Pastoral letter from Bishop Marcus, Laetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent, March 2020

Bishop Marcus’ pastoral letter can be read here, it is about Jesus revealing himself as the “light of the world”; he offers a way out of darkness and the isolation it can bring.

Sunday Mass from St Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds

The 11:00 am Sunday Mass from Leeds Cathedral will continue to be live-streamed each week whilst the celebration of public Masses is suspended. To participate online, please access the following new YouTube channel which will be live from Sunday:  www.leedscathedrallive.org.uk and may also be accessed via a link embedded on the Leeds Cathedral home page:  https://www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/cathedral.

Bishop Marcus will read his Pastoral letter this Sunday, 22nd March during the Mass.

A letter from Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP in response to the Coronavirus pandemic

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, so many aspects of our lives must change. This includes the ways in which we publicly express our faith. It is very clear that, following official advice and in order to keep each other safe, save lives and support the NHS, at this time we must not gather for public acts of worship in our churches. This will begin from Friday evening, 20th March 2020, until further notice. Cardinal Vincent and Archbishop Malcolm’s letter can be read in full here.

Refugee crisis

Bishop Marcus has written to us asking to continue our support for refugees and asylum seekers. The Bishop’s letter can be read here and Catholic Care’s newsletter summarising the diocese’s work responding to the crisis over the last 4 years here.

World Day of Prayer Come – Everything is Ready!

Everything is ready and the invitation is for everyone – men, women and children of all ages to join this Day of Prayer. Women of Slovenia, one of the smallest and youngest countries in Europe, have prepared this year’s service and they encourage us to reflect on the barriers they have faced since the end of the Second World War when their country was a part of Yugoslavia, a Marxist socialist republic. They share the challenges they have met and the hopes they have for the future.

The Day of Prayer is celebrated in over 120 countries. It begins in Samoa and prayer in native languages travels throughout the world – through Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas before finishing in American Samoa some 38 hours later.

Our service will be held in Menston Methodist Church on Friday 1st March 2019. The service begins at 6.30pm and refreshments will be served from 6pm. Please do come and join us for this special service.

Gift Aid

You can Gift Aid donations you make in the future or have made in the past 4 years.  Please complete the GAD form which can be obtained here and return to Greg Jessop.

Knights of St Columba

You can find out more about the work and the history of the Knights of St Columba (KSC) here.  An application form to join our parish KSC can be downloaded here.

Parish Meetings

Dates for future parish meetings are below, all start at 7:30pm

CAFOD – El Salvador and Columbia

Our parish has supported CAFOD’s work with the Puentecitos community in El Salvador for the last 4 years.  We raised £491 from book sales in the church foyer and £2,511 from our parish team running the 2015 Great North Run.  Read here about the amazing projects that have been completed, helping to improve people’s income and food production in this very poor region of the country.  From January 2019 our parish has been supporting people in Magdalena Medio, Columbia through CAFOD’s HandsOn programme.

Kim’s poem for corporal David O’Connor

Kim wrote this poem just after David’s funeral. He was Kim’s brother’s eldest son. He was a corporal in the Royal Marines. He was killed while on active service in Afghanistan on 24 October 2012. He was 27 years old.