Just a typical busy Sunday . . .

Goodness me, what a lot of things have been happening in the parish today.  It's wonderful to have such an active parish; there always seems to be something special taking place.

At the 10 O'clock Mass this morning, the second and final group of our children made their First Holy Communion.  I think they were every bit as pleased as last week's group and once more we had a wonderful, joyful celebration.

Their families and catechists have every reason to be very proud of them all.

A  few of our parishioners went off on the monthly parish ramble after the Mass and some even managed to arrive back just in time for our May Rosary and Benediction.

What a view! 

Things didn't get any quieter later on in the day either. After our 6pm Mass our newly-Confirmed met in the parish hall for a celebration social and to think about how they can build on this past year's preparation course, continue to learn more about their faith and now take a more active part in parish life.

  

That cake looks very tempting!

Not forgetting of course that today we celebrated the Solemnity of Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit certainly seems to be very active in St Ann's parish.  Thanks be to God.

Come Holy Spirit,

 fill the hearts of your faithful 

and kindle in them the fire of your love. 

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. 

And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, 

didst instruct the hearts of the faithful, 

grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise 

and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Congratulations to all our newly-Confirmed young people!

Yesterday evening represented a milestone in the lives of some of our young parishioners.

Our Confirmation candidates, who have been preparing for this day since October, were all kitted out in their 'Sunday best' as they made their way to St Joseph's Church, Epsom accompanied by their families and friends.

The youngsters were confirmed by Bishop Kieran together with other young people from our Deanery.   As you can tell by the photo, they all look very happy to have made this commitment, taking on for themselves the promises that were made on their behalf by their Godparents when they were baptised.

We look forward to their playing a more active part in parish life. 

Please keep all our young people and their families in your prayers as they continue their journey of faith.

Our newly confirmed . . . !

Congratulations to all our young people who were confirmed by Bishop Kieran at St Joseph's, Epsom a few weeks ago along with many others from our deanery.

Many thanks to Sam Carr for organising the photo which was taken outside St Ann's on Sunday.

* 'Double-click' on the photos to see an enlarged version.

Christ the King . . .

At our evening Mass today, the Feast of Christ the King, last year's Confirmandi will receive their Confirmation certificates and our current Confirmation candidates will make a commitment to our parish Confirmation programme which culminates in the reception of the Sacrament in the Spring of next year.

Please keep all our young people in your prayers as they continue on their journey of faith.

Veni Sancte Spiritus . . .

Today we enjoyed a wonderful celebration at St Joseph's Church, Epsom when Bishop Kieran conferred the sacrament of Confirmation on 114 young people from our Deanery including 22 from our own parish.

Like First Holy Communion which we will be celebrating at St Ann's in the next few weeks, Confirmation is a marvellous celebration, not just for the young people involved but also for their families and catechists who have guided and supported them in their journey of faith bringing them to this happy day; and for the whole parish community.

We look forward to the newly-Confirmed taking a full and active part in the life of the Church and of our parish.

Easter at St Ann's

It was a delight and a privilege to welcome Stewart and David into Full Communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, along with Melissa and Elio who received the sacrament of Confirmation and Greer who made her First Holy Communion - we were just missing a Baptism!

It's rather long but the slideshow below gives a flavour of our Easter celebrations here at St Ann's this year.

Wishing you Easter Blessings and Joy.

A Very Busy Sunday ...

Today was an especially busy Sunday. The 6pm Mass today was full of young people - marvellous! As well as celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King and National Youth Sunday it was also the 'Inscription Mass' for our new Confirmation candidates when they make a commitment to the programme and to developing in their understanding and practice of their faith.

It was also the time to present Confirmation certificates to our young people who were confirmed with others in our Deanery at Epsom earlier in the year.

Two very joyful 'tasks'.

In addition we also welcomed other local Christians to this Mass as part of our ongoing commitment to cooperation and fellowship with members of the Banstead Five Churches.

First Holy Communion Programme

Our First Holy Communion programme got off to an excellent start yesterday with a Holy Hour for Children.

It was very encouraging to see so many of our children and their parents in church responding to the invitation of Christ, 'Let the children come to me'.

As well as bringing your children to Sunday Mass which is of course 'the source and summit' of our Catholic life, it is also good to encourage them to come along to other devotions such as this.

We are looking forward this year to using a new book for our First Holy Communion programme, Jesus Comes to Me, by Dora Nash.

We used Dora Nash's book, Confirmed in the Faith, for our Confirmation programme last year and were very pleased with it so I'm sure her First Holy Communion programme will also be excellent.

Parish Catechesis

We have recently received the first batch of books for our Parish Catechetical programmes due to begin in the autumn.

We are using a new programme this year for our First Holy Communion children; "Jesus Comes to Me" by Dora Nash.

I ordered a sample to look at earlier in the year and was very impressed both with the straightforward Catholic content and the layout of the book.

We have been using Dora Nash's Confirmation Programme, "Confirmed in the Faith" for a few years now in the parish and have been very pleased with it so I thought I could rely on Dora Nash to give a suitable treatment to preparation for the Sacrament of Confession and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and I am not disappointed.

Both books are available from 'Family Publications', amongst others.

I feel like the BBC announcers saying, 'other listings magazines are available' when giving the Radio Times a plug!

Deanery Confirmations

Yesterday evening I joined other priests from our Deanery at St Joseph's Church, Epsom for the Confirmation by Bishop Kieran of 13 young people from our parish, along with many others from other parishes in Epsom Deanery. There are so many Confirmandi that Bishop Kieran will be returning to Epsom again this evening for the second installment!

Despite the wet weather, spirits were high and it was a very joyful occasion. Unfortunately the rain prevented my taking any photographs outside. If any of our parishioners did take any photos before or after the Mass and they would like to email them to the parish, I'll try and include them on the blog in the next day or two.

Congratulations to all our young people; we look forward to you now taking a more active part in our parish and in the life of the Church.

Joanna Bogle

This Saturday, after our parish Mass, I joined our Confirmandi and their Catechists on their day away at the nearby parish of St Joseph’s, Epsom. We try and arrange a day away for our Confirmandi at about this time in their Confirmation programme and offer them an opportunity to reflect on the Sacrament they are preparing for and combine this with an opportunity to make their Confession. I was delighted that Joanna Bogle, a well known Catholic writer, agreed to come and talk to our young people on this occasion. Joanna came to talk to the parents of our First Holy Communion group not so long ago and I’m very grateful to her for the very positive input she was able to make on that occasion.

In her talk to our Confirmandi, Joanna traced the history from the birth of Jesus to Pentecost and the sending out of his disciples.

Confirmation is a very important moment in a young person’s life; becoming a full member of the Church brings with it new responsibilities. Joanna spoke about the need to prepare well for the Sacrament of Confirmation which includes going to Confession and the important of choosing a Confirmation name that has some meaning and significance to the candidate.

I was very pleased to hear Joanna Bogle say that Sunday Mass is NOT just an option but essential to our Catholic faith and practice . The Church is going through difficult times because the values of the Church are not always in line with secular values. This is not new and will probably always be so. This is why the Church needs you, (young people) now.