The St. Mary’s Reaching Out project which works closely with our own Reaching Out Group is now responsible for the night shelter for the homeless in Saint Mary’s of the Angels on Wednesday nights. A member of our Reaching Out team is one of the volunteers supporting this work which has 15 people sleeping over in the Church Hall.  Those men who sleep over are in desperate need of hats and gloves and if anybody has any spare or would like to buy some to donate, they would be very welcome. A box is at the back of St. Teilo’s for such donations and any brought to Our Lady of Lourdes will also be added to the box. Warm jackets on the large size would be welcome. While these young men are often thin, they need larger jackets as they wear many layers of clothes to keep warm. The team is also delivering clothes, food and hot drinks in Cardiff city centre every first Sunday of every month. Donations are all very welcome.

Charlie, James and Dom will be appealing to the Parish for your kind and generous donations for HCPT Group 102, a charity group with which they are volunteering. HCPT is a registered charity offering life-changing pilgrimage holidays, to Lourdes in the south of France, for disabled and disadvantaged people from around the UK and further afield. For HCPT Group 102 to continue helping children and adults in need, we rely on kind donations from our generous supporters. So we ask you to dig deep into your pockets today please and to be very generous with your donations as we can assure you they are going to a fantastic cause.

This year, Pope Francis proclaimed 2025 as the Jubilee Year of Hope, with the theme of “hope does not disappoint” and a call to Catholics worldwide to become “Pilgrims of Hope.” The Jubilee Year officially started on Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and will continue until the Feast of the Epiphany in 2026. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis invited pilgrims to the Vatican to walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s and the other Holy Doors throughout Rome and the world. In the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia the Holy Doors are at St. David’s Cathedral, Cardiff, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Swansea, the statue of Our Lady of Penrhys, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Taper, Cardigan, the Shrine of Divine Mercy at Sacred Heart, Morriston, the Churches of St. Francis Xavier, Hereford, St. Francis Xavier and St. David Lewis, Usk, Our Lady and St. Illtyd, Llantwit Major, the Welsh Martyrs, Aberystwyth, the chapel of St. Non’s Retreat Centre in St. David’s; and the Abbey Churches of St. Michael and All Angels, Belmont and Our Lady and St. Samson, Caldey Island.  On a visit to the Holy Door(s) you are invited to undertake a pious act including participating devoutly in Holy Mass or at a celebration of the Word of God; the Liturgy of the Hours (Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer); the Stations of the Cross or the Rosary along with the other requirements for an Indulgence - https://rcadc.org/jubilee-home/the-jubilee-indulgence/ Preparations for the 2025 Year of Jubilee began in Advent 2023, which marked the start of a year of prayer. The Bishops’ Conference have produced resources for the preparatory year of prayer, focusing on the Our Father, as well as resources about Jubilee in the Catholic Church. View the resources from the Catholic Bishops Conference here View the resources from our own Archdiocese here Jubilee Year Calendar (Cardiff-Menevia)

The children of the parish are continuing their preparation for First Holy Communion on Sunday, May 11th. Please keep these young people in your prayers as they prepare to receive the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament for the first time. The children’s names are Ashwyn, Brinley, Christian, Daniel, Dylan, Jessie, Nell, Orlaith, Rory and Thomas.