29th Sunday of Ordinary Time
By OfficeManager In Newsletter Blog On October 20, 2023
… those of our parish who have ongoing need of our prayers.
… the repose of the souls of those who have died recently and all whose anniversaries occur about this time
… the consoling of those who mourn
Tuesday 24th October – We meet at 6pm at the flagpole by the War Memorial in Cranleigh to remember and pray for the people of Ukraine. Please do try to join us to increase the representation from our Catholic community.
Friday 3rd November – Taize style prayer for peace on from 7pm – 8pm at JCROM. The time of prayer will use reflective chants, Scripture, silence and intercessionary prayer. Come and pray for peace in the world.
Sunday 4th November – the time of the Vigil Mass at Cranleigh reverts to 5pm from today.
Churches In Cranleigh, preparing for Christmas Advent
On first three Fridays of Advent, the Christian family in Cranleigh is invited to come together for a short period of prayerful reflection on the season of Advent, our reflections being guided by the themes of:
- MUSIC (8th December at Cranleigh parish church, St Nicolas)
- ART (15th December at Cranleigh Methodist Church)
- POETRY (22nd December at Cranleigh Catholic Church, Jesus Christ Redeemer of Mankind)
Each gathering will begin at 12 noon and last approximately half an hour. Further details to follow. We would hope that many of you will choose to come along and support this village initiative.
WEBSITE EXPERTS – Your Parish Needs You!
Our website needs a makeover and to be made more user friendly. This is an important part of our outreach ; we need your talents! If you have the skills to help, as a designer, a coder, a photographer, a writer or in any other way- or if you have ideas as to content – please email Tracy at the Parish Office.
Accommodation Needed. A room with shared facilities is needed for the carer of one of our elderly parishioners. She is a lovely Hungarian lady with good English who has been given notice to leave her current accommodation by the end of this month. She has been a carer for 5 years and is looking for accommodation in Cranleigh, Bramley, Ewhurst, Wonersh, Chilworth and the surrounding areas. If you feel you would be able to help out even on a temporary basis please call Sheila Gibson 07746851275/ 01483 275524
Ukrainian Shoebox Appeal 2023. Help put smiles on the faces of deprived or disabled children again this Christmas. Please fill a shoebox. And bring it, Christmas-wrapped, to the Parish Office Tuesday, Thursday or Friday mornings or call David Barry on 07966 887115. A leaflet with full details and costs can be requested from dlbarry@btinternet.com. Thank you from The Cranleigh Rotary
And you Christ, our gentle saviour, in your kindness light our lamps so that they shine for ever in your temple and
St. Columbanus
Pokot News
Below are reports from Fr Sean at the Rotu Mission and Fr Tom and Fr Francis at the Barpello Mission and school.
From Father Sean. This morning we had a delivery of Maize and Beans at Rotu. The £3,000 the £ a Week Group have just sent me will buy a lot of our emergency food. The delivery came from Kapenguria 230Kms from Rotu and also brought cement for building the medical house and 100 Kilos of Camel salt. Thanks to the Pound a Week Group for all its support.
From Fr Tom – Many greetings from my Home county of Trans Nzoia. Thanks for all that the Pound a Week Group continue doing for us. The school issues have beengiving me many sleepless nights. Salaries have again become a problem. We have not been able to pay our teaching and non teaching staff for the last two months. All along, we have been kept afloat by the funds we receive solely from you since last year. We have tried to reach out for help to other people but all is not working out.
This is due to the usual problem of the majority of our students not paying school fees at all. Thanks for the money sent to us in August. Many greetings to the Pound a Week members.
From Fr Francis – Kindly accept our deepest gratitude for all the Pound a Week people are doing for us. It is true that we are really going through untold financial constraints in our school. I was going through the fees statements this afternoon and true to my fears I realised that we have an accumulative fees arrears of Ksh. 11,000,000 (Ksh. 11Million) that’s equivalent to roughly £63,000! We have been able to survive thanks to your support. Apart from the teachers and support staff not having had their salaries for the last two months. The salary for the teachers and support staff, including the government mandatory statutory deductions, amounts to 650,000 Kenya shillings per month which is equivalent to, approximately £3,800. Three years of serious droughts, the loss of grazing and fodder and the consequent fall in the market value of their animals have all contributed to decimate family incomes of this pastoralist people.
I believe these are the reasons why families have not been able to find money for school fees. We cannot fund all the needs of the two missions. Many members are already sponsoring individual students at the school and university. Fr Sean is adamant that our number one priority should be support for the Barpello school through help with fees or general payments of support. Only through education can the Pokot people be helped out of poverty. I suggest therefore that rather than offering new sponsorship for individual students, we simply make a general donation to the school and leave it to Fr Tom and Fr Francis to decide how best to use it. If those members who are already supporting individual students at the school can continue to do so, that would also be a great help.
The 2024 fees , which cover mainly Tuition and Boarding costs, are: Term1 £210; Term 2 £210; Term 3 £140. If you would like to make a donation of any amount and are in a position to do so or would like more information, please let me know.
Eugene McGivern 01483-893379 emcgivern@btinternnet.com
Cranleigh Lions Club – Project Wenceslas Some people have to choose between heating and eating. Please consider donating some or, perhaps, all of your Winter Fuel Payment to the Cranleigh Lions’ Wenceslas Project. Working in conjunction with the Citizens Advice Bureau, the foodbank, Homestart and other charities and organisations funds will be used to help local people whose fuel bills are causing them problems. Money is not given to individuals – we make payment direct to energy companies or we top up pre-payment cards with cash. Please see our website www.cranleighlions.org for more details Thank you
Liturgy of the Word with Children – Leaders’ Training – Saturday 11 November 10am–1pm at The St Philip Howard Centre, Crawley RH10 6RP Please join us for a morning exploring an exciting style of delivering the Liturgy of the Word with Children. Lucy Hall will be demonstrating a hands on, tactile approach to wondering about the Gospel. Please register using the link Liturgy of the Word with Children – Leaders’ training (11-Nov-2023) · ChurchSuite Events
Marriage Catechists’ Day – Saturday 18 November 11am-3.30pm at The St Philip Howard Centre, Crawley RH10 6RP Are you involved with, or would like to be involved with, supporting couples on their engagement journey towards marriage? Bishop Richard invites you to join him for our annual day of formation. We will be looking at the impact of the new pastoral plan on the Diocesan preparation scheme and on the need to support couples in their communities. Please register using the link Marriage Catechists Day (18-Nov-2023) · ChurchSuite Events
Who cares? We do. Let’s Grow TogetherA free support group for people going through divorce and separation. This is a self-help group run by others who have experienced this loss and change in their lives and are on a recovery journey. We meet monthly in various locations in West Sussex and Surrey. Contact one of our group leaders Caroline or John: E: whocares.team@outlook.com The next meeting of the group is on 4 November at St Joseph’s Church Hall, Dorking RH43DL. Car parking behind Church.
