This Week's Parish Newssheet

The Catholic Parish & Shrine of
Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead
Fr. David Goddard, The Priest's House, Park Lane, West Grinstead, West Sussex. RH13 8LT
Telephone: 01403-710273 E-mail: revdavidgoddard@btconnect.com
11th January 2015: The Baptism of the Lord
CALENDAR FOR THIS WEEK
TODAY (11th)
Solemnity: The Baptism of the Lord
6.00pm (Sat.) Vigil Mass Valerie Dwan – R.I.P.
10.30am
Mass
Priest’s private intention
3.00pm
Low Mass (1962 Missal) Pro Populo (The Parish)
The End of Christmas Time
MONDAY (12th)
Feria of Week 1 in Ordinary Time
NO MASS
TUESDAY (13th)
Feria
NO MASS
WEDNESDAY (14th) Feria
11.30am Exposition & Adoration
12.00 noon Holy Mass John Goddard – R.I.P.
THURSDAY (15th) Feria
NO MASS
FRIDAY (16th)
Weekday of Christmas Time
NO MASS
SATURDAY (17th) Mem: St. Anthony, Abbot
NO MASS
NEXT SUNDAY (18th) Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
6.00pm (Sat.) Vigil Mass Catherine Caryll – R.I.P.
10.30am
Mass
Pro Populo (The Parish)
 The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is available before
the 6.00pm Vigil Mass on Saturday or ‘On Call’.
 The monthly Mass celebrated according to the 1962 Missal
(Extraordinary Form) takes place TODAY (Sunday 11th) at 3.00pm. It
will be a Low Mass and the celebrant and preacher will be Fr. Hurley.
 Wednesday Adoration (11.30am) followed by Holy Mass (12
noon) – back to usual.
Please remember the sick and housebound in your prayers at this
time; and amongst them:
Ralph Bayross, Marie-Claire Bleasdale, Agnes Burns, John Challis,
Catherine Clayton, Bridget Coghlan, Edward Collard, Moya Connolly, Kath
Davies, Jo Dexter; Anthony Dobbe, Maggie Dougall, Suzanne Enbeigene,
Sean Fahy, Jeffrey Facon, Vaughan Frederick, Lillian Fry, John Greig,
Antonio Grandine; Michael Handley, Eileen Hill; Joanna Holmes, Marilyn
Jackson, Josephine Kiely, Moria Killian, Mary Larder, Pat Levy, Margaret
Mellows, Mary Murray, Denis Parker, David Rees, Giles Rubens, Joan
Stafford, Rita Stalker, Ronnie Taylor, Teresa Tierney, Christine Turner,
Douglas Verrier, Charlotte Walker and Lee Walshe.
 The Christmas Season ends today (Sunday 11th) and tomorrow
sees us back into Ordinary Time (Week 1). Our thanks again to John
and Chris Dobbe for the Christmas Tree; to our team of flower
arrangers (a number of you commented on how particularly subtle and
beautiful the flower arrangements have been this Christmas); and finally
to Barry Carrol for constructing the Crib. Today is a last opportunity to
make a visit to the Crib, to offer your personal prayers and to make a
contribution towards the ‘Friends of the Holy Land’ in their special
Christmas Appeal for our Christian brothers and sisters, especially
in and around Bethlehem and the Holy Family Parish of Gaza.
Archbishop Peter Smith has specially asked that our diocese should
support FHL this Christmas in this venture.
For more information on the work of FHL, please visit the website:
www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk.
Has your Baptism gone dead?
Everyone knows that marriages can go dead if they are not looked after
properly. So can baptisms. Just because we were plunged into water
as babies does not mean that we have kept to our side of the bargain in
adulthood. Often we can even get to the stage where we even forget
that we are baptized. Not that we deny our faith, but we can act as if we
are just the same as the people next door who have never been inside
a church. They say that a wedding
takes a day, but a marriage takes a
lifetime. You have to learn to live a
marriage. In the same way a
Christening takes (part of) a day but
a baptism takes a lifetime. We grow
into our status of baptized children
of God. If a husband stopped
showing affection for his wife, and
vice versa, then they would be
wedded, but would not be living out
the sacrament of matrimony.
Sacraments are not magic, they are ways of life. To live out our
baptism means to remember that we were washed in water and
anointed with oil. The oil was a symbol that we were set aside to be
PRIESTS, PROPHETS and KINGS.
When we were anointed as PRIESTS, we agreed (probably through our
parents and godparents) to offer the daily sacrifice of our lives to God.
This means being people of prayer, people who are aware of where we
are going in life, and prepared to bring our hopes and joy, our fears and
frustrations as an offering to our God, so that they may be blessed and
transformed.
The role of PROPHET was given to each of us when we were anointed
in baptism. To be a prophet simply means that we agreed to be
spokesmen and spokeswomen for God. In other words, we agreed that
by our words and actions we would be examples of what God wants in
the world. We would be God’s voice in our society, speaking God’s
word to our world.
And by becoming KINGS (or queens) at baptism we undertook to be
responsible for a kingdom. A good king rules by seeing that all his
subjects are fairly treated and are able to live a life unhindered by fear
or lack of stability. We too are called to rule, but our ruling is service.
It entails looking after those in our care, showing concern for those
whose rights are denied, protecting the good things God has given to
the world, and even looking after the world itself by having proper
regard for natural and global resources.
So if your baptism has gone through a sticky patch, or is almost on its
last legs, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is your chance to renew
your commitment to those promises made years ago. It is a chance to
be once more a priest, a prophet and a king.
The Arundel & Brighton Diocesan Trust is a Registered Charity No.252878