Parish News

Would you like to join the Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes (3-9 July 2026)? Please contact: lourdes.enquiries@dioceseofleeds.org.uk for further information. Registered nurses and volunteer carers are desperately needed to join the team to enable assisted pilgrims to travel to Lourdes . This is a wonderful experience and I know from personal experience that some nurses and carers return year after year including some members of our parish. Please consider joining the friendly, happy team of volunteers and enjoy a truly blessed week with the assisted pilgrims.  Fr Chris

join the Little Sisters of the Poor for a designer clothes sale and some festive activities, Saturday the 20th of December from 12 to 4pm at St Urban’s. They are also hosting an Irish Night at the Irish Centre on York Road on Friday the 27th of February beginning at 7.30pm . Tickets are £25 including a meal and desert. All proceeds from both events will go to the rebuilding of Mount St Joseph.

For many years it has been a tradition for parishioners to donate a poinsettia plant as part of the Christmas display in memory of a loved one. If you would like to donate a plant (either red or white) please bring it to church on the weekend of the fourth Sunday of Advent (Saturday/Sunday) . Plants donated before this date may not last over the Christmas period. Many thanks.

To Susan Burns, Maxine Owens, Joanne Brierley, and Chloe Midgley who are to be received into the Catholic Church this Sunday at St Urban’s. Please do keep them in your prayers as they become full members of our parish family.  This calendar year we have welcomed 10 brothers and sisters. If you know someone who may be interested in hearing the Good News of the Lord Jesus I am very willing to have a conversation. Father Chris

As Christians we are used to having Jesus in our lives. His image is very familiar to us and we all have an picture of Jesus in our minds, but we need to move beyond the image in the picture or the statue; so, who is Jesus to you? This is not an odd question. Who Jesus is comes up time and again in the Gospels, including times when Jesus asks this question of his listeners and followers, and we have an example in Sunday's gospel. “are you the one who is to come”? The author of today’s gospel, Matthew, is clear about who Jesus is. For Matthew Jesus is the Messiah, long awaited by the Jewish people. Though Matthew’s gospel is good news for all people, at the time of writing Matthew’s primary audience at the time were Jewish Christians. Unlike Luke for example, Matthew was not primarily concerned with a non-Jewish readership. His task as he saw it was to prove that the prophesies about, and the promise of the Messiah to the Jewish people, had come to pass in the person of Jesus (though at the end of Matthew’s gospel the mission of salvation does become universal and is not confined to a particular group). Even so Matthew, even with Jesus in front of him, had to ask the question who Jesus was; in a way you can see him working it out as the story of Jesus unfolds in his Gospel. One thing we have in common with Matthew is how in our minds, hearts and souls our understanding of Jesus evolves over time. We see in Matthew’s narrative how the life and purpose of Jesus evolves over the course of his ministry. Jesus’ mission of salvation is gradually revealed, it evolves from salvation for the Jewish people to salvation for the whole of humanity. It evolves from an expectation of an earthly kingdom to the kingdom of the new heaven and the new earth. It evolves from having the adulation and respect of hundreds of followers to a solitary death on the cross. A solitary death but followed by a triumphant resurrection. During Jesus’ life there must have been times for Matthew and, as we see in Sunday's Gospel, for John the Baptist too, that Jesus was difficult to fathom let alone understand. But both John and Matthew stick with Jesus and it moves them to a better and deeper understanding of themselves and of God which in turn gains for them eternal life. How can we be as confident as Matthew and John about Jesus? In Sunday's gospel Jesus shows how his saving work defines who he is. He connects himself with the ancient signs of the arrival of the Messiah and the kingdom by his saving actions. He connects himself directly to the fragility of humanity, sickness, and pain. Jesus desires to save each and every one of us. He wants to give sight to the blindness of our hearts, he wants to strengthen our weary hands, he wants to gently say to us “courage, do not be afraid”. He invites us to look towards a time of joy and gladness where sorrow and lament be ended. Let us pray for the coming of this kingdom, our God is coming to save us. As always, be assured of my daily prayers for your intentions. God bless and keep you. Fr Chris

THE SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL (SVP): Do great work supporting the vulnerable in our parish. Many of you faithfully donate food which the SVP ensures is distributed, thank you so much. They always welcome new members (given the nature of the work a DBS is required). Please do consider if your c an join them and look out for the date of their next meeting. Remember the Lord will ask all of us what we have done to help those less fortunate.

Thank you to people who have come forward but we could still do with having more people to count our parish collection after the 10.30 Sunday Mass . We also need people to sign up to help with refreshments after the 10.30 Sunday Mass and with cleaning St Urban’s on Monday morning . I am genuinely grateful to those who help with this work, and in other areas too such as the Children’s Liturgy, but I am concerned that the work is being done largely by the same small group of people week in and week out, some of whom are not getting any younger (myself included)! After Christmas we will put up a list of activities where we need help and invite you to consider what you can do. We are a wonderful community of over 250 people. What can we do together to better serve each other,  and, of course, the Lord Jesus? Father Chris.

This winter St Urban’s meeting room will be open on the first Wednesday of each month from 7pm to 8.30pm as a warm and welcome space for anyone who has suffered loss, however long ago, and who would like an opportunity to talk about it. This is not counselling, it is just a warm and welcome space where your experience of loss can be shared, if you wish. The dates are: 7th January, 4th February and the 4th of March . No booking is needed, just turn up. Also we need volunteers to provide cake, to help prepare the room, to welcome people, to make and serve hot drinks and to clean the room afterwards. It is a wonderful ministry to others and if you feel called to offer any help at all please contact Breda on 07858517163.

THE ANNUAL LOURDES DINNER DANCE: will take place on Friday 13th February 2026 at the Met hotel in Leeds. Tickets are available from Phil Marshall at £45 or £400 for a table of 10. The ticket price includes reception drink, a 3 course Meal, tea and coffee, DJ and entertainment throughout the evening. To secure your tickets for this popular event, contact Phil on 07766 148375 or email philmarshall49@outlook.com . All profits at the event go to the Diocesan Lourdes fund.