. Subscribers to the Update Service will be emailed 30 days before their renewal date to ask if they wish to stay subscribed. The renewal email will ask volunteers to access their Update Service Account and confirm that they wish to continue with the service. For those who confirm, this request will be repeated annually. If no confirmation is made, their volunteer subscription will automatically be cancelled. Volunteers who do not renew their subscription will not be able to keep their DBS certificate(s) up to date and organisations will not be able to check them. They will need to reapply for a DBS check if they need one in the future.
HAS YOUR CHILD MADE THEIR FIRST HOLY COMMUNION? If so they can become a member of our altar server team in either of our churches. It is a wonderful opportunity to draw nearer (literally) to the Lord Jesus in the Mass and to better understand what happens in the Mass and other liturgical celebrations. Training will be given.
AN EVENING OF MUSIC, SONG AND DANCE: featuring the Leeds Irish Choir, the Mount Brandon Ceilidh Band and other great performers. Leeds Irish Centre, 26th of June , 7.15pm, in aid of the Faith & Light Lourdes Fund. Tickets £10 from the Irish Centre or call Margaret on 07906116453.
Date/time: 28th June 2025, 6:50pm , Headingley Golf Club, LS16 8DW. Tickets, Adults £25.00, Children (5-12) £10 (Buffet included). Licenced bar available. Contact: gayleiype3@gmail.com. Payment can be made via bank transfer, details available on request.
This meets every Wednesday at 10:30am in the meeting room at St Urban’s and is supported by Catholic Care. It is a wonderful opportunity to people to mutually support each other, regardless of age. The truth is that the numbers attending are putting its viability at risk. Please do come along , you won’t regret it. The new programme of activities is at the back of the church. Father Chris
This coming Thursday 29th May is a Holy Day of Obligation. There will be Mass in the parish at 10.00am at St Urbans. That day there is a Requiem Mass at 12.00 for the repose of the soul of Frank Fennelly, also at St Urbans, therefore no evening Mass. However an evening Mass is available in the Cathedral at 5.30pm.
HAS YOUR CHILD MADE THEIR FIRST HOLY COMMUNION? If so they can become a member of our altar server team in either of our churches. It is a wonderful opportunity to draw nearer (literally) to the Lord Jesus in the Mass and to better understand what happens in the Mass and other liturgical celebrations. Training will be given.
Our SVP collect food for the hungry, can you spare a tin a week for this also some toiletries? These can be left in the boxes at the back of our churches. The Lord tells us to feed the hungry, so thank you all for your donations which are sincerely appreciated.
St Vincent’s Centre The Centre always needs supplies of non-perishable foods also toiletries. These can be left in the boxes at the back of our churches and are taken to the Centre by members of our SVP. The Lord tells us to feed the hungry, so thank you all for your donations which are sincerely appreciated. https://www.svp.org.uk/
Our next baptism preparation sessions will be on the 21st of June at 2.00, St Urbans.
This Sunday 1st June there will be a retiring collection for Catholic Communications to enable the church in our country to reach out into our society through various forms of media
Following the Bishop’s recent Pastoral letter, this is a reminder that any man who is even remotely thinking about a vocation to the priesthood is invited to meet with Bishop Marcus and the Vocations Promotion Team. Hinsley Hall, Pentecost Sunday, 8 June , 2pm lasting about an hour, including prayers/talks/Q&A. Under 18s must be accompanied by parent/guardian. Queries to Fr Simon Lodge ( simon.lodge@dioceseofleeds.org.uk /01274 872984). Please email Miss Anne Cooke ( bishop.secretary@dioceseofleeds.org.uk ) if you are attending.
The Easter season is already drawing to a close, all around us we see evidence of the advance of the year; days are lengthening, spring blooms are largely gone to be replaced by summer blossoms. Human beings are caught up in this process of change too as our earthly lives change and evolve. However, unlike things in nature, we somehow instinctively feel called to eternity. We sense, or for Christians, we believe, that there is something beyond the limitations of mortality. This is brought into sharp relief by the resurrection of Jesus, a resurrection he invites us to share with him. God willing, in heaven we will not only share in his resurrection and humanity but also in the divine life of Holy Trinity. Jesus calls us to be one with him just as he is one with the Father. The "oneness" that Jesus desires to share with us is eternal life. What an amazing gift we are being offered by Jesus. Are you ready to accept the invitation? We are the children of God, not His slaves. How we respond to the invitation to step into eternity - heaven or hell - really is up to us. Jesus constantly reaches out to us to show to us, and to share with us, his glory in Heaven. How are we to do this? All we need to do is return to him the love he has for us in what we say and do in our earthly lives starting with loving God and those around us. As always, please be assured of my daily prayers for your needs and intentions. Fr Chris
Peace; it's something we desire and something the world desperately needs. Though we keenly desire it, peace is elusive. When was the last time you can say your were fully and truly at peace? I guess that on this side of eternity the truth is that there is always a restless and unquiet part of of minds, hearts, and souls. In a sense the more that we desire peace and notice its absence the more unsettled we are. For peace to be experienced it has to be more than just the absence of conflict in ourselves, between others, and between nations. Perhaps true and lasting peace was first lost to us when the first sin, original sin, was committed as it decoupled us from God. And yet at the birth of Jesus the angels announce peace. It is in the incarnation and birth of Jesus, also in his life, death and resurrection that peace once again becomes a possibility in our lives. How do we know this? In Sunday's gospel freely offers to us His peace, a peace the world cannot give, a peace we cannot attain by our own efforts. So how do we attain this peace? By staying close to Jesus in word, prayer and sacrament. By living our lives using our Lord as a model for living. In these ways peace is attainable. In this broken world and our broken lives perhaps we will only experience it from time to time in moments of spiritual consolation. But be absolutely sure that we are invited to experience the fullness of peace in eternity if we choose to accept the invitation of salvation. For now, Jesus tells us "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid". Be confident that by His cross and resurrection Jesus has opened the path to peace for us. Invite the peace of the risen Jesus into your life. As always, please be assured of my daily prayers for your needs and intentions. Fr Chris
Many of you will be aware that I was in Rome for a few days last week. Providentially I happened to be in St Peter's Square when our new Holy Father Pope Leo was announced and was fortunate to receive his first blessing as Pope. During my time there I prayed for, and offered Mass for, your intentions. In this coming Sunday's gospel we hear the Lord Jesus talk of love. Love is a word much used, often misunderstood, or sometimes abused. What is the nature of love? This is something that has preoccupied people from time immemorial. Our preoccupation with it perhaps suggests that in some way we are "programmed" to love. Without a sense of love in our lives we somehow feel incomplete as a human being. At its deepest level, as St Paul says, loves gives everything to the other person. I am reminded of this every time I see a person caring for another during times of illness and difficulty. I have seen this in my own family where my dad cared 24/7 for my mum who had a long term debilitating illness. Loving another enlarges the heart and illuminates the soul as it certainly did for both my mum and dad. May they rest in peace. As Christians we see this too in Jesus whose love was, and is, so deep for each and every one of us that it led to the sacrifice of himself on the cross. But his love for us was and is so strong that it overcame the limitations of death in his resurrection, a resurrection that he offers to us too where he desires to share his love for us in eternal life. Perhaps take a moment to thank God for the experience of love you have encountered in your life and ask that he will being you to eternal life, light, and love in his kingdom. Be assured that this is something that he greatly desires for you. Please be assured of my daily prayers for your needs and intentions. Fr Chris
Pope Francis
If peoples are to remain brothers and sisters, prayer must rise unceasingly to Heaven, and one single word constantly echo on earth: peace.