Parish News
This winter St Urban’s meeting room will be open on the first Wednesday of each month from 7pm to 8.30pm as a warm and welcome space for anyone who has suffered loss, however long ago, and who would like an opportunity to talk about it. This is not counselling, it is just a warm and welcome space where your experience of loss can be shared, if you wish. The dates are: 3rd December, 7th January, 4th February and the 4th of March . No booking is needed, just turn up. Also we need volunteers to provide cake, to help prepare the room, to welcome people, to make and serve hot drinks and to clean the room afterwards. It is a wonderful ministry to others and if you feel called to offer any help at all please contact Breda on 07858517163.
As in previous years we will give a Christmas Gift to our sick and housebound. If you know of a sick or housebound parishioner who would like a gift, please let the parish office know as we always try to keep the list of our brothers and sisters in need up to date.
The Parish Pastoral Council recently discussed how we can get the views of a wider group of parishioners. With this in mind, after the 10.30 Mass at St Urban’s this Sunday, the 16th of November , we will have a discussion over a cuppa about our community. It will be a time to celebrate what works well, also to consider what we can do together in improve. If you cannot be there but have ideas, there is still an opportunity to drop a note at the presbytery, email the parish office, or leave a note in the suggestion box at the back of each church
This is being updated and will be displayed in our churches when it is complete. You will notice that November Dead List Masses have commenced and will run through until November 2026.
Our Christmas Fair is on Saturday the 29th of November at St Urbans. A signup sheet is at the back of our churches for people willing to help with stalls etc. A sincere thank you to all those who have already signed up. Donations of items are urgently needed (last year I bought a “retired” statue of the Infant of Prague!). Please be generous with your time and effort to support our parish and build our community. Fr Chris
Ever thought of going on the Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes volunteering as a nurse or as part of the hospitality team but want to know more, then you are invited to an information evening about the roles and pilgrimage. Hinsley Hall, Monday 1st December, 7pm . For more information, please email Phil Marshall on lourdes.enquires@dioceseofleeds.org.uk or 07766 148375. To register interest please email recruitment.lourdes@dioceseofleeds.org.uk , or simply turn up on the evening. It is a very busy but grace-filled week. Some members of our parish volunteer every year. Feel free to join us. Fr Chris
Two people have generously volunteered to count our collection after the 10.30 Sunday Mass, but we need more. The more we have the more the work can be spread out. Please, can you help? Please speak to Father Chris.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU: We meet at the Meanwood Tavern for a drink and some pizza. It's a great opportunity to meet new people in the parish and catch up with others. We walk up after the Tuesday evening Mass, or you can meet us there at around 7.50pm. The next date is the 2nd of December . If you’ve never been before, you’re more than welcome! For any questions, or to join the WhatsApp group for reminders, please get in touch with Joaquim Messa on 07454 678034 or Sarah Messa on 07952723416.
“I am happy to tell you we raised around £1,300 which is a great amount. Please would you thank the Parishioners for their help and support. Sister Catherine” Well done to everyone and thank you for your great generosity. Fr Chris
Are you a “worst case scenario” sort of person? Caution in life is not a bad thing; we are all wired for survival with our inbuilt fight or flight mechanism. Physiologically it’s amazing too how our bodies automatically respond to threats by illness or injury. Concern about the future and judgements about managing risks is a good thing it enables us to make decisions and plans, this facet of human behaviour is a gift from God. We constantly do our best to plan for the future in our own lives. How carefully have we planned for our future with God? The three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke (synoptic means offering a common view) all offer similar perspectives on the end times. They differ in details, but as Jesus’ view of the end times is presented in all three, this suggests that the account of the end times is based on what Jesus said. We see an aspect of this in this Sunday's gospel. We see that Jesus is clear that there will be an end time and that he will return to complete his work of salvation, to inaugurate a new heaven and earth that will be united in the kingship of Jesus within the life of the Holy Trinity. How ready are we for this? When will it be? Surely the signs that Jesus speaks of today are all around us? I suspect that every generation has thought the same. Today people still comb scripture for dates and times, and various cults are built on this. As always we need to look to Jesus himself where, in both Matthew and Mark’s gospels he says that only the Father knows when this will be. Running around focussing on search for the signs of the end is fruitless and ends up being as distraction from what each and every one of us needs to do to develop our relationship with God. The truth is that for somewhere, for someone, today is their "end time". This takes many forms, a quiet death in home or hospital; the unexpected death by an accident; the taking of one life by another in its different guises – murder, abortion, execution; a person taking their own life; martyrdom for taking a stand for their faith in Jesus (which is more common in our own time than any Roman persecution). We don’t need to wait for some global catastrophe, a universal end of time; every moment of every day is an end time for someone, somewhere. One day, even ourselves. I remember as a child a common desire among Catholics not to have an “unprovided for death”. An old idea perhaps but a good one. Without it becoming a morbid preoccupation, we must be prepared to meet God at any time. How often do we reflect on the prospect of meeting God face to face and then do something to be ready for it? The opportunities for grace are all around us, particularly confession and the Eucharist. Do not be afraid. God wants each and every one of us to be saved, he does not want a single hair on our heads to be lost, how beautiful is that? But it comes down to us. He has given us the means of salvation, it is for us decide how to respond. As always, be assured of my daily prayers for your intentions. God bless and keep you. Fr Chris