St. Bede's Catholic Church

Newcastle upon Tyne

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 Please Pray for those...         

Who have died: Fr Tom Cass, Fr Joe Marren, Mrs Frances Smith

Who are sick in our community:  Sheila Bolam

Who have anniversaries around this time: Mary Coxon, Sam Coxon, Elizatbeth McCarthy, George Telford, Mary Martin, Cahterine Wheatley, William Garrett, Carol McAdams, Satie Atchinson, James Adamson, John Betts, Monica Abbott, Matthew Anan, Fred Westgate
 

Feasts and Celebrations this week 

• St Martin de Porres...He was born at Lima in Peru in 1579, the son of a Spanish father and a coloured mother.  As a young man he learnt the art of dispensing medicines, and afterwards when he joined the Dominican Order he practised this for the sake of the poor.  He led a humble and austere life and had a great devotion towards the Holy Eucharist.  He died in 1639.

• St Charles Borromeo...Born at Arona in Lombardy in 1538.  After obtaining his doctorate in both civil and canon law he was created a cardinal by his uncle Pius IV and was chosen to be Bishop of Milan.  He became a true shepherd of his flock and frequently went around his diocese, called synods, made wise regulations for the good of ordinary folk, and worked for the good of Christian morality.  He died on 3 November in 1584.

We only need people to look after 3 further stalls: TOYS….CASSETTES/TAPES and DVDS (perhaps a young person, who like, knows the difference, for example…) and POT LUCK…(a delightful assembly of miscellaneous items…). If you feel that the Holy Spirit is leading you to become involved in any of these stalls, please put your name on the list!
 

November 1st is the Feast of All Saints. Please note the times of Masses.

St Joseph’s:

9.15am—with the children from St Joseph’s School

St Bede’s:

10.30am– with the children from St Bede’s School
07.00pm– for those at work during the day.

I just wonder for how much longer we will be able to provide this number of masses on a Holyday of Obligation…
 

Please pray for them as they come together for the final time this Sunday.

You will all be welcome to join the Bishop and the young people on the occasion of their Confirmation.
 

Saturday December 3rd ...We will celebrate our annual Mass for people who find it difficult to come to Mass.

I am more than happy to anoint with the Sacrament of the Sick, those who join us that day. It was really good for us to witness the Sacrament of The Sick when Doreen tool ill during Mass a couple of weeks ago. She reminded us that all the sacraments are meant to be community experiences. The Sacrament is to be celebrated for those who are ill. I know that most of us were brought up to believe that it is the ‘Last Sacrament’ - believe me, it isn’t! The Sacrament of Anointing is for those who are Sick, NOT those who are dying. The Sacrament for those who are seriously ill and at the point of death is Viaticum—Holy Communion. So, if you or any of your family feel that they want to benefit from the Church’s care for them, please let me know. We have a brilliant team of Hospital Chaplains and Visitors to look after us in Hospital—but I do know now that it helps them if we, in our parish, can be aware of those in need. Don’t be afraid to let me know of your family and friends who need care in our local hospitals.

I look forward to meeting you all on the afternoon of Saturday 3rd December at 2.00 pm.

One of our Parishioners gave me this prayer recently—maybe they thought I needed it….

Good Morning God

You are ushering in another day
Untouched and freshly new,
So here I come to ask you God
If you’ll renew me too?
Forgive the many errors
That I made yesterday
And let me try again, dear God
To walk closer in thy way.
But Father, I am well aware
I can’t make it on my own.
So take my hand and hold it tight
For I can’t walk alone.
 

I only heard one comment following last week’s observations by women—it was ‘too true’. These can apply to anyone—particularly if you’re recovering from bruised ribs when the bike disappears from underneath you on very wet roads…
 

Thirty five is when you finally get your head together (not so sure about that) and your body starts falling apart Caryn Leschen
 

I try to take one day at a time, - but sometimes several days attach me at once - I can certainly agree with that.

JOK

 Please Pray for those...         

Who have died: Fr Joe Marren

 Who are sick:  Fr Tom Cass, Sheila Bolam, Mgr Kevin Nichols

Anniversaries: Agnes Dawson, Margaret Rose Caldwell, Mary Greaves, John Gillen, Christina Yorke, Margaret Gregson, Kathleen Gallon, Danny Stewart, Josephine O’Sullivan.
 

Feasts and Celebrations this week 

• St Anthony Claret...Born at Sallent in Spain in 1807.  After becoming a priest he spent several years preaching to the people throughout Catalonia.  He founded a society of missionaries (The Claretian Fathers—we had a community of Claretians in the Diocese in recent years, based in Esh Laud near Ushaw, their students were usually dead bright and all had to speak fluent Spanish...) and was made a bishop of Cuba where he worked very hard on behalf of the local people and the Church. Coming back to Spain he had to endure a right load of hassle from others in the Church and eventually died in Fontfroide in France in 1870.

• SS Chad and Cedd…St Chad was a disciple of St Aidan (who founded the monastery on Lindisfarne in 635). He was educated both on Lindisfarne and in Ireland. He succeeded his brother Cedd as abbot of Lastingham in North Yorkshire. When St Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, (remember him a couple of weeks ago..) spent time in France, Chad was consecrated to replace him. When Wilfred came back he was ‘annoyed’, and Chad was ‘removed’ by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. Fortunately, Chad was a humble man and his exemplary lifestyle changed Theodore’s mind and he was eventually given the See of Lichfield. His relics are preserved in Birmingham Metropolitan Cathedral which is dedicated to him. I guess Bishop Kevin will know loads about him. St Cedd, the brother of Chad was also a Lindisfarne monk. A great deal of his time was spent evangelising the midlands and he served as Bishop of the East Saxons. He died in retirement at Lastingham, the monastic community he had founded some years earlier. - Both good guys, lived at a difficult time.

• SS Simon and Jude...The name of Simon is placed eleventh in the list of the apostles and nothing is known of him except that he was born at Cana and was known as the Zealot.
  Jude, also known as Thaddaeus, was the apostle who, at the Last Supper, asked the Lord why he showed himself only to his disciples and not to the world (John 14:22)

World Mission Sunday… Today, Catholic communities all

 over the world will respond to the call to proclaim the good news of Christ to all peoples. It is a great opportunity for us to help the Church in developing countries to train priests, nuns and catechists, to build churches and schools—the money provided goes straight to those in need. If possible, please use the gift aid envelope provided. If you’re into this kind of thing, you’ll find more information at www.missio.org.uk If you do get in touch, the boss, Fr John Dale, is a friend of mine—give him as hard a time as you want…There will be a special collection at mass this weekend for Mission Sunday.

Unfortunately—this is a bit sad….Last weekend there was a theft from St Bede’s School new Garden. For a long time, a couple of our parishioners have been working voluntarily with youngsters in school to design and develop a garden. The pupils, staff and governors were all delighted with the project, but over last weekend the solar pump was stolen, so the new fountain no longer works. Sad, really, something of beauty is mindlessly destroyed—and to what purpose? It may be that the pump is now in another garden...that’ll be nice for them! Might be worth keeping an eye open…

Interesting that Mass Offerings both at St Bede’s and St Joseph’s have now almost come to an end….There are offerings for specific dates during the year, when loved ones are remembered. I mentioned last weekend at some masses, that originally (like 1900 hundred years ago), the community would provide the bread and wine (and oil, for anointing the sick) when mass was being celebrated. Eventually that became impractical when numbers of people increased, so then they made an offering in remembrance of those who had died. As we approach November, the month of Saints and Souls, we have the opportunity to remember those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.

Confirmation...Just a reminder that Bishop Kevin will be coming to St Bede’s to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation during Mass at 7.00pm on Friday 18th November. For the last four Sunday evenings I have been meeting with the 13 young people who are preparing for Confirmation (interesting, 13 from the three parishes of St Bede’s, St Joseph’s and St Michael’s: 7 from St Michael’s and 1 from St Bede’s). Please pray for them as they continue to wonder about the Sacrament of Confirmation and what it means to them. Thanks.

Autumn Fayre...I am sure that everyone noticed the deliberate error last Sunday morning when I said that the Fayre was on Sunday 27th… It isn’t, its on the 20th...Also interesting that no one bothered to put me right...maybe everyone realised it was a deliberate error? Just a reminder to keep on bringing goods for the Fayre. May also be worth reminding all those managing a stall that they are responsible for setting it up and dismantling it once the exciting bit is over. Raffle tickets are on sale after mass. I’ve got nos 1-5, whoever heard, in the history of raffles in the Catholic Church, of the first strip of tickets being successful?
 

Priests’ Training Fund. Next Sunday, 30th October:

there will be a Special Collection for the training of Priests. Contributions are invited until 27th November. I bumped into one of the young(ish) men from Ushaw from our Diocese at a meeting at St Vincent’s during the week. He’s learning all about our Catholic Education Service. There’s no doubt in my mind that we need more (men) to reflect on and consider their possible calling as priests in the future. It is totally fascinating. My own learning curve continues to be vertical, but then I do have a bit of a strange background. I rang a priest friend of mine for some advice last week and the phone was answered by the youngest priest in the diocese...he must have been well trained, because he solved my problem for me!

CAFOD HARVEST COLLECTION...very many thanks for the £247.90 we have passed on to CAFOD. The unexpected and terrible events in Pakistan have made extra demands on their funds. It does seem that Asia is suffering more than most this year as a result of the Tsunami and the Earthquake in Kashmir—though the news today of the latest Hurricane in the Carribean area may cause more problem around the Gulf of Mexico, and the mud slides in Central America are still causing havoc among poor people in Guatamala and Nicaragua.

Young Adults Retreat….now this is interesting, oh to be young again...There is to be a retreat for young adults from 20-25 February in Palazzola, the summer residence of the English College in Rome—and a totally wonderful place, half way down the side of an extinct (hopefully) volcano, and across Lake Albano from Castelgandolfo—the Pope’s hideaway. The cost is £180.00—but that’s just for the Retreat and full board accommodation, participants will have to book their own flights. This is during Half Term next year...Any youthful (?) teachers or university students interested?

You may remember that I mentioned Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio of Barra in North Eastern Brazil last weekend, during the homily on ‘giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar (and not every thing that Caesar asks…)’. He began a hunger strike in protest against the Brazilian Government’s plans to divert 1,800 miles of river away from the poor in his diocese. The bishop has now come off his hunger strike, because the President of Brazil, ‘Lula’, has organised a debate involving the Bishops’ Conference about what should happen in that part of the Country. That is no guarantee that the problem is solved, but it was enough to encourage the Bishop to
re-think his position. Hopefully he’ll win!
 

The Youth Mission Team Fundraising Appeal are holding a Fundraising ‘Bond Night’ (ie James Bond, I guess—who is this new bloke they’ve found?) at the Elephant on the Tyne  Hotel, Gateshead on Saturday 22 October at 7.00pm. Tickets cost £10.00 Dress Code is ‘Black Tie and Diamonds’...so if you’re up for it, let me know and I’ll give you more information.
 

NATIONAL YOUTH SUNDAY—20th November at 4.00pm at St James’ Church Hall Hebburn. This is for Young People (13+) and Young Adults (till whenever). It begins at 4.00pm—so needn’t clash with the Fayre...If you would like to go, please let me know. More information at the back of the Church.

GRADUATE TEACHER PROGRAMME...this programme seeks to recruit Catholics from the Diocese to undertake training to become qualified as primary and secondary teachers in the Diocese. If you’re interested and want further information, then look at the Notice Board or let me know. Thanks.

Think I’ll quit now…..JOK
 

 Please Pray for those...         

Who are sick:  Fr Tom Cass, Sheila Bolam, Mgr Kevin Nichols

Anniversaries: Mary Carsy, Paul Rea, Marie Robson, Raymond Ward, Lily Redhead, Norah Howard, Elsie Laidler, Katherine Car, John Collins, Peter Mcdonald, George Bradley, James Moore and all who have anniversaries around this time.

Feasts and Celebrations this week 

• St Ignatius of Antioch..He became the second or third leader of the Church in Antioch. As a older man he was sentenced to death by being thrown to wild beasts and for this purpose he was sent to Rome in 107 during the time of the Emperor Trajan. On the way to Rome he wrote seven letters to the various churches in which he dealt wisely with the theology of Christ, the constitution of the Church and the Christian life.  He has been venerated at Antioch on this date since the time of the fourth century.

• St Luke...Born of a pagan family and became a follower of Jesus. He was the companion of the apostle Paul and wrote his Gospel influenced by his preaching. He also wrote the account of the early days of the Church, up to the time of Paul's first stay in Rome, in The Acts of the Apostles.

• St Paul of the Cross...Born in Liguria in 1694.  As a young man he helped his father who was a merchant but afterwards, feeling himself called to a life of perfection, he gave up his worldly goods and looked after the poor and the sick, and in this work assembled a body of companions to help him.  After becoming a priest he spent more and more time preaching and setting up houses for his Congregation.  He basically wore himself out in charitable works and pretty stiff penances and mortification.  He died at Romeon on 18th October in 1775.

The school number is 0191 274 3430 . Believe me, the two schools in our parish—St Bede’s and St Joseph’s– are both excellent schools. What’s more, I’m writing this just before I go off to a Governors’ Meeting…

Some advice from Nadine Stair—aged 87….

If I had my life over, I would try to make  more mistakes next time.  I would relax.  I would limber up.  I would be sillier than I have been this trip.  I know of very few things I would take seriously.  I would be crazier.  I would be less hygienic.  I would take more chances.  I would take more trips.  I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers and watch more sunsets...I would eat more ice cream and less beans.  I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones…..I wouldn’t make such good grades except by accident.  I would ride on more merry-go-rounds.  I’d pick more daisies.

(Advice not to be followed by anyone at school…)

Feasts and Celebrations this week 

• St Callistus...It is said that he was a slave who, when he obtained his freedom, was made a deacon by Pope Zephyrinus and later succeeded him as pope. He fought strenuously against the heresies of Modalism and Adoptionism— a couple of early heresies that grew up as the Christian community struggled with ideas about who Jesus was. He was martyred in the year 222 and buried on the Via Aurelia. His burial area is one of those excavated in Rome—worth a look next time you’re there.
   
• St Teresa of Avila...Born at Avila in Spain in 1515. She joined the Carmelite Order and she made great progress in the way of perfection and enjoyed mystical revelations. A totally amazing lady. She and her two young brothers once ran away from home to convert the Moslems—but like most (though not all) young runaways she managed to get to the edge of the town and came home. She undertook the reform of the Order and in this she had to endure great trials, but overcame them all by indomitable spirit. She wrote works which are renowned for the depth of their doctrine and which showed her own spiritual experiences. She died at Alba in the year 1582.
   
• Paulinus of York...Next time you’re around Thropton in Northumberland, go further West to a very small hamlet called Holystone and visit Paulinus’s well. He was a Roman monk who was sent over here in 601 to help St Augustine ‘reconvert’ the ‘Angles’. He had great influence on King Edwin of Northumbria who became a Christian but then got himself killed in battle, at which point Paulinus cleared off back to Kent where he died in 644. Regarded as the first Apostle of Northumbria.
   
• St Wilfred...Well now, hard to say really. Born in Ripon (633), entered St Aidan’s monastery on Lindisfarne, so was brought up a Celtic type monk. Then, went to Rome and picked up a few different habits. Really important and influential at the meeting in Whitby (664) which made sure that the Roman customs and laws took over from the Celtic. Basically he rowed with pretty well everyone he met, one of his class mates pinched his archdiocese (York) when he was off in France. Ended up Bishop of Hexham (go and visit his crypt). Died in 709, and never really lost the courage of his convictions (what a nice phrase…)
   
• Edward the Confessor...Born in 1003, died in 1066...a good date to die. His death while king of England brought about the Norman Conquest (well, sort of). The last of the Saxon kings and regarded as a saint during his lifetime, generous to the Church and the poor. Buried in Westminster Abbey—again, worth a quick squint, though you have to pay to get in.
  
  This Church history business is fascinating—what an amazing bunch of characters this week...There’s room for us all, thank the Lord.
   

Future Events

I walked down to the Arena last Wednesday—it was lovely. A flock of geese flew over me, following the Tyne, towards the mouth of the river. A parishioner from St Joseph’s told me the following last weekend:

By flying in a V formation, as each bird flaps its wings the   whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone...

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation so that it can continue to take advantage of the lifting power immediately in front.

If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in all circumstances
 

Feasts and Celebrations this week 

• St Francis of Assisi - Born at Assisi in 1182.  From being a bit of a rebel, he changed, - incurring the wrath of his dad - gave up his inheritance and bound himself to God, embracing poverty and living the life of the gospels. He gave to his followers wise rules which were eventually approved by the Holy See. He is an inspiration to many people in the whole discussion about ecological issues.  I wonder what he’d say to George Bush about Global Warming?  Alongside St Clare he laid the foundations of an order of nuns and was really serious about dialogue with followers of Islam.  On the whole, a very contemporary saint.  He died in 1226.

• St Bruno (absolutely nothing to do with tobacco—I think,,,) Born at Cologne around 1035.  He was educated in Paris, ordained as a priest, taught theology; but really wanted to be a hermit. He founded the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse (you’ll know that rather strange green liquor—his monks invented it.  I guess Monastic life was a little different in those days.  He was called to Rome by Pope Urban II to be his adviser and helper in the needs of the Church.  He died in Calabria in 1101—a nice place to go...

• Our Lady of the Rosary: This feast was instituted by Pope Saint Pius V on the anniversary of the naval battle at Lepanto (1571).  It was said that the Christians were victorious because of the help of Mary, the Mother of God, invoked by saying the Rosary.  Today's celebration encourages us to reflect on and pray about the life of Jesus, and follow the example of Mary who was intimately involved with the life, death and resurrection of her Son.

PARISH IN COUNCIL MEETING—Wednesday 28th September

Autumn Fayre….27th November….There’s room for more people to help with this.  The proceeds go to paying of the debt we have (over £30,000—if you win the Mega Lottery, give us a thought), as a result of needing a new roof for our Church.  There will a further meeting of those involved, but the point was made that if you do want to help, you’ll be responsible for collecting things, setting them up and clearing up afterwards—makes sense really.  Please give it a thought, after all, the roof keeps the rain off us most of the year, so it’s a good cause.  Remember, we’re looking at decent goods, its not a Jumble Sale.  Cake and Tea stall could do with a bit of help.

At Weekends….For the last 12 months I’ve prepared our Prayers of the Faithful (see above). It just seems to me that others might like to prepare our Prayers for our Saturday/Sunday worship. It’s not that I don’t want to—as you can see, it does happen—but it does mean that parishioners can become more involved in preparing our communal prayers, reflecting our local and universal concerns and anxieties. I’ll put a list up at the back of the Church inviting people to give us their names to prepare prayers for the future….But then, you know me, I’ll need someone to prepare the list of those who do it...one step at a time…I’d be very happy to have a session with those interested to look at what it might entail—a few tricks of the trade, even…
 

Read Daniel's Account

Those who are ill and housebound...A lot of people want our Newsletter to mention those whose anniversaries occur during the weeks ahead, and those who are sick.  Thanks to those who have mentioned this to me.  Of course, I’m more that happy to include names of people.  It would help me, however, if you were to write down the names of people you want us to pray for. About 4 years ago Peter Stott began writing the names of those who had died in a Register.  I will bring that up to date and include those who have died over the last year or so. Over the few weeks we will look to adapting the Newsletter to include those who are sick along with those who are baptised, married and those who have died.

Ciboria….You may have noticed that one of our Ciboria (the vessel that holds the consecrated hosts at Mass) has been broken. It broke about 9 months ago and I had a friend of mine (a former chemist who is big into pottery and guilding and things) fix it. Unfortunately, it has gone again. I have given it to him again and he has consulted silversmiths in Newcastle, who reckon nothing can be done with it. They can fix it, but it would be more expensive than buying a new one. I have looked in various catalogues (and let’s be honest, this is not really my scene) and discovered that prices range from around £250 to over £2,000..I kid you not, I couldn’t believe it. What I wondered was, if I talk with our Finance Committee (we’ll meet in the middle of next month) and look at a ‘reasonable’ option, it might be that an individual or family in the parish would consider buying a Ciborium for our use, perhaps in memory of someone in their family. I haven’t been able to find one that will match the one we have, so we might need to consider buying two. I’ll come back to you on this after our Finance Meeting. The Parish In Council Meeting thought this might be a good way forward.

I’ll bet you wished you’d been at the meeting…….and this is just half of went on..

While I’m on about this, I’ve discovered that Baptism has more to do with what school children go to actual faith commitment and parish involvement. I can understand that. I also want to do some further thinking about it, in order to sort out our parish policy regarding baptism, practice and school admission…...A difficult one….

St Cuthbert’s High School...There will be an open evening for parents who have children in Year 6 who are interested in finding out more about St Cuthbert’s High School.  It will be at 7.00pm on Thursday 6 October at the Lower School, Fox and Hounds Lane.  There will be an opportunity to meet with Mr Gerard Murphy, the Headmaster, and Mr Oleksik, Head of Lower School.  There will be a tour of the school with both Sixth Form and Lower School students, a chance to look at students’ course work and the opportunity to meet teachers from various departments.  There is further information in the Church porch.

Sacred Heart High School—Open Day and Evening on Tuesday 4th October.  Parents who are interested in applying in Year 7 at the Sacred Heart are invited to visit the school on 4th October between 9.30am and 2.30pm.  From 6.00pm—8.00pm there will be a meeting for prospective parents and daughters to explore what the school has to offer.  Further information at the back of the Church.

Next Weekend—Saturday/Sunday 8/9 October, Fr Michael Hickey from St Robert’s parish and myself are swapping parishes!  Well, just for our weekend masses.  We’re trying to look ahead and see how best the West End of Newcastle will be served in the future.  There will be huge changes over the next 10-15 years, and we rather suspect that the number of parishes will reduce.  So, we’re looking towards developing a ‘Cluster’ of parishes in this part of the City.  Obviously, not everyone will agree with it, but we need to explore how to respond to the needs of people in our part of the world.  We need to get used to different priests and different liturgy.  I’m interested in what you might want to say about all of this.

Please pray for:  Fr Kevin Nichols, Fr Tom Cass, Sheila Bolam, and all those whose anniversaries occur around this time.  Thank you.

Gosh...this is a really serious Newsletter….Be assured, it won’t happen that often. Included with this newsletter is a copy of an article I’d written for Mission Today.  It’s a wee bit heavy, but what’s the point of writing something if folk don’t read it?  It is meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a document Pope Paul VI wrote in 1975, and I do think it is worth a ‘quick squint’ - as one of my friends says about the Sistine Chapel ceiling…