Category: Latest News

Please keep in your prayers ten of our Parishes Children and two adults who are currently preparing to receive the Sacrament of confirmation later this month.  The Confirmation Service, with Bishop Richard, will be at 2.30pm on Sunday 22nd May at Our Lady of Ransom.  

who sadly passed away, will be held on Wednesday 25th May at St Wilfrid’s Church at 11am.

Lent Fundraising for Tiny Tickers – We raised £1024.10

We are delighted to announce that Our Parish Children’s Liturgy Fundraising for Tiny Tickers during Lent was a great success with just over £1000 being raised.  This amazing amount was achieved through several different events and our thanks go to everyone who supported them and gave so generously.  Events included, family Stations and Lent Lunch, Cake Sale, Raffle, Sponsored Walk, Rosary Group Lent Alms and a Family Recital and afternoon tea held by two of our children and their family. 

The money raised has been sent to Tiny Tickers and will soon be spent on the purchase of at least one ward based Pulse Oximetry machine and possibly also a portable unit along with training of staff for use.  These machines will be placed in our local Maternity ward and/or Midwifery Unit and will ensure babies born there in the future will be tested at birth for Congenital Heart Defects.

Last Tuesday 15 parishioners from both of our churches met to discuss how we could start the process of responding to everyone who made suggestions for the development of our Parish earlier this year.  A useful discussion was held and people indicated which subjects they were interested in and ways in which our two communities could work together and learn from each other. Over the next few weeks you will be hearing about the different areas that we hopefully will try to improve.

“Incredible”

When I look around the grounds and church I am truly blessed.  Gratitude, especially to Lulu and all who help me in the churches is extremely helpful.  I hope I can do better to help our parish to continue to develop and grow.

I have had to respond a lot to the needs of our time, and listening to people in real need who get in touch either calling at the door or on the phone, this has been demanding.  Watching the news coming from the war and destruction that is happening in the Ukraine; after two years of the pandemic means that we are all more brittle, and living with greater stress.  I am very blessed by all the help and support, and the Easter Services have been a great blessing.  Following on our response to the Synod, our meeting on Tuesday evening was very encouraging.  So let us continue to pray constantly and never lose heart.

What is truly incredible is this season of God’s grace.  After the crucifixion of our Devine Lord, the early disciples i.e. the church was in a great state of confusion and distress.  As the stories of the resurrection began to circulate there is a change.  More stories emerge that begin to show them how they should respond.  Let us too become more prepared to respond and progress as the Synod continues to happen.  Soon we will be celebrating the Feast of the Ascension, and the time that follows is the greatest time in the whole year “When the day of Pentecost came the disciples were gathered”.   At the time when I was ordained there was a great Pentecost Renewal and I had some great experiences a that time.

So please God, there will be a reawakening and renewal as we recover again after the pandemic.  I look forward to the minutes of our parish meeting, hoping to see the initial development from seeds that were sown, alongside the other analogy of the fresh foundations that are being laid, so it is a truly important time and at the heart of it prayer.  “Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful and fill us with the fire of your love”.

To be continued.

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Grandparents Day Wednesday 8 June at West Grinstead

A pilgrimage to the shrine at West Grinstead. If you would like to find out more please contact E: [email protected]

Anne & David would like to thank Fr Rory and all, for their kindness extended to us last week for our Wedding Anniversary.

We are never alone when present at Mass. We share it with those present and with all those who have preceded us. We also share it not only with those present with us but also with all who participate in Mass wherever they may be in the world. We most importantly share it intimately with Jesus. We are not alone at Mass, just look around you at those present with you. To help us God feed us with himself in Holy Communion to strengthen us in our endeavours for our journey. Just as Jesus had faith in the Father we too are to have faith in our God who has promised us through the centuries that he will not leave us alone. He will always be with us as we walk our own journey of faith knowing with certainty that our God is with us. We know that Jesus has shown us the way. We know that He is the way the truth and the life. With my love and an Easter Blessing for you all.

Again and again I return to what is most important “PRAYER”.

Abba Father please send your Holy Spirit, come Lord Jesus live in me.

The reality of life is often focused upon trials, and from my home when I was growing up came the response “These are the trials through which we triumph by the power of Him who loves us”.

After two years of the pandemic, which has made us all very brittle, my hope was that it would be ending and that things would feel very much better.  Some things are very much better, it is very much easier to travel.  This illness though very serious is not as fatal as it was in the beginning.

In the life of our parish we have the challenge of life, now focused by the shortage of priests.  So we need to grow and develop as a parish community that does not rely upon having priests, this will entail the care of the elderly, responsibility for ecumenism, the constant care for mass and the sacraments, payments for maintenance of church and property, funding for the administration and financial needs of the parish.  There will be other responsibilities.  We have an important opportunity to develop and grow in response to these requirements.  With the help of God a very important meeting will take place for our parish communities at 6pm in the Presbytery (or in hall if needed) on Tuesday 3rd May.  This is following up upon the work that was done in response to the Synod.  It is providing a firm foundation and a real challenge.  A early comment “there is no support after Baptism or any of the other sacraments”.

Helpful to all our work will be “Core Groups” to identify and to commit to helping with the identified challenge in order to provide for a good outcome. 

On the horizon are projects for celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee, our Centenary Year at St Wilfrid’s, with the first class work that has taken place at St George’s in their confirmation preparation program.  With the help of God we may bear fruit, fruit that will last.  Let us continue to plant seeds and nurture those already beginning to grow.