The Solemnity of Christ the King, Sunday 24 November 2024, was a particularly joyful occasion at the Church of the Holy Rosary, Chapeltown, Leeds where it was also the date chosen for the official opening of the newly refurbished Community Room. Bishop Marcus celebrated Holy Mass, children from Holy Rosary and St Anne’s Primary School choir joined the Parish musicians, the Community Room was officially blessed, and everyone was invited to a shared lunch with a celebratory cake!
The vision for the Community Room project began back in 2021 when it was recognised that the facilities that had served the church well since the 1980s needed refurbishment. The project gathered momentum very quickly, with grant funders generously adding to monies raised from local fundraising events and donations. Since April 2024 the church has been able to welcome groups into the refurbished facilities.
Sunday’s celebration was time to take a step back and celebrate how God has worked through so many people in the parish and diocesan community to make this possible. There were those who first came up with the idea, those who instilled in others the confidence to “have a go”, those who led and ran the fundraising events and others who wrote grant applications. There were of course the architects and builders who applied their professional skills, those who shared the right word of direction or encouragement just at the right time, and as always, all the very many people who supported the project in hidden but so very valuable ways.
In his homily on this Solemnity of Christ the King, Bishop Marcus reminded us that we are called to “to serve Christ our King and put love for our neighbours into practice and that undertaking this with love will bring us ever closer to His heavenly kingdom”. Indeed, as a parish community we have discovered new skills, formed new relationships and already new ideas are germinating for how the Community Room could be used. In a short speech, Canon Matthew Habron, Parish Priest of the Parish of the Mother of Unfailing Help which incorporates the Church of the Holy Rosary, shared his joy at once again being able to use the Community Room for parish activities and encouraged parishioners to spread the word so they might also be able to share the space with other groups and organisations.
The community at the Holy Rosary gives thanks for the completion of a successful project and they pray that this space will indeed be somewhere where people continue to encounter and share the love of God, helping each other grow ever closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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