Vicariate for Faith & Mission Update (May 2022)

Happy Easter from the Vicariate of Faith & Mission, we have had a very fruitful Easter season as a Vicariate. Some of the highlights have included the Easter reflections, the publication of further Year of the Eucharist resources, the first weekend of the ‘Accompanying those seeking healing’ course, alongside some further reflection work on the Universal Synod.

We have some exciting celebrations taking place this month and next, which you will find detailed below. As we enter the warmer part of the year (fingers crossed) we hope that people will gain in confidence in gathering together once more as communities of Faith joining in these events.

Amy Cameron

Eastertide is the period of 50 days spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost and is the season when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Please visit our website for our Seasonal Reflections.

Father Sean Hall continues to offer his weekly reflections on the Sunday Readings and Pat Kennedy her monthly reflections, both available to read online or download.

This Diocesan Year aims to celebrate the Eucharist at the heart of the life and mission of the Church and to gather people back to the Mass and the Sacraments. We are to grow as a Diocese in our love and appreciation of the Eucharist. We are to deepen our appreciation of its celebration through the liturgy. We are to revitalise and renew our faith through a deepening prayer and devotion of the Eucharist. And we are to go out and serve the world through the nourishment we receive.

Eucharistic Festival – Save the date! On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, our Diocese will celebrate a Eucharistic Festival at Ushaw on Sunday 19 June 2022. Further details will follow.

Bishop Robert’s Reflections are available on the Year of the Eucharist page.

The second Year of the Eucharist reflection booklet ‘Encountering the Son’ is available to download and read. The booklet contains reflections written by voices from across the Diocese and invite us to reflect on our relationship with the Son.

All are welcome to attend the monthly Holy Hour on the first Sunday of each month between 2.30pm and 3.30pm, held at St Andrew’s Church, Worswick Street, Newcastle. The next Holy Hour will be held on Sunday 5 June. Organised by the Association of the Eucharist, we invite you to spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament as part of this Diocesan Year of the Eucharist. Refreshments are served afterwards.

Bishop Robert will celebrate Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday 21 May 2022 at 11.00am to give thanks for the Sacrament of Marriage and Family Life.

This open invitation will focus on couples celebrating significant anniversaries in 2022 but is open to engaged couples preparing for marriage, those who have been married since our last Mass in 2021 and all married couples. We include too those widowed and bereaved who were unable to visit wives and husbands in hospital and homes prior to their deaths. In these unprecedented times we remember couples in crisis and individual adults and children experiencing difficulties and abuse in their family relationships. We wish all to know that none is forgotten and that the Sacramental life, despite our Covid experiences over the past two years, is very much alive and prayed for.

Anyone celebrating a significant anniversary, may request a certificate to be given on the day.

This day promises to be a wonderful diocesan celebration and will provide a positive affirmation of the graces of Marriage to the entire North-East community.