Young Adults Young Families

Serving Sheffield's
Universities,
Young Adults
& Families in the
Diocese of Hallam

coverpage.jpg
posterhome.jpg
This @blessedisshe__ reflection on today’s gospel came into my inbox this morning and it’s too good not to share! ‘Today’s reading about the marriage at Cana is so well known, I usually gloss over it. But something struck me this time. Saint John wrote that Jesus told the servers to fill the jars with water and they did. “They filled them to the brim” (John 2:7). To the brim. Not half way, not most of the way, but to the brim. Imagine the abundance of wine on the edge of spilling from the twenty-gallon sized jars. Jesus works miracles, and when I bring water He draws out wine. But that’s just it, isn’t it? I have to bring something for Him to transform. He won’t force it upon me; instead, He waits to be invited in, even though He knows my needs. My prayer, my work, and my relationships can be transformed by Jesus if I give Him the opportunity to do so. Our God is a God of abundance. So often I hold on to parts of my life, trying to keep them within my grasp, thinking that if I can just tighten my grip a little more I can figure it out myself. But Jesus wants to reveal His glory to me in my letting go, offering all of myself, to the brim.’ This week amongst exam stress, homesickness, tiredness and January blues let us go to Jesus in confidence that he can transform our water into wine 🙌
One of our students wrote this earlier and it deserves to be #reposted 🔥 I happened to come across this picture and I really believe it contains such a deep truth. Growing up I always believed in God, and I went to church, but religion often felt to me as though it was more about obeying rules than about love. I really wanted to accept my faith, because I could see that there was good in it, but I also felt conflicted when I realised that the world is actually a pretty complex place. Basically, I fully understand why people have problems with religion, because if we take God’s love for us out of the picture, it all makes little sense, and does just become a set of rules to follow, which being human, we often fall short of. But over the past year, I have really come to claim my faith for myself, rather than it just being something I was raised to believe in. The reason for this is that I have realised that the centre of my faith is recognising that God really does love us all, and He really truly wants the best for us. In this picture the little girl wants to keep her small teddy, as it is all she has known. She cannot realise that Jesus has a bigger, better teddy for her if only she gives her small teddy up. To me, I really think this represents faith. We can think we are right, we can think we know what is best for us, but if we are brave enough to trust God and accept His plans then we will be more blessed than if we just went along with our own wants. If you’re going through a challenging time, let me just say that not everything may come easy to us, but I believe that one day, everything will make sense. Everything happens for a reason and you might end up with a better teddy than the one you think you want right now, whether that teddy represents your life goals and plans, future jobs, relationships, whatever. It’s difficult and incredibly humbling to accept, but God’s plans are truly so much greater than our own, even if we struggle to understand why God would want something, he always wants the best for us. Maybe you’re thinking “this is crazy” but even if you are, God still loves you. Have a blessed day 💕
CALLING ALL STUDENTS! Save the dates. This term we would really love for you to come to two of our community retreats! The first is our Catholic Society weekend away to Ampleforth. This will be a weekend away with the student community and have times of prayer, lots of fun, great talks & great food! It’s set in the beautiful grounds of ampleforth, this is not one to be missed! The second weekend away is in March. If you are going to be here next year we’d love to invite you to a weekend with the wider Mission Hub community. We will have Lots of time to get to know each other, for fun, formation, Mass, worship, long walks and a chance to hear more about the chaplaincy next year. If you’re a first or second year we can’t recommend this enough! Both retreats are going to fab, DM us if you fancy coming along / want more info ☺️
We’re really excited that we have so much going on for students at the chaplaincy, and now Mission Hub is launching a Young Adult Bible Studies every other week. So if you’re not a student and in your twenties or thirties come along tonight! DM us for details & spread the word! 🔥🔥🔥
Praying for all those with exams this week. No matter how stressed or overwhelmed you are, Remember this truth that God is your helper, he is AUTHOR of peace, you have nothing to fear. If you feel like you want a chat/ coffee / destress fun this week then El is around and would love to chat! Just send a message 🌟🌟🌟
HAPPY MONDAY EVERYBODY! 🙌 On Saturday we had our second Mission Hub Interest meeting, where we got together to pray, get envisioned & prepare for the opening of mission Hub in September. It was a great start back to the term and was wonderful seeing our Sunday Masses so full yesterday! This term we’ve got a new programme, we’ve got our weekend away, we’ve got trips out of the city we have a dedicated week for Mission, we have more girls bible studies & most importantly we have more opportunities for you to come and encounter Jesus! Get excited 🙌🙌🙌
THIS SUNDAY WE’RE BACK! And we can’t wait to see you all, catch up & journey through 2019 together. The chaplaincy has re opened & planning for the year ahead has started 🎉 see you soon! Join us at the chaplaincy at 11:30 or at St Marie’s Cathedral from 5:30. Let’s start the semester as we mean to go on 🔥🔥
AND BREATHE! This week sees the end of Semester one and what a semester its been. We can’t quite believe we made it. To anyone who’s missed out, here’s what’s happened… We started with Freshers where we handed out over 1500 leaflets, 160 tins of beans, 15 tubs of chocolate, 250 Rosaries, 750 Tea bags and countless miraculous Medals, we did crazy missions on campus, saw atheists and agnostics come to Mass, establish student nights & raise up 12 student leaders to help run the chaplaincy. We then launched Alpha and regularly saw over 30 students on a Tuesday night. We learnt about who Jesus is, why and how we read the bible and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. Our faith was deepened, and many students encountered God during this time. The talk on ‘Why and How we should read the bible’ led to the formation of a girls bible study. This term the ladies of the chaplaincy got together, had delicious tea and Cake and completed the book of Ephesians. We talked identity, grace, Gods spiritual blessings and truly believe ‘We are Gods masterpiece’ – Ephesians 2:10 One of the biggest joys of this term has been our Sunday Cathedral Mass. Our #MassNuggets gave students a voice to share about what God is teaching/ speaking to them, how their faith is growing & inspired the cathedral community to do the same. Our Sunday Masses became a place where students, young adults, young families & others could come together to worship and adore Jesus and it was amazing to see over 200 people there regularly. Our community has expanded seeing many students set foot in the chaplaincy for the first time, students returning to Mass for the first time since starting university, students having first confessions and students experiencing prayer, praise and worship in a deep way. Our term has been full of fun socials; Ladies drinks, pub trips, walks, BBQ’s, film nights & ended with a Christmas party that saw Fr Lee dress up as Ass. Its been an incredible term, God has done incredible things...But now its time to rest, have some quiet time and enjoy Christmas. Our last event/ Mass is this Sunday and then we will return in January. All our love. The Chaplaincy x
MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄☃️🌟 love the chaplaincy ❣️
Yesterday marked an important day, a year after Bishop Ralph announced the mission Hub, construction has begun. The builders are on site transforming the building that will become our student home in 2019. The Mission Hub won’t just be a home for students but for many young adults and young families too, it will be a place of true mission, prayer, welcome & a lot of fun! We can’t wait to make this our home in September 2019. 😍
Yesterday’s Mass Nugget was given by Joe & it was P O W E R F U L 🔥 We were encouraged to think about how we approach the Mass, what our expectations are & challenged to really make ourselves aware of the spiritual reality of the Mass. Joe spoke about the Saints and gave examples of there powerful experiences of the Mass, how St John used to cry during the Mass because the Eucharist was so powerful. Joe shared that we must come to Mass with the expectation of meeting Jesus and encountering him & shared some top tips of how we can approach the Mass with more awe and wonder! What a way to start advent 🌟
This has been shared around Facebook the last few days and we LOVE the idea! It’s not too late to begin, why not start tonight? 🎄🎄🎄
THIS SUNDAY! Come and help turn the chaplaincy into a winter wonderland and give the chaplaincy a good clean. It’s been an incredible term and it would be great for us all to come together to have cleaning/ decoration fun! Tea, coffee & biscuits will be provided ☺️🎄☃️🌟
Advent starts this Sunday, Christmas is fast approaching & the term is coming to an end. There’s only one thing to do... CELEBRATE!! Dress up, eat and drink to your hearts content & sing some carols. It’s going to be a great evening celebrating such a great term. Word on the street is that Fr Christmas and his elf will be making an appearance... 🌟🎄☃️💭❣️
FEARLESS FAITH. This was the title of Ciara’s mass Nugget this week and what a encouragement it was! ‘My faith is something I have always struggled with as I have had many unanswered questions that caused me to stray away from god but the comforting thought I always had was that he was waiting for me with open arms no matter what In the summer just past I attended the world youth festival in Medj and whilst there the lord was kind enough to open my eyes to the truth and love my faith was centred around I remember the first night in adoration I was confused and completely couldn't understand why I was there out of all the places in the world i could have been I actually remember turning around to father Lee and saying I just don't get it! He said don't worry you're here for a reason and i kept those words in my mind throughout my pilgramige the following day I willed myself to go to confession which again is something that can be difficult to do as in conffesion one is often facing things that weve been in denial about but immediately after I was met with complete compassion peace and Grace before I went on pilgramage my grandparents told me that our lady calls you to medjugoria which was something I had my doubts about but her presence is undeniable and so strong i knew she was there with me even when we were climbing a mountain at 2:30am On my return I found I felt closer to Mary our mother and found speaking about my faith made my belief stronger and actually improved my relationships with my family and friends as I was able to be more open and honest with them whilst reaffirming how kind and accepting they were of my believes even if they didn't always understand or agree I want to encourage you all tonight to be fearless in your faith and to not be afraid of allowing god into your life as his arms are always open To end I want to leave you with a piece of scripture from issiah So do not fear for i am with you do not be dismayed for I am your god I will strengthen you and help you I will uphold you with my righteousness right hand’ WHAT A MESSAGE! Let’s pray for ciara this week that she becomes even more fearless! ❤️🔥❣️
So often we only think of ourselves as part of the small student bubble here in Sheffield, but actually we’re part of something much bigger, the Hallam diocese and on top of that the Catholic Church family! Yesterday all the lovely women of Hallam diocese came together for community, Catch up’s and prayer. We had delicious food & met lots of lovely new faces. It was a great joy to meet so many other inspiration women in the diocese & to celebrate our faith together. Praise God @blessedisshe__