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).

ALL welcome to join our Summer Laudato Si’ Mini-Pilgrimage on Saturday 9 August! 11am Mass at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Knaresborough & guided walk to St Robert’s Cave and Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag. Sign up via communications@dioceseofleeds.org.uk More information at: https://www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/event/four-seasons-of-creationlaudato-si-mini-pilgrimage-for-summer/

On Saturday, August 9 , St Patrick's Mission will be hiking the Yorkshire Three Peaks to support the ongoing ministry in Bradford city centre. We are grateful for anyone who would like to hike with us, or who would like to volunteer to help on the day, or simply donate to the cause! To sign up, https://www.stpatricksmission.co.uk/event/one-and-three-peakchallenge  or to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/spm-peaks25 .

Mass for the Feast of St Bernard, Wednesday 20th August, 12noon. All welcome. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/fountainsabbey-and-studley-royal-water-garden/events

A big thank you to everyone who made our parish picnic and the blessing of our new Marian garden a great success

In today's reading, Luke presents the core of Jesus' teaching on prayer. It consists of Jesus teaching a prayer to his disciples, a parable on the persistent neighbour, and assurances that God hears our prayers. The disciples notice Jesus praying “in a certain place.” They ask him to teach them to pray just as John the Baptist had taught his disciples. Jesus teaches them a simple version of the most famous Christian prayer, the Our Father, or the Lord's Prayer. Matthew's version shows signs of being shaped by public prayer. Luke's version is probably closer to the original form that Jesus taught. Stripped of much of the language we are used to, Luke's version seems simple and direct. We pray that God's name will be recognized as holy and that his rule over all will be established. This is followed by petitions for our needs for bread, for forgiveness, and for deliverance. Luke uses the more theological language of “sins” rather than “debts,” used in Matthew's version. Having taught his disciples a simple, daily prayer, Jesus goes on to reassure them that God answers prayers. He tells a parable about a persistent neighbour who asks a friend for bread at midnight. The friend is already in bed and has no desire to disturb his family by opening the door, but because the neighbour is persistent, the sleeping man gets up and gives him all that he needs. This teaching concludes with the reminder that if we seek, we will get a response. If a human father, with all his faults, knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more will our heavenly Father give us? Instead of good gifts, however, Luke substitutes the word Holy Spirit. This foreshadows the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is central to Luke's theology and who will play an important role in the growth of the early Church after Pentecost. The parable and the concluding teaching in this section should not lead us to think of prayer as a series of requests presented to God. Rather, as Jesus teaches in his model prayer, prayer consists in recognizing God's holiness and his rule over all things.

This year our retreat at The Briery will take place over the weekend of 31 October to 2 November . The cost will be in the region of £190 -£200 which includes all meals from Friday teatime to Sunday Lunch. If you think you may be interested then please contact Christine Szczepanski via the Parish Office.

Annette Allsop has now joined our team of Children’s Liturgy leaders. We would like to say a big welcome and thank you to Annette for volunteering for this ministry. Together with Sophie Evans they will now be offering Children’s Liturgy on a more frequent basis. Please see the calendar in the Narthex on the family community board for up and coming dates. Please note that after this Sunday 27th July Children's Liturgy will meet again on the 7th September.

MARIAN GARDEN BLESSING THIS SUNDAY : Our new Marian Garden is starting to take shape and the statue of Mary is now firmly in place. You can see the garden adjacent to the car park and through the Parish Centre windows. We are looking for contributions of plants especially of the perennial variety. If you would like to contribute or offer help for the care of the garden please speak to or contact Andrea Nicholls via the Parish Office. The Marian Garden will be blessed by Father Steven THIS SUNDAY 20th July at the Parish Picnic.