Interested in becoming a teacher?

The Nottingham Catholic Teaching School Alliance have places available on the School Direct Programme (primary and secondary).
 For further details and to reserve a place on the open evening, (Weds 4th Nov) please contact Vanessa Scott:  Tel: 0115 982 4280 or via www.becketonline.co.uk/teaching-school

Welcome Mass with Bishop Patrick

On Tuesday this week, the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, the schools and religious of the diocese gathered with our new Bishop in the Cathedral at Nottingham. St Charles School was represented by Mrs Elmore and members of the chaplaincy team.
In his homily the Bishop told us that the Archangels are in the presence of God, but are also his messengers. In both ways they can be our role models.

Newsletter for 26/27 September - Sunday 26(B)

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Please pray for our young people as they approach the Sacrament of Confirmation on October 2nd:

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and enkindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray
O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Vacancy for a Catholic Head Teacher in Sleaford

Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Primary School, Sleaford is seeking to appoint an inspiring and enthusiastic Head Teacher from the Summer Term 2016.  Full details are available from EPM, The School’s HR providers, at headship@EPM.co.uk.  The closing date for applications is 09:00am 29th September 2015

Open morning at St Charles School - Invitation

It was lovely to see such a good representation from St Charles School at Mass on Sunday. The children read beautifully and participated reverently in the Mass.

Now there is an invitation to visit the school's open morning on Friday, September 25th. Mrs Elmore has emailed me saying:

We are having an open morning next Friday, combined with a Macmillan Coffee morning and then Class 4 are leading a Liturgy at 11.00am to finish off the morning! I was wondering if you would mind putting this information on the blog for me for any prospective parents that would like to come for a look round, or any parishioners that would like to join us for the coffee morning?

Home Mission Sunday Pastoral Letter

Please click to read this weekend's Pastoral Letter from all the Bishops of England & Wales. I find myself returning to this short passage:

The key, then, to showing our faith in the way we live is to be ready to live constantly in the presence of God, knowing that God never takes his eyes off us, not to catch us out, but because he loves us so much. When we are constantly aware of that loving gaze which is upon us, and of the mercy and encouragement that flows our way, then we are enabled to look on others in the same way.
These are the foundations of evangelisation. On them, other steps can be built: the opportunity to speak about our faith; the expression of that love in programmes of action towards those most in need; a loving care for those who have been hurt by life and hurt within the Church, for whom any return to the practice of their faith is particularly difficult. In this effort for evangelisation we seek out ways of accompanying others, through friendship, through prayer, through conversation, so that they sense in us the welcome that God most certainly extends to them. Our efforts need not be complicated or heroic. As Our Blessed Lady reminds us, through our humble efforts the Lord can do great things! 

As part of out efforts to share our faith, our Diocese is providing a resource day as part of the national Procalm '15 initiative. It would be wonderful if our parishes were represented. More details at the bak of Church or here. The parish will pay the cost of attendance - just ask Fr Colin.

Justice and Peace Fieldworker Vacancy

READVERTISEMENT

Diocese of Nottingham

Justice and Peace Fieldworker

24 hours per week [including some evening and weekend working]

Salary: £14,500pa 

The Justice and Peace Commission is a group of clergy and lay volunteers commissioned by the Bishop of Nottingham to promote Catholic action for social and economic justice, and for peace, throughout the Diocese. The Commission meets three times each year, usually in Nottingham.

More information may be found at: www.nottinghamjp.org

The Fieldworker is employed by the Diocese of Nottingham to support and develop the work of the Commission. The post is currently funded for two years.

The Fieldworker is based at Willson House, Derby Road, Nottingham NG1 5AW.

Job description

Work with:

[1] Parishes, justice and peace groups, clergy and lay people to develop understanding of Catholic Social Teaching; and encourage them to take appropriate action.

[2] The Diocesan Youth Team and CAFOD to support and develop their work with secondary schools;

[3] Chaplains in schools, colleges and universities, prisons and the workplace to encourage understanding and engagement with questions of justice and peace;

[4] The diocesan Adult Formation Team to contribute to courses and study days and to raise awareness of Catholic Social Teaching on justice, peace and the environment.

Develop and maintain an active communications programme to include Just Now, the J&P website, Email news updates, material for parish bulletins, and Facebook and Twitter;

Maintain an efficient office with up to date databases of contacts and information resources;

Promote key programmes and campaigns initiated by CAFOD and other organisations;

Attend meetings of the Commission and of the Officers;

Attend National Justice and Peace Network and other national meetings as required.

The post involves travel throughout the Diocese and so a car and a clean driving licence are essential. Mileage will be paid at the current HMRC rate.

Six hours of support are currently provided by an Administrative Assistant.

Person specification

Essential:

• Knowledge and understanding of Catholic Social Teaching;
• Ability to motivate others;
• Ability to work on own initiative, and manage own workload / office;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including presentation skills and experience;
• Ability to use IT and social media effectively.

Useful:

• Experience of volunteering and working with volunteers;
• Experience of organising / supporting campaigns;
• Interest in working ecumenically, and also in collaboration with people of other faiths;
• Understanding of the organisation of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

How to apply

Please send an up-to-date CV plus a covering letter indicating why you are interested in the post and showing what relevant skills and experience you have either by email to:

pmstoat@gmail.com with Fieldworker Post in the subject line

or by post to:

Fieldworker Post

Justice and Peace Office

Willson House

Derby Road

Nottingham NG1 5AW

Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Wednesday 7^th October 2015.

If you would like and informal chat about the post, or have questions you would like to ask before deciding whether to apply, please contact Liz Doona on 01773 785196 liz.doona@ntlworld.com

Interviews for the post will be held at Willson House on Friday 16^th October 2015.

Newsletter for 19/20 September - Sunday 25(B)

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More from Bishop's House on the Refugee Crisis.

Father Andrew Cole writes:

Dear Father,

Please find attached:

1. A joint statement by Bishop Patrick and the Rt Rev Paul Williams, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, on the refugee crisis; and
2. A statement by Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Peter Smith, on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales, on the crisis.

The Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales recognises that the primary responsibility for reception and resettlement of refugees lies with the Government. However, each diocese has been asked to identify a point of contact to co-ordinate responses from its parishes and schools regarding practical help that they can give or initiatives that they can take. Patricia Stoat, from the diocesan Justice & Peace Commission, has kindly accepted Bishop Patrick’s invitation to do this for the Diocese of Nottingham. The contact email addresses are jpnottingham@nrcdt.org.uk (with ‘refugees’ in the subject line) and jprefugees@nrcdt.org.uk

The Bishop, as you know, is particularly keen for parishes to give some creative thought to how some solidarity and welcome could be expressed to those fleeing war-torn countries in a practical way, which could take the form of a local ecumenical initiative, and he asks that you do whatever you can to help those who are suffering in this way, and to let Patricia know what you, your schools and your parishioners will be doing, no matter how seemingly small.

Survey

A PhD student from Lincoln University is doing research in the field of health care for people with multiple health conditions. She needs to find people of over-55s with more than one long term health condition, especially in the East Midlands. She is wondering if there might be anyone matching this description at our Church who might be willing to help by filling out a questionnaire?

The questionnaire can be completed online (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CareNav) or paper copies with prepaid return envelopes can be supplied.

Newsletter for 12/13 September - Sunday 24(B)

Click here to read this weekend's newsletter.







You will see a monochrome copy of the Crucifixion of St Peter by Caravaggio in the newsletter.
Here it is in full colour.

Pope Francis reforms the process for marital nullity cases

The news media have been carrying the story of the documents issued by Pope Francis today. The Pope issued two Apostolic Letters by which he introduced reforms to the legal structures of the Church, which deal with questions of marital nullity. The secular media often fail to understand issues of this kind correctly, so I thought it might be helpful to provide a link to this concise analysis. I am not a canon lawyer, but this appears to be pretty reliable. It is certainly more realistic that what you are likely to hear on the radio or TV news!

As always, if you have any questions on this, especially if this has personal relevance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am here to help.

From Bishop's House - Refugee Crisis

Like every priest in the Diocese I received this email from Bishop's House today:

Dear Father,
You may have seen yesterday that Pope Francis, speaking after the Angelus in St Peter’s Square, has asked Catholic organisations in Europe to offer some form of hospitality to refugees. How this is best accomplished depends on what a parish, etc., can do practically.
Bishop Patrick would very much appreciate it if you and your parishioners could give some creative thought to how some solidarity and welcome could be expressed to those fleeing war-torn countries, which could take the form of a local ecumenical initiative, and he asks that you do whatever you can to help those who are suffering in this way.
With best wishes,

Rev Andrew Cole BA STL JCL

Private Secretary to the Bishop of Nottingham

The situation is developing day by day. I guess we all feel we would like to respond in a useful and compassionate fashion, but feel anxious and uncertain as to how this could be worked out in a practical way. Could I ask you read the second paragraph of the email above again, and reflect prayerfully on it.
As the possibility of a local ecumenical initiative is mentioned, I have already contacted other local ministers. One of them tells me that Sweet Memory Lane on Elford Street is organising a collection of baby and children's clothes to be sent to places where refugees need help.
Please think and pray, and come back to me with any ideas you have. I will keep you in touch with developments.

Update: Since I posted this, I have seen this statement from Cardinal Nichols promising: "Guidance will follow shortly on how the Catholic community in England and Wales can practically respond to this refugee crisis."

Newsletter for 5/6 September - Sunday 23(B)

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The Cardinal speaks on the refugee crisis

Click here to see what Cardinal Nichols said on ITV News.

"People are beginning to see the human face of this suffering, so it's no longer an abstract problem of people who are on the scrounge, it's not.
It's people who are desperate for the sake of their families, their elderly, their youngsters, their children, and the more we see that the more the opportunity for a political response that's a bit more generous is growing.
What is screaming out is the human tragedy of this problem."

The Church - Worldwide and Local

Two recent news items have caught my attention.

One is the letter of Pope Francis for the upcoming Year of Mercy. You can read it on the Catholic Herald site here.

The second is a petition to oppose the Assisted Dying Bill, shortly to come before Parliament. This petition has been started by a student from De Lisle College. You can read more about it on the Leicester Mercury site here and sign the petition here.

The witness of the Catholic Church to God's mercy and the sanctity of human life is expressed to the whole world by the Holy Father, but also to us locally through a student at one of our Catholic Schools.