“Paul, the “thirteenth apostle”  who did most to spread the Gospel, wrote “I have become all things to all.” Maybe at this time we will discover Christ’s closeness most effectively if we, his disciples, make ourselves seekers with those who seek, & questioners with those who question. There are more than enough of those who declare they have already reached their goal  & offer ready-made but often facile answers, & unfortunately they are  also to be found among those who invoke the name of Jesus. May we will make our belief more accessible ot the Zacchaeuses of our day if we make them our neighbours, in  Jesus’ sense, as they “look out through the leaves”.I once came across a book by a bishop with the subtitle “a book for  seekers & doubters”.Out of curiosity I picked it up. However, after a few pages, it was evident that the author’s attitude to seekers was one of someone who had already found what he wanted, while he regarded doubters as people whose doubts he could easily turn into certainties. At that moment I decided to write books of a different kind, as a doubter among doubters & a seeker among seekers, & I soon had the feeling that the Lord had really accepted that intention & taken it even more seriously than I had. God managed to undermine many of the religious certainties I had previously embraced, & in doing so, he prepared at the same time a surprising & valuable gift for me ; at the very moment of “rift”, at that moment of shaken & collapsing certainties, at the very moment of more & more questions & doubts, he showed me his face more clearly than ever before.I realised that the “encounter with God” ..conversion, assenting in faith with how God reveals Himself & the Church presents that revelation, was not the end of the journey. To have faith means to “follow in the footsteps”, & in this world it takes the form of a never ending  journey. True religion on earth can never end like as successful search for an object, because it is not directed towards a material end but to the heart of mystery, which is inexhaustible & bottomless.The path to the Zacchaeuses of today, people often on the fringe or beyond the visible frontiers of the Church, in the zone of questions & doubts, in that singular region between the two fortified camps of those “whose minds are made up” self assured believers & self assured atheists, helped me get a fresh understanding of faith & of the One to whom faith relates.                                                                              (Patience & God; Tomas Halik)
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Last Wednesday St Benedict’s RC Primary School had a Section 48 RE Inspection. It is part of Diocesan best practice that the religious life of the School is thoroughly & rigorously inspected every 5yrs. The format is similar to an Ofsted Inspection, & we knew it would be an opportunity for the overall progress in teaching & learning to be assessed since our last Ofsted. We await the written report of the Inspector & we will let you know the result as soon as it is published. It is a moment to express our deep gratitude to Mrs Barrs as Head of School & to Mr Harrison as Executive Head, together with all the staff, for their ongoing hard work in the classroom & beyond, where our good practice & progress have been noticed, affirmed & shared as  best practice. The School will be with us for Mass this Friday on the Feast of St Peter & St Paul, & both Mrs Barrs & myself are keen to continue to remind you that you are most welcome to come into School for any of our religious services, all of which are noted in the bulletin & in parent information.  
On Data Protection progress, thank you to those of you who have completed a Consent Form. 12  more have come in this  week, 79 have been returned to date. Please could I encourage others who may have been away recently to take home and complete the Form. We need a Consent Form for each family member over the age of thirteen. It would be helpful if you would name children under thirteen on your own individual Consent Form. Until we receive your Form we are not permitted to make contact with you, as you have yet to give your express permission. There have been 12 occasions since the legislation was introduced last month where I have been unable to make contact with individuals for whom I have as yet no consent. Could I encourage you to ask members of your family who do not attend our Parish, or who attend elsewhere, to consider being registered with us here? We hold pastoral responsibility for all baptised Catholics who live within our parish boundaries, & it is helpful for the spiritual, administrative & practical well-being of the Parish that we are fully aware of those to whom we owe the love & duty of care.
Could I remind you please that Bishop Terence Patrick & the Diocese are seeking expressions of interest from practising Catholics to act as Foundation Governors, & non practising Catholics as non-foundation Governors for our new Catholic Academy Trust, under the patronage of St Margaret Clitherow.. I would seriously & warmly encourage those of you who may feel unworthy, yet called by the Holy Spirit, to seek to be considered for such important positions of responsibility for the continued growth of our collective “Schools of the Lord’s Service”. I can give you a background paper on the role & an expression of interest form which needs to be returned to the Diocese by 6th July 2018. It would be a blessing for us, as one of the smallest schools in the Diocese, to have representation on this key Body.          With love & prayers Fr Bede.                                                                                                                    
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