This week's news

COMMUNITY CATCH UP!

Only 6 weeks to go until our annual Summer Social (hopefully on the field this year! 🌞) to celebrate our community and have a great day together.

Get Saturday 14th June in your diary and come along for a fun day with plenty to eat, drink, see, buy and do!

This year, we thank our school's PTFA who have arranged for fun inflatables! Plus we'll have Richard with his steam traction engine offering rides! With our local traders in the tent, the much loved pig racing, teachers in the stocks and plenty of games to play there really will be something for everyone!
All in aid of our School, Pre-school, Parish and Guiding units.

See you there!

Encounter 2025

Encounter 2025 is a diocesan wide programme to equip and empower people to share their faith and be renewed in heart and mind. The first step is to deepen our understanding of the Holy Spirit and cultivate a closer, more intimate relationship with God—this is at the heart of what we hope to achieve between Easter and Pentecost.

The programme will officially begin on Saturday, 3rd May, with a launch event at the Cathedral, open to all ages.
We are delighted to offer children’s streams, ensuring families can fully participate in this exciting journey together.
Weekly sessions will follow on Wednesday evenings, live-streamed from the Cathedral, enabling everyone across the Diocese to join in, wherever they are. These will be recorded and available to view at a later date.
To find out more, please email the team at: pentecost@cliftondiocese.com

LAUDATO SI‘ CLIFTON ‘Care for our common home’.

On Sat 31st May all are invited to a special day from 10:30–16:00 at St Bonaventure’s Church, Bishopston.

With Mass celebrated by Bishop Bosco, followed by refreshments, conversations & prayers.

See poster for details.

Book via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/laudato-si-clifton-diocese-encounter-tickets-1315421333619?aff=oddtdtcreator

Reminder: NEW PASTORAL AREA MEETING.

Join us in the hall on Friday (2nd May) at 7pm. This meeting is for clergy & laity from the parishes of North Bristol to join together.

The Bishop would like us to look to the future & share ideas. Everyone from the pastoral area is invited to join the conversation.

WeBelieve

St Mary’s College, Oscott is hosting 'WeBelieve', a festival of Catholic Life celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope.

WeBelieve is a project created and funded by The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom in collaboration with St Mary’s College, Oscott.

This summer, St Mary’s College, Oscott is hosting WeBelieve, a festival of Catholic Life celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope. You are warmly invited to join us from 25-28 July for what promises to be a wonderful experience. WeBelieve has been designed with parishes and families in mind, as an opportunity to receive inspiring faith formation together, to bond as a community and to celebrate the Jubilee in a tangible way.

The festival programme brings together the Catholic communion in a broad and beautiful way with a great line-up of contributors so far, including Dr Gianna Emanuela Molla (daughter of St Gianna Molla), Fr Paul Murray OP Mgr Michael Nazir-Ali, The Southwell Consort, Fr Toby Lees OP & many more.

Pilgrim-attendees can choose to join us for the whole weekend (camping, staying locally or coming from home) at an adult Early Bird rate of £70, or come for a day at £40. You can find all ticket options, the festival programme, print and online promotional material or register your parish at www.webelievefestival.com

Thank you Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for the Third Sunday of Easter Year C

1st Reading from the Acts of the Apostles 5: 27b-32, 40b-41.

The trouble with brief selections is that we need to read them in the context that they are written. This is written almost as a recall of Pharaoh’s fight with God over freeing the Israeites. The Apostles are arrested by the authorities, and it enables us to remove any sympathy from their cause, as the angel of the Lord releases them. The authorities then rearrest them and this is where our reading commences. The Apostles cannot be prevented from their task of being “witnesses”, whatever the authorities do. There is an important piece missing from this extract where Gamaliel, a Pharisee and teacher of the law, and much respected by the people advises the Sanhedrin to be careful that they do not become “God-fighters”. So the authorities give them a beating and set them free. If it is of God it will prosper; if it is of man it will fail. This is something we should pay attention to. God is in charge; we need to have more faith in the way God handles matters.

Psalm 30(29): 2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12a, 13b.

A song of “Thanksgiving”, Christians would have used it to extol the Resurrection of the Lord, but it was for the dedication of the House of David. It does continue with the wonderful deliverance of the Apostles and sings of Christ’s resurrection.

2nd Reading from the Book of Revelation 5: 11-14.

The Lamb is obviously Jesus and the Elders, and the animals sing to him. The Lamb (Jesus) is to receive Glory, Power and Honour, Wisdom and Blessings, then every creature in heaven upon the earth and under the earth and in the sea proclaim to God and Jesus, “Blessing and honour and power for ever and ever, the animals say “Amen”, the Elders fall down and adopt the position of silent worship. This is a scene to stay with us. We should be filled with confidence that everything is in God’s hands.

The Holy Gospel according to John 21: 1-19.

This episode starts with Peter taking leadership in deciding to go fishing, the others decide to go along with him. They catch nothing but the stranger on the shore tells them to cast the net to starboard. Then the catch is too much for them. John says, “It is the Lord”. Peter puts on his topcoat and dives into the sea and reaches the shore first. We have a beautiful picture of Jesus cooking the fish for their breakfast. Now we hear about the unfinished business between Jesus and Peter. Three times Jesus will ask, “Do you love me?”, obviously in counter of the three denials. Peter is tasked as a sinner with feeding Jesus’s lambs and sheep. Then Peter is forewarned about his eventual martyrdom. Jesus invites Peter to, “Follow me.” Indeed, this is an invitation to all of us to follow Jesus.

God grace us to follow Jesus, wherever that may lead us. Deacon Vincent.