Archive - January 2006

The page is usually updated on Friday or Saturday although additional updates can be made during the following week. Please check 'Last updated' under latest news.


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Document Downloads Agenda Parish Visitation Meeting - 3/11/2005 Daniel Jopling in India Live 8 St Mary's Cathedral - (Reflection prepared by Fr Jim O'Keefe) Pope Benedict XVI Pope John Paul II Election of Popes Lent 2005 The Passion Story Events The Vatican Adult Christian Education	Latest News Sunday 29th January 2006 - 4th Sunday of the Year Sunday 22nd January 2006 - 3rd Sunday of the Year Sunday 15th January 2006 - 2nd Sunday of the Year Sunday 8th January 2006 - Baptism of the Lord Sunday 1st January 2006 - Mary Mother of God Archives

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Sunday 29th January 2006 - 4th Sunday of the Year

SAINTS THIS WEEK
St John Bosco... Born in the diocese of Turin in Italy in 1815. He had a difficult childhood in poverty but eventually was ordained priest. He put every effort into the education of youth and founded Religious Congregations to teach them and to bring them up in the Christian way of life. He wrote some short works in defence of the faith. He died in the year 1888. The society of St John Bosco (SDBs) still do brilliant work in this country and throughout the world with young people. The present Provincial (or boss) of the Order in the country, Fr Michael Winstanley, is a good mate of mine - you might like to pray for him and his sisters and brothers this week. St Blaise... He was bishop of Sivas in Armenia in the fourth century. In the Middle Ages veneration of him spread throughout the Church. Somehow or other he became mixed up with folk with sore throats, and is now their patron. St. Ansgar... Born in France at the beginning of the ninth century. He was educated in the monastery at Corbie and then in the year 826 he set out to preach the Gospel in Denmark. He had a tough time there and so moved on to Sweden. He was chosen to be bishop of Hamburg and was confirmed in this position by Gregory IV who made him his legate for Denmark and Sweden. He endured many difficulties in his work of evangelisation but his spirit never failed. He died in the year 865. I'll bet there are some Swedes letting their hair down tonight in his memory...

A Bit of Advance Notice - Tuesday 7th February at 7:30pm - Hearken all ye Eucharistic Ministers... I hope that all Eucharistic Ministers will be able to come together a week come Tuesday in the Meeting Room for some Reflection and Discussion. I'd like us to look at a number of things, and put together a full list of ministers who are prepared to help during Mass, in the Community and those who are trained to be Lay Ministers of the Eucharist for Eucharistic Services. I guess I am looking to the future when neither Michael Ekanem or myself are able to bring Holy Communion to the Sick or to celebrate Mass. I'd also like to begin some discussion about how to care for those who are bereaved. So, if you don't mind please put that date and time in your diary, or on the calendar next to the phone, or on a scrap of paper - or however you do it. Many thanks.

Just wondering if... anyone has thought about looking after our Altar Linen since Sr Joan moved off to the deep south. I don't seem to have received text messages, e-mail or snail mail notes from Volunteers. Let's be honest, it can't be too much of a task (says me, who is now a brilliant washer, but won't touch an iron). Please give it some thought, or preferably, give me a nod and say you'll do it. Don't look at anyone else, just go for it. If there are too many folk volunteering, I guess I can always think of other things to do.

Non-Perishable goods... We still have that strategically placed plastic bin just inside the entrance to the Church for non-perishable goods. Once upon a time at Ushaw I found myself in trouble with the then (this was around 1982) boss for inviting a 'traveller' into a class I was teaching, to tell his story, what it was like to be homeless and have to beg from people around the country. The then President (a good pal of mine now) wondered what on earth I was doing, feared loads of other 'travellers' arriving looking for a teaching opportunity and a few bob for doing it. I reckoned if my guest knew he was onto a good thing he wouldn't tell anyone else.. and so it was. Since then, I have had a great deal of sympathy (though I'm not totally thick and know when I'm being conned) for those who have virtually nothing and cannot (for whatever reason) make ends meet. Please see what you can do to help. Many thanks...

MakePovertyHistory.

Well now... the question is, what to do with your white band. I've become attached to mine, as I said at the beginning of the MakePovertyHistory Campaign, I've never worn a 'fashion accessory' before, and now I'm a bit sad that this phase of the Campaign is over. Any ideas about my next 'fashion accessory'? So, what do we do. Well, to be honest, I've sent mine to the Prime Minister with a note saying I've worn this for months now, and I hope he and his next door neighbour will continue to focus on the poorest people in the world. I reckon they've done a pretty good job, but they have more to do.. Why not do the same?

Send your wrist band to:

The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP

10 Downing Street

London

SW1A 2AJ

I doubt if he'll answer your letter, but at the very least we'll keep someone in employment openning the letters and taking the bands out. Can you imagine the front door of No 10 if tens of thousands of us send their bands... what a great thought. Imagine the wheelie-bin men in Downing Street, or Cherie Blair putting out the black plastic bags (in the recyclable box)... why not just do it and make a bit of a statement.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Very many thanks to all those who were able to join other members of the Christian family for the midday 'gatherings' and prayer for Christian Unity - and soup. I know I was on holiday for some of the time, and I was at Kevin Nichol's funeral on Tuesday. But I did enjoy meeting with the people on Sunday evening at the Venerable Bede and at St Joseph's on Wednesday.

I reckon we are on a long pilgrimage, and when people walk on a pilgrimage (not so much on planes and trains and busses) we move at different paces, at different speeds. It is difficult to keep in touch with all the folk we're with. Some go off and wander along cul-de-sacs, some rush off ahead. This is what the Ecumenical 'pilgrimage' is like. Thanks to my 'minister' colleagues for suggesting our present arrangement. We will meeting a couple of week's time and evaluate what has happened.

Denton Burn Methodist Church - are celebrating 75 years of worship on their present site. They have produced a really good Souvenir Programme marking this particular milestone. They state their 'Mission Statement' on the front of the Brochure (there are some available at the back of the Church) where they say:

Denton Burn Methodist Church seeks to be friendly to all, to accept all who come for what they are and to encourage them to come to a deeper faith in Jesus Christ.

Let's be honest, how can we not agree with that? In his introduction, the current Minister, Rev Hendry Ponniah quotes the well known hymn:

'Change and decay in all around I see: O thou who changest not abide with me'.

I want us to send a message of support to our Methodist sisters and brothers as they celebrate their presence in the West End of Newcastle. Their big weekend is 5th/6th March. I will be at St Cuthbert's Kenton then, but hopefully we will be able to mark their celebration in a fitting way.

Please take a copy of their Booklet from the back of the Church.. and bring it back when you've read it, some one else may well like to read it. Thanks.

This is the first full weekend back after my week away in France, re-arranging snow in the Alps around Val Thorens. I really enjoyed my week's holiday with Fr Ged Lavender (a mate of mine since student days at Ushaw). Neither of us is a good skier, but it was good chat and good exercise. Whatever anyone else says, 'Afterski' is making sure you're in bed by 9:00 pm with a hot drink and enough energy to cope with 6 hours skiing the following day. One night we said Mass together and remembered Mgr Kevin Nichols, a friend of both of use. His funeral last Tuesday was a fitting memorial for a good man and a great priest. Many thanks to parishioners from St Bede's - and elsewhere - who cared for him in St Joseph's and sang at his Requiem Mass. He taught me a great deal - come to think of it he might continue to teach me a few things. May he rest in peace.

Traidcraft

Keep an eye on it... A thought attributed to Chief Seattle (1786-1866 - he lived a long time!) of the Dwamish People in North America:

This we know. The earth does not belong to us: we belong to the earth... Whatever befalls the earth befalls us the children of the earth. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

I heard Cardinal Keith O'Brien from Edinburgh on the radio the other morning. He is in Sudan, and talked about the total poverty of the people there. We can do much worse than buy Fairtrade Goods.

Visit the Fairtrade page!

Within the next three weeks , Bishop Kevin Dunn will be visiting both St Joseph's and St Bede's Parishes. he will be doing what I will be doing in ten other parishes over the next three months. His visit will provide us with an opportunity to look very realistically at what we're good at and what we need to explore in order to witness to the Gospel in our area of the City and the Diocese. Bishop Kevin uses language (along with Pope John Paul II) about Communion and Mission. It is about how we support one another in our own commitment to Jesus and the Gospel message, and how we spread that outwards to others through our conversation, daily lives, jobs and relationships. When he comes, please feel free to say whatever you want to say about this. Next week I will let you know when the meetings with the Bishop will be. It is really important that you say what you want to say to the Bishop. It is equally important that we look realistically at how we organise our parishes for the future. I'm looking forward to it all.

To help us prepare for the weekend, we will have a Parish In Council meeting on Wednesday, 1st February, at 7:00 pm in the Meeting Room. This will follow the Finance Committee meeting which is at 6:00 pm in the Presbytery.

Please try to join us at 7:00 pm.

Many Thanks

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Sunday 22nd January 2006 - 3rd Sunday of the Year

SAINTS THIS WEEK
St Francis de Sales...Born near Annecy in Savoy in the year 1567. After his ordination as a priest he worked strenuously for the renewal of the faith in his country; and after his election as Bishop of Geneva he showed himself to be a true shepherd towards the clergy and the faithful, being an example in all things, and helping by his writings and work. He died at Lyons on 28 December 1622, and was buried at Annecy on 24 January 1623St. St Timothy... was the son of a pagan father and a Hebrew-Christian mother, Eunice. With Saint Titus, he was a disciple and helper of the St. Paul, and accompanied him in the evangelisation of many cities. St. Paul placed him in charge of the Church at Ephesus, as their bishop. St. Paul wrote two pastoral letters to St. Timothy, containing much useful advice for the instruction of the clergy and people, which give glimpses of the future structure of the Church. St. Titus... was a disciple and helper of the St. Paul, and with St. Timothy, accompanied him in the evangelisation of many cities. St. Paul placed him in charge of the Church at Crete, as their bishop. St. Paul wrote a pastoral letter to St. Titus, containing much useful advice for the instruction of the clergy and people, which give glimpses of the future structure of the Church. St Angela Merici...Born about the year 1470 at Desenzano near Brescia. She took the habit of the Third Order of Saint Francis and gathered together girls whom she formed in the works of charity. In 1535 she formed at Brescia the institute of the Ursulines, a society of women with the task of teaching poor girls to be good Christians. She died in 1540. St Thomas Aquinas...Born in the year 1225, a member of a noble family of Aquino. He studied first at Monte Cassino and then at Naples; later as a member of the Dominican Order he completed his studies at Paris and then at Cologne with St. Albert the Great as his teacher. He was an outstanding writer and teacher of philosophy and sacred theology. He died at Fossanuova on 7 March 1274. He is venerated on 28 January for on that date in the year 1369 his body was reburied at Toulouse.

Please note that there are no notices this week.

Sunday 15th January 2006 - 2nd Sunday of the Year

SAINTS THIS WEEK
St Anthony...This outstanding father of all monks was born in Egypt about the year 250. After the death of his parents he gave his worldly goods to the poor and went into the desert to live a life of penance. Many became his followers. He worked for the Church, supporting the confessors of the faith in their sufferings during the persecutions of Diocletian, and Saint Athanasius in his struggle against the Arians. He died in the year 356. St Wulstan...was born in Warwickshire about 1008 and died in 1095. He became a Benedictine monk of the cathedral priory of Worcester but in 1062 was appointed bishop and was one of the few Anglo-Saxons in high office to survive the Norman Conquest. He was renowned as a confessor for his care of the poor and the sick, as well as the high standards he demanded of his clergy. St Fabian...In the year 236 he was chosen to be Bishop of Rome, and in the year 250, at the beginning of the persecution of Decius, he was crowned with martyrdom, as Saint Cyprian testified. He was buried in the cemetery of Callistus. St Agnes...She suffered martyrdom at Rome either in the second half of the third century or, more probably, at the beginning of the fourth century. Pope Damasus embellished her tomb with sacred verses, and many of the Fathers, following the example of Saint Ambrose, spoke of her with great praise.

	Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 18-25 January...This year there will be an opportunity for us in this part of the City to gather together each day at 12.00 noon for a brief service followed by light refreshments.
The Schedule for this year is: Wednesday 18th -St Bede’s led by Fr Michael Ekenem Thursday 19th -St James, Benwell Lane Friday 20th - St Michael’s Scotswood Saturday 21st -St John’s Ferguson Lane Monday 23rd -Denton Burn Methodist Tuesday 24th -Cornerstone, South Benwell Wednesday 25 -St Joseph’s Armstrong Road
And, Sunday 22nd, 5.00pm in the Venerable Bede, Benwell Grove. There are prayer cards devised by the Corrymeela Community in North of Ireland for our use during the week, and if you want further information, please look at the poster at the back of the Church and take a leaflet that is available.

Last Wednesday evening at St Robert’s our Deanery Gathering took place...Many thanks to Fr Michael Hickey and the people of St Robert’s for their welcome and hospitality. There were around 120 people present, including all the clergy who could make it.

Each parish gave their ‘pennyworth’, exploring their strengths and areas for development. It was fascinating to hear the different stories from each parish. Thanks to David and Tony who made presentations for St Bede’s and St Joseph’s. Thanks also to Mr Scurr and Ms Matthews, our two head teachers who joined us for the evening.
Over the next 3 months, each parish will be visited and the parish profile will be used as a basis for discussion with the clergy and people of the parish. Hopefully the discussion will be open, honest with room for suggestions and hints of the need to change.

More about all of these in the near future.

Finally, many thanks to all those from our parishes who were able to attend.

Last Thursday I joined Bishop Kevin and a Cathedral full of people to celebrate the presence of Cardinal Walter Kasper from the Vatican Department of Christian Unity in Durham. The Cardinal was being honoured with an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Durham University. The Cardinal is a wonderfully friendly, very intelligent and smiling person with a sense of humour. (He’s also quite small, just around 5’ tall.) He will be staying at Ushaw over the weekend to attend a Conference with 120 theologians from 10 different countries looking at Catholics and Christian Unity.

Bill Bryson, the author, is the Chancellor (sort of honorary position in relation to a University before him it was Peter Ustinov and before him Dame Margo Fonteyn—fascinating people) welcomed everyone to the Cathedral and made a speech– saying one or two things about George Bush...not for printing in parish Newsletters.

I stayed with the group until around 9.00pm that evening, listening to what they were saying. Wow—there were some bright people in the room! I suspect I managed to understand a few percent of what they were saying, but I’m totally convinced that the meeting is important and could make a big difference to how we work ecumenically in the future.

Bishop Kevin welcomed the Cardinal to Ushaw with a really good speech mentioning all the local folk like St Hilda, Aidan, Cuthbert, Wilfred and, of course, St Bede. Overall a very good day.

MakePovertyHistory—a reminder of the Event in Durham Cathedral on Saturday 21 January from 10.30. (When I was queuing to get in on Thursday, I was placed a couple of feet from the tomb of St. Bede—a very peaceful 20 minutes or so—very definitely worth a visit). There is a poster at the back of the Church with more information.

FAIRTRADE—did you know, ‘not a lot of people know this…’ Sales of products with the FAIRTRADE Mark continue to rise by over 40% every year. The British Public drink over 3 million cups of Fairtrade hot drinks and much almost half a million Fairtrade bananas every day. There are now over 1,000 Fairtrade products available—and some of them are available at our shop in Church—don’t go without having a look and stocking up on coffee, cereal and geobars! Go to Fairtrade page

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults—Rite of Election. This will take place in the Cathedral at 7.00pm on Thursday 2nd March and all catechumens and candidates along with sponsors, catechists, families and friends will be welcome. For further information, see the poster at the back of the Church.

Pastoral Area Meeting…..There will be a Pastoral Area meeting at St Robert’s at 7.00pm on Thursday 19 January, next Thursday. Fr Michael Hickey will chair it in my absence. By that time I will probably be in bed nursing a hot chocolate after making a bit of a fool of myself on skies in the French Alps.

The Diocese is in need of a Senior Administrative Assistant to work in the Education Service at St Vincent’s Offices at the top of the West Road in St Cuthbert’s House.

This is a full time post—37.5 hours a week.

It requires recent, substantial and proven secretarial experience (I won’t be applying!)

Further information at the back of the Church. Anyone interested will need to write for the application pack.

Closing date 12 noon on 30th January.

To be honest, I reckon our Education Service is one of the best in the Country. This will be an exciting and very important service to the Diocese as a whole.

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Sunday 8th January 2006 - Baptism of the Lord

SAINTS THIS WEEK
St Benet Biscop...This man is really important! He was a nobleman at the court of King Oswy of Northumbria. He wanted to be a monk and went on two pilgrimages to Rome. He then joined the community at Lerins, off the coast of France and took the name Benedict. He visited all sorts of other monasteries to study their rule. In 669 he was asked to return to England with Theodore, the new archbishop of Canterbury and remained there as abbot for two years. With the help of King Egfrith he founded two monasteries. One at Wearmouth in 674 and one in Jarrow in 682. He continued to visit the continent and brought back many books and artwork. If it hadn’t been for his library, St. Bede would not have been the scholar he was. By the time of his death (around 690) his monasteries had already become very important centres of learning and Christian culture. St Hilary...Born at Poitiers, in what we now call France, around 315, Hilary was elected bishop of that city in 350. He combated the Arians (remember them from a couple of weeks ago, they didn’t believe that Jesus was God) relentlessly, as a result of he was exiled by the Emperor Constantine. The Arians sent him back to Gaul, describing him as a ‘mischief maker’. It must have been an interesting time when the heretics chased the orthodox bishop for causing trouble! He wrote a great deal to strengthen the faith of believers. He was also a great man for interpreting sacred scripture for the benefit of the less learned. He died in 367 – he did all that, and he was only 52 when he died.

A Time to Heal, a Time to Embrace—is an Ecumenical Day of Prayer and healing with Reflection and Workshops led by Rev Malcolm Masterman (The Coordinating Chaplain of Durham University Hospital) and Rev Jeff Thomas, a Methodist Minister from North Shields. It is taking place at Durham High School for Girls on Saturday 11th February. Bishop Kevin Dunn will be there alongside the Rt Rev John Pritchard, the Anglican Bishop of Jarrow, and the President Designate of the Methodist Church, Rev Graham Carter. If you would like further information, please see the poster at the back of the Church.

The Association of the Eucharist in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

This association was set up as a response to the Year of the Eucharist from October 2004—October 2005. Its Aims are posted at the back of the Church and include:

The sanctification of its members

The promotion of silent prayer

To facilitate a better understanding of the gift of the Eucharist

If you want further information, please contact the Association at St Joseph’s Presbytery, High Street West, Gateshead NE8 1LX

Deanery Visitation: Next Wednesday at 7.00pm at St Robert’s in Fenham we will begin our Deanery Visitation. Please feel free to come and join the meeting. It will begin with a short time of Evening Prayer and should last little more than an hour. You will be very welcome. This is the beginning of the new Diocesan Visitation process, so we will indeed be learning as we go along.

The Baptism of the Lord...I’m sure that many thousands of words have been produced wondering why Jesus was baptised. It wasn’t a particularly Jewish thing to do, though water rituals were, and are, extremely important to many Jewish people. I just wonder if it wasn’t because Jesus saw himself, and certainly other people saw him, as a new Moses? Moses crossed the Red Sea with the people and this was the sign of their new life of freedom (which they found very difficult) in the desert. Jesus is baptised in the Jordan and then goes into the desert for 40 days in the desert. It would be very important to many Jewish/Christian people to be comfortable with the idea that their great lawgiver, Moses, was still with them.
It leaves us wondering for a moment about our own baptism. It isn’t so much that baptism is the sacrament of membership of the Church, it is membership of the Church: it is the sacrament of membership of humanity. Actually I pinched that idea from another Dominican, Herbert McCabe. To be baptised implies that it is more significant to be a Christian than to be a Geordie, or English or Irish or anything else. Interesting?

To get back to something safer…..The Activity Group will not be meeting in January. However, it is building itself up into a frenzy to begin meeting once again in February. It will shock the world with its imagination and energy.

Bon Voyage to Sr Joan, and many thanks to her for her presence and work in the area. We all hope that she enjoys her new community and witness in the deep south, in Kent.

A request….One of the services Sr Joan provided for us here in St Bede’s was to wash, iron and change our altar cloths. Would someone be willing to take on that particular work to help us celebrate our Liturgy in a fitting way? Please let me know as soon as you can if you are able to help us with this. Many thanks.

We look forward to welcoming Sr Christine into the Good Shepherd community in the near future. Hopefully she will settle in well and find her own niche in the area and in our parish.

Christian Aid Week….Our local Ecumenical partners are seeking a contact from St Bede’s Parish to help organise Christian Aid Week later in the spring. They have already begun to look at how to extend involvement among local Christian groups. St Joseph’s parish is becoming more involved. If someone is able to volunteer for this rather special work, would they please let me know in the very near future. Many thanks

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Sunday 1st January 2006 - Mary Mother of God

SAINTS THIS WEEK
St.Basil... was born of a Christian family at Caesarea in Cappadocia in 330. He was really bright, and began to lead a quiet and retired life—however, in 370 he was appointed Bishop of Caesarea. He had a load of hassle with those who didn’t believe that Jesus was really God (the Arians—actually, I suspect there are quite a few around today). He wrote a good deal, especially monastic rules, which even today are followed by many monks of the Eastern Church. He was also outstanding in helping the poor. He died on 1 January 379. A good man! St.Gregory... was born near Nazianzus (hence his name) in 330. He studied all over the place and then followed his friend Saint Basil in undertaking a life of solitude, but he also was ordained a priest. In 381 he was chosen Bishop of Constantinople. However, because of the divisions he encountered in the diocese he returned to his native Nazianzus where he died on 25 January in around 390. He was a man of outstanding knowledge and eloquence and was called The Theologian. Tough on those guys who wanted a peaceful life…. St Raymond...Born near Barcelona around 1175 and became a Dominican. At the command of Gregory IX he edited the Book of Decretals. He was chosen Master General of his Order and governed it with wisely. His most outstanding writing was his Summary of Cases which gave rules for the fruitful administration of the Sacrament of Penance—I suspect we could do with his wisdom on this today! He died in 1275.

Actually, I’m reading a book called What is the Point of Being a Christian by the last Master of the Dominicans, Timothy Radcliffe—not a bad read at all. He does happen to be on the Board of CAFOD and I’ve told him I’m reading it with a pencil in hand—he’s a bit scared I’m writing ‘rubbish’ in the margin—believe me, it isn’t.

Well—here we are… a new year, and a happy and peaceful one to you all. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but life isn’t boring! All the reviews of last year mentioned the Tsunami, and the response of the rest of the world to it, the death of Pope John Paul II, and the response of the world to it—and so on. We have no idea what this year will bring, but maybe we can have the openness of the Magi.

Friday 6th January is a Holyday of Obligation –please note the times of masses.

There are loads of legends attached to this Feast—they’re wonderful (if you’re really fascinated, have a look at http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/wisemen.htm. To be honest, I haven’t, but I know someone who has (what a sad life he lives) who passed on the notes!

Whatever the legends and notes are about, I reckon it is about ‘the whole world’ coming to look, to seek, to wonder, to explore, to find out what really matters. The whole world (in the shape of the ‘wise men’) discover that it is really all about fragility, dependency, simplicity, uncertainty (homeless and about to go into exile), and ultimately, faith in a God who will look after us. One of the legends is that the ‘three’ were called Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior—from the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa (I guess the folk who told the stories didn’t know too much about America, Australasia, Antarctica – and so on) - so it was the whole known world of the time. The legends are brilliant, the message is even more important—the Lord is Lord of all.

Worth keeping an eye open for the odd moment of Epiphany (a moment of ‘wonder’) in our own lives this week. I’ll bet there have been many recently, just looking at the faces of children receiving presents, falling off new roller blades or bikes, tearing paper of ‘the big’ present’ and so on. What happens to ‘wonder’ as we get older? Keep an eye open for moments of ‘Wonder’, ‘Amazement’ ‘Discovery’ - that’s how the Epiphany works. Incidentally, I do have this distraction every year—Joseph saying to Mary: ‘There’s a bunch of folk outside from ‘the East’ - do we have any rice and curry at the back of this Stable’? - Sometimes hospitality is an opportunity for wonder and amazement, I suspect it was for them…

Very many thanks to all who helped to make our Christmas Celebrations such a success. It is impossible without so much help, trees, the crib, cleaning, serving, singing, counting, candle-organising and lighting (a few of our visitors have been really impressed by our ‘remembering’ with candles—I suspect the idea might well spread elsewhere…). Special welcome to Claire Jopling who joined the St Stephen’s Guild as an altar server on his feast—26th December—and thanks to her for serving mass that day. The simple fact is, things don’t happen if we don’t do them together.

Please take special care with our Liturgical Calendar.
Mass on Tuesday at 12.00am, and no Mass on Saturday at 9.30am We will continue to have Exposition and Sacrament of Reconciliation at 10.00am on Saturday.

Many thanks to Fr Ted Featherstone and Fr Michael Ekanem for their presence this Christmas. Fr Michael will be very much in evidence over the next few months as I visit around 9 parishes around the North side of the Tyne—from Throckley to Backworth. I have a new A-Z (I’m really old fashioned, and in fact I can read a map, so no SATNAV for me, though I know the bishop swears (?) by it).

We are beginning, in the Diocese, a new phase of Visitation. You will be most welcome—all of you, and how scary would that be!- at a meeting on 11 January at St Robert’s Church Hall in Fenham at 7.00pm. This is the first ever meeting of the new Visitation Programme. Bishop Kevin will be there with Canon Seamus Cunningham, the Vicar General. We will look at all the parish ‘profiles’ for this part of the City and begin to plan our way forward. You are most welcome. In fact I would seriously ask you to consider coming—you will be part of how we move forward in how we explore how to be a community who want to make a difference in this part Newcastle

The difficulty is, if you’re not there, its really hard to complain about what happens afterwards! Consultation and exploration are not easy, and it does mean that we all need to look at some things differently. But then again, we’ve just celebrated the Birth of the Lord in a Stable and the arrival of total Strangers wondering at what that is all about….

I won’t tell you my New Year’s Resolutions—it would be amazing if you saw the difference over the next few weeks—but I guess that goes for all of us….If they involve doing nothing illegal, immoral or fattening—then good luck…. JOK

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