Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven.
Alleluia.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12a
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit.’
At that time: Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.’
Lord our God, make us love you above all things,
and all our fellow-men with a love that is worthy of you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Notes from meeting on 27 January:
Picture
Picture of a large flock of sheep, in the centre are two large sheep who are gathering the rest to them, these two sheep can hear the Voice of The Lord clearly and lead the rest towards a field with a gate, Our Lord is standing in front of the gate and they go in two by two.
“My people I will never leave you orphan, you are Mine and I know each of you, your names are each written on My Heart, this Heart that loves so much His own,
this Heart that suffered for those who are the apple of His Eye, this Heart that will welcome you with love and mercy!
Come to Me, do not be afraid,
Am I not the One who stands, before justice, with My Arm of Mercy.
If you are down hearted look to My Mother, Her Heart beats are at one with Mine
Your Jesus”
Revelation 12 v 10-12
10 Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, 'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.
11 They have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness, because even in the face of death they did not cling to life.
12 So let the heavens rejoice and all who live there; but for you, earth and sea, disaster is coming -- because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that he has little time left.'
Intercessions
I am the salvation of the people, says the Lord. Should they cry to me in any distress, I will hear them, and I will be their Lord for ever...
We ask the Lord's Blessing on us at the start of a New Year.
We pray in reparation for all offences against the life and dignity of the human person from conception until natural death. Lord have mercy on us!
Pray for our new Pope, Leo XIV, that he may shepherd the Church and proclaim Christ to the World.
Pope’s Prayer Intention – February 2026
For children with incurable diseases.
Let us pray that children suffering from incurable diseases and their families receive the
necessary medical care and support, never losing strength and hope.
Lord give us a spirit of Hope in this Holy Year of Hope.
Sacred Heart of Jesus have Mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.
We pray for all who are ill in mind body or spirit and all those in any need or difficulty.
(as we begin the new year, If you have any specific prayer intentions please let me know)
Pray for Christine awaiting CT scan results for suspected pancreatic cancer.
Pray for Marcin
Pray for Jacob who is 6 years old he has been diagnosed with Perthes disease which affects his ability to walk.
Pray for upbuilding of Marriage and Family..
Pray for peace in our Country and our communities.
Pray for our young people that they may be protected from the evil one, that they may find a home in the loving Heart of Jesus.
Pray for all in our Parishes who are ill in body, mind or spirit.
Pray for Disha that he may find employment.
Pray for all those we have been asked and have promised to pray for.
Pray for all who are grieving give them strength, consolation and healing.
Pray for our Priests and for vocations to the Priesthood.
Pray for lost souls.
Pray for the conversion of the World.
Lord we continue to pray for Peace in Ukraine and in Israel and Gaza and throughout the World.
Lord we pray for persecuted Christians throughout the World.
Lord we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all peoples and nations.
Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory may they be granted eternal rest.
Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, pray for us.
Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Mary, Bride of the Spirit, pray for us.
If anyone has any prophecy, prayers, readings or intercessions I encourage you to please send them to
me. Let us share with one another the gifts and inspirations of the Spirit!
Also if there any changes necessary to the intercessions - please let me know
Resources
1.Theotokos Prayer Group:
https://www.facebook.com/Theotokos-Prayer-Group-142398089120415
/http://theotokosprayergroup.blogspot.co.uk/
2. Daily Mass readings can be found at:
https://universalis.com/mass.htm
3. Bishops Conference of England and Wales Website -
https://www.cbcew.org.uk
4. Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle Website:
Home - Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle (diocesehn.org.uk)
5. Catholic Charismatic Renewal International
https://www.charis.international/en/home/
6. Celebrate Conference website
https://www.celebratetrust.org/
7. CHARIS in England and Wales
https://www.charisuk.com/
8.CaFE - Catholic Faith Exploration (faithcafe.org)
9. The Holy See
https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html
Events
Our next meeting is on 3 February 2026 at 7.30pm in The Creche in St Patricks Church, Glenfield Road, Fairfield, Stockton TS19 7PL. All welcome.
POPE LEO XIV
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Audience Hall
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
___________________________________
Catechesis. The Documents of Vatican Council II. I. Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum. 3. A single sacred deposit. The relationship between Scripture and Tradition.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
Continuing our reading of the Conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation, today we will reflect on the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Tradition. We can take two Gospel scenes as a backdrop. In the first, which takes place in the Upper Room, Jesus, in his great discourse-testament addressed to the disciples, affirms: “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. … When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 14:25-26; 16:13).
The second scene takes us instead to the hills of Galilee. The risen Jesus shows himself to the disciples, who are surprised and doubtful, and he advises them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). In both of these scenes, the intimate connection between the words uttered by Christ and their dissemination throughout the centuries is evident.
It is what the Second Vatican Council affirms, using an evocative image: “There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end” (Dei Verbum, 9). Ecclesial Tradition branches out throughout history through the Church, which preserves, interprets and embodies the Word of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. no. 113) refers, in this regard, to a motto of the Church Fathers: “Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records”, that is, in the sacred text.
In the light of Christ’s words, quoted above, the Council affirms that “this tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit” (Dei Verbum, 8). This occurs with full comprehension through “contemplation and study made by believers”, through “a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience” and, above all, with the preaching of the successors of the apostles who have received “the sure gift of truth”. In short, “the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes” (ibid.).
In this regard, the expression of Saint Gregory the Great is famous: “The Sacred Scriptures grow with the one who reads them”. [1] And Saint Augustine had already remarked that “there is only one word of God that unfolds through Scripture, and there is only one Word that sounds on the lips of many saints”. [2] The Word of God, then, is not fossilized, but rather it is a living and organic reality that develops and grows in Tradition. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, Tradition understands it in the richness of its truth and embodies it in the shifting coordinates of history.
In this regard, the proposal of the holy Doctor of the Church John Henry Newman in his work entitled The Development of Christian Doctrine is striking. He affirmed that Christianity, both as a communal experience and as a doctrine, is a dynamic reality, in the manner indicated by Jesus himself in the parables of the seed (cf. Mk 4:26-29): a living reality that develops thanks to an inner vital force. [3]
The apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts his disciple and collaborator Timothy: “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim 6:20; cf. 2 Tim 1:12-14). The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum echoes this Pauline text when it says: “Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church”, interpreted by the “living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ” (no. 10). “Deposit” is a term that, in its original meaning, is juridical in nature and imposes on the depositary the duty to preserve the content, which in this case is the faith, and to transmit it intact.
The “deposit” of the Word of God is still in the hands of the Church today, and all of us, in our various ecclesial ministries, must continue to preserve it in its integrity, as a lodestar for our journey through the complexity of history and existence.
In conclusion, dear friends, let us listen once more to Dei Verbum, which exalts the interweaving of Sacred Scripture and Tradition: it affirms that they “are so linked and joined together that they cannot stand independently, and together, each in their own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they contribute effectively to the salvation of souls” (cf. no. 10).
_______________________________
[1] Homiliae in Ezechielem I, VII, 8: PL 76, 843D.
[2] Enarrationes in Psalmos 103, IV, 1
[3] Cf. J.H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Milan 2003, p. 104.
***
APPEAL
Yesterday was the International Remembrance Day for all victims of the Holocaust, which brought death to millions of Jews and to many other people. On this yearly occasion of painful remembrance, I ask the Almighty for the gift of a world without antisemitism and without prejudice, oppression, and persecution of any human creature. I renew my appeal to the community of nations to remain ever vigilant. May the horror of genocide never again be inflicted upon any people and that a society founded on mutual respect and the common good may be built.
____________________________________________________
Special greetings:
I greet the English speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s audience, in particular the groups from Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Australia, India and the United States of America. Upon you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
_____________________________
Summary of the Holy Father's words:
Dear brothers and sisters, in our catechesis on the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, today we considered the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. In the passage we just heard from John’s Gospel, Jesus says he will send the Holy Spirit to guide the Apostles to remember, apply and proclaim everything he taught. Sacred Scripture, the inspired word of God, and Sacred Tradition, the living memory of the Church, are intimately bound together and form the one Deposit of Faith. This deposit which contains the entirety of our faith –- doctrine, worship, morality, etc. –- is not static but dynamic for it develops and is more profoundly understood by the Church over the centuries, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Entrusted to the Church, who preserves and interprets it in Jesus’ name, this deposit helps us to navigate the complexities of life to reach our eternal home in heaven. May we become living and faithful witness to God’s word in Scripture and Tradition.
Audience Hall
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
___________________________________
Catechesis. The Documents of Vatican Council II. I. Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum. 3. A single sacred deposit. The relationship between Scripture and Tradition.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
Continuing our reading of the Conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation, today we will reflect on the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Tradition. We can take two Gospel scenes as a backdrop. In the first, which takes place in the Upper Room, Jesus, in his great discourse-testament addressed to the disciples, affirms: “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. … When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 14:25-26; 16:13).
The second scene takes us instead to the hills of Galilee. The risen Jesus shows himself to the disciples, who are surprised and doubtful, and he advises them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). In both of these scenes, the intimate connection between the words uttered by Christ and their dissemination throughout the centuries is evident.
It is what the Second Vatican Council affirms, using an evocative image: “There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end” (Dei Verbum, 9). Ecclesial Tradition branches out throughout history through the Church, which preserves, interprets and embodies the Word of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. no. 113) refers, in this regard, to a motto of the Church Fathers: “Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records”, that is, in the sacred text.
In the light of Christ’s words, quoted above, the Council affirms that “this tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit” (Dei Verbum, 8). This occurs with full comprehension through “contemplation and study made by believers”, through “a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience” and, above all, with the preaching of the successors of the apostles who have received “the sure gift of truth”. In short, “the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes” (ibid.).
In this regard, the expression of Saint Gregory the Great is famous: “The Sacred Scriptures grow with the one who reads them”. [1] And Saint Augustine had already remarked that “there is only one word of God that unfolds through Scripture, and there is only one Word that sounds on the lips of many saints”. [2] The Word of God, then, is not fossilized, but rather it is a living and organic reality that develops and grows in Tradition. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, Tradition understands it in the richness of its truth and embodies it in the shifting coordinates of history.
In this regard, the proposal of the holy Doctor of the Church John Henry Newman in his work entitled The Development of Christian Doctrine is striking. He affirmed that Christianity, both as a communal experience and as a doctrine, is a dynamic reality, in the manner indicated by Jesus himself in the parables of the seed (cf. Mk 4:26-29): a living reality that develops thanks to an inner vital force. [3]
The apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts his disciple and collaborator Timothy: “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim 6:20; cf. 2 Tim 1:12-14). The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum echoes this Pauline text when it says: “Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church”, interpreted by the “living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ” (no. 10). “Deposit” is a term that, in its original meaning, is juridical in nature and imposes on the depositary the duty to preserve the content, which in this case is the faith, and to transmit it intact.
The “deposit” of the Word of God is still in the hands of the Church today, and all of us, in our various ecclesial ministries, must continue to preserve it in its integrity, as a lodestar for our journey through the complexity of history and existence.
In conclusion, dear friends, let us listen once more to Dei Verbum, which exalts the interweaving of Sacred Scripture and Tradition: it affirms that they “are so linked and joined together that they cannot stand independently, and together, each in their own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they contribute effectively to the salvation of souls” (cf. no. 10).
_______________________________
[1] Homiliae in Ezechielem I, VII, 8: PL 76, 843D.
[2] Enarrationes in Psalmos 103, IV, 1
[3] Cf. J.H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Milan 2003, p. 104.
***
APPEAL
Yesterday was the International Remembrance Day for all victims of the Holocaust, which brought death to millions of Jews and to many other people. On this yearly occasion of painful remembrance, I ask the Almighty for the gift of a world without antisemitism and without prejudice, oppression, and persecution of any human creature. I renew my appeal to the community of nations to remain ever vigilant. May the horror of genocide never again be inflicted upon any people and that a society founded on mutual respect and the common good may be built.
____________________________________________________
Special greetings:
I greet the English speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s audience, in particular the groups from Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Australia, India and the United States of America. Upon you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
_____________________________
Summary of the Holy Father's words:
Dear brothers and sisters, in our catechesis on the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, today we considered the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. In the passage we just heard from John’s Gospel, Jesus says he will send the Holy Spirit to guide the Apostles to remember, apply and proclaim everything he taught. Sacred Scripture, the inspired word of God, and Sacred Tradition, the living memory of the Church, are intimately bound together and form the one Deposit of Faith. This deposit which contains the entirety of our faith –- doctrine, worship, morality, etc. –- is not static but dynamic for it develops and is more profoundly understood by the Church over the centuries, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Entrusted to the Church, who preserves and interprets it in Jesus’ name, this deposit helps us to navigate the complexities of life to reach our eternal home in heaven. May we become living and faithful witness to God’s word in Scripture and Tradition.
Pope Leo XIV proclaims Franciscan Jubilee Year for the 800th anniversary of the transit of St. Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis, our brother, you who eight hundred years ago went to meet Sister Death as a man at peace,
intercede for us before the Lord.
You recognized true peace in the Crucifix of San Damiano, teach us to seek in Him the source of all reconciliation that breaks down every wall.
You who, unarmed, crossed the lines of war
and misunderstanding, give us the courage to build bridges where the world raises up boundaries.
In this time afflicted by conflict and division, intercede for us so that we may become peacemakers:
unarmed and disarming witnesses of the peace that comes from Christ.
Amen
LEO PP. XIV
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