for ‘intelligent’ electricity for the car between 23.30 and 05.00 which will be significantly cheaper than our already cheaper normal rate! On Tuesday after celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass (no Exposition) Fr D picked up Fr Tony Churchill and they went off to Ewell for this months Deanery meeting. There was plenty of discussion concerning Confirmation (4th May this year) and the Bishop’s plans for the future of the diocese (booklets concerning this are available from the narthex – important to read). When the meeting and lunch ended Fr D was just able to bring Fr Tony back home before he had to go off down to the coast to be at a Governors meeting for one of the Primary Schools in the Bosco Education Trust. (By the time that he got back in the late evening Fr D was so tired he just made a sandwich and took himself off to bed!). Wednesday after Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D was working on this week’s newsletter, struggling with a computer that has taken to ‘playing up’ on a regular basis; he kept having to save and shut it down to be able to continue (though usually good with technology he was very near to throwing it out of the window of his study!). In the evening Fr D was letting the choir into the church for an Easter rehearsal session. Thursday Fr D was down in Crawly wearing his Tribunal hat; when he came back he had the final meeting with parents having their child baptised on Easter Sunday . . . .