CHURCH OPEN APPROX 10.00am - 3.00pm each day. SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS
The Sick: The Diocese, on advice and under Data Protection Regulations (May 2018), asks us not to name individuals, but to pray for them as a group within the Parish Body as those in particular need.
Recently Dead: Peter Allen, Helen Goodman, Sheila Pacitto
Anniversaries: Becky Laird, Kathleen Laird, Alice Madden, Enid Hawkesworth, Oliver Hayes Fawcett
HOME COMMUNIONS If you require Holy Communion at home, please contact John Ridge: [email protected], Fr Kentigern or Fr Bernard either by e-mail or leave a telephone message by 8.00pm on Friday evening stating whether you require a weekly visit or a one-off call. Someone will then be in contact to arrange a suitable day and time to visit.
EASY FUNDRAISER Do you regularly shop online? Did you know you could support your church at the same time? For more information speak to Tracey in the Parish Office and see information leaflets in the Hall.
WORLD COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION Meets each week: Mondays at 2pm - 3pm in St Ben’s Hall: contact Mary Sturges Thursdays at 8pm - 8 45pm on Zoom: contact David and Sue Walsh Should you wish to join either group contact Mary Sturges 01439788563. The Monday group will break for the summer after 28 July and will reconvene on 8 September
CHRISTIAN MEN OF THE VALLEY Meet each Monday at 8.00pm to share faith, friendship and interests.
FABRIC PROJECTS Works have cost £35000. To date, we have received £987.67 in fabric donations. All contributions to these costs will be gratefully received.
SATURDAY EVENING REFRESHMENTS There will be refreshments after Mass on Saturday 19 July. All Welcome. Come meet with your fellow parishioners.
MIDDLESBROUGH FOODBANK - MFB We hope you will be able to continue to do your best to support the MFB and contribute to the SUMMER HOLIDAY APPEAL which will involve all of its usual loyal supporters, as well, as those in the villages of Cawton, Gilling, Oswaldkirk and Stonegrave. PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN AND INCLUDE TREATS AND SUMMER SNACKS, eg CEREAL BARS, BISCUITS, CRISPS and SWEETS! NEXT DELIVERY: TUES. 15th JULY ‘25 DEADLINE FOR DONATIONS: 12 noon MON.14th JULY ‘25 PLEASE HELP ALL YOU CAN! Donations should be left at the back of Our Lady and St Benedict’s Church as always. PS. MFB GIFT AID forms are now available at the back of church for individual donations of cash and cheques. If you are able to, please could you hand them into the office along with your donation or give them to us directly?
INVITATIONS FROM OUR SCHOOLCHILDREN As part of their celebration of the Jubilee Year some staff and parents have contributed recipes to a “RECIPES FOR HOPE” Cookbook. This will raise money for the current School charity “The Upper Room Project”. For more details or to purchase, please contact School. THURSDAY 17 JULY: LEAVERS’ MASS 2.00pm. All welcome to School for this Celebration at the end of the School Year. SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER: BRING AND SHARE BBQ at School from 12.00pm. An opportunity to mark our unity at the beginning of a new Academic Year and welcome new families into our Parish/School Family. Any assistance providing BBQ equipment etc would be gratefully received.
VOLUNTEER DRIVERS As part of the experiment in providing more time for Fr Kentigern to develop his Leadership of the Parish, Fr Bernard will be taking on some of the visiting of the housebound in Gilling. The next opportunity is 15 August
CAFOD Donate to CAFOD’s Israeli-Palestinian Crisis Appeal at cafod.org.uk/ipc or call 0303 303 3030. or to the Sudan Crisis Appeal: cafod.org.uk/SudanAppeal or call: 0808 58 588 85.
YOUTH 2000 Youth 2000 are coming back to Ampleforth this year from Friday 22nd - Monday 25th August for our Summer Festival 2025! We are so excited and are hoping to welcome almost 600 young people this year! As such, we need as many priests and as many rooms available for young people as possible. To help us free up beds for more young people we are asking local families to consider if they are able and willing to host any priests or religious this year. All their meals will be provided for at the Summer Festival, our priests would just need a bed to sleep in at night. If you think this is something you and your family could offer, please get in touch with Youth 2000 at [email protected] or by texting Louisa at 07444 214089.
THE ALPHA EXPERIENCE Curious about faith? Join a series of group conversations that freely explore the basics of the Christian faith in an open, friendly environment. At each ALPHA session, you’ll be hosted in a small group and watch an episode on a different question of faith – then you have the chance to share your thoughts and hear what others think. You can say anything you like or nothing at all. EVERYONE’S WELCOME You’re invited, no matter your background or beliefs. It’s FREE and there’s no pressure to come back. WEDNESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER – More details to follow…
Silence for Gaza From the heartbreakingly beautiful writings of Gaza’s Dr. Ezzideen Shehab
There is no internet. No signal. No sound. No world beyond this cage. I walked thirty minutes through ruins and dust. Not in search of escape, but for a fragment of signal, just enough to whisper, “We are still alive.” Not because anyone is listening, but because to die unheard is the final death. Gaza is silent now. Not with peace, but with obliteration. Not a silence of stillness, but of smothering. They severed the last cable. No messages leave. No images enter. Even grief has been forbidden. I passed the corpses of buildings, of homes, of men, some breathing, some not. All of them erased by the same hand that erased our voices. This is not a siege of bombs alone. It is a siege of memory: a war against our ability to say, “We were here.” The bombing never stopped, especially in Jabalia. They shell the streets where children beg for food. They shell the lines where mothers wait for flour. They shell hunger itself. No food. No water. No exit. And those who try, those who reach for aid, are struck down. People die here, and no one knows. Not because the killing paused, but because the killing of connection succeeded. The internet was our final breath. It was not a luxury; it was the last evidence of our humanity. Now it is gone. And in the dark, they massacre without consequence. I found this faint eSIM signal as a dying man finds a flicker of flame. I stood beneath a broken sky, risking death, not for rescue, but to send this. A single message. A last resistance. If you are reading this, remember: we walked through fire to say it. We were not silent. We were silenced. And when the cables are restored, the truth will bleed through the wires, and the world will know what it chose not to see.
THE CHURCH OF ST HILDA AND THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY AND ST BENEDICT
Rev James & Fr Kentigern invite you to join them for
COMMUNITY PRAYERS 10.00am Monday 7 July – St Hilda Monday 21 July – Our Lady & St Benedict Monday 4 August – St Hilda Monday 18 August – Our Lady & St Benedict Monday 1 September – St Hilda Monday 15 September – Our Lady & St Benedict Monday 29 September – St Hilda
Followed by refreshments and fellowship
SEA SUNDAY – 12/13 July Seafarers and fishers play a vital role in all our lives, but they often work in difficult, hazardous conditions. Sea Sunday (this weekend) is when the Church prays for all those who live and work at sea. Your support will make a big difference to seafarers and fishers in need. You can donate in church via the box (there are Gift aid envelopes available) at the back or the digital collection plate, by visiting www.stellamaris.org.uk/donate, or by texting SEA to 70460 to donate £5. This collection is vital to enable Stella Maris to continue its important work, so please give generously. Thank You.
OUR LADY & ST BENEDICT'S PARISH & SCHOOL BRING & SHARE BARBECUE Sunday 14th September 12:00pm Join us after the Scarecrow Trail for a BBQ filled with Fun & Community Spirit! Bring & Share (meat/veggie/salad/ dessert) Bring your own bottle Lucky dip - 50p Bottle tombola
St Benedict's Primary School, Back Lane, Ampleforth
Scouts 1st Helmsley Scout Group SCARECROW TRAIL 2025 STRAW, SMILES AND SKILLS FOR LIFE 10am to 4pm 13th and 14th September 2025 Ampleforth Village ENTRY FORMS CAN BE PURCHASED FROM HEARTS FROM END OF JULY OR FIND THE QR CODE IN THE PARISH BULLETIN OR SCOUT POSTERS
PARKING Could I encourage as many as possible on Saturday Evening or Sunday Morning to use the parking available off St Hilda’s Walk – below the allotments or in the Doctor’s Surgery. This will help to prevent the congestion building up on West End during the weekend.
ADVANCE NOTICE With August coming upon us soon, please be aware that the life of the Parish will become a little less busy. 4 – 10 August Fr Kentigern and Fr Bernard will be participating in the Monastic Community Retreat. There will be no Services except for the Weekend. 11 – 13 August Fr Kentigern and Fr Bernard will be in Chapter. Again, no Services on 12th. 14 – 29 August Fr Kentigern will be away on his annual vacation. Fr Bernard will cover Mass etc. (Transport assistance may be required.) A generous person has agreed to drive Fr Kentigern to York Station, leaving the Monastery at 5.30am on Thursday 14 August. Is there another willing to pick him up from Malton Station at 8.45pm on Friday 29 August? The Parish Office will generally be closed for much, if not all, of this time too.
ASSUMPTION PILGRIMAGE The Annual Assumption Pilgrimage to the Lady Chapel at Osmotherley takes place on Sunday 17 August. Details to follow. (Usually Rosary from 2.30pm and Mass at 3.00pm) ALL WELCOME
INSPIRATION DAY FOR MINISTERS Please see details of this important event in September, to be found at the back of the church along with a sign up sheet. I would encourage as many as possible to attend, especially if you require commissioning / recommissioning.