Seventh Sunday of Easter
You may have noticed that we have had a large,unsightly ‘walk in skip’ in front of the car park forover a month, as we have been carrying out some late spring cleaning and getting rid of unwanted furniture and other items that are beyond repair. It is remarkable how anything new on our site like this attracts attention and a clientele of curious people. They are normally to be seen after hours or under the cover of darkness climbing up and peeping in to see if there is anything of interest. Skips seem to have a secret life all of their own! Thankfully the contents have been considered so poor that no one has been trying to salvage items. However we did have one curious incident discovering a perfectly healthy and cared for dog barking from within the skip one evening. This was reported to the RSPCA who discovered that the dog was chipped, its name was Cookie and they returned it to the family who owned it in Wigan. But on returning the dog, the police then became involved as the man who owned the dog had gone missing threatening to take his life. The next day our security staff found this man sleeping in the skip who said that he was looking for his dog and wanted it back. When he discovered that the police were on their way to take him home he ran off into town. Thankfully the story had a happy ending with the person returning home the next day. My collection of‘shaggy dog stories’ from my time here grows every few years and includes ‘the dog over thewall, the dog in the car park and now the dog inthe skip’ – each of them as bizarre as each other. The skip will be going as soon as possible!
This Sunday we welcome the Cardiff Ardwyn Singers, one of Wales leading mixed adult choirs, who will be singing at the Solemn Mass at 11am. There is no sung evening prayer this Sunday afternoon. On Wednesday the Union of Catholic Mothers will be celebrating their Annual Mass at 7.30pm in the Cathedral –Bishop Tom Williams will be the presiding minister. On Thursday the Friends of the Cathedral have their Annual General Meeting following the 5.15pm Mass. The children from year 4 in Runnymede will be receiving their first holy communion at a celebration mass in the Crypt Chapel at 10am next Saturday morning.
We celebrate the Feast of Pentecost on 9thJune with adult confirmations taking place during the 11 am Mass and then in the afternoon the Joint Two Cathedrals Ecumenical Service starting at our Cathedral at 3pm. Thisservice has been taking place since the 1980’sand is a chance for all Christians to come together on Pentecost day and worship and walk together as a sign of our unity in faith. Since 2016 this service now takes place every year and this year rather than a road procession we will walk from our Cathedral to Liverpool Cathedral in pilgrimage along the pavement with stopping points for reflection and prayer. This will also give an opportunity forthose taking part to view ‘The Earth’ which is ondisplay at Liverpool Cathedral without having to wait in queues.
Canon Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean
