Welcome
Welcome to St Bede Catholic Church
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
And the love of God
And the communion of The Holy Spirit
Be with you all
"Advent a time to prepare..."
The people of Israel waited for generations for the promised Messiah to come. Their poetry,
songs, stories, and their religious worship focused on an awaited saviour who would come to
them to set them free from captivity and lead them to the fulfilment of all that God had promised.
Israel longed for a Messiah, and John the Baptist, who came before Jesus, promised that the
Messiah was and could be found in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the “Lamb of God who takes away the
sins of the world.”
Advent is a season in the Church’s life intended to renew the experience of waiting and longing for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply in our lives and to renew our desire for Christ’s triumphant second coming into the world. Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. During Advent, we prepare ourselves for the birth of Christ. We make ourselves ready as the new homes into which he will come to live.
During Advent we are invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church- all to prepare for celebrating Christmas. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the “ancient expectancy of the Messiah… by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour’s first coming.”
The long hours of waiting are nearly over, and the dawn of salvation is about to break. Soon we
will walk in the light of the Lord.
God bless you all. Fr. Henry
IN THE NEWS...
Pope at Angelus: Do not be afraid to admit your mistakes
Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV recalled the two contrasting figures from the day’s Gospel reading: the Pharisee, confident in his own righteousness, and the tax collector, conscious of his sin.
The Pope was speaking just after the Jubilee Mass dedicated to synodal teams and participatory bodies on Sunday, and before his weekly recitation of the Marian prayer of the Angelus
The prayer of the Pharisee, Pope Leo said, which is focused on boasting and spiritual pride, “reflects a strict observance of the Law, certainly, but one poor in love, built on ‘giving’ and ‘having,’ on debts and credits, and lacking mercy.”
Southeast Asian leaders sign ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia
President Donald Trump on Sunday co-signed a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, alongside leaders from Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur.
President Donald Trump on Sunday co-signed a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, alongside leaders from Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Philippines: Bringing to light safeguarding as a mission of all
Philippines: Bringing to light safeguarding as a mission of all
A conference highlighting the Church’s mission to protect minors and vulnerable persons has taken place in the Philippines, marking an important step in strengthening safeguarding efforts in the country.
It was the first national conference of its kind in the Southeast Asian island nation - a country that stands as a stronghold of the Catholic Church in the region. Experts from across the Philippines and neighbouring Southeast Asian nations took part.
ABOUT SAINT BEDE...
St Bede 673-735AD
Bede was born in 673 AD in the northeast of England. From the age of seven, he received a Benedictine education at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Wearmouth, today part of Sunderland. Bede spent his whole life within the twin monasteries of St Peter at Wearmouth and St Paul in Jarrow, where he became a Benedictine monk and continued his studies using the fine libraries established by the monastery's founder, St Benedict Biscop, Bede's first teacher, and under the guidance of Abbot Ceolfrith (Ceolwulf).
Bede wrote on many topics. His most famous work, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (the Ecclesiastical History of the English People), earned Bede the title "The Father of English History". His works revealed not only Bede's qualities as a scholar and historian but also the qualities of modesty and humility which make his works so memorable. However, Bede's work shows that he had at his command all the learning of his time. Bede's writings included papers and articles on scientific, historical, theological, and mathematical matters, as well as poetry and literature. St Bede is widely regarded as the greatest of all the Anglo-Saxon scholars. His sainthood was generally recognized around fifty years after his death on 25th May 735 AD. His bones were later elevated from St Paul's in Jarrow to Durham, where they lie in the Galilee Chapel at Durham Cathedral. Bede's scholarship and importance to Catholicism were recognized on 13th November 1899 when Pope Leo XIII decreed the title of Doctor Ecclesiae to St Bede the Venerable, making him the only English Doctor of the Church.
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