14

FEATURES

MAY 25, 2007 THE CATHOLIC HERALD

THE WORDTHIS WEEK

By Bishop David McGough

Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7 & 12-13; John 20: 19-23

‘When Pentecost day came round, the apostles had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting.” The familiar description of the first Pentecost emphasises the external signs that accompanied the gift of the Holy Spirit to the assembled Apostles. The mighty wind and the tongues of fire, remarkable though they were, were of less significance than the deeper transformation worked by the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised that his disciples would be clothed with power from on high. On Pentecost Sunday they began to understand how this power would transform the way in which they understood themselves and the world in which they lived. The energy that we bring to any enterprise is directly dependent on its underlying motivation. A heart full of doubt and overwhelmed with its own inadequacy will

achieve little of enduring value. The insecurity that preys on sinful lives will always breed the jealousy and division that undermine our best intentions. The Spirit of Pentecost demonstrated that this power, given from on high, is greater than our inadequacies, more powerful than the frailties that so easily dissipate our best intentions. Pentecost brought about a wonderful freedom in the Apostles. Those who had been bound by the uncertainties that limit the human condition experienced a greater power at work within themselves. They became the

dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Often we remain locked within ourselves, not daring to venture beyond the fears and uncertainties, the guilt and insecurities that can so easily rule our inner lives. Faith enables us both to acknowledge such limitations and then to surrender them to the Spirit entrusted to us at our baptism and confirmation. St Paul confidently asserted that no one can say that Jesus is Lord unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The choice is ours: do we remain subservient to our own frailties or do we entrust ourselves to a spirit that can achieve more than we could

THE WEEKAHEAD Divine Office Week IV

Monday, May 28: (Bank Holiday) Ecc 17:24-29; Mk 10:17-27 Tuesday, May 29: (Ire: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) Ecc 35:1-12; Mk 10:28:31 Wednesday, May 30: Ecc 36:1. 4-5. 10-17; Mk 10:32-45 Thursday, May 31: Visitation of Our Lady Zp 3:14-18; Rm 12:9-16; Lk 1:39-56 Friday, June 1: St Justin, First Friday Ecc 44:1. 9-13; Mk 11:11-26 Saturday, June 2: SS Marcellinus & Peter Ecc 51:12-20; Mk 11:27-33

SAINT OFTHE WEEK The Venerable Bede (May 27)

ever ask or imagine? The Apostles who went forth at Pentecost had been transformed by an inner freedom. They no longer lived in a world of closed doors. The Spirit had opened the eyes of their minds, enabling them to believe in all that the Risen Lord would bring to their world. The same Holy Spirit was at work in those who listened, enabling them to discern in the Apostles the authentic voice of Christ. When we remain faithful to the same Holy Spirit differences no longer divide us. Like the varied assembly at Pentecost we begin to speak with a single voice and a single understanding. The Church is constantly renewed through the Holy Spirit. This is especially true in those times when we are tempted to feel that we alone can manage our lives, that we alone can manage the affairs of the Church. To think in this way is to submit to the tyranny of what we consider to be possible. Sooner or later we will retreat behind the closed doors of our dwindling resources. Humility allows the Spirit to breathe into our lives afresh. We close doors in our fearfulness. The Holy Spirit opens them.

BEDE (673-735) was the author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People , without which it would hardly be possible to construct a coherent account of the sixth and seventh centuries in England. When Bede was seven his parents sent him to the monastery of St Peter at Wearmouth, founded in 674 by Benedict Biscop, a Northumbrian aristocrat who, as Abbot, was very much in the Roman tradition. Indeed Biscop visited Rome five times, and brought back a large collection of books. He also brought back the Arch-Cantor of St Peter’s, to teach the monks how to sing. In 682 Biscop founded another monastery, at Jarrow, dedicated to St Paul, whither the young Bede transferred. His new Abbot was Ceolfrith, an outstandingly holy and learned man. When the plague carried off nearly all the monks in 686, Ceolfrith and Bede maintained the singing of the offices by themselves, an experience which left Bede with a deep love for the Church’s forms of worship. He would spend the rest of his life at Jarrow. Such was his scholarship and devotion

The Venerable Bede: Took ‘special delight’ in learning

that he was presented to the diaconate aged 19, rather than the normal 25. St John of Beverley ordained him

priest in 703. Bede’s “special delight”, he declared, “was always to learn, to teach and to write”.

He completed almost 40 works, mainly commentaries on the Bible, though he also wrote a treatise on natural science ( De Natura Rerum ), and The Lives of the Abbots , which includes accounts of Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith. The Ecclesiastical History was finished in 731, the fruit of a lifetime’s labour. While always careful to verify his sources, Bede presents a lively account of the kings and saints in that “dark backward and abysm of time”, richly earning his title as “the Father of English History”. In particular, although he himself had been trained in the Roman tradition, he shows the deepest respect and sympathy for the Celtic saints who had done so much to convert the barbarous Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, only to see their customs rejected at the Synod of Whitby (597). St Cuthbert described how Bede remained happy and cheerful to the last, singing the psalms and dictating his work even on his deathbed. “I have not lived so that I am ashamed to live among you,” he said, quoting St Ambrose, “and I do not fear to die, for God is gracious.”

BISHOPS’ ENGAGEMENTS May 27 to June 1

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor (Westminster) Sun: Celebrates Mass of Pentecost, Westminster Cathedral. Mon: Interviews and engagements, Archbishop’s House. Tue: Interviews and engagements, Archbishop’s House. Wed: Celebrates Mass with Jubilarians, Archbishop’s House, 11.45am. Thu: Meeting with Westminster Seminarians, Archbishop’s House, 6pm. Fri: Meets with Archbishop’s Council, Archbishop’s House, 9.30am. Sat: Attends Cafod meeting, Marsham Street, London, 11am. Archbishop Kelly (Liverpool) Sun: Solemn Mass of Pentecost, Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. 11am; celebrates Mass, Our Lady of the Annunciation, Bishop Eton, Liverpool, 6pm. Mon: Leads Right to Life sponsored walk, Morecambe Bay. Wed: Confirmation for the Prescot Pastoral Area, Our Lady Immaculate and St Joseph, Prescot, 7.30pm. Thu: Council of Priests, Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation, 10.30am; Mass of Thanksgiving on the Silver Jubilee of Rev Thomas Neylon, St Julie, Eccleston, St Helens, 7.30pm. Fri: Liverpool Hope University dinner, 7.30pm. Sat: Visitation Mass, Holy Family, Halewood, 5.15pm; visitation Mass, St Andrew, Hunts Cross, Liverpool, 6.45pm. Archbishop McDonald (Southwark) Sun: Confirmations, St George’s Cathedral, 10am. Tue - Wed: Inter-Faith Diocesan Co-ordinators’ meeting, Oscott. Thu: Meeting, Archbishop’s House, pm. Fri: Vigil Service with Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, St George’s Cathedral, 6.30pm. Sat: Mass and Investiture: Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, St George’s Cathedral, 10.30am. Archbishop Nichols (Birmingham) Sun – Sat: Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Bishop Arnold (Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster) Sun: Confirmation, Stoke Newington, 11am. Fri: Archbishops Council, Archbishop’s House, 9.30am. Sat: Confirmation, Enfield, 11am; confirmation, Cockfosters, 2.30pm. Bishop Brain (Salford) Sun: Celebration of Mass and Confirmation, Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist, Salford, 11am; celebration of Confirmation, Sacred Heart, Derker, Oldham, 2.30pm. Bishop Budd (Plymouth) Sun – Thu: Lourdes Diocesan Pilgrimage. Bishop Burns (HM Forces) Sun: Mass and Confirmations, Notre Dame de France, Leicester Square, London, 11.30am. Tue: Chaplains meeting, pm. Wed: Chaplains Dinner, Hindhead. Thu: Station of the Cross, Wintershall, Bramley, Guildford and overnight. Fri: Conference Call, St Luke’s Centre, 3pm. Sat: Order of the Holy Sepulchure Investiture, Southwark Cathedral, 11am. Bishop Conry (Arundel & Brighton) Sun: Open Air Mass, Crawley; Worthing Deanery Confirmations. Wed: Meets with retiring Clergy, De La Salle Brothers, Liss. Thu: Diamond Jubilee of Rev Canon John Stapleton, Keymer. Fri: Ordination to Priesthood of Dominic O’Hara, St Joseph’s, Redhill. Bishop Doyle (Northampton) Sun: Confirmations, Cathedral, 5.15pm. Tue: Confirmations, St Martin de Porres, Luton, 7.30pm. Wed: Mass and AGM, Friends of the Holy Father, Westminster Cathedral, 5.30pm. Thu: Mass for Jubilee of Fr Brian Godden, St Ethelbert’s, Slough, 12pm. Fri: Confirmations, Holy Ghost, Luton, 7.30pm. Sat: Service for Friends of All Saints Church, Brixworth, 12pm. Bishop Dunn (Hexham and Newcastle) Sun: COPCA Conference, Rome. Tue – Fri: Priests Retreat, Ushaw College. Bishop Evans (East Anglia) Sun: Confirmations, St John’s Cathedral, Norwich, 11am; Adult Confirmations, Walsingham, 3pm. Tue: Diocesan Children’s Pilgrimage, Walsingham. Thu: Suffolk Show, President’s Lunch. Fri: Diocesan Youth Service trip, Thorpe Park. Sat: Parish Visitation, Costessey. Bishop Hendricks (Auxiliary in Southwark) Sun: Confirmations, Battersea Park, 12pm; Confirmations, Tolworth, 6pm. Wed: MiLE Conference, London. Fri: Fr. John O’Connor’s 50th Anniversary Mass, Dulwich, 7pm. Sat: Confirmations, Thornton Heath, 11am. Bishop Hollis (Portsmouth) Sun: Confirmation for Pompey Pastoral Area, St. John’s Cathedral, Portsmouth, 3pm. Thu: Final Profession of Sister Mary Fallon, St Celcilia’s Abbey, Ryde, Isle of Wight, 10am. Fri: Confirmation for Catholic Wight Pastoral Area, St Mary’s, Ryde, Isle of Wight, 7.30pm. Sat: Ordination of PJ Smith to the Priesthood, 12pm. Bishop Hopes (Westminster) Sun: Confirmations, Our Lady Queen of Apostles, Heston, 10.30am; Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, 6.30pm. Mon: Parish Clergy meetings, All Saints London Colney, 12pm (until 2pm on 29th May) Tue: Golden Jubilee of Sr Mary Pauline CR and Sr Faustina CR, Sisters of the Resurrection, Ealing, 4.30pm. Thu: Engagements, Archbishop’s House. Fri: Archbishop’s Council meeting, Archbishop’s House, am; engagements, Archbishop’s House, pm; Confirmations, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, Acton East, 7pm. Sat: Confirmations, St Gregory the Great, Ruislip South, 12pm; Confirmations, St Augustine, Hammersmith, 6pm. Bishop Kenney (Birmingham) Sun: Confirmations, St Anthony of Padua, Oxford, 10am. Bishop Lang (Clifton) Tue: Catholic and United Reformed Church dialogue meeting, London, 12pm. Thu: Somerset Church Leaders meeting, Taunton, 10.30am. Sat: Diocesan Pastoral Council, Bristol, 10am. Bishop Longley (Westminster) Sun:

Celebrates Confirmation for the Vietnamese Community, 11am; Global Day of Prayer, West Ham Football Stadium, 3pm. Tue: Celebrates Mass, Prayer Room, 2 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, 12.30pm; celebrates Confirmation, Somers Town, 7.30pm. Wed: Day for Priests, London Colney. 12pm. Thu: Day for Priests continued, London Colney. Fri: Archbishop’s Council, Archbishop’s House, 9am; Mass of Thanksgiving to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Paul Bruxby, St Augustine’s, Barkingside, 7.30pm. Sat: Concelebrates Mass for the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, Southwark Cathedral, 10.30am; followed by lunch in Lincoln’s Inn; celebrates Confirmation, Clapton, 6pm. Bishop Lynch (Auxiliary in Southwark) Sun: Confirmations, St Bartholomew’s, Norbury, 5pm. Tue: UCM Mass, Aylesford, 1.30am; Confirmations, The Annunciation and St Augustine’s, Beckenham Hill, 7.30pm. Fri: Golden Jubilee of Priesthood for Fr John O’Connor, Dulwich, 7pm. Sat: Diamond Jubilee of Priesthood for Fr Richard Fawsett, Coloma Court, West Wickham, 11am; Mass with the Confirmation Candidates, Italian Mission, Brixton Road, 6pm. Bishop McGough (Birmingham) Sun: Mass, St Mary’s, Leek, 10am; Celebration of Foundation of Primitive Methodism, Mow Cop, 2.30pm. Bishop McMahon (Brentwood) Sun: Celebrates Choral Mass, Cathedral, 11.30am; attends Ecumenical Pentecost Service, West Ham Stadium. Tue: Meetings/Interviews, Cathedral House. Fri: Presides at Mass and attends celebration for priest’s Silver Jubilee, Barkingside. Sat: Leads Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham. Bishop McMahon (Nottingham) Sun: Confirmations, St Barnabas Cathedral, 10.30am. Mon – Fri: Lancaster Diocesan Clergy Retreat, Hinsley Hall, Leeds. Sat: Thanksgiving Mass to celebrate the retirement of Margaret Dight MBE, Director of Catholic Children’s Society. St Barnabas Cathedral, 2pm. Bishop Malone (Liverpool) Thu: Council of Priests, Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation, 10.30am; Mass of Thanksgiving on the Silver Jubilee of Rev Thomas Neylon, St Julie, Eccleston, St Helens, 7.30pm. Bishop Noble (Shrewsbury) Sun: Eucharist of Pentecost, Cathedral, 10.30am; Confirmation, St Mary’s Deanery, Cathedral, 3pm. Tue: Meeting of Episcopal Vicars, Curial Offices, 9.30am; meeting of Bishop’s Board of Consultors, Curial Offices, 11am. Wed: Beda College Trustees, London. Thu: Bishop’s Interview morning, Curial Offices, am. Sat: St Thomas More Deanery Day for Warrington area, St Winefride’s, Lymm, 10am. Bishop O’Donoghue (Lancaster) Sun: Return from Ireland. Mon – Fri: Diocesan Clergy Retreat, Hinsley Hall. Sat: Confirmation of Polish Catholics, Cathedral. Bishop Pargeter (Birmingham) Sun – Sat: Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Bishop Rawsthorne (Hallam) Sun: Mass and dedication of New Windows, St William’s, Sheffield, 11.15; Faith and Light, Mother of God and St Wilfrid, Sheffield, 2.30pm; Mass and Confirmation, Hallam Chaplaincy, 7pm. Tue: Council of Priests, Pastoral Centre, 11am; Jubilarians’ Lunch, Omega Sheffield, 1pm. Wed: Prison Chaplains, St Joseph and St Nicholas, Moorends, Doncaster, 12pm. Thu: Diocesan Trustees, Pastoral Centre, 10.45am; Interviews, Pastoral Centre, 2pm. Bishop Roche (Leeds) Mon – Fri: Junior Clergy Retreat, Poland. Sat: VGs’. Bishop Stack (Westminster) Sun: Confirmation, St Helens, N Watford, 11am; Confirmation, Hemel Hempstead, 6.30pm. Fri: Archbishop’s Council meeting, 9.30am. Bishop Williams (Liverpool) Sun: Solemn Mass of Pentecost, Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, 11am. Wed: Celebrates Mass, Carmelite Monastery, Liverpool, 7am. Thu: Celebrates Mass, Carmelite Monastery, Liverpool, 7am; Council of Priests, Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation, 10.30am.

WALES

Archbishop Smith (Cardiff) Mon: Bank Holiday. Tue – Wed: Vocations Conference, Scotland. Bishop Jabalé (Menevia) Sun: Confirmations, Holy Cross Parish, Gendros, 10.30am. Mon – Thu: Meetings, Rome. Bishop Regan (Wrexham) Sun: Ministry of lector, Oscott College, 11.30am; Confirmations, Cathedral, 7pm. Tue: St Garmon Deanery meeting, 10.30am. Thu: European Seminar NEWI, Wrexham, 7pm. Fri – Sat: National Scout Pilgrimage to Walsingham.

SCOTLAND

Cardinal O’Brien (St Andrew’s & Edinburgh) Sun: Pentecost Sunday event and ending of Novena to the Holy Spirit, St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, 3pm. Wed: Mass and meeting with Fife Teachers, St Margaret’s, Dunfermline, 7pm. Thu: Meeting of Trustees and Finance Committee, Gillis Centre, Edinburgh, 11am; ‘Day for Life’ Mass and commemoration of 40th anniversary of Abortion Act, St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, 12.45pm. Fri: Meeting and Mass, Primary Schools’ Project, Schoenstatt, Clachan of Campsie, 10am. Sat: Meeting with Ambassador of Rwanda, 10.30am.

This listing was compiled by Gabriel Communications Ltd and also appears in the Universe and Catholic Times

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