Newsletter for 2/3 December - Advent 1(B)

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As I did last year, during Advent, I shall post a piece of music each week to help us reflect on the season. The first is a very familiar chant from Taizé.



If your usual route to Church is via Market Street, you will need to allow a little more time on Saturday and Sunday....

Act in support of Catholic Education

Do you support Catholic schools and the right of Catholics to send their children to them?
Then we need you to make your voice heard. The Government is making a critical decision on whether to overturn the admissions cap which prevents new Catholic schools from allowing all Catholic pupils to attend.
The Prime Minister has acknowledged that this policy discriminates against Catholics and had promised previously to abandon it. Now the Government may decide to keep this discriminatory policy in place instead of removing it. We need you to tell the Government not to discriminate against Catholics and to remove the admissions cap on new faith-based schools.
Visit http://catholicnews.org.uk/education-cap to write to the Government and urge them to drop their policy which bans new Catholic schools.

Christ the King - Deacon Andrew's Homily

Click here to read Deacon Andrew's homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Mother Teresa used to say that when we die and meet the Lord face to face we will be asked how have we loved. The more time we spend before the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration; the more time we meet him in Holy Communion; the more we receive his mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the more we will see him in others.
When we truly see Christ in our neighbour; when we love our neighbour as Christ loves us - then we need not fear our judgement. When we love as Christ loves we will certainly hear him say “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you.”

Our Bishop's Catechesis on Adoration

Here is the message from Bishop Patrick seen by all the Catholic Schools in the Diocese on Friday last.

Our Bishop presents a simple and profound catechesis, based on his own daily experience of Adoration. Indeed, he gives us a deep and honest insight into his own spirituality. So much of what he says resonates very deeply with my own experience.

Although this was produced for our schools, there is so much here that can help any Catholic who wants to pray better, who sometimes finds it difficult to pray, and yet who knows that prayer is the lifeblood of any authentic Christian life. Isn't that all of us!

Whatever your age, please do watch this video. It takes less than ten minutes.

Please remember the forthcoming opportunities for adoration in our own parishes:

• Every Saturday evening, OLOL, 4.45 - 5.15pm (with Sacrament of Reconciliation)
• Tuesday, 28 November, St Charles Church, 1.10 - 2.15pm (with children from St Charles School)
• Monday, 18 December, OLOL, 6.30 - 8pm (with two priests available for Sacrament of Reconciliation, and with Prayers for Vocations)

Nottingham Diocese - Day of the Eucharist for Schools

Today our Bishop is speaking to all the Catholic school in the Diocese about Eucharistic Adoration. The chaplaincy team from St Charles will be going to De Lisle College in Loughborough to join in this day with other local schools. On Tuesday afternoon at St Charles Church, Measham, our children will be participating in a Holy Hour of Adoration, starting at 1.10pm - not 2.10 as I mistakenly put in the print version of the newsletter. Please join our children for all or part of this special time.

Newsletter for 25/26 November - Christ the King (A)

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More about Adoremus

I have already drawn your attention to Adoremus, the National Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool in September 2018. Here is a brief talk about it from Fr Chris Thomas, a priest of our diocese, currently working in London as General Secretary of the Bishops' Conference.

Please take every opportunity you can to participate in Eucharistic Adoration. Every Saturday evening at OLOL, we have Exposition from 4.45 - 5.15pm. Next Tuesday, 28th November, starting at 1.10pm there is a Holy Hour at St Charles Church, in which our school will be participating. On Monday, 19th December there will be one and half hours of Adoration at OLOL starting at 6.30pm, with prayers for vocations and with two priests available for confession.

This is something we are called to by all the Bishops of England and Wales. Let us respond gladly and with generous hearts.

New Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion

Today at the Cathedral Bishop Patrick commissioned ninety-five new Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for our Diocese. Among them was Patricia Clews from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Our parish was also represented by four of our musicians who sang with the Diocesan choir at the Mass.

Bishop Patrick told us in his homily that, when people are asked to take on this ministry, they often respond that they don't feel worthy. The Bishop said that none of us are worthy, but the Lord gives the necessary graces to those he calls and commissions.

He encouraged those to be commissioned to spend regular time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. He also reminded them to be careful of the language they use when speaking of the wonderful Sacrament they administer. What is brought to the altar at the offertory is bread and wine. Once consecrated it is no longer bread and wine: it has become the true Body and precious Blood of the Lord. The way we speak of this Sacrament should always reflect our faith in the real presence.

Thank you, Patricia, for embracing this wonderful ministry. May you be a blessing to our parishioners at Holy Mass, and to our sick and housebound brothers and sisters who receive Holy Communion at Home.

Newsletter for 18/19 November 2017 - Sunday 33(A)

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St Charles School becoming an Academy

As previously mentioned, it is planned that all Catholic schools in Nottingham Diocese will become academies from autumn 2018. Our own St Charles School will become part of the St Thomas Aquinas multi-academy trust. There is now an information/consultation period, and we need to make the two documents below as widely available as possible.

Consultation letter (from St Charles School)
Frequently Asked Questions (from the Diocesan Education Service)

Newsletter for 11/12 November - Sunday 32(A) - Remembrance Sunday

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More from Youth Retreat in Derby

I have already posted about the recent Young Adults' Retreat in our diocese. Today I came upon this account from a participant at the retreat. Well worth reading.

Planning ahead

November, the month of the Holy Souls, confronts us, sometimes uncomfortably, with our own mortality. Like most priests, I have occasionally been saddened when non-practising relatives of faithful Catholics have arranged funeral rites for their loved ones which do not reflect the faith of the one who has died. This is rarely, if ever done, from any bad will. Rather it is a result of not knowing what is appropriate, or being uncertain what their loved one would have wanted.

We can help those who are left by leaving clear written instructions which reflect our Christian faith and hope. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has provided this simple but comprehensive pro forma to help us do this. I commend this important, if challenging, exercise to you at this appropriate time of year.

New academies in Nottingham Diocese

From autumn 2018 all the Catholic schools in Nottingham Diocese will become academies. Each will be part of one of four multi-academy trusts. Leicestershire schools, including our own St Charles and De Lisle at Loughborough will become part of the St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi-Academy Trust. Blessed Robert Sutton will become part of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi-Academy Trust.

There will be much more about this in the coming months. Meanwhile, Blessed Robert Sutton have asked for these documents to be made available to parishioners:

• Letter to parents (From Blessed Robert Sutton)
• Academies FAQ (From the Diocesan Education Service)

Newsletter for 4/5 November - Sunday 31(A)

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