Archdiocese of Birmingham newsletter 30th May 2024
Celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Reflection: Corpus Christi
During the Eucharistic Prayer we ask that God bless the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands through grain and grape. Preparing for a Mass as part of Mission Brazil with the Youth Service, the community we were serving struggled to provide the wine.
The Lord comes to us in the context of a meal – one of humanity’s basic gestures (means of survival) – that uses what was available: bread and wine, except here they had no wine. It’s a reminder that the Eucharistic feast is not immune to challenges and threats to other food and commodities.
How tough it is to pray and hear that prayer ‘blessed are you Lord God…for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you’ when the fridge is empty, or you’re down to the last tenner.
Or, how does ‘fruit of the earth and work of human hands’ sound when we have lost our job, or when our work bores, demeans or dehumanises us? How does that prayer make sense in a world when work is increasingly automated or when we are given zero hours?
Perhaps we could stress the importance of the offertory procession that leads into these prayers, which is not so much about having full hands but placing our hands into those of God.
Fr Ryan Service, Assistant Priest at Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield
Corpus Christi Processions, this Sunday, 2 June
A number of processions are due to take place across the Archdiocese
Including:
Mass at 1pm at St Michael’s Catholic Church, Moor Street, Birmingham, celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Longley. Then the Corpus Christi Procession moves from St Michael’s, Moor Street, to St Chad’s Cathedral.
The Oxford Oratory: Annual Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Oxford.The procession will leave the church at 2.30pm, going first to Blackfriars for a sermon and ending with Benediction at the University Chaplaincy.
Please let us know of any other Corpus Christi Processions that are taking place and we will advertise them on the diocesan website.Corpus Christi Processions
Could you be a seed of hope?
The Archdiocese of Birmingham is inviting enthusiastic individuals to create a network of Environment Champions.
Please help us get as many parish/cluster/deanery Environment Champions as we can.
Your mission is to be a channel of communication between the Archdiocese and your parish, cluster or deanery, to promote Care of Creation and to enthuse others to help in responding to Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si’ to a spirituality which supports an ecological conversion.
You will receive the full support of the Care for Creation Committee as part of the diocesan effort to act as stewards of creation.
Invitation to Schools Sustainability Summit, Thursday 20 June
An invitation from St John Bosco Multi Academy Company:
Our thriving multi-academy trust is made up of eight schools, educating over 3,000 pupils across four different local authorities within the West Midlands.
We warmly invite you to attend our Sustainability Summit which will take place on Thursday 20 June, 9.30am – 3pm at Dudley Town Hall.
We have been working on embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals into our curriculum, giving our children a chance to become FACTIVISTS and have their voice heard on issues that are impacting them and others locally, nationally and globally.
We will be bringing together 650 children from across all our schools in a truly spectacular event to showcase what they have been learning and giving them a platform to be advocates for change.
Together in prayer and spirit on the Lourdes Pilgrimage
The annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes is now well underway.
Hundreds of pilgrims from across the parishes and schools of the Archdiocese are in the midst of a packed programme.
For those back home you can join in spiritually and keep up-to-date with liturgy, photos and videos on the diocesan website.
Please keep all of our pilgrims in prayer, as they are praying for you.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us.
Lifting the 50% Cap on Catholic School Admissions
We welcome the decision by the Education Secretary to lift the 50% cap on admissions for new free schools in England, and to allow Catholic special academies.
The decision is subject to a consultation which closes on Thursday 20 June. It is important that there is a strong response to the consultation.
For the past 14 years the Church has been making the case to remove the 50% cap on school admissions which has had a disproportionate effect on Catholic school provision. The Government has at last announced the lifting of the Cap, subject to the outcome of a consultation.
The proposals will also allow the Catholic Church to establish special academies alongside our existing special schools.
General Election, Thursday 4 July
Information and guidance on key issues of importance to us, as Catholics, to help inform how we vote.
From Education and Environment to Life Issues and Migration.
PLUS The Columban Missionaries in Britain’s Justice, Peace and Ecology team are inviting people to request extra copies of their latest ‘Vocation for Justice’ magazine filled with thought-provoking content in preparation of the General Election.
Are you looking to study Catholic theology?
Find out more about what’s on offer at Maryvale Institute
Recruitment for Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) and Licence Programmes is now open for 2024/25, for those looking to study with the Maryvale Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (HIRS), the only ecclesial institute of this kind in the English-speaking world.
Maryvale HIRS operates both the BDiv and Licence Programmes, theology qualifications recognised by the Holy See.
Now recruiting for:
Ecclesiastical Bachelor of Divinity Programme
Ecclesiastical Bachelor of Divinity Programme: Oscott Diaconal Pathway
Ecclesiastical Licence in Divinity: Pathway in Catechetical Sciences Programme.
Starts today: Annual Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Join in prayer from Thursday 30 May to Friday 7 June
All are welcome to join the Annual Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Sacred Heart Novena Masses will be celebrated at Maryvale House, Kingstanding. This year the Novena starts today, Thursday 30 May and finishes on Friday 7 June on the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Masses start at 7pm.
Maryvale House, Sacred Heart Chapel and Shrine is a place where people can come and truly experience the joy, peace and wonder of the First Friday Masses which start at 7pm each First Friday.
Get involved in Great Big Green Week!
Saturday 8 – Sunday 16 June
The Columbans in Britain are encouraging our local Catholic schools (and parishes!) to support Great Big Green Week by hosting an easy-to-organise, high-impact event.
Families are invited to bring and swap books/clothes/uniform and share Catholic Social Teaching with the wider community, whilst at the same time sending a gentle message to politicians that action needs to be taken for Our Common Home.
CAFOD hosts ‘Ripples of Hope’ event, Leamington Spa
Saturday 8 June at St Peter Apostle
A day of inspiration and spiritual nourishment with guest speaker David Wells, a well-known and much-loved Catholic speaker, teacher and author.
Plus the latest news from CAFOD Director Christine Allen.
CAFOD volunteers and supporters are all welcome to join this day of reflection and prayer.
Calling all volunteers! Discover how you can support Tabor Living
Open Evening on Monday 17 June, Birmingham
Tabor Living’s network of volunteers is growing, although we still need to increase our numbers to help ensure the project runs 24/7 for 365 days a year!
Can you help by committing to a few hours each week/fortnightly/or as and when you can?
All invited to the next Open Evening on Monday 17 June, 6.30pm to 8pm at St Catherine of Siena, Birmingham.
God Still Calls – Come and See Weekend
An Invitation from The Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle
Saturday 15 – Sunday 16 June at The Dupuis Centre, Selly Park, Birmingham.
Starting with Mass at 10am on Saturday and concluding at 2pm on Sunday.
The event is aimed at women aged 20 to 45.
Presentations over the weekend plus opportunities for quiet prayer and reflection and Sisters sharing their vocation story. God Still Calls
Come and See! Vocations Weekend
Friday 21 – Sunday 23 June, Selly Park, Birmingham
Do you feel a call to be a Priest or a Religious?
The Sacred Heart Fathers and Brothers (Betharram) invite you to a ‘Come and See Weekend’ to Explore the Gift of Vocation to the Religious Life and Priesthood.
From the evening of Friday 21 June to Sunday 23 June.
Poetry Night Invitation
Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield, Saturday 15 June
The Church has always had a great tradition of promoting the arts, from painting and pottery to poetry and everything in between.
Holy Trinity parish, Sutton Coldfield, is hosting a poetry night for all poetry lovers on Saturday 15 June.
Please bring along a favourite poem (classic or contemporary) to share with others, or come and listen to others reading their chosen words. All are welcome.
Online Forum ‘From Information to Transformation
‘Thursday 20 June, hosted by Maryvale Institute
St John Henry Newman Research Centre for Catholic Theology Presents:
From Information to Transformation: How the Bishops of the United States are Implementing the Directory for Catechesis by Fr Daniel Mahan (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
Online Academic Forum, Thursday 20 June, 6pm. All welcome.
Join us online for the St John Henry Newman Research Centre for Catholic Theology’s Online Academic Forum, the latest in a series of occasional, public seminars by Maryvale academics.
Jobs and Volunteering
Opportunities with the Archdiocese and other organisations
Caritas Development Lead – Father Hudsons Care Father Hudson’s Care (FHC) is the social care agency of the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Our community projects reach out to individuals who are marginalized and in need, including asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, older people and individuals experiencing homelessness.
The Caritas Development Lead will be responsible for encouraging social action across the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Working with parishes, schools, local charities and other partners, this lead role will provide capacity building to promote the development of volunteer-led initiatives across the Diocese.
Closing Date: Wednesday 5 June
Volunteers needed at St Mary’s College, Oscott The seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Oscott College is looking to expand its volunteer team as a result of changes to the onsite museum and its promotion. We are looking for individuals to fill the following roles: Tour guides (from September 2024)
Museum and Chapel stewards
Event assistants.
Do you have a passion for cooking and a heart for helping others? The Knights of Malta, in partnership with St. Catherine of Siena Church on Bristol Street, Birmingham are looking to host regular (starting monthly) food cafés/banquets at the St Catherine of Siena church.
They have a fully equipped industrial kitchen and a small team of dedicated volunteers, they really want to make a real difference in the lives of the homeless in Birmingham.
They are currently looking for a talented chef/cook to join them in creating delicious dishes and spreading warmth and comfort through food.
Cooking up some kindness together!
CAFOD School Volunteers Looking for a new challenge? Could you visit schools in your local area to deliver assemblies and workshops about our work and encourage young people to take action, fundraise and pray with CAFOD?
Use your skills for the common good and be an active part of creating a world without poverty.
Faith in Action Volunteer Programme The Columbans in Britain are excited to once again be recruiting young adult volunteers to embark on a year of personal development and growth as part of their unique Faith in Action Volunteer programme.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Volunteers The charity needs help with:
- Sharing mailings with your parish
- Including ACN regularly in parish prayers
- Fundraising to support projects
- Supporting ACN school projects
- Leading a parish Red Wednesday event
Marriage Care Trustees The board of Catholic Marriage Care are seeking new members to join them in enabling the vital relationship support services they provide to the Catholic Community and beyond.
Marriage Care are the largest faith-based relationship support charity in the UK – providing marriage preparation, support, and low-cost relationship counselling to those in need and making the world of difference to couples and families.
Events and retreats beyond the Archdiocese
Restoring Pugin Study Day
Nottingham Cathedral
Saturday 1 June – a heritage day connected with Pugin at Nottingham Cathedral. Are you involved in conserving Pugin’s work or generally interested in the life and legacy of AWN Pugin?Then please join a heritage day at Nottingham Cathedral on Saturday 1 June.
Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Grant, Nottingham Cathedral is working hard to restore Pugin’s original decorative paint schemes to the east end of the Cathedral.
The day will be an opportunity to learn about how digital technology is supporting this work, to hear from the paint conservation team about their work and exciting discoveries, to see the work so far in the Cathedral and later in the afternoon to hear acclaimed AWN Pugin author, Rosemary Hill, give an insight talk on the life and legacy of Pugin who she calls ‘a tortured genius’.
Tickets are £25 for the entire day.
Workshop at Douai Abbey
On the Edges of Faith..?
Saturday 1 June – A Day of Exploration for Seekers.
This Day will explore living on the edge of faith in a time of appalling instability all about and within.
Are you yearning for a greater vision of God’s all-embracing presence, and of his love for you as you are?
All day event at Douai Abbey, Reading.
Staging Mass in Early Modern Drama
Wednesday 12 June – London
Dr Gašper Jakovac (University College London) is leading a workshop in the intimate surrounds of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, at the Globe Theatre, London, exploring how early modern playwrights navigated Reformation England’s relationship with Catholicism.
Alongside examples from commercial playhouses, the workshop will consider a unique Catholic drama from early seventeenth-century Shropshire: The History of Purgatory. This forgotten text provides us with privileged access to the hopes, anxieties and steadfast belief of the Catholic community living under penal laws.
Fr Ryan Service, assistant priest at Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield, will be taking to the boards at the event to play the role of priest in the texts that are being explored.
Seated tickets are £12.Mass in Early Modern Drama
Retrouvaille
A Programme for Couples Struggling in their Marriages
Welwyn Garden City Friday 14 – Sunday 16 JuneHelp Your Marriage – Do you feel alone? Are you frustrated or angry with each other? Do you argue… or have you just stopped talking to each other? Does talking about it only make it worse?
Retrouvaille is a programme to support couples who have difficulties in their marriage. It brings a positive focus, new hope and helps nourish and grow your marriage.
Retrouvaille is a Catholic programme but is open to married couples of any faith, or none. It is offered as a gift from the Catholic Church to any married couple who wishes to heal the difficulties they are experiencing in their marriage.
The programme helps spouses uncover or re-awaken the love, trust and commitment that originally brought them together. It helps them through difficult times whether they are disillusioned or in deep misery. There is no group therapy or group work.
Dates for your diary: the month ahead
Thu 30 May – Friday 7 June: Annual Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Sat 1 June: Restoring Pugin Study Day, Nottingham Cathedral
Sat 1 June: Workshop at Douai Abbey: On the Edges of Faith..?
Sun 2 June: Corpus Christi Processions
Mon 3 June: Sight Loss Friendly Church Q&A, online
Sat 8 June: Church of Sanctuary Conference, Birmingham
Sat 8 June: Annual John Bradburne Pilgrimage, Cross Fell
Sat 8 June: Ripples of Hope event, Leamington Spa
Tue 11 June: Restore Training Course Session 1
Wed 12 – Fri 14 June: Catholic Parish Summit Hosted by Divine Renovation
Wed 12 June: Staging Mass in Early Modern Drama
Fri 14 – Sun 16 June: Retrouvaille Programme
Sat 15 – Sun 16 June: God Still Calls – ‘Come and See’ weekend
Sat 15 June: Poetry Evening, Sutton Coldfield
Sun 16 June: Day for Life
Mon 17 June: Tabor Living volunteer event
Tues 18 June: Restore Training Course Session 2
Thu 20 June: Schools Sustainability Event
Thu 20 June: Online Academic Forum hosted by Maryvale Institute
Thu 20 – Sat 22 June: Renewing the Church: Discover the Royal Priesthood at St Mary’s University (Conference)
Fri 21 – Sun 23 June: Come and See! Vocations Weekend
Sat 22 – Sun 23 June: KYT host ‘It’s a Knockout’
Sat 22 June: Explore Carmelite Spirituality and Prayer
Tues 25 June: Restore Training Course Session 3
Sat 29 June: Celebration Day – The Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality, Oxford
We hope you are finding this e-newsletter useful. Please share with anyone you think will benefit, and encourage them to subscribe via the website.
If you have any news, events or information you’d like to share this way please email it to [email protected] marked ‘For Newsletter’.
It’s great to see information coming into us which we can share with others, please keep it coming!