SUNDAY HOLY MASS - TIMES AND FREQUENCY

Webmaster • July 28, 2024

Thank you to everybody who came to our consultation meetings for your advice on the times and frequency of Sunday holy Mass in our parish and to everybody who has mentioned to me their personal views.


My own personal view is that it would be better to reduce the number of Sunday holy Masses from 3 to 2. I don’t think such a small parish as Holy Family, Sanderstead needs more than 2 Sunday holy Masses. Indeed, having only 2 Sunday holy Masses might better enable us to celebrate the sacred liturgy of the holy Mass with greater worthiness, dignity and with fuller, conscious and active participation of everyone. However, a good number of parishioners told me they would like us to continue with 3 Sunday holy Masses. So, listening to you, I will try to continue, while the Lord gives me strength, to celebrate 3 Sunday holy Masses with you, each weekend.


Thinking of the times of our 3 Sunday holy Masses, we certainly need to change the time of our Sunday Vigil holy Mass on Saturdays. Our two neighbouring parishes of Selsdon and Purley, within less than 2 miles of us, both have a Sunday Vigil holy Mass on Saturdays at 6.00pm! A third Vigil holy Mass on Saturdays at 6.00pm, in Sanderstead, makes no sense!


So we will change our Saturday Vigil holy Mass time to give people in our parish and area even greater choice. We will celebrate a Sunday Vigil holy Mass, in Sanderstead, every Saturday at 5.00pm. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available between 4.00pm and 4.30pm. It’s important that everyone has time to know this change of time and to adjust their schedule if necessary. So we will continue with the present time (6.00pm for holy Mass and 5.00pm for Reconciliation) for another month or so. We will then begin the change of time for our Sunday Vigil holy Mass( 5.00pm)and the Sacrament of Reconciliation(4.00pm), on Saturday 3rd August.


PLEASE NOTE THAT FOLLOWING OUR CONSULATIONS AND YOUR ADVICE, OUR NEW SUNDAY HOLY MASS SCHEDULE BEGINS NEXT SATURDAY 3RD AUGUST.


By your request we will continue with 3 Sunday holy Masses. We will continue with holy Mass at 9.00am and 11.00am on Sunday itself and the Sunday Vigil holy Mass will now be at 5.00pm rather than 6.00pm. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be from 4.00pm to 4.30pm before the Sunday Vigil holy Mass. Please remind your family, friends and neighbours of these changes, when you invite them to join you for Sunday holy Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE - TO RAISE FUNDS FOR OUR SUFFERING FAMILY IN SUDAN

By Webmaster • September 7, 2026
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 TO PRAY

By Webmaster • September 7, 2026
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

THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION - SUNDAY 7TH FEBRUARY 2027

By Webmaster • September 5, 2026
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.

Archbishops Pastoral Letter September 2026

By Webmaster • September 5, 2026
A Pastoral Message on the Occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the March for Life 2026

COTTAGE - SILENT DIRECTED RETREATS

By Webmaster • August 30, 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.’

WEEK DAY LECTORS

By WEBMASTER • August 30, 2026
Wed: Jim Thu: David  Fri: Collette

SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE VALUE OF ALL HUMAN LIFE BY OPPOSING ASSISTED SUICIDE

By Webmaster • August 30, 2026
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!

COFFEE MACHINE CONTROLS.

By Webmaster • August 30, 2026
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.

OLDE FORGE EVANGELISATION CAFE - EVERYONE IS A MANAGER OF THE CAFÉ

By Webmaster • August 30, 2026
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.

OLDE FORGE EVANGELISATION CAFÉ

By Webmaster • August 30, 2026
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’!