St. Bede's Catholic Church

Newcastle upon Tyne

• Sunday 27th February 2005 - 3rd Sunday of Lent

• Sunday 20th February 2005 - 2nd Sunday of Lent

• Sunday 13th February 2005 - 1st Sunday of Lent

• Sunday 6th February 2005 - 5th Sunday of the Year

• Archives

Saints and Feasts this Week 

• Saint David (patron saint of Wales): Or Dewi Sant, as known in the Welsh Language, (St David is reckoned with keeping this language alive) was born and died around the 5th and 6th century and is thought to have lived for over a hundred years. (God must have liked the work he was doing! ) He was a Celtic monk, abbot and bishop. During his life, he was the archbishop of Wales and he was one of many early saints who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain.

• St Chad: One of the 7th century good guys.  He was one of St Aidan’s pupils—he only had a class of 12 and 4 of them became bishops - pretty cool really.  He had a bit of a row with the Archbishop of Canterbury (an amazing guy called Theodoric)) but was later exhonorated and became a bishop in what we now call ‘the Midlands’.  He’s the patron of the Archdiocese of Birmingham (Bishop Kevin will know a bit about him—and his Geordie roots– hopefully).

• Saint Casimir: This chap was born in 1458 in Cracow (as was Pope John Paul II) He was a Grandson of the King of Poland who introduced Christianity into Lithuania. While his father was arranging affairs in Lithuania he was left in charge of the governing of Poland. About this time his father tried to arrange a marriage for him but he decided to remain single.    

• (some would say a wise move! ) He died early at the age of 26. He was canonized by Adrian VI after investigation of miracles attributed to him.

• Third Sunday of Lent: We have the great story of the 'Woman at The Well'. There is so much in it...one of the themes is Jesus meeting those who are outside his own culture and tradition and valuing their worship.  Another is his willingness to risk talking to folk others would ignore.  A third is the amazement of the Apostles who just didn’t understand what was going on—and much more…

Women’s World Day of Prayer:  Friday 4 March at 7.30 pm.  ‘Let our Light Shine’.  Everyone is welcome to this Service here at St Bede’s next Friday.  The Gathering will be addressed by Mrs Irene Scaife. 

Mega Congratulations to St Bede’s School. 

Its been a big week for St Bede’s.  The school was making headlines for really good reasons during the week.  In the Journal and Chronicle we read how the School has introduced measures to help boost Key Stage Two results throughout the year.  St Bede’s has improved its ‘tracking system’ (to non-experts like me, this sounds a bit like tagging folk who have been through the criminal justice system, but it isn’t, honestly) and the teachers are now better able to keep an eye on progress being make by our young people as they make their way through the school. 

Congratulations to Mr Scurr and his colleagues for doing such a good job.

Don’t you just want to be on Telly? Songs of Praise:  This programme is to be recorded at the Sage in Gateshead on 11/12 April this year.  In addition, there will be a rehearsal for those wanting to be part of the choir on Thursday 7th April at the Turbine Hall, Castlegate, Melbourne Street Newcastle from 7.30—10.00pm.   There needs to be a congregation of about 1700 folk to fill the building with enthusiastic singing .  FREE TICKETS will be available by contacting songsofpraise@bbc.co.uk or by post at Songs of Praise (Gateshead Tickets) BBC North, Oxford Road, Manchester M60 1SJ.  There’s a wee bit more information at the back of the Church—go for it..

Sharing Fair

This is really good.Fair Trade Fortnight begins on Monday 1 March and runs until the 14th. Sharing Fair will have a stall in the Exhibition Area of the Grainger Market on Saturday 5 March and also a shop (Unit 72, just off Nun Street - appropriately enough!) in the Market from the 5th-12th March. Volunteers will be selling the project’s crafts between 9.30 and 5.00 each day.  Please call in and support this excellent project.

Both schools did really well in the local Swimming Gala, in fact, they won cups and medals and all sorts of things.  If Britain wins the 2012 Olympics, who knows, the whole swimming team might come from the West End of Newcastle - don’t laugh, it might - wouldn’t that be great.

Given the weather and there’s not much on the telly—why not get knitting?  There is a dedicated group of people in the parish who knit ‘vests’ and blanket squares and other things for charity.  If you’d like to join, please see Winifred Spoor for patterns and further information…’Needle through, wool over, pull it through and out…’ - at least that’s what I heard years ago, never managed to get the hang of it, however.

Bingo

 In the Hall on Tuesday, Ist of March 8.00pm  Eyes down and all that...

Saints and Feasts this Week 

• Peter Damian - born around 1000 years ago in Italy.  Taught for a short while, then gave it up and became a hermit (can you blame him?).  Helped the Popes of his times by writing their speeches for them…. 

• The Chair of St Peter - always strikes me as a little strange having a feast named after a chair...What its really about is the unity of the Church invested in the role of the Pope. It is an ancient and important feast.

• St Polycarp - Remarkable man.  Died around the year 155 and tradition has it that he actually knew St John.  He was the bishop of Smyrna in Turkey, and managed to find himself being martyred in the local Sports Stadium! 

• Second Sunday of Lent:  One of the themes this Sunday is seeing the extraordinary in everyday life.  The 4  Apostles must have been totally amazed to glimpse the  power and glory of Jesus on the mountainside.  It would be good if during this Lent we could take a bit of time each evening to sit still and ‘play the tape of the day’, simply recall what we’ve seen, who we talked to, what delighted us - spot the ‘Transfiguration moments’ that can happen, if only we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear….

Many thanks to Bernard Robinson for his first evening on the Passion in Mark’s Gospel. He will look at Matthew this week at 7.30pm on Wednesday.  Some of the group suggested that we move the Ecumenical gathering from the Methodist Church to St Bede’s for 6.45 - I haven’t been able to do that, so we had better go ahead as planned.  So, I’ll not be present myself - I’d better arrange a tutorial….

Parish In Council

Rearranged for 7.00pm on Thursday 24th February 

Please attend if you can.  I’d like us to look at how we manage Holy Week and Easter, and explore the possibility of other Services - Reconciliation and Stations of the Cross, for example.

Flowers: - anyone wishing to be included on the Rota please autograph the list at the back of the Church.

Websites and things...don’t know how good you are with all of this - I’m learning...The parish has received a letter from CAFOD thanking us for putting a link on our Website to theirs. To be honest, its all a bit like magic to me, but they’re dead chuffed.  They’ve also fixed up a link between their site and ours.  Have a bit of a delve around and see what’s on offer. 

And now for something, as they say, completely different: 

If you did fly over Half Term, welcome back.  If you wished you had, read below: 

Part of a flight attendant’s arrival announcement: ‘We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today.  And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of US Airways’.

After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the attendant came on with, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Capt. Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate.  And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we’ll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.’

You must have guessed by now that I have some strange friends who send me even stranger email…. JOK

Catholics and Jews in History and Today

This is a weekend Course arranged at Ushaw over the weekend 27-29 May.  Its organised by some former colleagues and good mates of mine and will be really good.  If you’re interested, please let me know.  I reckon we have a great deal to learn about, and from, our Jewish roots. We’ll hear about Abraham in our First Reading Today, someone profoundly respected by Christians, Jews and Moslems.  We can’t really appreciate the depth of our Holy Communion without knowing something about Exodus and the Passover.  Our altar and our lectern are rooted in the Jewish Temple and Synagogue, most of the Bible is Jewish literature.  Give it a bit of a thought!

• First Sunday of Lent:  In a bit of a nutshell, we’re being invited in the Gospel story of the Temptations of Jesus in the Desert—and it is a fierce desert, both physically and psychologically– to see the devil trying to seduce Jesus into thinking what it means to be God’s son, is to have enough to eat, to be physically safe and to be politically powerful.  We need to think about how being too comfortable, never taking a risk and wanting to get our own way all the time, are a hindrance to becoming holier.  Its pretty tough, really…

• Sts Cyril and Methodius:  These are amazing men.  They’re brothers, both born around the 820s in Salonika.  Cyril was a teacher in the university of Constantinople and Methodius the governor of a province.  They were both ordained priests and went off to work in Moravia.  Bit of bother, there, with German bishops, and once Methodius was made a bishop the German bishops had him imprisoned.  Life was pretty tough on bishops in those days, still is, come to think of it.  They are both credited with helping to create the Cyrillic alphabet, the language used by Serbo-Croats, Czechs, Bulgarians and others.  They are a great inspiration to our sisters and brothers in Eastern Europe.

St Bede’s Parish in Council: 

Wednesday February 16th.  7.30 p.m.  There are copies of the Minutes of our last meeting available at the back of the Church.  Unfortunately, this meeting clashes with the next item in the Newsletter (my fault), so our numbers may be depleted.  However, it seems to me to be increasingly important that the parish community knows and contributes to what is going on.  We will need to discuss a wide range of issues, including the idea of having a group looking at how we celebrate Liturgy and worship here at St Bede’s, what kind of programme we have during Lent - Stations of the Cross, Sacrament of Reconciliation etc. How one priest manages two parishes over the three days prior to Easter Sunday, as well as preparation for Confirmation later in the year along with St Michael’s and St Joseph’s.   

I’d presumed that I’d take about 12 months to get settled in and then look at various things in St Bede’s and St Joseph’s. Unfortunately, I doubt that I will have that kind of time, given some of the new responsibilities arising from being part of the Bishop’s Council.  It will be important for us to discuss these things openly, with both imagination and some sensitivity—not to mention a wee bit of humour….

St Cuthbert’s Care is hoping to develop an imaginative and outstanding resource up at St Vincent’s on the West Road.  They want to provide an exceptional resource for children and young adults with a variety of disabilities.  There will be residential accommodation for up to 8 children alongside a wide ranging series of play and educational resources.  These will include: a gym, specialised cinema, ICT suite, lounge and dining facilities and hydrotherapy facility.  It sounds excellent.  More information in the Church porch. Please remember St Cuthbert’s Care during Lent.

Fasting:  I’m sure some of us remember the days when priests would warn us how much we were allowed to eat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and threaten us with pretty heavy hassle if we accidentally ate a crumb more than was allowed….(That was the kind of thinking that seems to have given Jesus a hard time).  Remember (those of a certain age) staying up until after midnight on a Friday to enjoy bacon sandwiches?  Queuing for fish on Fridays, wondering if there was any meat at all in chicken crisps (I suspect there most certainly isn’t).  Lets be honest, it is all more important than this. 

It is important to feel hungry.  When we feel hungry we feel a sense of urgency to find food.  If we think a little further, we might just glimpse what it is like for millions of our sisters and brothers who live on less than $1.00 a day (70 odd pence from a generous money lender).  We Westerners/rich folk need a bit of a sense of urgency if we are to put our shoulder behind the movement to Make Poverty History, and improve the lives of millions of others.  Sad to say, its now early Friday evening, I’ve had my bowl of soup for the day, and I’m already thinking about what I might eat tomorrow….

Saints and Feasts this week: 

• Josephine Bakhita (1868-1947) - Born into a wealthy Sudanese family, she was kidnapped by slave traders while still a child and eventually taken to Italy to work as a nanny.  She became a Christian in 1890 and entered a religious order 3 years later.  She spent the next 50 years working for the poor.  She was canonized in 2000—let us pray for her people in Sudan on this day.

• Scholastica - brought up near Casino in Italy.  Not much known about her other than that she was the sister of St Benedict.  There’s a lovely story about one occasion when Benedict was visiting her and she didn’t want him to leave, so she prayed and God sent a huge storm which stopped him travelling—who says sisters aren’t influential.

• Our Lady of Lourdes - The appearance of Mary to Bernadette in 1858 has given rise to  a phenomenal place of pilgrimage and commitment to care and charity in relation to the sick and needy.

Ash Wednesday: 

 The beginning of the season of Lent.  Putting ashes on our heads as a form of penitence is a practice inherited from Jewish tradition. Ashes, for Jews and Christians alike, are a sign of repentance, sorrow and mourning. On Jewish fast days, the penitent wore sackcloth, placed ashes on his (or her) head and went barefoot. The first Christians followed this same tradition.  They also fasted on each Wednesday and Friday during Lent. Life is much easier these days! Those who are able are asked to both fast and abstain from meat on both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but we also need to think seriously about how we live and respond to the Gospel demand to pray, fast and give to the poor. I have a strong belief that fasting is really important for us because it helps us appreciate the dire poverty and hunger of so many of our sisters and brothers throughout the world.

The Season of Lent may also be a time for us to think more carefully about the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  At some point in Lent we will celebrate the Sacrament in a Penance Service. But it may also be a time to consider and take advantage of the Sacrament as an individual. There is an opportunity for individual ‘confession’ or reconciliation every Saturday morning after 9.30 mass.

Walk With Me.  I invite you to take a copy of the booklet available at the back of the Church.  Every parish in the diocese will have the opportunity to use this booklet for prayer as we prepare for Easter. It helps us reflect on the Holy Eucharist, the place of Mary and the Rosary. There are thoughts and reflections for every day between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Every child in our schools will be given a colourful calendar to take home and follow the journey through Lent with their families. 

Each parish priest has also received a very useful set resources to help with Sunday homilies, Stations of the Cross, Holy Hours and Exposition.  I have no doubt that we will benefit from the suggestions on offer. 

Please take a copy of the booklet and use it as a help to prayer during the next six weeks.   Incidentally, the word Lent comes from an Old English word leneten meaning Spring.  It does look as though it might snow as I write this, but at least the days are getting longer (at least the light bits of the days are…)

Lenten Fast Day is on Friday 18th February 

Some Thoughts on Lent…

•  ‘Lent is a season with a double charge; a blend of bleakness and of beauty.  By a happy coincidence, in the Northern Hemisphere, Lent walks with Spring.  There is sun and rain, fair days and storms.  And there are daffodils blowing farewell to Winter.  Lent is the child of Winter, it is the father of Spring.

• Lent is for learning.  Lent is a revealing time.  But only for those who listen.  The Father speaks rarely in the Gospels, when He speaks me makes one single request: ‘Listen’.  This is the first discipline of Lent and there is no harder discipline.  Most listening is half-listening, and the true listener is a rare bird.  To speak is easy, to listen is sanctity.

• In Lent we ponder death.  Jesus invokes a fresh image of death at variance with pagan metaphors.  It is a pastoral image of the seed sown in Spring soil, dying that it might be reborn to make bread for human invigoration.  The seed needs its Winter, needs the night and the discipline of the wind and the weather.  All sunshine makes a desert.          

• Lent is the time when we have occasion to ponder this singular revelation.  To turn from the pessimism that bereavement imposes on every aching heart.  It can be a liberation from the fear of death.

(Excerpts from an article in the Catholic Gazette in 1989 by Fr Hugh Lavery).

Salvation begins with the human person, with human dignity, with freeing every person from sin.  And in Lent, this is God’s call:  be converted, individually!  There are no two identical sinners among us.  Each one of us has committed his or her own shameful deeds, yet we want to lay the blame on someone else and hide our own faults.  I must unmask myself. I, too, am one of them and I need to beg God’s pardon because I have offended him and society.  This is the call of Christ, the human person comes before all else.

(Archbishop Oscar Romero.  We will remember the 25th anniversary of his death/martyrdom in March this year.  He was killed while saying Mass in a hospital chapel on 24 March 1980).

This Lent I shall:  

• Write a letter to someone who has inspired me

• Tell my spouse why I’m glad we’re married

• Smile at people I don’t know (could be interesting..) - such as bus drivers, bank tellers, shop assistants etc

• Pray for those who taught me as a child

• Tell a young person about my favourite historical character

• Take a walk beside a stream and think how important water actually is….

• Send an Easter Card to someone recently bereaved

• Read a bit from the Gospels each day

• Take more opportunities to join the community at Mass

(Parish Lenten Resources from the US).

Lord

Protect us in our struggle against evil.

As we begin the discipline of Lent,

make this day holy by our self denial.

May this season of repentance

bring us the blessing of your forgiveness

and the gift of your light. 

Amen