A number of us are planning to cycle to Ushaw College for the Partnership Mass on the 30th June. Everyone is welcome to join us. The plan is to leave St Cuthbert’s by 10:30am on Sunday 30th June, in order to have some time before Mass to cool off. If interested let Martin Forester or Chima know you will be coming.
The Spirit of truth will lead you to the complete truth
The Son of God became human to reveal God to us. During his life on earth, Jesus taught his disciples in parables; he worked miracles which were signs of God’s power; and he taught them by his whole way of life. But at the Last Supper, preparing to face death, Jesus knows that his disciples have not yet fully grasped the truth that he is teaching them. The Holy Spirit, who comes at Pentecost, will lead them into the fullness of the truth. And the truth is that at the heart of God is loving relationship: three Persons, Father, Son and Spirit, living in mutual love and self-giving. This truth is a mystery that is beyond human understanding, even with the help of divine grace. Like some of the other great truths that we encounter in our lives – the wonders of nature, the mystery of a person we love – the Trinity is not a problem to be solved, but a truth to be encountered, accepted and lived.
Events at Ushaw
Ushaw Lecture: Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall and Durham’s Response to the Reformation. Dr Elizabeth Biggs (Lendrum Priory Library Visiting Fellow, Durham Residential Research Library.) Tuesday 18th June. 5.30pm: Drinks reception in the Refectory. 6pm: Lecture in the Exhibition Hall. Everyone is welcome. Minibus transport is available from Durham city centre: to book transport, please register at https://centreforcatholicstudies.eventbrite.com
Day of prayer and reflection at Ushaw: Led by Sister Rosarie Spence RSM, Thursday, 20th June, 11.00am – 4.00pm. Experience different ways of praying, and an opportunity to step aside and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.
£10.00 per person, including coffee, tea and biscuits served on arrival from 10.30-11.00am, and at the end of the day. Lunch is not provided, but there is a delicious range of food available in the Refectory. Bookings can be made on-line via www.ushaw.org or by calling 0191 3345119.
Poetry Reading & Discussion with award winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts. Monday 24th June, 7:30–9pm at Ushaw College. Entrance is free, and transport is available from Durham city, but booking is required at www.newsongconference.com
The Challenge of Change
New homes, new communities and the impact on Durham City. The Revd. Chris Beales (Director of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s New Commission on Housing) will lead a discussion on new housing development in Durham City. At Elvet Methodist Church, Thursday 20th June at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be provided.
Around the Church
Evensong at Durham Castle
Open House Weekend
Finchale Partnership open afternoons
God at Home With Us
Jesus says: ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’ What does it mean for Jesus and the Father to make their home with us? It means that God is present with us in every moment of our lives – in all that we do, and in every choice that we make. It means that we keep Christ’s words – not obeying a set of rules which are somehow alien to what we really are, but becoming more like Christ, following Christ’s way of love for the Father and love for God’s children. This dwelling with the Father and the Son is made possible for us by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Advocate, the Counsellor, the Companion who gives us life. At Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit is revealed in a dramatic way, when the apostles are transformed into fearless witnesses, able to preach in all the languages of the world about the marvels of God. We will be transformed too, if we welcome the Spirit.
Book Launch and Catholic Theology Research Semina
At St Chad’s College, Wednesday 12th June. 4pm: Drinks Reception and launch of the Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology, edited by Prof Lewis Ayres and Dr Medi Ann Volpe. 5pm: Catholic Theology Research Seminar in the Chapel: Human Desire and Divine Desire: The Case of John of the Cross, by Dr Eddie Howells (University of Roehampton.)6.30pm: Close. Please register at https://centreforcatholicstudies.eventbrite.com
Baptism
Please pray for Blake Maddock and Katherine Glasspool, who will be welcomed to our parish at the 10.00 Mass on Sunday 9th June, and for their families. Blake’s Baptism will be celebrated next Sunday, 16th June, after morning Mass, and Katherine will be baptised on Saturday 6th July. Everyone is welcome to join us for the celebration of Baptism.
Please Pray
Mass in Extraordinary Form
Serve the Lord with Gladness
The Event
Around the Church
Marist Mission Appeal
Book Sale
A number of our liturgical books, including our hymnals, Book of the Gospels and Lectionaries, are in a sorry state of repair – fortunately because they are well-used! To help start a source of funds to renew these books and possibly to purchase a stock of Sunday and Weekday Missals, Andy Doyle is holding a sale of books, DVDs and CDs in the Parish Room on Saturday 8th June between 10am and 3pm. Come along and find a bargain amongst the hundreds of varied items!
Fr Matthew’s ‘First Mass’
May they all be one
On the eve of his death, Jesus prayed to his Father for his disciples, that they might all be one. But today’s reality seems to be ever-increasing division; between the rich and poor nations of the world, between the wealthy and the excluded in our own society, between opposing political positions. The Church founded by Christ is divided, too.
Today is Communications Sunday, when we are asked to pray for those who work in the media, and especially for those whose task is to communicate the Catholic faith. But as long as we are divided, our witness to Christ is compromised. We will not achieve unity by suppressing disagreement, or by trying to silence those who differ from us. We can only move towards unity by deepening our love of God, sharing in the love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This will lead us to a greater love and respect for our neighbour – a readiness to accept others and learn from them.
With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me,and that I have loved them as much as you loved me. (John 17:23)