Pauline-UK

21/06/2026

20/06/2026

𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲
Today we pause to recognise and honour the men whose presence has shaped our stories. We give thanks for their steady presence, their daily labour, and the quiet gestures of love that often speak more powerfully than words. Their unwavering care reveals itself in responsibility, commitment, protection, and in the deep desire to see their loved ones grow, flourish, and live happily.
We remember fathers by birth and fathers by choice; grandfathers, godfathers, stepfathers, foster fathers, spiritual fathers, and all men who reflect something of God’s own fatherly care.
St Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family and model of faithful fatherhood, pray and watch over all fathers with your quiet strength. Amen.

20/06/2026

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀
Matthew 10:26-33
This passage comes from the second (of five) “Sermons/Discourses” in St Matthew’s Gospel. The first is the Sermon on the Mount, the final one is about the end of time and the Final Judgement. This ‘sermon’, or ‘discourse’, pulls together in one place Jesus’ teaching on how to go about the mission of preaching the Good News. Already, when Matthew was compiling his Gospel, many followers of Jesus had been suffering persecution and even martyrdom. These words of Jesus assert God’s care for even the smallest of creatures, let alone themselves, and so in preaching the Good News they are not to be afraid. He is always with them, just as he is with us in our missionary task today.

Jeremiah 20:10-13
The Prophet Jeremiah knew only too well from personal experience what it was like to be persecuted: even by his own people! In the depths of his difficulties and despair, however, “… the Lord is with me as a dread warrior.” Because of this he knows that he, and the message he has been called on to preach, will prevail. From our perspective we know that this is what happened, so his words are offered as reassurance to us when faced with opposition to promoting the message of Jesus Christ today.

Romans 5:12-15
This is one of the most contentious passages in the writings of St Paul. In the Fifth Century St Augustine will use Paul’s words as the main foundations for what we know as the Doctrine of Original Sin. The Sin of Adam is said to have resulted in the fall of the whole of humanity, for all time. It is important here to bear in mind some important factors. Both Paul and Augustine belonged to eras when evolution had never even been dreamt of, let alone been part of the fabric of our understanding of the world around us.
They also knew nothing of the tools of modern literary criticism. We now understand better that the story of Adam and Eve is one of five stories of Fall in the early chapters of the Book of Genesis. The other stories – e.g. Cain and Abel and the Tower of Babel – give further insights into the origins of different aspects of sin in the world. Regarding this passage from St Paul, however, the main point is the utterly uneven comparison between Adam and Jesus, “For if many died through one man’s trespass much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.”

Prayer
“Lord, called to share your message with others, may we always be aware of your presence as we go about our mission in favourable and unfavourable times alike. Amen.”

A reflection by Fr Sean Hall
Hexham & Newcastle Diocese

15/06/2026

𝟏𝟓 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟓 - 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲
Today is the official day in which we mark the foundation of the Daughters of St. Paul. In the small town of Alba in northern Italy, Blessed James Alberione gathered a handful of young women, among them the future Venerable Thecla Merlo, and entrusted them with a prophetic dream of a daring mission: to proclaim Christ through the most modern means of communication.

Fr. James Alberione (beatified in 2003) alert to the signs of the times, and especially to the development of new communications technologies, sought in the words of Pope Paul VI, to ‘give the Church new means of self-expression’, revealing that the same media often exploited for profit, domination and evil could be placed at the service of evangelisation.

Despite the challenges of poverty and a world war, the fledgling community, led by Teresa Merlo (later known as Maestra Thecla and the first Superior General) made Fr. Alberione’s vision a reality: women participated in the priestly mission of preaching, not from a pulpit but from writing desks and printing presses.

Today this small group has extended its wings to 51 countries seeking to preach the Gospel with all forms of media including the most modern means of communication. 'Woman is on the move,' Alberione had written, ‘and it is a marvellous thing!’

13/06/2026

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀

Matthew 9:36-10:8
In today’s extract we find Jesus in sorrow at the fact that people around him are leaderless and in despair. His is a message of hope: “Good News”. Here he enlists the help of his twelve closest companions – the Apostles – to take his message to as many people as possible, among the Jewish communities of Galilee, to which his ministry is directed at this point. They are to do as he has shown them in his own ministry and, he tells them, “You received without paying; give without pay.”
The message and the gifts they have been given are simply that: “gifts”, and not something they have earned or have deserved. The same is true of the message we have received, the gifts we have been given are indeed gifts. They have been given freely, and we are called upon to do the same in sharing them with others.

Exodus 19:2-6
In this extract we are given the opening verses of that section of Exodus that deals with the giving of the Ten Commandments and their foundation as the Covenant between God and his Chosen People. Moses ascends Mount Sinai to meet the Lord. In preparation for the momentous gift of the commandments which he will soon receive, he is reminded (as the People are to be reminded, also) that it was only through God’s strength that they are now free. If they hold to the Covenant he is about to receive, they will truly be God’s own people.

Romans 5:6-11
Reconciliation with God is the overriding theme of this short passage. St Paul has written earlier in this letter about faith and justification, about how the Law of Moses had given way in Jesus’ death on the Cross to an entirely new covenant.
The reconciliation won for us by Jesus Christ can never be taken away or rescinded thus, “We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Prayer
Lord, as today we give thanks for the reconciliation your Son has won for us, give us the grace to share that same reconciliation with all those we meet this day. Amen.

A reflection by Fr Sean Hall
Hexham & Newcastle Diocese

06/06/2026

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀

John 6:51-58
This extract comes from one of the best-known chapters of St John’s Gospel, which begins with his account of the “Miracle of the Loaves and Fish”. After the crowd had been fed Jesus had sent them, and his disciples, on their way while he retreated into the hills for a time of peace and quiet… except that this did not happen. A storm blew up on the lake and the disciples were in fear of their lives when, out of nowhere, Jesus appears to them and calms the wind and the waves. When they reach land, at Capernaum, many of the crowd had already returned there themselves and they now approach Jesus to ask him about the feeding miracle that they had witnessed the previous day. As always in these dialogues in this Gospel, Jesus’ words are misunderstood, and he has to go further with his explanation. This explanation, however, only deepens the mystery about his flesh and blood being real food, food for life in him. As part of our celebration of this Feast we are invited to meditate further on this gift of Jesus’ Body and Blood given in our celebration of the Eucharist.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16
Once established in the Promised Land, followed eventually by the establishment of a monarchy, like the surrounding countries, prosperity brought with it the temptation to forget the humble origins of the People of Israel. This is the context of the extract we are given today. The people are to remember that everything they have is thanks to gift from their God: the God who brought them out of slavery and who fed them during their years of wandering in the desert. Having an abundance of food is all well and good, but, “man does not live on bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus will use these words to answer Satan during his temptations after his forty days fast. Here they are offered on this feast as a reminder that everything we have is thanks to God’s providence, who feeds us with his Word and with his Son’s Body and Blood.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Unity is a persistent theme in this letter. We remember that St Paul is writing to a community riven by factionalism, “I am for Paul, I am for Apollos, etc…” At every opportunity, whether he is writing about the community being the Body of Christ, or the varying gifts of the Spirit given to serve that one body, his message is clear and consistent. Here he uses the analogy of the one loaf of bread that is broken and distributed among the community at their Eucharist. The Eucharist is both our calling to unity, and how it is nurtured.

Prayer
As the priest lifts up the Body and Blood of the Lord before we receive Holy Communion, we recall the words of St Augustine who, in a homily describing the Mass, says, “See what you are. Receive what you are. Become what you receive.” Amen.

A reflection by Fr Sean Hall
Hexham & Newcastle Diocese

03/06/2026

𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐬 - 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐗𝐈𝐕’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥

The Pope's first encyclical was signed 15 May 2026 and released 25 May 2026. It offers the Church’s most comprehensive teaching to date on 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲. At its heart, the document asks a single decisive question: What kind of world are we building with our technology?

Pope Leo XIV teaches that technology is never neutral: it reflects the values of those who design and use it. 𝐀𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Humanity now stands at a crossroads symbolised by two biblical images: The Tower of Babel - a society built on power, efficiency, and self sufficiency, leading to fragmentation, and Rebuilding Jerusalem - a society built on communion, shared responsibility, and the dignity of every person.

The encyclical urges the world to choose the second path.

www.paulineuk.org

30/05/2026

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀

John 3:16-18
The opening statement about God loving the world so much that he gave his only Son, sets the scene for the celebration of the Trinity. Above all else it is a celebration of God’s love: both within the Godhead itself, and towards the whole of creation. It is a love that wants nothing other than the salvation of all humankind. Until he realised this, an old priest (ordained in the 1930s) told me many years ago that he dreaded preaching on this feast day because he had terrible memories of the practice sermons, he and his fellow seminarians had to give during their training. Whoever was told to preach on the Trinity was entering a dreaded minefield of doctrinal complexity that was impossible to navigate, without falling into heresies. These would be gleefully pointed out both by the professors and by his fellow students. Realising that all he had to preach on was God’s love for humankind was a huge liberation for him!

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9
While Moses had first ascended Mount Sinai to meet the Lord God, the rest of the People of Israel had given up on the God who had brought them out of Egypt and had turned to worship the statue of a calf made of gold. Seething with anger Moses had thrown the tablets of stone that contained the Commandments to the ground where they were smashed into tiny pieces. Now, after pleading with God to forgo destroying the whole People, Moses goes back up the mountain to meet once more with the “…a God merciful and gracious”. He asks this God to be merciful and forgiving. This is the God we worship and adore on this Feast of the Trinity.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13
At both the beginning and the end of his letters Paul calls for the ‘grace’, ‘love’ and
‘fellowship’ of God to be with his readers. This is one of the earliest references to Trinity in our Christian Scriptures, predating by many, many decades the disputes over the nature of God that resulted in the formation of the Creeds we say at Mass on Sundays. The gift of this triune God is to offer ‘happiness’, ‘peace’ and mutual harmony in ways that are above and beyond our human understanding and natural abilities. They are pure gift, pure grace.

Prayer
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now and every shall be, world without end. Amen.

A reflection by Fr Sean Hall
Hexham & Newcastle Diocese

24/05/2026

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, come
From Thy bright heavenly throne;
Come, take possession of our souls,
And make them all Thine own.

Thou who art called the Paraclete,
Best gift of God above,
The living spring, the living fire,
Sweet unction and true love.

Thou who art sevenfold in Thy grace,
Finger of God’s right hand;
His promise, teaching little ones
To speak and understand.

O guide our minds with Thy blest light,
With love our hearts inflame;
And with Thy strength, which ne’er decays,
Confirm our mortal frame.

Far from us drive our deadly foe;
True peace unto us bring;
And through all perils lead us safe
Beneath Thy sacred wing.

Through Thee may we the Father know,
Through Thee the eternal Son,
And Thee the Spirit of them both,
Thrice-blessed Three in One.

All glory to the Father be,
With His co-equal Son:
The same to Thee, great Paraclete,
While endless ages run.