South Cardiff Ministry Area

Connect | 13 May 2026

Published every Wednesday

Connecting you to the churches of South Cardiff Ministry Area across Butetown, Grangetown and Splott. Our vision is to be a creative and resourceful community which is welcoming, faithful and just!

This Week!

We are continuing our celebration of the Easter season, which lasts for 50 days until the great feast of Pentecost.

We have a busy week ahead with the celebration of Ascension Day, the continuation of Christian Aid Week, coffee mornings at St Paul’s and St Saviour’s, and a Doctor Who-themed church service. We also look ahead to our Alpha Course at D & S, Refugee Week, Corpus Christi Vespers in Port Talbot, a strawberry tea in St Saviour’s and more besides!

Christian Aid Week

May means Christian Aid Week which began on Sunday May 10th, and continues until Saturday May 16th. There are envelopes and collection tins in all of our churches to enable you to donate.

Christian Aid Week is a powerful expression of what can happen when compassion leads to action.

It’s our shared moment to come together – across churches, communities and households – to stand alongside people living in poverty around the world.

For one week each year, thousands of people across Britain and Ireland give, fundraise, pray and act together. Together, those actions make change possible.

A weekend of coffee mornings!

If coffee mornings are your things, then you’re in a for a treat this weekend, as we have not one but two! On Saturday 16 May St Paul’s are holding one to raise money for the redevelopment of the old church building, while on Sunday 17 May there’s one in St Saviour’s to support Christian Aid Week. Come along and enjoy!

Refugee Week – Coming Soon!

We’re looking forward to sharing news of our Refugee Week and Great Together events. Put the dates in your diary for a week of wonderful celebrations.

You can find more about them in these short videos. This year is the tenth anniversary of Jo Cox’s Death, and so the Great Together will be particularly special.

Ascension of the Lord

Celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday 14 May. It’s one of the great and most important feasts of the church, and there are two Masses celebrated in the Ministry Area.

Special services this week

This week sees two of our monthly acts of worship taking place … Eucharistic Adoration before our Monday evening Mass, and our Mass in Welsh on Wednesday, both in St Dyfrig & St Samson. All are welcome.

Strawberry Tea

Join us on Sunday June 15 for our Strawberry Tea at St Saviour’s. Get your tickets now – £5 for Adults; £2.50 for children.

St Paul hosts Doctor Who Themed Service

St Paul’s will hold a special service this Sunday to mark the anniversary of a Doctor Who episode filmed in the area. It will host the event at 11:00 on 17 May, marking the broadcast of Father’s Day, first shown on Doctor Who on 14 May 2005.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Alpha comes to Grangetown

A course for anyone interested in the big questions in life! Join us on Wednesday 20 May at Ss Dyfrig and Samson, every week from 730pm – 9pm

OMG! It’s time for young people!

Check out the latest OMG! event at St Saviour’s! We’ve changed the date of the next event so that it can form part of our Refugee Week celebrations on June 14th at 5pm. We had some amazing titles and book covers for our life stories!

Corpus Christi Celebrations in Port Talbot

The great feast of Corpus Christi is on Sunday 7th June. This is the day when we give thanks to God for the gift of the Eucharist.

Everyone is invited to a celebration of Vespers, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction taking place in St Theodore’s, Port Talbot, that evening at 6pm. See the poster for details.

Grangetown Consultation

St Paul’s and St Dyfrig & St Samson’s churches in Grangetown are working together to understand what really matters to our community.

A short survey (about 5 minutes) is available and will help us learn how we can serve and support our neighbourhood better.

You can fill in the survey anonymously or leave your details so we can contact you to follow up on your ideas. Your data will not be shared with anyone else and will be deleted after 12 months.

If you prefer you can fill in the survey online at bit.ly/grangetownsurvey

Thank you for your generosity!

The incredible range of activities that you read about in this bulletin, together with our regular round of services and ministry, is only possible thanks to the generosity of those who give financially to our churches.

We are grateful for all your support. If you don’t yet give, then we invite you to consider signing up to the Gift Direct scheme. This acts like a direct debit from your bank account every month, so that you can decided a regular sum to give. To start giving this way, click the link below. On the Gift Direct webpage, on the Beneficiary drop down menu, search for South Cardiff Ministry Area, then select the church you would like to support. Fill out your details on the online form, and the rest will be taken care of for you!

We also invite those who give regularly to review your level of giving. We are conscious that the cost of living is increasing, but this means that our costs are rising too! Once again, we are grateful for everyone’s generosity.

gift direct scheme

Dates for your diary

Here is a new-look South Cardiff Calendar, with details of lots of upcoming events and activities across our Ministry Area. Make sure you put everything down in your diary so that you don’t miss anything!

There will be more details about these events in future editions of Connect.

This is also available on our website here.

Walsingham 2026

Bookings are now open for the Walsingham Pilgrimage 2026 which takes place from July 20- 23 2026.

You can either book directly online or give your £50 deposit and details to Georgina Partidge, Liz Norman or the clergy.

WALSINGHAM PILGRIMAGE 2026

Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage

Young people aged 11-18 are invited to join us for the Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage from 3-7 August.

Around 500 young people from all over the UK camp in a field just outside the village of Walsingham. Worship takes place in a large marquee led by the excellent worship band CJM. There are also lots of different activities for young people to take part in during the week.

As part of the Welsh camp, all tents are provided and you will be fully catered for. All you need to bring is a sleeping bag, air bed, clothes and toiletries. For more information, please contact Fr Richard and also take a look at the link below to find out more.

WALSINGHAM YOUTH PILGRIMAGE

Worship for the Week Ahead

Mass is celebrated each day across our churches. Here’s our pattern of prayer for the week ahead.

Thursday 14 May| Ascension of the Lord
10.00am:  Mass at Ss Dyfrig and Samson
7.00pm:   Mass at St Mary's

Friday 15 May | of the 6th Week of Easter
10.00am: Mass at St Saviour’s

Saturday 16 May | of the 6th Week of Easter
10.50am: Morning Prayer at St Mary's followed by
11.00am: Rosary with prayer for the Ministry Area
11.30am: Mass
12 noon: Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession)

Sunday 17 May | Seventh Sunday of Easter 
9.30am:  Sung Mass at Ss Dyfrig & Samson
9.30am:  Sung Mass at St Saviour’s
11.00am: Sung Mass at St Paul's
11.00am: Solemn Mass at St Mary's

Monday 18 May | of the 7th week of Easter
5.45pm:  Eucharistic Adoration at Ss Dyfrig & Samson
6.30pm:  Mass at Ss Dyfrig & Samson

Tuesday 19 May |  of the 7th week of Easter
6.30pm:  Mass at St Mary’s

Wednesday 20 May | of the 7th week of Easter
10.00am: Mass at St Paul's with St Paul's School
11.00am: Mass at St Mary's with St Mary's School
6.30pm:  Mass in Welsh at Ss Dyfrig & Samson

You can discover more about our regular pattern of worship through the week at

WORSHIP

For more prayer resources, check out our ‘Day by Day’ pages which includes prayers for various times and occasions.

Day by Day

Clergy contacts

Ministry Area Leader and Priest for St Mary’s and St Saviour’s: Fr Dean Atkins

07368 176300 | deanjatkins@outlook.com

Ministry Area Vicar and Priest for St Paul’s and Ss Dyfrig & Samson: Fr Richard Green

0333 301 1850 | RichardGreen@cinw.org.uk

Keep in touch

To receive news and updates in your inbox, sign up here:

Freedom!

In today’s reading, a jail break puts the prison officer in danger. “How can I be saved?” he asks. Here’s today’s reflection from the daily Mass.

Readings for Tuesday of the 6th week of Easter can be found here

Nelson Mandela once said that “to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

In the reading from Acts, Paul and Silas are freed from their physical chains by an act of God. This in turn plunges the prison guard into a terrible dilemma. For the prison guard to want to kill himself, suggests that the punishment he would have received because there has been a jail break under his watch would be far more severe. We can only imagine and shudder at the thought. The guard seeks Paul’s advice. “What must I do to be saved?” What kind of question is this? Saved from what? Saved from punishment, torture and death? Whatever he meant by the question, Paul is quick with an answer. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”

For Paul, salvation is not about survival or getting away with something, or coming up with a plan to slip the grip of authority in a harsh and violent world. Salvation is what Christ has won for us on the cross, a life with God for ever, knowing, loving and serving him. Freedom in Christ is not about doing what we want or being able to live with no boundaries. That would be anarchy. No, freedom means being liberated from the power of sin, and enjoying the life that Christ want to give us, life in all its fullness.

Mass today is in S Mary’s at 6.30pm

If you would like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Open hearts

How can we approach one another with open hearts and create dialogue that is gentle and fruitful? Here’s today’s reflection from the daily Mass.

Readings for Monday of the 6th week of Easter can be found here

Dialogue between people of different beliefs and ideologies can so often be confrontational rather than engaging. This is particularly true of political debate, but even truer of many of the conversations and debates which happen on social media—which very often begins in an angry way and so can only escalate further.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we meet Lydia, who is colourfully portrayed as a dealer in purple goods, probably selling expensive purple garments to the elite. She was, then, a wealthy businesswoman. Thyatira, the city in Asia Minor from where she came, was famous for its purple dye trade. However, we find her in Philippi in Greece and so she had travelled some way. As she listens to Paul preaching at the riverside, her heart is opened to his words and she becomes the first convert to Christianity on the continent of Europe as Paul and others travel far and wide on their missionary journeys.

We know that Lydia already believed in God but she was willing to listen to what Paul had to say. Her heart was opened. One of the best pieces of advice is often not to talk about politics and religion because it so often leads to arguments. But this doesn’t need to be the case. The problem is not the topic in question but our own disposition. How open are we to listening to one another? How gentle can we be with one another’s beliefs and ideologies? How can we, as Christians, help to create a culture that is less divisive and more engaging?

Mass today is in Ss Dyfrig and Samson at 6.30pm

If you would like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Listening before acting

Sometimes we are inclined to go full steam ahead with our own ideas and plans. Often God has something different in store, and so we need to listen to him. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Saturday of the 5th week of Easter can be found here.

A teacher hands out an examination paper to a classroom full of students. At the top of the front page are the instructions, written clearly in bold: “Read all the questions carefully before beginning.” But, of course, hardly anyone does. The moment the papers land on the desks, the students start writing furiously. Only when they reach the very last question do they discover the instruction: “Do not answer any of the questions in this exam paper.” All that frantic activity, and all for nothing because nobody paused long enough to listen first. We can all be a bit like that, both in our own lives and as the Church. We think that we know best, what we should be doing and where we should be going. But often God has different ideas!

We see this happening in our first reading, as Paul continues with his second great missionary journey and gains a companion, Timothy. Twice they attempted to go to a certain area: firstly Asia, and then Bithynia, both in the far west of modern-day Turkey. Paul and Timothy thought that these were the places they needed to go. This was their plan, their agenda. But we are told that in both cases, the Holy Spirit prevented them. We are not told exactly how, but in some way or another their plans were frustrated. This leads them to Troas where God finally makes clear his plan for Paul and Timothy. Paul has his famous vision of the man from Macedonia urging them to come over, and so the Gospel is taken for the first time onto the continent of Europe.

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus talks about the importance of following the divine will rather than the human: “…you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world”. All of us need to remember this. We need to put aside our own well- laid plans, and spend serious time in prayer, in worship and in studying the Scriptures, so that God may have the space to make his will known to us. If we do that, then who knows – as with Paul and Timothy, he may lead us to do extraordinary things.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 11.30am (preceded by the Rosary at 11am)

If you would like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

The art of compromise

Disagreements in society and in the life of the Church are inevitable. The early Church shows us a way to deal with these so that everyone is respected and Christian love can be maintained. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Thursday of the 5th week of Easter can be found here.

The former US President Bill Clinton once said that “politics is the art of compromise”. What he meant was that no matter how firmly held your principles, you’re unlikely to get everything you want. Sometimes, you have to let the other side get a bit of what they want as well. The art comes in knowing how much to compromise and when. Clinton tried to pioneer a so-called “Third Way” in American politics, bringing together left and right. That seems a world away from today’s divisive political world. It will be interesting to see if the art of compromise comes to Cardiff Bay after today’s election if, as expected, no single party has a majority.

The art of compromise is evident in today’s reading from Acts, which records the first big disagreement and the first big decision-making event of the early Church. The issue was whether Gentile converts to Christianity had to become Jews and adopt all 613 commands of the Torah, including circumcision for males. As we heard in yesterday’s reading, some Jewish Christians argued vehemently that they should, while Paul and Barnabas were on the other side. Today we learn that Peter agreed with his fellow apostles. James, Jesus’ brother, decides the matter with a compromise: the Gentiles will not have to adopt the whole of the Jewish law, but will be asked to abstain from certain foods and from sexual immorality, out of respect for their Jewish brothers and sisters.

This isn’t a political deal of the Clinton type, however. It is a decision guided by what God had been doing through the Holy Spirit in bringing the Gentiles to faith in Jesus. It is also rooted in the essence of what Jesus says in today’s Gospel when he says to the disciples “abide in my love”. Christian communities will not always agree. But the solution is not about one side winning and the other side losing. Rather, it is about working out, with God’s guidance, how we can best live together in love. Let us hope that that attitude will also be present in Cardiff Bay in the coming days and weeks!

Mass today is in St Dyfrig and St Samson at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Connect | 6 May 2026

Published every Wednesday

This Week!

We are continuing our celebration of the Easter season, which lasts for 50 days until the great feast of Pentecost.

Christian Aid Week begins this Sunday, and we also have a number of other things to look forward to from Thrive at Five at St Paul’s, the Alpha course at D and S, and Strawberry Tea at St Saviour’s to name just a few!

Christian Aid Week

May means Christian Aid Week which begins this Sunday May 10th, and there will be an opportunity to donate across the Ministry Area.

Christian Aid Week is a powerful expression of what can happen when compassion leads to action.

It’s our shared moment to come together – across churches, communities and households – to stand alongside people living in poverty around the world.

For one week each year, thousands of people across Britain and Ireland give, fundraise, pray and act together. Together, those actions make change possible.

Refugee Week – Coming Soon!

We’re looking forward to sharing news of our Refugee Week and Great Together events. Put the dates in your diary for a week of wonderful celebrations.

You can find more about them in these short videos. This year is the tenth anniversary of Jo Cox’s Death, and so the Great Together will be particularly special.

Thrive at Five

The next Thrive at Five for young people is on Sunday 10^th May 5-6:30pm in St Paul’s. It’s a time of encouragement, teaching, prayer and food!

Ascension of the Lord

Celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday 14 May. It’s one of the great and most important feasts of the church, and there are two Masses celebrated in the Ministry Area.

Strawberry Tea

Join us on Sunday June 15 for our Strawberry Tea at St Saviour’s. Get your tickets now – £5 for Adults; £2.50 for children.

St Paul hosts Doctor Who Themed Service

St Paul’s will hold a special service next month to mark the anniversary of a Doctor Who episode filmed in the area. It will host the event at 11:00 on 17 May, marking the broadcast of Father’s Day, first shown on Doctor Who on 14 May 2005.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Alpha comes to Grangetown

A course for anyone interested in the big questions in life! Join us on Wednesday 20 May at Ss Dyfrig and Samson, every week from 730pm – 9pm

OMG! It’s time for young people!

Grangetown Consultation

St Paul’s and St Dyfrig & St Samson’s churches in Grangetown are working together to understand what really matters to our community.

A short survey (about 5 minutes) is available and will help us learn how we can serve and support our neighbourhood better.

You can fill in the survey anonymously or leave your details so we can contact you to follow up on your ideas. Your data will not be shared with anyone else and will be deleted after 12 months.

If you prefer you can fill in the survey online at bit.ly/grangetownsurvey

Dates for your diary

There will be more details about these events in future editions of Connect.

PLEASE NOTE: The next OMG! event has been moved to 14 June

This is also available on our website here.

Walsingham 2026

Bookings are now open for the Walsingham Pilgrimage 2026 which takes place from July 20- 23 2026.

You can either book directly online or give your £50 deposit and details to Georgina Partidge, Liz Norman or the clergy.

WALSINGHAM PILGRIMAGE 2026

Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage

Young people aged 11-18 are invited to join us for the Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage from 3-7 August.

WALSINGHAM YOUTH PILGRIMAGE

Worship for the Week Ahead

Mass is celebrated each day across our churches. Here’s our pattern of prayer for the week ahead.

Thursday 7 May| of the 5th week of Easter
10.00am:  Mass at Ss Dyfrig and Samson

Friday 8 May | of the 5th Week of Easter
10.00am: Mass at St Saviour’s

Saturday 9 May | of the 5th Week of Easter
10.50am: Morning Prayer at St Mary's followed by
11.00am: Rosary with prayer for the Ministry Area
11.30am: Mass
12 noon: Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession)

Sunday 10 May | Sixth Sunday of Easter 
9.30am:  Sung Mass at Ss Dyfrig & Samson
9.30am:  Sung Mass at St Saviour’s
11.00am: Sung Mass at St Paul's
11.00am: Solemn Mass at St Mary's

Monday 11 May | of the 6th week of Easter
6.30pm:  Mass at Ss Dyfrig & Samson

Tuesday 12 May |  of the 6th week of Easter
6.30pm:  Mass at St Mary’s

Wednesday 13 May | of the 6th week of Easter
10.00am: Mass at St Paul's with St Paul's School
11.00am: Mass at St Mary's with St Mary's School

You can discover more about our regular pattern of worship through the week at

WORSHIP

For more prayer resources, check out our ‘Day by Day’ pages which includes prayers for various times and occasions.

Day by Day

Clergy contacts

Ministry Area Leader and Priest for St Mary’s and St Saviour’s: Fr Dean Atkins

07368 176300 | deanjatkins@outlook.com

Ministry Area Vicar and Priest for St Paul’s and Ss Dyfrig & Samson: Fr Richard Green

0333 301 1850 | RichardGreen@cinw.org.uk

Keep in touch

To receive news and updates in your inbox, sign up here:

Out of the comfort zone

God challenges us to go to new places to take his message to those who haven’t hear it. This can be scary and challenging, but he promises to be with us and help us. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from mass.

Readings for Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter can be found here.

One of the joys of going on holiday is to be able to spend a few days, or maybe even a week or two, in a place that’s different from where we normally live. It’s good to have a change and experience a different setting for a time. If our holiday destination is somewhere we’ve never been before, then there’s an added level of excitement. We can discover a new place and find out about its history, culture, and the best places to eat. Going somewhere new can also have its challenges, however. Will we like it? Will we find our way around? Do we need to speak the language? What will the weather be like? What currency do we need to take?

In our reading from Acts, Paul and Barnabas have come to the end of their first missionary journey. They have taken the Christian faith to new places, going beyond the border of Israel and visiting Cyprus then Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). The trip involved many blessings, as people embraced Christianity and new churches were founded. Yet it also had its challenges, as we see at the start of today’s reading. Paul is stoned by a crowd and dragged out of the city. He survives and carries on with his mission. In the Gospel, Jesus is preparing the disciples for a new and potentially unsettling chapter of their life, when he will no longer be physically present with them. “Let not your hearts be troubled”, Jesus says. “I am going away, and I will come to you”. This seems like a contradiction; but his departure from the world will enable the Spirit to come to the disciples, empowering them to take the Gospel to new and challenging places.

God is continually calling his church to move out of its comfort zone and proclaim his good news in new and different places. This can be scary and unsettling work. Like with Paul, we may face difficulties when we go to those new places and speak to new people. Yet in all this, Jesus leaves us his peace, the peace which helps us not to be afraid, and which strengthens us to do his work.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 6.30pm.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

No magic formula

Sometimes in life and in faith, we imagine there is a magic formula to success. The truth is often a lot more ordinary and straightforward. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Monday of the 5th week of Easter can be found here.

Browse around any well-known bookstore and you are bound to find a self-help section. These kinds of books have become increasingly popular in recent years, and appear to offer the magic formula that you need to succeed in various different aspects of life. Titles such as “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, “Think and Grow Rich” and “Eat More Food and Lose More Weight”, seem to promise an awful lot. While the titles appear to guarantee an instant, miracle fix, the advice they contain is often more down-to-earth, a mixture of common sense and hard work.

Sometimes in the life of faith we might wish there was a magic formula or secret answer to being a better Christian. If only we could discover it, we might think, then all of a sudden we can become closer to God, live holier lives, and our churches will start growing. Perhaps we look at others who appear more successful than ourselves, and imagine that they have discovered the secret. In our first reading today, the people of Lystra think they have understood the secret reason why Paul and Barnabas were able to heal the lame man. They assume that the pair must in fact be the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes, and start worshipping them, much to the apostles’ horror.

The truth about Paul and Barnabas is much more straightforward. They are not gods come down to earth but human beings like us, in whom the Holy Spirit was at work. This Holy Spirit is available to us all, and there is no magic formula or secret answer to receiving it. In the Gospel Jesus says: “If anyone loves me … My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.” All we need to be is people who love Jesus – it’s that simple. If we do that, even a tiny bit, then Jesus will come to us and enable us to do incredible things in his name.

Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day By Day pages.

Grangetown church to host Doctor Who-themed service marking episode anniversary

Fr Richard Green, Vicar of St Paul’s Church, Grangetown

A Cardiff church will hold a special service next month to mark the anniversary of a Doctor Who episode filmed in the area.

St Paul’s Church in Grangetown will host the event at 11:00 on 17 May, marking the broadcast of Father’s Day, first shown on Doctor Who on 14 May 2005.

Scenes from the episode were filmed inside the church and on nearby streets. Much of the surrounding area was used with little alteration to represent the 1980s setting.

Father’s Day, the eighth episode of the revived series, was written by Paul Cornell and directed by Joe Ahearne. It was first broadcast on BBC One.

The service will focus on ideas at the centre of the story, including grief, loss and the limits of trying to change the past.

St Paul’s Church is currently closed, so the service will be held next door at the community hall, which is being used by the congregation while the church building is shut.

Grangetown priest Father Richard Green said: “The service will reflect how Christian ideas of love, loss, self-sacrifice and redemption appear in the Father’s Day episode.

“Rose tries to change the past. We might wish to but we can’t. We believe Jesus can heal the past and give us a brighter future. Her dad shows great love by laying down his life to save others, as Jesus does for us.

“We’re hoping fans of Dr Who will come along and dress up as their favourite character… everyone is welcome.

“It’s a shame the church is currently closed, but we are hopeful for the future and perhaps this event will spark interest in our Grangetown church.”

Those involved say they hope the building can reopen. Work is under way to explore funding and ways to increase community use while keeping it as a place of worship.

The service takes place on Sunday 17 May and all are welcome – even Daleks! Cosplay encouraged!

For more details contact Fr Richard on 07773 766071 or email RichardGreen@cinw.org.uk

Service, please!

We are called to a life of service, reaching out to others in need, as Jesus has shown us. Here’s today’s reflection from Mass

Readings for Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter here.

Whilst Muhammad Ali could entertain in the boxing ring by taunting his opponents and flaunting his confidence and self belief that, to quote, he is “the greatest” he could also, outside of the ring, say things such as this: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”

Both readings today explore the importance of service and humility. Paul’s speech in the Acts of the Apostles ends with reflecting on John the Baptist. He too had entered the stage with a certain presence, and causing quite a stir, but he knew that he was just the forerunner of someone who was greater, someone whose sandals he was unfit to untie. In the gospel reading, we pick up the moment at the Last Supper when Jesus rises after washing his disciples’ feet. As he has shown them an act of service, so he reminds them that a disciple is not greater than his master. He makes it clear they are being called to a life of service.

There are many ideologies of living, some of which may be built upon the need to be successful, affluent, or simply to enjoy life whatever the cost to others. For us, as followers of Christ, greatness comes through humility, power is expressed in service, success is shaped by enduring to the end, whatever the outcome. As we try to find our place, our room, here on earth, the rent we pay comes in acts of love and service, reaching out to others, stooping to wash feet, following Jesus our Lord and Master.

Mass today is in S Dyfrig and Samson’s Church at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.