The Catholic Parish of Holy Family

The Catholic Parish of

THE HOLY FAMILY

S A N D E R S T E A D

Part of the Archdiocese of Southwark

By Webmaster November 17, 2024
Pope Francis has declared 2025 to be a ‘Holy Year’. This means that everyone who visits Rome next year, who prays for the intentions of the Holy Father, celebrates holy Mass and Reconciliation, is promised many special blessings from the Lord. The tradition is that this happens only once every 25 years! With the great help of Adrian and his ‘Northern Star’ Travel Agency, I have negotiated a superb deal to enable us to stay in the Eternal City of Rome next year. Not only that, but also to visit and stay in two other amazing locations, Assisi and its connection with St Francis and St.Clare, as well as visiting and staying in St Giovanni Rotondo where the holy priest who was given the wounds of Jesus (Stigmata)St Padre Pio, lived and ministered. We will spend 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Assisi and 3 nights in San Giovanni Rotondo. A taste of what we will do: Holy Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, holy Mass in St John Lateran Basilica, visit the Catacombs, Papal Audience, Tour of Rome - churches of St Mary Major, St Paul outside the Walls, Vatican Museums, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Colosseum, Navona Square etc, etc; holy Mass in Basilica of St Francis, holy Mass in the Basilica of St Clare, visit Porziuncola, San Damiano, Loreto; guided tour of San Giovanni, visit chapel of the Stigmata,Pietrelcina. Lots of free time for relaxing, looking around, shopping Excellent quality hotels for Dinner, Bed, Breakfast; all excursions, English-speaking guide; Outward flight: Gatwick-Rome(9.30am), Return flight: Bari-Gatwick(4.55pm); all airport duties and passenger taxes 28th April to 7th May 2025. A week after Easter. A perfect time to visit Rome and Italy when the climate is ideal, not too hot and not cold. Cost: £1400pp all inclusive.  Rome and Italy will be very busy for the Holy Year and prices will soar! We are really blessed to have arranged such a great itinerary at such a relatively modest and very economic cost. I suspect that there will be lots of interest in this pilgrimage and it’s quite possible that we will have to limit numbers. I hope to offer this pilgrimage to various people and groups. If you are seriously interested, I suggest you contact me as soon as possible. I have Booking Forms available now.
By Webmaster November 17, 2024
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MP, AGAIN, IN ADVANCE OF DEBATE AND VOTE IN PARLIAMENT Be compassionate As Catholic Bishops in England and Wales, and in Scotland, we believe that genuine compassion is under threat because of the attempts in Parliament to legalise assisted suicide. 'Compassion' means to enter into and share the suffering of another person. It means never giving up on anyone or abandoning them. It means loving them to the natural end of their life, even if and when they struggle to find meaning and purpose. Compassion means accompanying people, especially during sickness, disability, and old age. This kind of genuine compassion is witnessed through the care and respect we show to people with terminal illness as they complete their journey in this life. We appeal to those who share our Catholic belief in human dignity and sanctity of life, including fellow Christians, other religious people, and people of reason and good will, to join with us in defending the weakest and most vulnerable who are at risk through this proposed legislation. Life is a gift to be protected, especially when threatened by sickness and death. Palliative care, with expert pain relief, and good human, spiritual, and pastoral support, is the right and best way to care for people towards the end of life. More adequate funding and resources for hospices and palliative care teams authentically serve and honour our shared human dignity. In the discussion around assisted suicide, so much is made of freedom of choice and autonomy; but autonomy is not absolute and must always be placed within the context of the common good of society as a whole. People who are suffering need to know they are loved and valued. They need compassionate care, not assistance to end their lives. Assisted suicide raises serious issues of principle. The time given for Parliament to consider the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which will permit assisted suicide is woefully inadequate. Although the Bill indicates safeguards will be in place, the experience of other countries where assisted suicide has been introduced shows that such promised safeguards are soon forgotten. In Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, and parts of the USA, the criteria for assisted suicide have been expanded significantly, in law or in practice, often to include people with mental illness and others who have no terminal diagnosis. It is not always easy to predict the length of time a person with a terminal illness has to live, making this Bill unworkable. We are alarmed by the impact that legalisation will have on the most vulnerable members of our society. The option to end life can quickly, and subtly, be experienced as a duty to die. Some may well feel their continued existence is a burden to others, and, implicitly or explicitly, be pressured into assisted suicide. This includes people who are elderly, infirm, and living with disabilities. The protection of such people is the foundation of civilised society. It is at the heart of good government. We are also concerned that this Bill will fundamentally damage the relationship between medical practitioners and their patients. It will potentially lead to pressure on medical staff to recommend or facilitate such procedures. Will the right to conscientious objection for individuals and institutions be guaranteed? The impact on hospices, care homes, and those who work in social and community care cannot be underestimated. It will radically alter the ethos of trust and support which underpins our service to those in need and their families. We urge all people of good will to oppose this legislation and, instead, to advocate for better funded palliative care which is consistently available to everyone in need in England, Wales, and Scotland. Please inform yourself and others about this issue and contact your Member of Parliament to make your opposition known, asking him or her oppose or not support the Bill.  As Catholic Bishops, we call upon all Catholics, and invite all those who share our Christian faith, to turn in prayer to God our Father. Please pray that the dignity of human life will be protected and defended. On the cross, Christ united Himself to every form of human suffering and every person who suffers. In Him, life is changed, not ended. He shows us, in His own crucified and risen body, that love is always stronger than death.
By Webmaster November 17, 2024
‘Welcome to our new friends’ Woof Woof
By Webmaster November 10, 2024
May I invite you to join me every Saturday at 12.00midday, in our Parish Room for a short meeting designed especially for Adults who wish for their Faith to be stronger and deeper. Faith is nothing less than being in a growing relationship with the Lord Jesus. These meetings are designed to help us to grow closer to the Lord as we follow his plans for us. The meetings will last no more than an hour. We talk about all and anything that is even remotely connected to our Faith. May I invite you to join me next Saturday and subsequent Saturdays. I’m sure there are many questions and queries you may have. Do come and we will speak together about anything you wish.
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Welcome to Holy Family Parish


I wish all our visitors to this website, great peace and joy.
I hope you enjoy exploring our site and discovering the varied life of our vibrant parish.
If you would like to join us for the celebration of holy Mass, you will be welcomed with open arms.
So too, if you would like to join in any of our events and meetings, it will be a pleasure to see you.
If there is anything I can do to help or support you, please let me know.
With assurance of my prayers and warmest best wishes,


Fr Malachy

  • Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Monsignor Malachy's Golden Jubilee Celebration

Holy Family Catholic Church


I wish all our visitors to this website, great peace and joy.
I hope you enjoy exploring our site and discovering the varied life of our vibrant parish.
If you would like to join us for the celebration of holy Mass, you will be welcomed with open arms.
So too, if you would like to join in any of our events and meetings, it will be a pleasure to see you.
If there is anything I can do to help or support you, please let me know.
With assurance of my prayers and warmest best wishes,

Fr Malachy


  • Weekend Mass

    Saturday: 5:00pm (Vigil Holy Mass)

    Sunday: 9am and  11am 

  • Weekday Mass

    Monday: 9:30am

    Tuesday:  9:30am

    Wednesday: 9.30 am

    Thursday: 9.30am

    Friday: 9.30am

IMPORTANT UPDATE

PARISH LIVESTREAM

Quote of the week

'Christ has no body now but yours' St Theresa of Avila

Parish News

Parish News

Our very latest news updates and information about Parish activities.


By Webmaster November 10, 2024
“WHO HAVE YOU BROUGHT WITH YOU?”  These are the words of the Lord Jesus to each one of us, every time we come to holy Mass. Please don't be content to come alone or just to come with someone who already comes every week, to holy Mass. Invite and encourage others in your family, those living next door to you, those living down your street, your friends. Do that and the Lord will work through you, probably slowly and bit by bit. Do that, and one day you will hear him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful child of mine. Enter into the joys prepared for you, for all eternity.”
By Webmaster October 20, 2024
OLDE FORGE CAFE BAKERS/PROVIDERS ROTA  21 Oct : Mary Lawlor 28 Oct : Geraldine NOVEMBER For week, beginning; 4th : Mary Jameson 11th : Coral 18th : Patricia (McCarthy) 25th : Simone 2nd December : Marian Please, if possible, could you provide enough cakes for the whole of each week. Thank you to everybody who is helping to provide cakes. To avoid having too many cakes, Coral mentioned to me that non-perishable cakes can be safely stored in the Cafe for a short while. When it is your turn to provide a non-perishable cake, please bring your cake to the Cafe a few days before the date of your turn. OLDE FORGE CAFE - HOSTS ROTA NOVEMBER 2nd: 11.00am - 1.00pm Simone and Emmanuala 3rd : 12midday - 1.30pm Lizzie and Paul 5th : 10.30am -11.30am Gardening Club 6th : 12.15pm- 1.00pm Administration Team 9th : Maggie (Bailey) and Geraldine 10th : Giannina and David 12th : Gardening Club 13th : Administration Team 16th : Patricia and Jim 17th : nb 3.00-4.00pm Carolyn and Maggie (Bowes) 19th : Gardening Club 20th : Administration Team 23rd : Regina and Patrick 24th : Lorenza and Kelly 26th : Gardening Club 27th : Administration Team 30th : Marian and Ros 1st December : Mary and Phil Thank you to everybody who acts as a Host. If an unexpected emergency occurs on the date you are scheduled to be a Host, please don’t worry about the Cafe. No need to try to find someone to ‘stand in’ for you. There is no need whatsoever to ‘swop’ with someone! We are not a Business, having to stay open to make money! - we open when and if we can. We take this role of ‘Host’ as a Vocation from the Lord to be his Missionary and his Prophet. Actually, the Cafe has, at times, functioned well with just one Host. The success of our Evangelisation Cafe depends on us. The more we speak to others of our Cafe, inviting them to visit us, the more successful it will be. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and colleagues. Please check when it is your turn to be a Host (or a Baker!). Please see this role as a Calling, a Vocation from the Lord which you are generously telling the Lord you will do”. Thank you so much for your trust in the good Lord
By Webmaster May 26, 2024
Please pray for Leo, Eva, Isla, Alexander, Kelue and Alde and their parents as they come to the final days of preparation for the priceless gift of receiving Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion on Sunday 2nd June.
By Webmaster May 20, 2024
Recently, on arranged and published days and times, our Eucharistic Ministers and myself have carried the Lord in Holy Communion to parishioners we thought were house-bound, only to find that no one was at home or was actually leaving home when we arrived! We are, of course, delighted to be the means of bringing the Lord Jesus to his people who are unable to genuinely leave their homes and we will do our very best to continue to do so. However, let’s not think of this as a sort of ‘Home-Delivery Service’! If someone is able to leave their home and come to holy Mass and can receive help from a family member or friend, then that is the right thing to do. Please let me know of anyone who is really unable to leave their home and we will be delighted to continue to do our very best to bring the Lord Jesus to them.
By Webmaster February 26, 2024
Many thanks indeed to Paul Mould for, single-handedly counting and depositing our Collections for some years. Going forward into the future, this humble but essential task must now be done on Wednesday mornings in our Parish Office. Paul is unable to help at this time and on this day. Is there anyone who could succeed Paul? It would probably take about an hour and a half to count and deposit our Collections. Please let me know.
More News

Parish Priest Notices

Important notices and items. These will contain news elements & important requests and parish notices

By Webmaster November 10, 2024
On Sunday afternoon, 17th November , at 2.30 in the afternoon, we will have a short Service of Healing and the Sacrament of the Sick. If you are 65 years or over, or if you are suffering from an illness of any kind, please come to this Service. I will pray a Prayer of Healing over you and offer you the great Sacrament of the Sick. This wonderful, powerful Sacrament brings healing of body, mind and Soul. After the Service we can enjoy refreshments in our Cafe. Please invite your family, friends and neighbours to join you at the Service of Healing.
By Webmaster November 10, 2024
It is wonderful to see so many people, children, young adults, women and men, young and not so young, having the great honour of serving holy Mass. Please continue to do so. If you haven’t done so already, do come up onto the sanctuary and take this precious opportunity. Please may I also ask everyone in the church, to help to prepare the altar and sanctuary before holy Mass begins, to light the candles etc and then, after holy Mass, to help to return the sacred vessels to the sacristy, extinguish the candles, return the cruets etc. The full, conscious and active participation of everyone, will mean that holy Mass will become even more important to us all.
By Webmaster November 3, 2024
From the 1st Sunday of Advent (30th November/1st December), all Catholic Churches in England and Wales will be using a new Lectionary. The ‘Lectionary’ is the book which contains all the Bible Readings used in every holy Mass and in the celebration of the Sacraments.We will be using a slightly different English translation of the Scriptures, the English Standard Version (ESV). The new Lectionary is a continuation of the process of revising liturgical translations. It is intended to make biblical translation more faithful to the original languages and biblical scholarship. Pope Francis writes: “We urgently need to grow in our knowledge and love of the Scriptures.” In them, the risen Lord “continues to speak his Word” to us.  May I especially invite all our ‘Lectors’, those who proclaim God’s Word to us in holy Mass, to join everyone at our Adult Formation meeting on Saturday 9th November, at 12.00pm, which will be held in our Cafe, to learn more about the new Lectionary and to try the new translation that we will be using from the 1st Sunday of Advent.
By Webmaster November 3, 2024
To John for helping to fix the electricity problem in our Cafe. To everyone who came to support our ‘Blessing of Pets’ Service.  To Bridget for liaising with the clients of our Food Bank.
By Webmaster October 7, 2024
To the very generous people who came to clean and tidy our church, last week. Please note that the next brief Church Cleaning session will be on Tuesday 5th November at 5.00pm for just 30 minutes. Pop the date and time in your diary. In the meantime, could we all please help to keep the church tidy, especially after each Sunday holy Mass.
By Webmaster October 1, 2024
To Jim and Emmanuela and Maggie for Sacristy work. To all our Eucharistic Ministers. To all our Lectors. To all our Olde Forge Cafe Hosts and Bakers. To all our Gardeners. To the person who left me some plants. I love plants!  To everyone who supports our parish and our work for the Lord in so many ways.

Parish / Diocesan
 Events


By Webmaster November 17, 2024
‘Welcome to our new friends’ Woof Woof
By Webmaster November 10, 2024
During this month of November, we traditionally, pray for all those who have left our world and who, while on earth, opened their hearts and lives to the Lord. We believe there is a strong connection between God’s People on earth, those in Heaven and those who, having left this world, are on their way to Heaven. The holy Mass is the very best and most powerful way that links those who have died with the risen Lord Jesus. I will be most happy to celebrate holy Mass for your loved ones who have died, especially during this month of November, if you would like me to do so. Please use the special holy Masses envelopes for the Holy Souls, which you will find in the church porch if you would like me to celebrate holy Mass for your intention.  You will find our ‘Book of the Dead’ in front of the side altar in our church. At every holy Mass during the month of November, we place that book on the altar and we pray for everyone mentioned in it. If anyone you know has died in the last twelve months, please enter their name in the Book, on the date of their death so that we can pray for them too.
By Webmaster November 10, 2024
Anger is a normal human emotion but it must be understood as a part of our lives that needs to be lived in a healthy, wise way. When this happens, Anger is a great force for good but when it is misunderstood and allowed to express itself in destructive ways then it can cause fear and chaos. This short one-day course, which I have been invited to deliver at the LJC on Saturday 7th December , from 10.00am until 2.00pm, will be helpful for anyone who wishes to better understand Anger in themselves or in someone else and will give suggestions about how to live this powerful human emotion in a good, life-giving way. Please check the LJC website for more details and to book a place on the course.

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PLEASE CLICK ON THE ABOVE ICON FOR A GUIDED MEDITATION

PRAY FOR OUR ARCHBISHOP  - JOHN WILSON

As a parish we encourage our community to pray for our shepherd

Global Healing - care for our common home.



A film commissioned by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (33 minutes long).


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