Thought from Fr. Colm - 16th November 2025

The  Lumière is upon us again. Let’s hope it continues for years to come.  St. Godric’s will be open between 5pm and 8pm.

  The Christmas Fayre is coming up. Volunteers always needed.

  Thank you to those who have generously offered their services in response to the Bishop’s recent appeal for school governors.

Can I ask for volunteers to be Eucharistic Ministers. Succession is so important for the future of our parish.

“Just as a person who is always asserting that he is too good-natured is the very one from whom to expect, on some occasion, the coldest and most unconcerned cruelty, so when any group sees itself as the bearer of civilization this very belief will betray it into behaving barbarously at the first opportunity.”  

Simone Weil

Thought from Fr. Colm - 9th November 2025

The poem below has been written by one of our parishioners – James Gilman – and has been used in services at Durham Cathedral and elsewhere. It has also been accepted by the British Army and the Royal Navy for use in military bases around the world and has been added to the Royal British Legion's list for possible use in future National Remembrance Services. A wonderful achievement.

THE POPPIES PRAYER

The poppies fall.

Their crimson tears

Like shrapnel, piercing every heart

Of those who mourn the dying blood

Enshrouding friend and foe alike

On Flanders Field.

So scour our conscience

With your flood

Till we ensure that never more

Shall nations let Death’s bloody dance

Seduce the souls of friend and foe.

Like Flanders Field

2nd November 2025 - Thought from Fr. Colm

Echoing the beautiful French song  ‘The falling leaves drift by the window, the autumn leaves of red and gold’.

The seasons are gently helping the decaying process remind us of the seasonal changes to which the church has historically and wonderfully adapted the liturgical calendar to the cycle of life. With our new windows we can better identify with both. In keeping with this fusion of nature and Spirit, there will be a special Mass for all our deceased relatives and friends on Monday morning, the Feast of All Souls.

This sacredness of remembrance is something we Catholics do very well. It’s that indispensable expression though the Eucharist especially, that brings us back again and again to remember the dead. But rather than languishing in our sadness, we know there is a safe place to bring it. And so we unapologetically celebrate the lives of our loved ones with The Feast of All Souls. It is why the month of November is the month of the Souls.

“When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time – the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes – when there’s a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever – there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.”

John Irving

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."
From a headstone in Ireland

Our Christmas Fayre is just around the corner. Great activities planned. 

November also affords us the opportunity for special events such as the Journey in Faith, Lumière, the Parish Christmas Fayre and the Commemoration Mass of Remembrance. All dates are in the bulletin and on the website.

Welcome back to the teaching staff of our three primary and one secondary schools. I hope you have had a good rest.