Cathpic jan 2015 by Educate Magazine

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Issue 124 JANUARY 2015

Proclaim’ 15 is launched ARCHDIOCESE OF LIVERPOOL

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Cathedral Record The year in review

New Year New Beginnings All Saints: ‘Helping our neighbours 3,000 miles away’

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contents Welcome A very Happy New Year to all our readers. The start of a new year offers a time for reflection, the opportunity to look back on past years and also to look forward in hope to the coming twelve months. It is a time for change and of change. People make New Year resolutions, whether they keep them or not is a different matter. As the year begins so slowly do the seasons begin to change and the days become lighter. It can be a time for new beginnings. As 2015 dawns we hear of Proclaim ’15 an initiative of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to support parish evangelisation. This month we devote our centre pages to the project. The initiative is inspired by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Evangelii Gaudium’, in which he writes: ‘I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.’ What a wonderful way to begin a new year, to resolve to proclaim the Gospel with joy in our parishes. A resolution worth keeping.

Contents

From the Archbishop’s Desk

Main Feature Hearing the voices of Catholic parents

Christmas isn’t over yet! As you read this you might be planning to lose the extra pounds that you put on during the festive season, or you might be counting the cost and wondering whether it was all worth it.

News From around the Archdiocese

Well it was worth it! Christmas continues at least until the feast of the Epiphany, or in an older tradition the Christmas season lasts for forty days until 2 February, the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. So, what does Christmas mean? Christmas means that we should pray and work for a peace that is not imposed by force but comes from the presence of Christ in the hearts of humanity. It means that we should remember Bethlehem and the conflicts that have taken place there and throughout the Holy Land in recent months and years. It means that we should open ourselves to those who need our comfort and shelter. But it also means that God is with us and that he will be present to us in many ways throughout the coming year. The Christ-child is for us a sign that freedom is possible, that peace will come, and that all people will be drawn to him, not just angels, shepherds and Magi, but you and me, too. I pray that you will have a very blessed 2015. Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP Archbishop of Liverpool

Editor Peter Heneghan Editorial Catholic Pictorial Magazine Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation, Croxteth Drive, Liverpool L17 1AA Tel: 0151 522 1007 Email: catholicpictorial@rcaol.co.uk Advertising Andrew Rogers 0151 709 7567 Publisher 36 Henry Street, Liverpool L1 5BS

12 Sunday Reflections Liturgy and Life 13 Nugent News ‘Hear, Here’ at Nugent Care 14 Profile John Denny Volunteer Missionary Movement 15 Proclaim’ 15 Building missionary parishes 19 Animate Youth Ministry Embracing new challenges and responsibilities 20 Justice and Peace Searching for the Common Good 25 Cathedral Record The year in review 26 Pic Extras Mums the word News from the KSC

Copy deadline February issue 9 January 2015 CPMM Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced copied or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in any information storage or retrieval system without the publishers written permission. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published, Catholic Pictorial Ltd. can accept no responsibility for the veracity of the claims made by advertisers.

28 Pic Life Don’t give up on your good intentions 29 Join In Family Fun More Mullarkey

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Hearing the voices of Catholic parents New study underlines vital role of schools in providing link between home and parish By Father Philip Inch ERE in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, the ‘With You Always’ project has radically changed the way that we work with families. Our wish is that parents bringing their children to prepare for the sacraments of initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist – will find their place within the worshipping community of the Church, yet a new study commissioned by the Bishops’ Conference Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis suggests that this does not always happen.

This country-wide research, conducted by Dr Ann Casson, is titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities for the New Evangelisation: A Case Study of Catholic Primary School Parents in England and Wales’ and one of its six case studies was carried out in a parish in our diocese. The end product provides an opportunity for us to hear the voices of Catholic parents today and their experience of Mass attendance, parish life and, crucially, the vital role that Catholic schools serve in providing a link between the home and parish. If the feedback was not always positive, what cannot be in doubt is the fact our schools provide an invaluable threshold space to meet non-churchgoing Catholic parents. 4

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The study is part of the national ‘Crossing the Threshold’ project, which began in 2010 and is focused on developing strategies and resources to reach out to non-churchgoing Catholics. The researcher asked four questions to the participating parents: • How do Catholic parents in England and Wales currently express their faith? • Why do these parents seek a Catholic primary school education for their children? • Why do parents attend or not attend weekly Sunday Mass? • What do these parents value about what Catholicism has to offer and how would they wish to grow in faith and reconnect with parish life? The responses given shed light on different aspects of the parents’ experience. On the question of attending Mass, they spoke about competing commitments, whether paid employment or children’s leisure activities, a lack of knowledge about Mass and previous negative experiences of Mass with young children. There was also a perception that regular Mass attendance was not part of Catholic identity for their generation. There was a desire on the part of some parents to become more involved in parish life but they did not know how to do this, while some mothers believed that there was a need to broaden the

ways in which the Catholic parishes could encourage them to contribute. One widely held assumption was that the Catholic parish was run by, and for, an older generation who were regular Mass-goers. For many parents, there was also the feeling that other members of the congregation did not appreciate having young children at Mass. ‘Some of the older people are not always terribly friendly,’ said one. ‘The thing I like least about Mass is you want your children to be at Mass, but they find it boring. You feel under pressure to keep them quiet. You might have someone tutting or looking at you. It is so much hassle to get all of them out of the house and get them all there. It is just an hour of stress unfortunately.’ One mother even expressed the sense of fear she experienced in attending Mass: ‘When I walked in there, I didn’t really know what I was doing. There wasn’t anyone there to say ‘Come this way’. I want to start taking the children there, but it was uncomfortable when you don’t know what you are doing, there is that scariness of just not knowing what to do, when to sit down or kneel down.’ Yet, as the following breakdown of themes shows, there were plenty of positive experiences touched on also: Faith illiteracy: Many Catholic parents expressed the view that their faith was an important aspect of their lives, but they struggled to put it into words. ‘My faith is part of who I am – it defines my personality and sets me apart from other people’ was one answer. Another person said: ‘It is part of my life. With God my life is better.’

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feature ‘My faith is part of who I am’

Perceived expense: Some parents stated that they had waited before seeking Baptism for their children because the celebration was expensive. ‘If you want your child baptised, (the parish) has an open invitation from time to time. It is less formal. We had put it off because it was too expensive, so we came along and it saved us the financial worry.’ Priest presence: The majority of parents cited the welcome presence of the parish priest in school, be it at the school gate or even eating in the canteen with the children, as a visible sign of the Catholic nature of the school. ‘I do like how the priest talks to them, how he makes them laugh.’ Power of invitation: A few parents spoke of attending Mass in response to an invitation from the Catholic school, or from the organisers of the sacramental preparation programme. It is significant to observe the positive response from parents to a personal invitation to attend Mass. Sacramental preparation: Parents spoke positively of their experiences of attending Mass as part of the

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feature

sacramental preparation. A pastoral worker and one parish priest explained how parents would make a great effort to attend Mass during the course of the programme, but attendance was often not maintained beyond that period. Children’s liturgy: The provision of excellent children’s liturgy was cited by some parents as the reason to attend Mass with their children. ‘I take the children every weekend, the children’s liturgy is offered for the children, which is great; it explains the Gospel in their own words.’ Family cathechesis: Many Catholic parents explained how they would often learn alongside their child and a key time when faith conversations between parent and child increased was at the time of sacramental preparation for First Holy Communion.

‘With God my life is better’ 6

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It is difficult to draw general conclusions from this report, though it seems fair to suggest that one positive step would be to provide more opportunities for joint catechesis for parents and children as it is important to equip parents to play their part in passing on their faith, even if they lack confidence. It is evident that

parents themselves are moved to reflect on their own faith in response to questions from their children, often prompted by what they are learning in school. Indeed for many parents the Catholic school is how they felt they belonged to the Church, so a close relationship between home, school and parish is crucial. The work of evangelisation should empower key people in schools and parishes to reach out to parents and this will require a look at how we use our resources. As Pope Francis reminds us in ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (120): ‘By virtue of our baptism we are all missionary disciples and agents of evangelisation. It is not just the task of the professionals.’ Indeed the Pope reminds us often that if we are on fire with the love of God, then we will have a burning desire to share His love and our faith with everyone. This is our shared task. • The full 87-page report is available from the website of the Bishop’s Conference: http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/Home /News/Evangelisation-Research

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News diary If you’ve got any news from your parish that you’d like featured e-mail us with the details at: catholicpictorial@rcaol.co.uk families of my friends, attending traditional Brazilian parties, eating amazing food, and working in the school and language courses in Rio Bonito where I taught some of the students English and answered questions on English life and why Brazil is special to me.

Back to Bonito Sarah Brooks was a pilgrim at World Youth Day in Brazil in 2014, last summer she returned to Rio Bonito where our Liverpool pilgrims stayed for a week. Just over a year ago myself and 30 other young Catholics from across the North West travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the World Youth Day celebrations, where we would join together with around four million others to celebrate our faith. Little did we know how big an impact World Youth Day would have on us; especially me.

Last July I decided to travel back to Rio Bonito: the town about an hour away from Rio de Janeiro where we stayed with families during the first week of our pilgrimage. I had kept in regular contact with quite a few of the young people from there so I was eager to go back and visit and thank them for all they did for us during our stay. I was a little apprehensive at first, as I knew it would be completely different from WYD and I would be the only English person in the town. However, as soon as I got off the plane and saw my friends at the airport waiting for me I knew I had made the right decision to return. I crammed in lots the two weeks I was there; going back to the city for a few days to climb Sugarloaf mountain, visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue, travelling up the coast to take in some of the beaches, meeting the

It was also great to return to the youth group and the local parish. We see and feel the effect World Youth Day has on us but it’s rare we get to go back and see how the experience affected them. From the welcome I received at the church, it was clear to see how new relationships have been established and faith has grown since last year. I was invited to talk to the congregation at Mass, with one of my friends translating into Portuguese, where I was able to thank them for their hospitality and explain why it is so important to keep these relationships alive. As I predicted it was completely different to what I experienced during WYD, however it was just as special, if not more. My friends have invited me to return next year and hopefully with some lessons, my Portuguese will be much better. Some have the idea that once events like WYD are over people just return to their normal way of life, that because the celebrations have ended so too must that journey. This is not the case: it is the beginning of new friendships, journeys and experiences; not the end.

School welcomes former pupil Staff and pupils at St Vincent de Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Liverpool welcomed back a former pupil to open their newly extended hall. The special guest was none other than Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson; Bishop Vincent Malone also officially blessed the school hall. Headteacher Mr Phil Stewart, said: ‘We were very honoured to have Joe open the hall as he has played a major part in providing the funding, in recognition of this fact we have named the hall the “Anderson Hall”. We would also like to thank the Archdiocese for their help especially Bishop Malone who agreed to give the official blessing and to Chris Williams for his much valued help and guidance. ‘To think that we were close to closing down a number of years ago to where we are now is indeed a credit to the teaching staff and community. The original hall, transformed from a building that was not fit for purpose, is now a focal point for the school, children can now eat together, we can hold assemblies and hold indoor activities as a whole school. It is a wonderful resource for pupils, staff and the whole community.’

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Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said: ‘I’ve been a governor at my old primary school, St Vincent de Paul’s, for 25 years and I love the school which is at the heart of a great community. It is a brilliant success story with three outstanding Ofsted inspections, a fantastic head in Phil Stewart, a dedicated staff and pupil roll that has risen from 80 to 270. I have fond memories of my time and it was a real honour to officially open Anderson Hall and receive such a warm welcome, as always.’

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news diary St Nicholas visits

Obituary of Canon William Redmond Canon William Redmond who taught at Ushaw College and served as Parish Priest in Widnes and Warrington died on Saturday 6 December at the age of 65 having served the archdiocese as a priest for 39 years.

On the eve of the feast day of St Nicholas, children attending St Nicholas School, Mount Pleasant, were the first to see Liverpool John Moores University's new facial depiction of the saint. St Nicholas (15 March, 270-6 December, 343) was an historic 4thcentury Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and so he became the model for Santa Claus. In 1087, the relics of St Nicholas were transported to Bari Cathedral, in Italy. Professor Caroline Wilkinson and Mark Roughley of the new Face Lab at LJMU's School of Art and Design have created a new facial depiction of St Nicholas using the latest 3D interactive technology, which depicts

the face of a middle-aged man with a long grey beard, round head and square jaw. St Nicholas also had a severely broken nose, which had healed asymmetrically, giving him a characteristic nose and rugged facial appearance. Professor Wilkinson commented: "This is the most realistic appearance of St Nicholas based on all the skeletal and historical material. It is thrilling for us to be able to see the face of this famous 4th century Bishop.’ Deputy Headteacher of St Nicholas Catholic Primary, Angela McKenna, said: ‘The Year 5 and 6 children are very excited about seeing a reconstruction of St Nicholas, who obviously has great importance to all of us at the school. We are delighted we were chosen to be the first to see the facial depiction.’

Voluntary Chairperson needed The Safeguarding Commission of the Archdiocese of Liverpool is looking to appoint a Chairperson to its Safeguarding Commission. This is a voluntary position and it is hoped that on appointment, the successful applicant will serve for a four year fixed term. The Commission Chairperson will be independent of the Diocese: that is, not employed by the Diocese and not part of the Diocesan hierarchy. The

successful applicant will have extensive, current, professional safeguarding expertise and experience, which has been obtained, within the Health, Police, Probation or Child and Adult Social Care professions. Applications for this position will close on Monday 23rd February 2015. For further information contact: Safeguarding Department, Liverpool Centre for Evangelisation, Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool L17 1AA. Tel: 0151 522 1043 Email: safeguarding@rcaol.co.uk

William George Joseph Redmond was born in Maghull on 3 June 1949, the son of William and Mary Redmond. He was educated at St Monica’s School, Bootle, and St Edward’s College, Liverpool, before studying at Oriel College, Oxford. After graduation he began his studies for the priesthood at St Joseph’s College, Upholland and was ordained priest at St Monica’s, Bootle, on 19 July 1975. Following ordination he was sent for further studies at the Biblicum in Rome and was awarded a licentiate in Sacred Scripture. Upon his return to the archdiocese he was appointed as assistant to Monsignor Thomas Adamson at St Clare’s, Liverpool, in September 1979. However, very soon his postgraduate studies were put to use with his appointment to the staff at Ushaw College, where he taught Sacred Scripture between September 1981 and February 1990. In February 1990 he was appointed parish priest of St Paul of the Cross, Burtonwood. After more than ten years in Burtonwood he became parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Hough Green, in September 2000. In addition to his appointment at Our Lady’s, he became parish priest of St Michael’s, Ditton, in July 2008. His final appointment was as parish priest of St Oswald’s, Padgate, in September 2011. He remained at St Oswald’s following his retirement in September last year, but this latter period was marked by increasingly poor health. In March 2009 he was appointed Canon Theologian of the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter and also served on the Ecumenism Commission of the archdiocese. Father Redmond’s Funeral Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon at St Oswald’s, Padgate, on Friday 19 December followed by burial at Yewtree Cemetery.

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news diary Obituary of Rev David O’Brien OSB

Father David O’Brien OSB, a Benedictine monk of Ampleforth Abbey who served as Parish Priest of Our Lady and All Saints, Parbold, died in the monastery infirmary at Ampleforth Abbey on 26 November 2014 at the age of 89. Father David was born in St Anne’s, Lancashire, in January 1925 and served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. For a number of years after the war he worked as an insurance broker before joining the monastic community at Ampleforth Abbey, where he was solemnly professed as a monk on 25 September 1954. He spent most of his monastic life working in Ampleforth’s parishes, first of all in Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Grassendale. In September 1963 he became assistant priest in St Mary’s, Warrington, and then seven years later moved to St Mary’s, Cardiff. In 1973 he returned to Lancashire and became parish priest in Parbold, where he remained for nearly twenty years. In February 1990 Fr David retired from the role of parish priest due to ill health, but even though well into his 70s he continued to work as an assistant priest and giving retreats. In 2002 he joined the small community of Ampleforth monks in St Benedict’s monastery at Bamber Bridge, Preston, where he worked tirelessly as Chairman of the Lancashire Interfaith Prayer and Dialogue Group and Chairman of the Lancashire Support Group for Deafened People. Due to his failing health, Fr David returned to the monastery at Ampleforth in September 2013. His funeral Mass was celebrated in the Abbey Church on Thursday 4 December. 10

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Ecumenism in the City by Chris Dobbin The Parish of Saint Mary's Highfield Street was for many years a well known Liverpool City Catholic parish serving a large inner city Congregation but also serving a number of the local office workers through its daily Mass at 1.05 pm. However, due to a falling Congregation as a result of rehousing, the Church was closed in 2000. This left the office workers contingent of the Congregation without a local church which enabled them to attend Mass within the constraints of their lunch hour. Fortunately, Saint Mary's had some years previously entered into an Ecumenical Covenant with nearby Liverpool Parish Church, the church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas. The Bishop of Liverpool kindly gave permission for a Catholic Mass to be celebrated every Friday in the Parish Church at the traditional time of 1.05 pm. Consequently, the first Mass was held in 2000, and Father Stephen Pritchard was given the task of saying the Mass each week, which he continued to do for six years. Bishop Tom Williams then decided that the Masses should be shared by a rota of priests.

The Friday Mass at Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, is now in its fourteenth year, and we would like to thank all the priests who down the years have volunteered to celebrate it for us. ln particular, we should like to mention Father Stephen Pritchard whose long stint in saying the Mass in the earlier years, helped to get the Friday Mass established, and who continues to support us when he is available. Finally, our grateful thanks to the successive Rectors of the Parish Church, and its Congregation, for the kindness and hospitality shown to us over the last fourteen years. There can be no greater example of Ecumenism in the City of Liverpool.

Prayer Vigils for Religious Freedom Aid to the Church in Need are to hold three Prayer Vigils for Religious Freedom in the Archdiocese. The first is at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King from 7.30 to 9.00 pm on Friday 6 February. Archbishop Malcolm McMahon will be present and the Right Reverend Charles Maung Bo,

Archbishop of Yangon in Myanmar (Burma), will speak. Monsignor James Cronin National Director of Missio, will also attend. Other Vigils are to be held at St Mary’s, Chorley on Sunday 8 March from 3.00 to 4.30 pm and at St John’s, Wigan on Friday 13 March from 7.30 to 9.00 pm.

Cursillo News The next Liverpool Ultreya will be held at St Michael and All Angels Church, Kirkby on Tuesday 27 January at 7:30 pm. ‘Deepening experience Cursillo’ is a weekend for those who have already made their Cursillo and would like to experience

a deeper level. It will be held at St Joseph's Prayer Centre in Formby from Friday 6 to Saturday 7 February. For more information or to book places visit www.liverpoolcursillo.co.uk or call 07542 642 327.

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news diary Helping our neighbours 3,000 miles away http://vimeo.com/109508987. It was hoped that across the schools we could raise £10,000 by Christmas. With that the schools worked together in a way rarely seen before. Each school is fundraising in school, but then coming together for big events that we hope will publicise the difficulties Ebola is causing for our partner community. St Robert Bellarmine arranged a sponsored Fun Run which 350 school children took part in. We all dressed in white, blue and green, the Sierra Leone colours, and tried between the five schools to run the distance between here and Sierra Leone, a distance of some 3,000miles.

by Joan Maguire, Assistant Head Teacher - All Saints RC Primary School, Anfield ‘If your next door neighbour was dying of Ebola you would do anything you could to help. Well our friends in FANO are our neighbours, but just a bit further away.’ It was when nine year old Melissa with the honesty of a child, casually uttered these words that I realised that the children of our school were way ahead of the staff in understanding the impact of Ebola and how we were being called to help. Our school, All Saints Primary School, Anfield first visited Sierra Leone in 2010 to meet with our partner school FANO, a small school of 120 pupils in a corrugated iron shed. Life was incredibly difficult for them, but we were moved by their zest for life and the joyfulness of the partnership soon spread back to school. Over the last four years there has been a visit to Sierra Leone and a return visit by one of their teachers each year. As a result our children have learned an incredible amount about the lives of children in Africa: not just the sad things, but how they play, pray and spend time with their families. As the news began to filter through about the horror of Ebola one of our teachers, Frank, lost his wife and young daughter to the disease and had to spend three weeks in quarantine with his other daughter and young baby who had still been breastfeeding, it was the children who led the charge to fund raise. They organised themselves into little groups who bake cakes to sell, make bookmarks or jewellery, run raffles, spot the ball and even a guess the pop star as a baby competition. One girl, Emily, ten, spends her full pocket money every Saturday buying cakes at discount shops to sell in school, handing over all profits over to ‘help our friends in Sierra Leone’. A local charity, the Waterloo Partnership works directly in the town where FANO is situated and is helping to feed the quarantined, like our teacher Frank, and support the thousands of Ebola orphans. Any money we raise is distributed by them to help those most in need.

video, which the children starred in, to ask other schools to help. It can be viewed on the internet at:

At a time when people accuse our young people of being selfish and lazy; at a time when we seem to care less and less about each other, it has been a privilege to work with a group of children who have worked so hard to help their neighbours, even those who just happen to live 3,000 miles away.

As the weeks passed and the situation worsened, the children realised they would need more help. Each year our visits to Sierra Leone had taken place with several other schools from across Liverpool and Sefton. We joined with them to make a

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sunday reflections On a liturgical note 20+ C + M + B+ 15 – or, to put it into words, may Christ bless the Household! The Epiphany tradition of chalking on the house the letters CMB (Christus Mansionem Benedicat) with the current year is one which is certainly maintained at the Metropolitan Cathedral and perhaps at your local church and in your home. This blessing is both a prayer for the coming calendar year and also a reminder that the Lord’s blessing is found in every place and every aspect of our lives – and what better feast to do it on than the feast of the manifestation of Christ to all peoples, and the bringing of the three gifts. (Some say that the letters CMB stand for Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, the traditional names gives to the three wise men.) There is a little phrase at the beginning of the preface of the Eucharistic prayers which can often get a little overlooked – ‘always and everywhere to give you thanks’ – but it is at the very heart of our understanding of Christian life. In all

Sunday thoughts Whatever happened to 2014? I got used to it being 2014 sometime in June and now it's 2015. Why does time pass more quickly as I get older? Someone explained recently that when I am five years old, a year is a long time because it is 20 per cent of my lifetime. When I am 70 years old, a year is little more than one per cent of my accumulated experience. And each of us experiences time at a different rate. Christmas Day goes quickly for me because I am busy. It can drag for the single person in their onebedroom flat. When I was young I wished my time away. My head was always somewhere else. I longed for the end of term and the beginning of the holidays. I ticked off the days to my birthday or to Christmas. I longed to grow up and be taken seriously. I looked forward to my ordination. I literally wasted time.

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Canon Philip Gillespie

places, at all times and in many different and varied ways, we make our ‘Eucharist’ our thanksgiving for the goodness and blessings of God. Priest, policeman, schoolteacher, parent – whatever our station and calling in life, we are called to make of our lives a hymn of thanksgiving for the graces of God. This may sound a little ‘high blown’ or unrealistic but surely it is exactly what Pope Saint Leo I wrote in his Christmas homily all those years ago: ‘O Christian, be aware of your nobility.’ A few days ago we sang ‘What can I give Him, poor as I am ?’ and the answer, of course, is everything we have and everything we will become over these next weeks and months; all the joys and hopes, the fears and the sorrows which lie before us. All of these are given into the care of Christ so that He may transform and strengthen us, each according to our own needs and circumstances. May God bless us, every one!

Mgr John Devine OBE

Perversely, as I get older I cling to time. I want it to slow down. I want to savour moments rather than hurry them on. The past is a memory and the future is an illusion, an idea in my head. How often do I think ‘If only’?. If only I were somewhere else. If only I were someone else. If only it were Friday. If only I didn't have to put out the bin or do the washing up. If only I had a new car, a new house, a new job. If only I wasn't sick. If only such a person would get out of my life and leave me alone. If only someone I loved hadn’t died. If only I had more money. If only the sun would shine. These are the ‘stubborn particulars of grace’. The present moment is the only reality. When I pray, I stop the clock. The present moment is where God is waiting to be found.

What do you hope for? Some 37 years ago I was part of a huge prayer group that met in Mount Pleasant in Liverpool. One of the people who used to join us was a bag lady called Thora. She sat and cried most weeks saying that she was a ‘backslider’ and there was no hope for her. One week she burst into tears and shouted at the group saying: ‘Are all your nice words for me as well?’ There was no immediate answer, probably because of shock, so she picked up her bags and went out. I have never forgotten that incident because I think in a sense it has challenged me to ask myself the question ‘Who is the Good News for?’ Is it just for the nice religious people who know all the dogmas and doctrines of the Church or is it for those who are hurting and broken and have nothing else to hope in? Is the Good News just for people who are acceptable or is it as well for those on the fringes of society, those who are alienated and isolated by their homelessness, their creed, their sexuality, their colour? Who is it for? About six months ago I was at a meeting with a priest who has been running ‘school gate alpha’. This is an evangelisation process designed to touch families. After the process some of those involved had begun coming to church. Never having been in church before, they did not quite know what to do. Their children were noisy and ran about and quite a few times they dissolved into laughter when they stood up as everyone else remained seated. After Mass a woman went up to the priest and said: ‘Father I think you should tell those people not to come back.’ The Scribes and the Pharisees are still around. If we say the Good News is for all people, then we are challenged to be individuals with hearts that are wide and accepting of all God’s children. We are challenged to let go of our narrow understandings and preconceived ideas. We are called to be open to all so that all may have the opportunity to hear and experience the Good News. There is to be no room for judgement or criticism, but rather simple acceptance and love. As we begin a new year, my hope is for a Church made of individuals who are welcoming, accepting and willing to walk alongside those who struggle with life and faith. What do you hope for? Fr Chris Thomas

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nugent news ‘Hear Here’ at Nugent Care

May I wish each of you a Happy New Year from all the staff and volunteers at Nugent Care. Early morning listeners to BBC Radio 4 will be familiar with the brief programme, ‘Tweet of the Day’; nothing to do with the ubiquitous social media of the twenty-first century but just sixty seconds of birdsong. It can be from familiar birds in this country or from exotic species around the world, for many it is a relaxing way to start a busy day.

The Old Swan Lipreading group Nugent Care’s ‘Hear Here’ Project supports Hard of Hearing people and their families across Merseyside. People who lose their hearing due to age or other reasons can often find life difficult. They may feel isolated and lose confidence. We have a team of five part time staff who work from three offices in St Helens, Southport and our Liverpool Head Office. We currently deliver six lipreading classes across Merseyside (Old Swan, Haydock, St Helens, Formby and two in Southport). They are very informal and friendly and aim to increase confidence and selfesteem. We also organise social activities to reduce isolation and many friendships have been forged through these. Members of different groups sometimes get together for activities and trips.

seven volunteers in the Southport area visit Hard of Hearing people who are unable to get out and may feel excluded from society. The volunteers say they get just as much out of visiting as the people they visit. We also offer advice and information about issues concerning hearing loss and we can signpost people to other agencies. If you wish to know more about ‘Hear Here’, contact the Project Leader, Graham Maher on: 0151 261 2051, Mobile: 07717 788458, email: GMaher@nugentcare.org or visit the Nugent Care website www.nugentcare.org The Hard of Hearing Service at Caritas in Nugent Care relies on fundraising and donations. If you would like to make a donation to support the work that we do please contact: Marie Reynolds on 0151 261 2049 or email: MarieR@nugentcare.org

In addition we offer a ‘Try before you Buy’ loan scheme for specialist sensory equipment Lipreading group members on e.g. amplified phones, a barge trip in Chester loops and tinnitus relaxers. We also offer one-toone basic computer training for Hard of Hearing people and a Communication Awareness Course for Service providers. Our small team of

Imagine a world without birdsong, with missed sounds, or a world of muffled, distorted and indistinguishable sounds. The Caritas in Nugent Care Hard of Hearing Service works to help people overcome such difficulties, the services they offer include lipreading classes to help improve communication. It might be highlighted on the radio for one minute each morning but all too often birdsong is just a background noise in life. For those with hearing loss background noise can be a problem. Hearing aids amplify speech, but may also amplify background noise making it difficult to tell one from the other and sounds heard through a hearing aid may be unlikely to sound as clear as people are used to. When you acquire lipreading skills, those problems are often diminished as hearing aids and lipreading work together to help people communicate. Through lipreading people acquire and develop skills to combine looking, thinking and where possible listening. Looking means looking at the whole person for body language and facial expressions as well as speech movements. Thinking is learning to anticipate and follow the gist of a conversation. Listening means listening for sounds that may seem distorted or incomplete and making the most of any hearing you have, whether or not you use a hearing aid. In our lipreading classes at Nugent Care modern technology and equipment are of great help both to tutors and to those attending. One such aid is known as the ‘Roger Pen’. It is a transmitter which reduces background noise and can be placed on a table, held in the hand or given to whoever is speaking; the sound is picked up by digital hearing aids, or a neckloop receiver. The cost of a ‘Roger Pen’ is £1,500 and we are currently looking for donations so that we can buy one to use in our lipreading classes. If you wish to make a donation (cheques should be made payable to ‘Nugent Care’) you may send it to me, Kathleen Pitt at Nugent Care, 99 Edge Lane, Liverpool, L7 2PE, marking the envelope ‘Lipreading Pen Appeal’. If you are able to help us buy a ‘Roger Pen’ for our classes you will be helping to transform lives. Kathleen Pitt Chief Executive Nugent Care

Catholic Pictorial

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profile

John Denny On a mission to improve lives by Simon Hart “I must have an obsessive personality, I love challenge.” John Denny is talking about his hobby of longdistance mountain bike racing, but he could just as easily be discussing his working life. John is the new chief executive of the Volunteer Mission Movement, an organisation founded in 1969 by Edwina Gateley, a Lancaster schoolteacher, with the aim of allowing ordinary lay people to live and work in solidarity with the poor. On his appointment, he praised VMM’s tradition of working “alongside the marginalised and global poor, in a way that is respectful of culture, dignity and social belief” and speaking to the Catholic Pic from its Dublin head office, he explains more. VMM currently has 76 skilled volunteers working in nine countries across Africa as well as Cambodia in south-east Asia and the biggest challenge in his new role, he says, is to encourage “a new generation that want to work in difficult parts of the world”. He admits it is harder today to find people wishing to dedicate an entire lifetime to such work. “There is an appetite for people to spend two, three,

Catholic Pictorial

four, five years of their life and there is an appetite for others to spend six months,” he notes yet he is wary of those agencies which profit from sending people to Africa on short-term placements. VMM, he explains, is different. “I was in Tanzania a few weeks ago meeting new partners and the one thing they valued most was the fact VMM seemed to find people who want to integrate in a community and share their lives; that must be our compelling reason to exist.” For Denny, the missionary tradition is something to be admired as he reflects on “the way people went about sharing their lives and not making a big song and dance about it but actually going to the heart of some of the world’s most difficult problems. What I found so astonishing about the Catholic tradition was them being so humble.” His own connection with Africa began when, as chief executive of Chester and District Housing Trust, he helped establish a skills exchange programme for his own tradesmen and women which sent them over to Fort Portal in Uganda. They were paired “with young tradesmen and women coming out of a local

technical college and together they could refurbish local schools, which would attract better teachers and mean kids got better teaching. We have refurbished six schools, built a health centre, built accommodation for people to stay and about 6,000 kids have benefitted as well as several hundred apprentices.” This programme, One Brick At A Time, was set up with Dr Martin Carey from Liverpool Hope University. The Warrington-born Denny is a senior fellow of the university’s business school and is involved in social regeneration efforts locally via the Hope Opportunity Education Trust (HOT). He has come a long way since leaving his job in a steelworks at 21 to embark on an environmental studies degree at Sheffield Polytechnic and today, at 54, has a strong vision of how best to effect change. “The biggest impact you have on communities and lives isn’t necessarily from doing the biggest things or the biggest expenditure; the things that change hearts, minds and create opportunities for people are things that are very personal.” • To learn more about VMM, go to: www.vmminternational.org

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Places at the National Catholic Evangelisation Conference are limited to 35; anyone wishing to attend should hold a key role in evangelisation in their parish or pastoral area. For further details contact: Fr Philip Inch, Episcopal Vicar for Evangelisation email: philipinch@btinternet.com

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youth ministry Embracing new challenges and responsibilities with Animate By James Royal-Lawry, team coordinator Each of us here at Lowe House will no doubt embrace 2015 and the challenges ahead but the arrival of the new year has led me to reflect on the fresh start I had already made as part of the Animate team. Before stepping into my role with Animate in the autumn, I had had the opportunity to work as a volunteer and be trained by two separate organisations, which between them sent me to the furthest corners of Britain. If my faith was ever fluctuating and evolving – along with the efficiency of my work! – what remained constant throughout was my desire to work with people. In recent years I have felt called towards this sense of mission and become increasingly ready to immerse myself in this environment. The experience of being involved in youth ministry has afforded me an immense privilege – the opportunity to work alongside some incredibly gifted people, many of whom possessed great passion along with ability. Yet throughout this progression – something which is often likened to a journey – I have experienced the nagging question of ‘What is my place here?’. In this

active ministry we each continually pose ourselves this subtle question, just as in any work placement, or indeed life in general; it is a question that is often prompted by a comparison to others, the gifted individuals I have previously mentioned. But this is precisely what provokes our need to be brought together in community. Life in a community is both a challenge and an invitation and I feel that we each discover ourselves better from being placed together with other people who have lived lives quite removed from our own, each with their own origins and unique calling to mission, a mission that is communal. It is wonderful to then see our community-based lives reflected in many of the themes of our retreat days – as we join young people in exploring the theme of ‘One Body’, for instance, our words are better able to capture the actions which we live daily. For me personally, working with the Animate team has meant stepping into new territory with the new responsibility of helping others to be

nurtured in their mission. This is not always easy as I am forever reminding myself of my own limited wisdom… and wondering how much of this little wisdom might be worth imparting. However, I am comforted by the thought that in this informal learning environment we do not just presume to teach because relational teaching is a dual encounter, and throughout this encounter we should always seek to learn too. So I look forward to the year ahead and the opportunity to further embrace this responsibility as I participate in this dual encounter, both with the community with whom I share this mission and every person that I meet in my daily work. Upcoming events • Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (for ages 15+). For more information see the Animate website or contact Father Simon Gore on 01744 740467 or s.gore@animateyouth.co.uk. Final numbers are required by Tuesday 6 January.

Catholic Pictorial

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justice & peace

Searching for the Common Good By Steve Atherton, Justice and Peace fieldworker Catholic Social Teaching, or CST for short, is often known as the Church’s best-kept secret. It is a distillation of ethical wisdom, going back to ancient times, on how to be in the ‘right relationship’ with others. We find it in the psalms, in the prophets, in the Gospels, in the Church fathers and in the teaching of all the Christian Churches. I am happy to say that it is most clearly expressed in the social teaching that comes from our Church. It is a gift that we can offer to the rest of the world. I like to think of CST as being like the house that we live in that gives us protection and security. The roof – The Common Good: The world is to be organised for the benefit of everyone, not just for the rich and powerful. The house itself – Human dignity: Human beings are intrinsically valuable regardless of status, age, gender, health, ability, appearance or other variables. Our dignity includes our personal responsibility for our decisions and our actions.

The foundation stone – Human equality: All people are of equal worth. Value is not a price tag, with some people worth more than others. The bedrock – Preferential option for the poor: This is the bedrock, the foundation on which the house rests. The least powerful members of society have to be protected but this is not just a matter of us doing good to them. The principle is one of empathy, compassion, fellow feeling and mutuality. Everyone is included; no one is left behind. The walls – Subsidiarity and solidarity: We are all in this together. People should be involved in decisions which affect them. Those in power have a duty to let this happen. The other foundations – Right to Life: The protection of human life is of primary concern. Participation: the duty to be involved in organising society.

Animate make minibus appeal THEY travel to all corners of the Archdiocese and beyond working with young people but a breakdown on a road in Wales has left Animate Youth Ministries looking for a new minibus. Father Simon Gore, who leads the Animate team, is asking whether there are any parishes or schools out there with an old minibus that they no longer need – and if so, whether they could contact him. “There are eight of us living in the community and in order to get around with all our equipment it is best to have a minibus,” he explained. “I thought it would be worth asking if any parishes or schools or private donors might be able to help us out in some way. We might have a viable alternative to selling it or scrapping it and could provide a school or parish with some funds in return.” Fr Simon can be contacted on 01744 740467 or s.gore@animateyouth.co.uk

Catholic Pictorial

Stewardship: the duty to look after the world. Association: the right to gather in groups. On Sunday 18 January, Jenny Sinclair from Together for The Common Good (T4CG) will give the annual J&P Memorial Lecture at LACE Conference Centre in Liverpool. Jenny is developing the legacy of Bishop Sheppard and Archbishop Worlock and building a Christian coalition to bring the ideas of CST into the way we talk about politics. There is no more important task in the current political context than to bring ethics back into the way we talk about the world. The year of a general election is a good time to examine the principles behind our view of society.

World of Atherton

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Catholic Pictorial

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cathedral

The year in review by Christopher McElroy 2014 was certainly a year to remember for the Metropolitan Cathedral Choir. The year started quietly with the choristers singing at two joint events with our colleagues from Liverpool Cathedral, at the annual Epiphany Service (complete with the special visitors from Cologne) and a special service of Choral Evening Prayer to mark the beginning of the week of prayer for Christian Unity. February saw a special ‘Chorister for a day’ event at which boys from around the Archdiocese had the opportunity to try out being a chorister with a view to auditioning for the Cathedral Choir. Later in the month we recorded a CD of Christmas Music. Recording Christmas music in February sounds a bit odd you might say. However time needs to be allowed for editing, post production, marketing etc all of which can take 6-7 months! March saw our girl choristers taking centre stage, leading the music at the Ash Wednesday Solemn Mass for the first time in addition to their annual offering of Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat mater’ on Mothering Sunday. April saw the busiest period of the year with Holy Week. No less than 13 choral services were sung between Palm Sunday and Easter Day, culminating with Easter Day vespers at which a procession took place from the baptistery, reminding all present of their re-birth through the Easter sacrifice. The Month of May got off with a bang with the installation of Malcolm McMahon OP as our new Archbishop. All of the choristers and lay clerks combined with a brass and organ to welcome our new Archbishop. The very same day an announcement was made to the choir that we had been invited to accompany the Archbishop to Rome and to sing at the Solemn Mass in St Peter’s basilica celebrated by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. The excitement of the announcement was countered by the realisation that there were only eight weeks to organise the trip. Bearing in mind that most foreign trips undertaken by the choir are planned over a two year period, you can see why this might have been a little scary. May also featured the first Choir Association annual table tennis tournament

Cathedral Record Canon Anthony O’Brien – Cathedral Dean involving choristers, lay clerks, parents and friends. The Director of Music powered his way to the final but was roundly polished off by a 12 year old boy chorister. Parish visitations are an important part of the choir’s outreach. The choir enjoyed a particularly warm welcome to Holy Family Church in Worsley, home parish of one of our choristers. (if you would like the choir to come and visit your parish, please get in touch music@metcathedral.org.uk ) June saw the opportunity of a lifetime to travel with our new Archbishop to Rome as he received the pallium. Highlights of the trip included the opportunity to visit and sing in the four patriarchal basilicas, a private Mass in St Peter’s very early in the morning, and of course singing for the Pope. No sooner did we arrive back in England than the girl choristers travelled to spend the weekend in London, combing sightseeing and West End Shows with singing for Mass at St James’, Spanish Place and Brentwood Cathedral. Not to be outdone the boy choristers jetted off to the Isle of Man for a mini tour which included singing Mass at St Mary of the Isle, where Canon Philip Gillespie and congregation gave us a very warm welcome. The start of the new academic year in September saw the music department welcome James Luxton as the new Assistant Director of Music. A slightly quieter term culminated in an outstanding Two Cathedral’s Messiah in December featuring the combined choirs of Liverpool Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral with a stellar line up of soloists including Jonathan Kenny and Andrew Dickinson, both former choristers of the Cathedral. Plans for 2015 are already underfoot. On Wednesday 25 March the Cathedral Choir will have the privilege of broadcasting Choral Evening Prayer on the Solemnity of the Annunciation on BBC Radio 3, more to follow!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and an eventful 2015. Thankfully the year begins gently with a relatively quiet January at the Cathedral. We celebrate the Feasts of Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord on the first two weekends of the year. The joint Cathedrals Schools Epiphany Service is celebrated quite late this year on 13 January at 2.00 pm and will be held at Liverpool Cathedral. Most people seem to think that the Christmas Season ends after Christmas Day itself so at least this keeps the nativity season alive for longer for some of our schoolchildren. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on Peace Sunday, 18 January. The local Pax Christi group in the North West will have a stall in the Cathedral entrance that weekend to inform people of their work and in the afternoon there will be a shared two Cathedrals Choral Evening Prayer at 3.00 pm at our sister Cathedral to mark the start of the week of prayer. One of the events in the Diocese related to the year of prayer and focus on consecrated life will be a ‘Living Joyfully’ Exhibition in the Cathedral on the first weekend in February with events and stalls organised by the various religious communities within the Diocese. It promises to be quite a lively Diocesan weekend. One of the most bizarre decisions over the Christmas period related to our annual carol singing along Hope Street. One establishment refused to welcome us this year on ‘Health and Safety Grounds’. I wasn’t aware that our singing was that bad! Apparently we could be run over by a car or block access for the public. I could have understood it better if they had just said no!

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Pic extras

Mums the Word

News from the Liverpool Province of the Knights of St Columba

West Derby knights enjoy Welsh retreat

During his years as our chaplain, Father Mark Madden has given us many things to think about when preaching at our bimonthly Masses. The recent November Mass at St Cecilia’s was no exception. Fr Mark spoke of the essential skills supposedly needed in today’s world – being able to cook, to use internet banking and, of course, to use Google’s search engine. However, there are also essential skills needed to follow Jesus. One of them is to be realistic – being a disciple is not going to be easy. We live in a culture which often thinks our faith in Jesus is utter madness. It can cost a lot emotionally to be a Christian. Sometimes some of our friends or relatives get uncomfortable if we try to share something of our faith, if we dare to speak of the guidance it gives us with moral issues or the hope it offers at times of bereavement. It is easy just to remain silent or go to Mass only on Sundays rather than during the week. We need to remember the essential skills spoken in the Gospels. When we choose to live simply resisting the urge to have the latest fashion in clothing or gadgets, we are becoming skilled in being disciples of Jesus; similarly, when we come to meet Him in the Sacraments we become skilled friends of Jesus. You might think it is obvious that Jesus is at the centre of our lives but we can easily leave Him in the background. We need to remember, therefore, that He is our greatest friend and brother. My thanks to Fr Mark for letting me share some of his homily. I wish you all a happy New Year and hope to see you at our next Mass at St Mary’s, Woolton at 7.30pm on 7 January. God Bless, Ann Hogg, Media Officer

Catholic Pictorial

By Terry Kelly For the members of Council 493 West Derby, one of the highlights of the old year was a visit to the Franciscans’ Pantasaph Retreat Centre in north Wales. It was a retreat organised by Brother Mark Thompson to remember the deceased members of the council and also the families of brothers who had lost loved ones in 2014. Father Sean Kirwin accompanied the West Derby knights on their trip to Pantasaph where they arrived on the evening of Friday 14 November. After an early breakfast the following morning, the group went to the outdoor Stations of the Cross on Calvary Hill where at each station one brother read a prayer. At the top of the hill, prayers were said at the cross which stands high above the Welsh countryside before the group scrambled down to the final station – Jesus in the Tomb. On reaching the lower level, the brothers then climbed again up to the Grotto where private prayers were said before the statue of Our Lady in a high alcove in the rocks.

There followed a visit to the Shrine of St Pio located in the gardens of the outdoor chapel in the Friary grounds. Here, before the statue in the corner of the chapel, a different brother led the mystery prayers although due to the poor weather conditions, the final four mysteries were said indoors in the beautiful St David’s Church. Later, the group celebrated Mass in the indoor chapel of the Retreat Centre, a silent, prayerful place where private prayer preceded the Mass celebrated by Fr Sean and Reverend Joe – again a peaceful and special time in the retreat. This was a memorable visit arranged by the council which underlined – in a respectful and prayerful manner – the fraternity and unity shared by the members as they remembered departed brothers and family members. The accompanying photo of the group features Fr Sean along with grand knight Andrew Cleary and other members of West Derby council. Websites: www.ksc.org.uk and www.kscprov02.weebly.com Email: DPOKeane@aol.com

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PIC Life Don’t give up on your good intentions By Moira Billinge I stopped at a zebra crossing recently in order to allow a gentleman to pass. It was a dual carriageway and, by the time he had reached the pavement on the other side, four lanes of stationary traffic patiently accommodated his safe passage. He smoked a cigarette as he strolled across the road, oblivious to the irony. His quest for personal safety provided a stark contrast: he was happy to use the crossing while at the same time subjecting himself to the known dangers of cigarettes. This small incident raised an interesting contradiction. There are always things that we would like to change about ourselves. Most of us have a realistic idea of who we are, but we also carry in our hearts an ideal, a dream of who we would really like to be; the person we would like to become. More often than not, we know what we must change in our lives to achieve this perceived perfection. Sadly, as the saying goes, ‘The road to Heaven is paved with good intentions’ and we often do the complete opposite. It is very difficult to forego the instant ‘fix’ in the here and now, even if it might lead towards some long-term benefit. This self-denial takes reserves of discipline that, on a particularly trying day, can be in very short supply. It is easier to reach for that chocolate bar, glass of wine or cigarette – perhaps all three of them – than it is to put ourselves through the additional stress of trying to resist the temptation. It is easier to be angry and give immediate vent to our temper rather

Catholic Pictorial

than control it. It is easier and more entertaining to indulge in gossip and a lack of charity, than it is to rebuff and counter it. The story is told of a monk who died in the midst of losing his temper. His community thought that there was no need to pray for him: such a violent outburst of wrath was surely beyond God’s forgiveness. After a few days, God woke the abbot from his sleep. ‘You think that your brother died because he lost his temper,’ God said. ‘I know that he died from his efforts to restrain it.’ It is hard to think in a positive way if we are unhappy, depressed, physically ill or worrying about money. Instant gratification is a much easier and more comfortable route. Yet on realising that we have tried and failed – yet again – why does our lack of success make us feel even more defeated and frustrated? God asks nothing more of us than that we try our best to keep going: even Jesus fell three times before he reached Calvary. There is no shame in telling God that our lives are not quite right and we dearly want to change – with His help. As Pope Francis remarked: ‘He is the God of mercy: he does not tire of forgiving us. It is we who are tired of asking for forgiveness, but he never gets tired.’ So while times may be tough, our difficulties can have a positive side. The challenges that we confront may also serve as lessons to us. They can be a reminder that we are poised for action. The very desire to be better people is, in itself, a sign of success – and the best way to begin the new year.

New Year Prayer Dear God Thank you for all the blessings you gave us over the last year Please would you continue to send us your love and blessings as we enter this New Year Peace, love and joy to all our readers Please send your favourite prayer to: Barbara, Catholic Pictorial, 36 Henry Street, Liverpool L1 5BS When sending your favourite prayer please let us have your name and which parish you attend, also your home telephone number which will not be published, without the details we are unable to publish.

Worth a visit

As we begin a new calendar year, take a step back in time to marvel at lessons from history with a trip to Leeds Castle in Kent, writes Lucy Oliver. This Norman stronghold has stood the test of time and the changing whim of many monarchs, first becoming a royal residence when it was purchased by Eleanor, the wife of Edward I. It was later a wedding gift to their wives for a number of kings and Henry VIII famously resided there for a time with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. At the king’s request, the principal apartments were decorated with Spanish motifs and the royal arms, and it was from the castle that Henry travelled to meet Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in Calais in 1520. The magnificent castle became part of the story of the two kings striving to outdo one another in celebrating their wealth and successes. The view on the approach to the double-moated castle never fails to impress, and attractions include the sumptuous state rooms, the maze and grotto, and the ancient gatehouse where 900 years of the castle’s history is presented. For more information, visit www.leeds-castle.com

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join in Eating Out

Children’s word search January gives us the baptism of the Lord. Have a look through the clues and see what you can find out.

SON OF GOD

W H

POWERFUL

W W R

W U

BAPTIZED JOHN JORDAN SALVATION

M W

SPIRIT

STRENGTH

FAITHFUL PRAISE

A nice warm pub is a great place to be in January and good warming food is available Bear & Staff Gateacre Brow, Liverpool 25 0151 428 2526 Red Lion Inn New Street, Mawdesley 01704 822208 Royal Oak Liverpool Road, Aughton 01695 422121 Morris Dancers Southport Road, Scarisbrick 01704 880201 White Horse Acrefield Road, Liverpool 25 0151 428 1862 Chapel Brook Wilson Road, Huyton 0151 480 9614

More Mullarkey From Johnny Kennedy As Father Mullarkey came out of Mass, Danny Melling was waiting for him. ‘What did the young curate say about his motorbike disappearing outside Aldi?’asked Danny. ‘He wasn’t happy.’ ‘I know where it is,’ said Dan. ‘Probably in your backyard,’ replied the auld fella. ‘I was only havin’ a laugh. Tell ‘im I’ll bring it round to the presbytery.’ ‘I’ll tell him,’ said Fr Mullarkey. And he did. ‘I might have known it was him,’ said the YC. ‘And he's not getting his £2 back!’

Greeting Cards from the Carmelite Monastery

Audio copy of the Pic out now An audio version of the ‘Catholic Pictorial’ is available free of charge, compiled by students, technicians and Chaplain, Helen Molyneux, at All Hallows RC High School, Penwortham

A wonderful selection of greeting cards

Anyone interested in receiving the audio copy should contact Kevin Lonergan Tel: 01772 744148 or 01772 655433 (home).

7102 or email:

are on sale at the Carmelite Monastery, Maryton Grange, Allerton Road, Liverpool Please call the sisters on 0151 724 marytoncards@outlook.com or if you wish visit the card shop 10.00am - 3.00pm Maryton Grange, Allerton Road, Liverpool L18 3NU

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Assent Liverpool Building Control Unit 5 Deacon Park Moorgate Road, Knowsley Merseyside L33 7RX Tel: 0151 548 6330 Fax: 0151 548 6360 Email: adminliverpool@assentbc.co.uk

In the constantly changing and increasingly complex field of Building Regulation, helpful, practical and accurate guidance is essential in reducing uncertainty and delays, minimising costs and speeding the development process.

Catholic Pictorial

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