EPISCOPAL VICAR FOR PRISONS
Webmaster • December 1, 2024
Archbishop John has appointed me as 'Episcopal Vicar for Prisons' within the Archdiocese of Southwark. This means that I speak on his behalf and act with his Episcopal authority on issues of Criminal Justice. My role is to raise the profile of Prisons, Victims of Crime, Prisoners and Criminal Justice generally to our Bishops, Priests, Deacons and Laity. Practically, I have the responsibility of recruiting, helping to appoint, overseeing and supporting Catholics who live and work in the 12 prisons located within our Archdiocese as well as promoting work for the care of the victims of Crime and developing initiatives in our parishes to support former Offenders in matters of rehabilitation. This is quite a task and is often likely to take me out of the parish! Please pray for me as I begin this new role.
Our Holy Family Church Fantasy Premier League (FPL) mini-league is now open for the new season! How to join 1 . Go to the Fantasy Premier League website or download the FPL app. 2 . Register using your email address and create an account. 3. Log in and create your Fantasy Premier League team by following the instructions. 4 . Once your team is set up, go to “Leagues & Cups”. 5. Select “Join a League” and then “Join a Private League”. 6 . Enter our league code: 8dljjf 7 . That’s it! You’ll be added to the Holy Family Church mini-league. Entry fee: minimum £2. The entry fee will go towards helping the hungry in Sudan. Need a hand? If you’re not sure how to set up your team, don’t worry! Nik and Amit will be available to help you after Mass in the café. Come along and they will help you get your team set up and join the league. Everyone is welcome — all ages can take part! It’s just a bit of fun and a great way to stay connected throughout the football season.
How do we pray? How do we build a better, more fulfilling relationship with God? You are warmly invited to join an experiential programme called Teach Us to Pray facilitated by Southwark Diocesan Spirituality Commission. The programme will be online on Tuesdays, starting 6th October from 7pm to 8.15pm. Following 4 online sessions, there is an invitation to conclude the programme with an in-person Reflection Day in a Diocesan Retreat Centre on 5th or 12th December. There is no commitment to attend all sessions – join us whenever you can. For details/ to sign up see https://aecsouthwark.churchsuite.com/events/tnpn4hqd or email for further information spirituality@rcaos.org.uk
On Sunday 7th February 2027, Bishop Gerard will be joining us for our 10.30am holy Mass. During that holy Mass, Bishop Gerard will celebrate the great Sacrament of Confirmation for us. Please would anyone who has not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation in her or his life, speak with me. This is a great opportunity to receive the gifts of God’s Holy Spirit in this Sacrament. The Holy Spirit comes upon us to give us gifts, like Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Perseverance, Wisdom, Generosity, Humility and Courage and many more. These are the gifts that we all need to live real, adult, mature lives of Faith in this world. We will shortly begin a series of meetings to help those who will be preparing to receive this Sacrament. Please let know in the next few weeks if you would like to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday 7th February next year, when Bishop Gerard visits us.
A Pastoral Message on the Occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the March for Life 2026
We will soon be using the Olde Forge cottage for Retreats. People who wish to spend a few days in quiet and stillness, to understand themselves better and to deepen their relationship with God, will live in the cottage. The cottage is self-contained. Each day, I will meet with the person ‘on retreat’ for counselling and direction. You might well see somebody new at holy Mass on weekdays. Please don’t try to engage with them in conversation. An extended experience of silence is a part of the ‘Retreat.’
We cannot keep quiet while the question of Assisted Suicide is being debated, in our name, in Parliament (Friday 11th September). Please contact your MP, as soon as you can and before the 11th September, expressing your opposition to this cruel and mistaken response to human suffering and death which would reduce so much of our United Kingdom’s respect for the dignity and value of human life. Look on the website of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales for clear reasons to oppose this Bill. Please click on this link to find out more: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/opposing-assisted-suicide/ Look on the UK Parliament website to find various ways of contacting your MP. Our MP for this Constituency of Croydon South is Mr Chris Philps who supports this appalling Bill!
The Coffee Machine in the Olde Forge Evangelisation Cafe has a number of controls that govern amounts of coffee and the temperature of the coffee. These amounts and temperatures are set. Please, dear Hosts, do not attempt to alter these settings. Overflowing/Under-filling cups are the results of changing the set controls. Please don’t force anything on the machine. If you are not sure what to do, please seek help, perhaps especially about cleaning the equipment after a session. An engineer visited the cafe last week to make necessary repairs and to check all settings.
Please note that the role of Lorènza, in the Cafe, is simply to be one Manager among Managers! We are all asked to be actively involved by noticing how the Cafe is developing and then to actively work to maintain everything that all our wonderful Hosts and our Bakers/Providers are doing and everyone who invites and accompanies others to visit the Cafe. Lorenza’s role is simply the same as the role that everyone has, of being actively involved in Evangelisation. Every one of us is a Manager of the Cafe. Every one of us is to be actively involved in all aspects of the Cafe. The good Lord commands that everyone who follows him, is to share fully in his work of bringing others to know, love and serve him. The Cafe is our parish way of fulfilling his command. To be involved in this is really not an option but is rather a part of being a member of the Holy Family Catholic Faith Community in Sanderstead, whatever our age or status. Please take part in what the Lord asks of you and one day you will hear the Lord say to you, ”Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter now the joy of Heaven for all Eternity.” When we started the Cafe, a good while ago, some parishioners took part without really understanding the nature of Evangelisation. They felt that the Cafe was either for the parish social life or for Fund-raising purposes! Gradually, I hope we are all beginning to realise that the Cafe is about a way of life called ‘ Evangelisation’ that lies at the heart of what it is to be an authentic, genuine Catholic Christian. It’s not something we do “when we can” or something that we try to fit into our own personal schedule. It is, rather like holy Mass on the Lord’s Day, a core part of the way of life of every Catholic Christian in our parish. The Cafe is the Lord calling you to be his presence and to be his mouthpiece. Please answer his call.
Please note that our Evangelisation Cafe opens on Tuesdays immediately AFTER holy Mass, at about 10.15am so that our Hosts may be able to celebrate holy Mass before opening the Cafe. The Cafe will then be open until about 12.00midday. The Cafe is also open on Saturdays from about 10.30am until about 12.00midday and on Sundays too immediately AFTER our final Sunday holy Masses until about 1.00pm The Olde Forge Evangelisation Cafe can only open thanks to the great generosity of our wonderful Hosts and Bakers/Providers. Thank you so much to them. If you are not yet an active member of our Parish Faith community, please offer your help as a Host or Baker/Provider. Presently it would mean that your help is needed only about once every month. The more Hosts we have the less often your good help is required. We will be very pleased to show you how the Coffee machine works and you will soon be able to be one of our very own ‘Baristas’!
