Now that we are able to use social areas without restrictions, coffee and tea will  be served again after Sunday morning Mass in the parish room. Please come along and enjoy a chat with other parishioners.

We have a rota of volunteers for the first few weeks but if anyone else would like to sign up to take a turn in future they would  be most welcome.  For further details please contact Helen Schofield via the parish office or after Mass on Sunday.

There is an ongoing collection of items for this project including: toilet rolls, biscuits, sugar, rice and tins (meat, fish, baked beans, chick peas, tomatoes etc).Please leave your donations in the labelled box in the narthex at any time. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Those who are sick:

Liz Carr, Francis Mangion, Andrew S, Christopher Browne, Rosemary Cramp, Hugh McElhennon, Mary Skelton, Clare Carver and David Moore.

Those whose anniversaries occur at this time:

Elizabeth Hoy, Hilda Kanik, Mary Beeley, Wladyslaw Lentowicz, Tessa Kirk. May they rest in peace.

The Gospel Reflection Group started during lockdown, and it’s a great opportunity to reflect on the readings for Sunday’s Mass, to share your thoughts and to listen to what others have to say. Join us at 10.30am on Saturday mornings. The reflection takes place on Zoom, and you can find the joining details in the Parish Facebook Group or by contacting Margaret Doyle on margaretdoyle1066@sky.com. If you’ve joined us in the past, please note that we’ve recently changed the dial-in details.

The reflections will last about 50 minutes and then we take a short break to get a cup of coffee and have a social chat. You’re welcome to join us for the whole call, but you’re also welcome to leave after the Gospel Reflection, or join us for social time at 11.30am.

This year’s AGM will take place on Thursday 5^th May at 7.30pm in the parish room. The meeting is open to everyone – please do come along to hear reports about everything that’s been happening in the parish in the last 12 months, and to let us know your opinions on what we are doing and your ideas for our parish community. The AGM will also include elections for the Parish Pastoral Council. We haven’t had elections for the last 2 years because of the COVID disruption and we’re always keen to get new people involved, so please do consider standing for the PPC – there are 3 posts.

You can also attend the AGM via Zoom – email margaretdoyle1066@sky.com for login details.

If you have any agenda items for the AGM, please contact the secretary, Susan Penswick. If you’d like to talk about what being on the PPC involves, contact the chair, Helen Schofield. Susan and Helen can be contacted via the parish office at office@stcuthberts-durham.org.uk

A public lecture by Professor Anna Rowlands, St Hilda Professor of Catholic Social Thought and Practice at Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies. Prof Rowlands has written on issues of social justice including forced migration, is a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, and was a member of the panel that presented Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti.

Thursday 3rd March at 7.00pm, in St Cuthbert’s Church. Everyone is welcome. If you can’t make it in person, the event will also be live-streamed on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/4zGrmTlgPWA.

Prof Rowlands will also give the same lecture at The Holy Name, Jesmond, Newcastle on Thursday 10th March at 7pm.

Our annual Week of Guided Prayer will be held from Sunday 16th-Friday 21st January. A Week of Guided Prayer (also called a Retreat in Daily Life) brings the experience of an individually guided retreat to you, fitting around your work or study commitments. You have the opportunity to meet daily with a prayer guide and explore the Ignatian approach to prayer. The retreat is open to everyone – students, university staff and parishioners. Those who have taken part in past years have found it a worthwhile and enriching experience. For this year’s retreat, we hope to offer the option of either face-to-face or online meetings with your guide, while all the workshops will be presented online via Zoom. If you wish to take part in the Week of Guided Prayer, please contact Fr Andrew on andrew.j.downie@durham.ac.uk 

Thank you to everyone who has helped to prepare the church for Christmas, and has taken part in the Christmas liturgies. Have a peaceful and blessed Christmas – Fr Andrew.

This year’s Parish Carols by Candlelight will be held in the church on Sunday 19th December at 4pm.

Everybody is very welcome.

If you missed the Chaplaincy carol service, it’s available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_kxq-PB_8Y

The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has issued a statement on the importance of Sunday as our Holy Day. Read it here.

Fr Liam will be returning to Durham this week, for his final PhD exam – please pray for a good result! There will be a special Mass at St Cuthbert’s on Wednesday 8^th December at 7pm, to celebrate Fr Liam’s time with us, with refreshments afterwards. Everyone is welcome, but please book a place at Mass in the usual way.

Fr Liam included the following in the Acknowledgements for his thesis: I owe a particular debt of gratitude to the parishioners of St Cuthbert’s and the students of the Catholic Society, Durham. Their kindness, hospitality, and Christian faith was a constant source of encouragement these past three years. Deo Gratias.

Since the pandemic began, the ways in which we have been able to say goodbye to our loved ones and to celebrate their funerals have been severely restricted. This applies to those who died with the coronavirus and to those we have lost through other circumstances. Every family and parish is finding ways to express their loss. As part of our Diocesan family approach to these difficult times we shall especially dedicate the month of November to their remembrance.  

For a number of years, we here in St Cuthbert’s have invited people to inscribe the names of all their departed families into a book kept by the font during the month of November and we will be doing that again this year. We will also prepare a separate ‘Book of Remembrance’ to contain the names of all those who have died in the difficult days of 2020-21. If you would like the names of family, friends, neighbours or colleagues who have died in the last 2 years to be included in this special record, please contact Fr Andrew or Andy Doyle on andydoyle1066@sky.com  Our parish Memorial Mass will be at 10am on Saturday 20th November and will use this special Book of Remembrance as a focus for our prayer.

Each Episcopal Area will also have an opportunity to gather for another Mass for our dead, at which Bishop Robert plans to preside. 

Our special Book of Remembrance will then be taken to Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle, so that all those named may be remembered at a Solemn Requiem Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert at 11.00am on Saturday 27th November.

This year’s programme has now started, but it’s not too late to join. Sessions are held every Tuesday at 7.00pm. If you’re interested, please contact Fr Andrew.

The Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle is also offering an online programme, ‘First Steps,’ for those who wish to explore the Catholic faith. Details on the diocesan website, www.rcdhn.org.uk