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
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 £1292.67 in fabric donations. All contributions to these costs will 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 opportunities are 15, 22 & 29 August
Tombola As part of the Bring and Share BBQ festivities on Sunday 14 September there will be a Bottle Tombola. All donations will be gratefully received. There is a box at the back of church to receive them.
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
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! THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO’VE OFFERED ACCOMODATION FOR PRIESTS. Youth 2000 also needs cakes for the cafeteria at the Youth 2000 festival. This normally generates a good income which goes towards subsiding places for people that wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend the festival. The cakes are needed over the weekend of 22nd August. All the ingredients need to be written down. The container won’t be returned so needs to be something that bakers don’t mind parting with. Youth 2000 are extremely grateful for the continued generosity of Our Lady and St Benedict’s Parish. Speak to Amanda or email her on [email protected] if you have any questions.
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.
With August, please be aware that the life of the Parish will become a little less busy. 11 – 13 August Fr Kentigern and Fr Bernard will be in Chapter. 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.)
PLEASE NOTE THE HOLIDAY OF OBLIGATION ON 15 AUGUST AND ITS MASS TIMES.
Thank you to the generous parishioners who have agreed to drive Fr Kentigern to York Station on 14 August and pick him up from Malton Station on 29 August. The Parish Office will generally be closed for much, if not all, of this time too.
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 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
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.
MIDDLESBROUGH FOODBANK LAST CALL… Dear MFB Supporters, Thank you all so much, as always, for your support!
NEXT DELIVERY: TUES. 12 AUG.’25 DEADLINE FOR DONATIONS: 12 noon MON.11th AUG.’25
Families will be feeling the pressure by this date as children will still be at home for another 3 weeks, so please continue to give generously, especially cereals, long-life milk, long-life fruit juice, cordials and biscuits, treats and snacks. 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? AND THEN, THE NEXT DELIVERY DATES: DATE FOR SEPT. DELIVERY: TUES. 16th. DEADLINE for DONATIONS:- MON 15th SEPT at 12 NOON. A report on donations will come in September.
JUSTICE AND PEACE We are encouraged to continue to campaign against the atrocities being committed in the Middle East and to pray for and work for peace. Please read the Global Justice Now campaign invitation to write to HMG and act as your conscience directs. (To be found on the J&P board in the Hall.)
SATURDAY AFTER MASS REFRESHMENTS A next opportunity to share time with your fellow parishioners after Mass on Saturday is due to take place on 23 August. Are there any volunteers to organize this event?
CHILDREN’S LITURGY OF THE WORD The Children’s Liturgy of the Word will be taking a break during August and will recommence on Sunday 7 September. However, activity and colouring sheets will be available at the back of the church and the Hall will be open for families to use. If there is anyone interested in joining the team as helper or leader please speak to either Amanda or Lucinda.
MISSIO The latest Impact Reports are available in the porch for regular supporters. Please pick yours up if you haven’t yet.
On the weekend on 27 / 28 September we will be visited by a Mission Priest giving an Appeal. Would anyone be willing to offer hospitality for the night?
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.
Pilgrimage to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady
The Lady Chapel, Osmotherley
Sunday August 17 2025 Rosary from 2.30pm, Mass from 3pm
REMEMBER THERE IS A LONG CLIMB UP A STEEP AND ROUGH TRACK.
IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO BRING A SEAT!
Due to a change of circumstances, MAP are unable to accept any donations at this time and for the foreseeable future. A huge “Thank You” for all your generosity. Watch out for news in the autumn.
Stop assisted suicide - action needed! The Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill is expected to have its Second Reading in the House of Lords on Friday 12 September. Right To Life UK has launched an EasyAction tool to help you write to a few Peers with a tailored message to highlight key concerns with the Bill. Please take action now and visit www.righttolife.org.uk/aspeers to ask Peers to oppose assisted suicide - it takes just 30 seconds!
LIFE ISSUES SPUC encourage us to continue to campaign against the recent legislation on Abortion and Assisted Dying. Please see the postcards in the porch about the JOIN THE FIGHTBACK campaign.
Right now, Ireland has a historic chance to confront Apartheid — and the world is watching. The Irish parliament is close to passing a law banning trade with Israel's illegal settlements. If it goes through, Ireland will become the first EU country to impose real economic consequences for Israel’s occupation of Palestine. But powerful voices are trying to stop it. The US Ambassador to Israel just tweeted a threat telling Ireland to “sober up”. You can only imagine what Washington’s saying behind closed doors. That’s why it’s so important for us to speak up now. If people around the world call on the Irish government today, we can tip the balance. We’ll deliver this petition directly to the Irish parliament in the final moments before the vote. Add your name now. Tell the Irish government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, restricting both trade in products and services with illegal settlements. This isn’t symbolic — it’s precedent-setting. And it would have a massive impact - from cutting off the trade in products that come from stolen Palestinian land, to even blocking companies like PayPal, AirBnB and Google in Ireland from enabling Israel’s illegal settlements! By passing this bill, Ireland will open the door for other EU countriesto take unilateral action and finally hold Israel accountable. Just this week Slovenia became the first EU country to comprehensively ban weapons trade with Israel. Bigger countries will follow. Ireland was the first western country to pass a complete ban on imports from apartheid South Africa in 1987 — but it only did it after a years-long grassroots campaign grew so big that it couldn’t be ignored. Sign the petition — and show Ireland the world is behind this A strong Irish ban on trade with illegal settlements can cause a ripple effect. That’s why the US and Israeli governments are meddling-in. Together, we’ve built a movement for accountability — for Gaza, for human rights, and for justice. Let’s make history. Thanks for all that you do, Nabil, Eoin, Rewan and the team at Ekō LEADERSHIP TEAM NEWS
On Tuesday 5 August, Robert, Amanda & David met with our coach Diahne for a fresh discussion and reflection inspired by the gospel passage of Peter walking on the water towards Jesus. There were concerns that the forthcoming Alpha has not yet really taken off.
It was decided to start populating the Alpha Whatsapp Group with invitations and news. The Team will meet on 15 August. A mock evening will take place at Gilling Village Hall on 3 September.
There was also some discussion about the possible plans for the Church Hall and Parish Office – for which we still await some important information.
The window of opportunity for an Open Meeting with our Coach (Diahne) has closed for now. Watch out for a fresh attempt in 2026.
The next meeting with Diahne will take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9 September.
PLEASE DO SPEAK TO ANY MEMBER OF THE LEADERSHIP TEAM ABOUT ANY OF THIS, OR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING WITH YOU.