To help sustain and nourish the faith of Christian seafarers; To encourage the Christian seafarer to witness to his faith; To dialogue with non-Christian religions; To promote justice for those seafarers who are being exploited.
OUR PARISH PICNIC – THIS WEEKEND! Sunday 20 th July, 12 to 3pm in the Parish Centre/Garden – Join friends (and make new ones), at our Parish Picnic. You can find sign-up sheets for our bring and share picnic food in the Narthex – We would especially like to encourage our parishioners from different continents to bring and share their traditional food for us all to sample. Please see poster in the Narthex for more details. All are welcome. The Parish Social Events Team would welcome any help with the set up and clear up of this event. (Saturday evening set up). SUMMER RAFFLE: 🎟️ Tickets on sale at £1 per strip. GUESS THE NAME OF THE TEDDY : 🧸 Why not try your luck at guessing the teddy’s name – the winner gets to give teddy a new home. £1 per guess. HOW MANY SWEETS ARE IN THE JAR? : 🍬 Are you up for the challenge of guessing how many sweets you think the jar might contain? £1 per guess. All winners will be announced at the Parish Picnic. All proceeds go towards our Parish funds. Please contact Annette Allsop on 07717756770 for more details
As Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem, he is confronted by a scholar of the law who wants to test him. The lawyer asks what we must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks the expert to answer this question, “What is written in the law?” The man is caught and responds with Deuteronomy 6:5. Love of God and love of neighbour are what is required for eternal life. Jesus' response is simple, “Do this and you will live.” The lawyer tries another question: Who is my neighbour whom I must love like myself? This was a trick question. Jesus responds with the parable, the Good Samaritan. The traveller in this parable is identified only as “a certain man.” Luke uses this phrase in many of his parables so that the audience, could identify with the man. After an attack from bandits, a man is left for dead, naked and bleeding on the side of the road. A priest comes along, instead of helping, he crosses the road. Another religious person comes along. His reaction is the same as the priest's. Both choose to not find out if the man is alive. A third comes along. Instead, he is a Samaritan, an Israelite's most hated neighbour. The Samaritan goes over to the injured man, cleans his wounds, puts him on his own animal, takes him to an inn to recover, and promises to pay all his expenses. The hated enemy is the compassionate neighbour in this parable. Jesus has demolished all boundary expectations. It is not social definitions such as class, religion, gender, or ethnicity that determines who is our neighbour. A neighbour is a person who acts with compassion toward another. The point becomes not who deserves to be loved as I love myself, but that I become a person who treats everyone with compassion. When Jesus asks the lawyer who was the neighbour in the story, he can't bring himself to say it was the Samaritan. All he says is that it was “the one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus' response was similar to that of the first discussion: “Go and do likewise.” The lawyer, and we, know what is right. The key is to do it.
Today's Gospel begins immediately after the final verse in last Sunday's Gospel. After strong language about the difficulties of discipleship, Jesus immediately appoints 72 people to go ahead of him to every town and place he plans to visit, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus admits it will be difficult, that he is sending them out like lambs among wolves. Yet they are to bring nothing with them, not even a money bag or sandals. They are to greet no one on the way so as not to be distracted from their mission. When they enter a house, their message is simply “peace.” The response they will receive may be positive or negative. Either way, they are to know that the Kingdom of God is at hand. They are not to demand special treatment but eat and drink whatever is given them. They are to stay in one house and are not to look around for one that provides better accommodations. They are to heal the sick as a sign that the Kingdom of God is at hand for them. Like Jesus' miracles, healing is a sign of the coming of the kingdom. If the town will not receive them, they are to shake the dust from their feet and move on. Jesus may have sent them out as lambs among wolves, but at the conclusion of this passage he assures them that they have been given power over the enemy and nothing will harm them. A key theme of today's Gospel and last Sunday's Gospel is discipleship—its challenges, its difficulties, and its rewards. Sharing in the mission of Jesus is difficult, but everyone is called to do it, not just professionals trained for ministry.
PATHWAYS BEREAVEMENT CAFÉ: This Sunday 7th September from 4pm to 6pm. Refreshments will be served. No need to register. Please take a flyer from the Narthex for more information. WE WILL POST HERE IF THE BEREAVEMENT CAFE IS CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS
Sunday 20th July – Parish Picnic - Sign-up sheets for our bring and share picnic can be found in the Narthex – We would especially like to encourage our parishioners from different continents to bring and share their traditional food for us all to sample. All are welcome.
Father Gregory Knowles will begin his ministry in our Parish on the weekend of 20th and 21st September.
I wish to thank all of you who contacted your local MP either personally, or through the ‘Right to Life’ online facility, to ask them to oppose this recent proposed legislation. Please find a copy of a message that is posted on our Diocesan website regarding the recent passage through parliament of proposed legislative changes (available in our Narthex): the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill decriminalising abortion up to birth, and the third reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. With every blessing Marcus Stock Bishop of Leeds.
Please note that our Parish telephone number has now changed to 01924 253677.
ALPHA has now finished for this year 2024. We will be back with another programme in 2025.
Concern is not enough! More than 6 million adults live in absolute poverty in Britain. This means they are destitute and are deprived of basic human needs such as food, sanitation, health or shelter. But poverty isn’t the only sort of deprivation; chronic loneliness and isolation is a significant and growing problem. According to the Office of National Statistics, Britain has become the loneliness capital of Europe. In our parish poverty and isolation are prevalent but what can we do about it? Contact the SVP on 07526 099 523 and help us work together to help tackle these problems.
Taking place at Ampleforth College from Friday 22nd - Monday 25th August , the Youth 2000 Summer Festival provides young adults (aged 16-35) from across the UK the opportunity to come together and explore faith, build relationships and find hope. This four-day festival includes great speakers, social time, break-out sessions, Daily Mass, 24/7 Adoration and much more! Register at: youth2000.org/events/summerfestival2025. Tickets are also available for priests, religious, families and groups. For more information, email: events@youth2000.org . If you would like to know more or fancy meeting up at Y2K (Saturday only), please contact Gill in the Parish Office or speak to Lauren Rayner (our flautist at Sunday morning Mass).
OLK HEALING SERVICE: The next Healing Service will be on Tuesday 15th July at 7pm in St Mary’s Catholic Church, Horsforth. This is a beautiful opportunity to pray for healing for yourself or others, whether physical, psychological, or spiritual. Remember Jesus is alive, and miracles can and do happen! Everyone is welcome, including non-Catholics and those of no faith - all that is needed is an openness to Jesus.
To help sustain and nourish the faith of Christian seafarers; To encourage the Christian seafarer to witness to his faith; To dialogue with non-Christian religions; To promote justice for those seafarers who are being exploited.
Global Healing - care for our common home, a film commissioned by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (33 minutes long).
DISCOVERING FAITH IN UNEXPECTED PLACES.
View our parish gallery which provides highlights of our parish community events and activities