Our Lady and St. Benedict
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    • Joyce Rupp reflection
    • The Rev Julie Nicholson
    • Noah's Ark story part 1 >
      • Noah's Ark story part 2
      • Noah's Ark story part 3
      • Noah's Ark story part 4
    • Wind beneath my wings; Bette Midler
    • Lockdown poem
    • Our Lady and the child Jesus
    • Pope Francis Rosary
    • Seven gifts sheet
    • Women & the post-covid church
    • Jesus images
    • Ark
    • Why I'm not opening church's yet
    • Abbot primates five blessings
    • Holy Spirit
    • Angelus & Come down O Love divine hymn
    • Simon & Garfunkel song
    • Trasna Poem
    • The seven I am titles of Jesus
    • Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat by Simon de Myle
    • Angels Unaware
    • Be still and know that I am God
    • Extraordinary moment of prayer
    • Halik
    • Don't be fooled
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    • Middlesbrough Food Bank
    • The Sick and the Unwell
    • The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP)
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    • Zimbabwe missions appeal >
      • Mashambanzou Bulletin September 2020
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“What do we really know about the truth of a human being? He or she may live by our side for years, & we may not notice anything unusual about the person. But we cannot evaluate or judge a human life by everyday events. There are times & moments in our lives when everything we are is concentrated & hangs in the balance. At such crucial moments it becomes very clear who we really are. It is not that the truth of our person is really decided at such moments. It is that such times bring out clearly the vision & conviction that also shapes our everyday life.

Undoubtedly, the decisive moment in Jesus’ life was the one involving Gethsemane & Golgotha. For the early Church, however, this moment makes clearer than ever what Jesus must have had before his eyes all the time. The reality of Jesus was not that clear to his own disciples. Their eyes were dimmed by anxiety & weariness of heart. They could say nothing while Jesus was still with them. We cannot say for sure this Gospel passage about Jesus’ transfiguration came into being after Easter. But isn’t it true that we almost always grasp the truth about a human being years later, while we were almost blind to it when we were with the person?
What was the truth about Jesus, the truth for all time? This Gospel tells us that we must ascend the mountain with Jesus if we wish to understand him. To maintain the imagery, we can say that our lives are lived in the lowlands & valleys. We seem to be thoroughly defined by the laws of environment, inertia, & gravity. From this “lowland” perspective, we appear to be puppets on string, more acted upon than actors. Such a life, nothing more than a clinging to earth, hardly deserves to be called human. We are called to the heights, to greatness, & our soul is meant to take wings. We are intended to gather together everything in our being & life.
So Jesus takes the three disciples with him, leaves the plain, & literally goes up to a higher plane where there is a broad view & eyes can see clearly. How does anyone climb such a mountain? We cannot look for it somewhere in space: the mountains of the heart are the upward sweeps of joy, experiences of absolute liberation, as if we had finally arrived at the very centre of the world, or as if we had come to a sanctuary & left behind everything that chokes, besieges & oppresses us. We human beings are called to touch the heavens with our foreheads & to hear the voice of God in our hearts.”
                                                                                                                                                   (The Open Tomb: Eugen Drewermann)

Our Parish Vision Prayer
  • We pray that we may be a growing community
             Which, thorough the power of the Holy Spirit, joyfully serves the mission given to us by Jesus Christ.
  • We pray that we may be a welcoming family
             in which, young or old, you are known by name, loved and accepted as you are, invited to pray, to share your life,                        
             to heal and to grow, to enjoy a loving relationship with God, yourself and others, and so become the person you     
             were created to be.
  • We pray that together we may reach out in love
             To serve the needs of the world and offer the joy and hope of the Gospel to others, through our actions, our words         
             and the example of our lives, responding above all to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth, so that in all     
             things God our Father will be glorified.

 
 Living God, you walk alongside us & speak to us throughout the Scriptures. Your Son, Jesus Christ, listens to our hopes & fears & shows us how to live for one another.
Send us the Holy Spirit to open our hearts & minds so that we may be your witnesses throughout the world. Amen.
V. Your word is our path & your truth is our light.                        R. This day & every day.
                                                                                                                                           (Prayer of the Word for the Year of the Word)
​

 
Our journey towards the eventual amalgamation of our three Churches continues, as our Coordinating Group, Vision Group & Finance Committee continue to meet on behalf of us all to discuss & discern a number of key issues in our attempt to help each & every parishioner through this difficult time of transition & change. During this season of Lent, & its moment of extra prayer & recollection, please let us pray especially for each other as we meet the challenges & opportunities differently & yet, vitally & hopefully, together. I will be in a position very soon to bring to each of our three Churches an update of where we are, & where we hope to be into the future, & to seek your advice & wisdom.
                                                                                                                                                              with my love & prayers Fr Bede.

                                                                                             
​
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  • Home
    • Church History
  • Mass Times
  • Homilies
    • First Sunday of Lent
    • Ash Wednesday
    • Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
    • Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Baptism of Our Lord
    • Epiphany of the Lord
    • Homily; 1 Jan 2021; Mary Mother of God
    • Christmas Midnight Mass
    • Fourth Sunday of Advent
    • Third Sunday of Advent
    • Homily 2nd Sunday of Advent
    • Homily; 1st Sunday of Advent
    • Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
    • Thirty-third Sunday
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    • All Souls
    • All Saints
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    • Homily for Tuesday Wk 6 Easter
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    • Fifth Sunday of Lent
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    • Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • The Presentation of the Lord
    • Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Holy Family
    • Mary Mother of God
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    • First Sunday of Advent
    • Remembrance Sunday
    • Thirty-first Sunday
    • Twenty-fourth Sunday
    • Twentieth Sunday
    • Eighteenth Sunday
    • Seventeenth Sunday
    • Sixteenth Sunday
    • The Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
    • The Most Holy Trinity
    • Seventh Sunday of Easter
    • Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Thirteenth Sunday
    • St John the Baptist
    • Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Transfiguration of the Lord
    • Cemetery Mass
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    • First Sunday of Lent
    • Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
    • Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • The Baptism of the Lord
    • Second Sunday after the Nativity
    • The Holy Family
    • Fourth Sunday of Advent
    • Third Sunday of Advent
    • 2nd Sunday of Advent
    • 1st Sunday of Advent
    • Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
    • Thirty third Sunday
    • Thirty second Sunday
    • All Saints
    • Thirtieth Sunday
    • Twenty-ninth Sunday
    • Twenty-eighth Sunday
    • Twenty-seventh Sunday
    • Twenty-sixth Sunday
    • Twenty-fifth Sunday
    • Twenty Fourth Sunday
    • Thirty-third Sunday
    • Twenty-second Sunday
    • Twenty-first Sunday
    • The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    • Nineteenth Sunday
    • Eighteenth Sunday
    • Seventeenth Sunday
    • Sixteenth Sunday
    • Fifteenth Sunday
    • Fourteenth Sunday
    • St Peter & St Paul
    • Twelfth Sunday
    • The Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
    • Trinity Sunday
    • Pentecost Sunday
    • Seventh Sunday of Easter
    • Sixth Sunday of Easter
    • Fifth Sunday of Easter
    • Fourth Sunday of Easter
    • Third Sunday of Easter
    • Second Sunday of Easter
    • Easter Sunday
    • Palm Sunday
    • Fifth Sunday of Lent
    • Fourth Sunday of Lent
    • Third Sunday of Lent
    • Second Sunday of Lent
    • Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • The Presentation of the Lord
    • The Baptism of the Lord
    • The Epiphany of the Lord
    • Fourth Sunday of Advent
    • Second Sunday of Advent
    • First Sunday of Advent
    • Thirty-first Sunday
    • Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Twenty-fourth Sunday
    • Twenty-third Sunday
    • Twentieth Sunday
    • Eighteenth Sunday
    • Sixteenth Sunday
    • The Most Holy Trinity
    • Sixth Sunday of Easter
    • Fourth Sunday of Easter
    • Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • St John the Baptist
    • Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
    • Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
  • Coronavirus
    • Caritas Middlesbrough helpline
    • Live streaming
    • Home Prayers
    • Our Advent Journey to Christmas sheet
    • Blessing of Advent Wreath
    • O Antiphon thought for each day
    • The Tablet
    • Seized by the Holy Spirit by Abbot General
    • Letter to Daniel
    • Joyce Rupp reflection
    • The Rev Julie Nicholson
    • Noah's Ark story part 1 >
      • Noah's Ark story part 2
      • Noah's Ark story part 3
      • Noah's Ark story part 4
    • Wind beneath my wings; Bette Midler
    • Lockdown poem
    • Our Lady and the child Jesus
    • Pope Francis Rosary
    • Seven gifts sheet
    • Women & the post-covid church
    • Jesus images
    • Ark
    • Why I'm not opening church's yet
    • Abbot primates five blessings
    • Holy Spirit
    • Angelus & Come down O Love divine hymn
    • Simon & Garfunkel song
    • Trasna Poem
    • The seven I am titles of Jesus
    • Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat by Simon de Myle
    • Angels Unaware
    • Be still and know that I am God
    • Extraordinary moment of prayer
    • Halik
    • Don't be fooled
    • Home picture
    • The Last Supper
    • Iona Gate
    • Caravaggio 1
    • Caravaggio 2
    • Poems 1
    • Poems 2
    • School
    • Leeds
    • 5th Station, Simon of Cyrene carries the Cross
  • Hospitality & Outreach
    • Middlesbrough Food Bank
    • The Sick and the Unwell
    • The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP)
    • ​Together Middlesbrough and Cleveland (TMC)
    • Zimbabwe missions appeal >
      • Mashambanzou Bulletin September 2020
  • Gallery
    • Bernard's bench 2020
    • Cherry tree in blossom 2020
    • 2016 in our Church
    • Church Photos
    • Historical Photos
  • Contact us
  • Caristas Newsletter
  • 100 Club Winners
  • GDPR - Privacy Notice
  • Justice & Peace
  • Knitting for Refugees
  • Parish Hall for hire
  • Rosa Ampleforth
  • Safeguarding
  • Useful Links