Church Of The Holy Name Esher

Dear Parishioners and Visitors

Welcome to our Parish website - our home on the internet!

You will find here information and the latest news about our warm and welcoming Catholic Faith Community.

The Parish includes the area of Esher and Claygate

If you live in Esher/Claygate and need any further information regarding what is happening in the Parish of the Holy Name please check the Newsletter which is published on the Website each week, or contact the Parish Office.

Following the 'excitement' of Easter and the celebrations marking the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord which coincided with school holidays, it is now back to 'normality'.  Life goes on in the parish and the month of May will be busy with weddings, baptisms, first holy communions and confirmations.  Please remember in your prayers all those preparing for the reception of the sacraments at this time.

One person who has been very busy is Pope Francis.  The itinerary which the Bishop of Rome has  is extraordinary - so many Liturgical celebrations, visits, meetings. Particularly in the early days of his Papacy his schedule has been very 'full'. In one of his Easter sermons he talked about " the women who went to the tomb to perform an act of compassion, of affection, of love.  They had followed Jesus, listened to him, felt themselves to be understood in their dignity, and they had accompanied him to the end, on Calvary, and at the moment he was taken down from the cross.

We can imagine how they felt as they made their way to His tomb:  carrying a certain sadness - sorrow because Jesus had left them and was dead - his story was over.  Now they would go back to their previous lives. At this point, however, something completely unexpected happens, something new, which upsets their hearts and their plans and which will upset their whole lives.  They see the stone rolled away from the tomb. They draw near and they do not find the Lord's body.  It is a reality that leaves them perplexed, doubtful, full of questions:  'What is happening?  What does this all mean?  (Lk 24:4)

Isn't that also what happens to us when something truly new occurs in our everyday lives? We stop, don't understand, don't know how to handle it.  New things often frighten  us, even the newness that God brings us, the newness that God asks of us.  We are like the Apostles in the Gospel: we often prefer to hold on to our sureties, to stop at the tomb, to stop at just thinking about the departed one who, in the end, lives only in our memory like great persons of the past.  We're afraid of God's surprises.  Dear brothers and sisters, in our lives we are afraid of God's surprises!  He always surprises us! That is how the Lord is.!  Brothers and sisters, let's not close ourselves to the newness that God wants to bring to our lives!  Often we are tired, disheartened, sad.  We feel the weight of our sins and think we're not going to make it.  Let's not get locked up in ourselves.  Let's not lose our confidence.  Let us never give up.  There are NO situations that God cannot change".

Pope Francis has embraced the newness that God has brought him, that God has asked of him.  Like him, may we also listen for the 'message' God may be trying to impart to us and live our lives -  joyful in the knowledge that the Lord is truly Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!

With prayers for God’s Blessings and His peace for you and your loved ones during this Easter Season.