Catholic Pic October 2020

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Issue 193 October 2020

‘With the Church in prayer at home’

St Cuthbert’s building for a bright tomorrow INSIDE THIS ISSUE

The work of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in the Holy Land

Synod Sunday, 18 October

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Inspiring excellence personal and academic

Welcoming students from all areas of Liverpool & beyond Bellerive is a very popular choice for girls from across Liverpool.

Contact us for a guided tour and ďŹ nd out why we are such a unique, ambitious school.

Bellerive FCJ Catholic College 1, Aigburth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool L17 3AA Tel: 0151 727 2064 www.bellerivefcj.org Specialisms in Sciences, Applied Learning and Maths & Computing

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contents Welcome This month we visit St Cuthbert’s school in Liverpool where teachers and pupils are enjoying life in a brand-new school building. We also tell the story of the recent history of the school which through falling numbers and other problems almost saw its closure. It is very much an account of innovative thinking, a successful ‘struggle against the odds’ and a tribute to all those who were on the journey and to the staff and recently retired Executive Headteacher, Dennis Hardiman.

The weekend of 17/18 October was to have been our gathering for Synod 2020 but, as with so many other events in these times, the date has had to be changed and we will now meet on 19/20 June next year. Sunday 18 October will be marked as Synod Sunday with a pastoral message from Archbishop Malcolm reminding us all of the important part we all have to play in the Synod journey. The prayer intention of Pope Francis for October is: ‘The Laity’s Mission in the Church’ praying ‘that by the virtue of baptism, the laity, especially women, may participate more in areas of responsibility in the Church.’ Let us pray for each other on our journey.

From the Archbishop’s Desk

Pupils from St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School celebrate their new school

One of my recent bad habits has been to fall asleep when reading a book. I thought it was maybe a sign of getting old but now I believe it has more to do with lack of concentration brought on by having too many things to do. During the last few months although in many respects my life has been ‘business as usual’ I am not spending time travelling to meetings and parish visits have been drastically reduced in case I unwittingly spread infection. This has enabled me to be more focused and a welcome side effect has been to stay awake while reading.

Contents

One book I have returned to frequently during the last few months is ‘The Joy of God’ by Sister Mary David OSB. This remarkable nun who was novice mistress in her convent for much of her religious life had an untimely death but left behind the notes of her talks to novices. They are full of learning, practical advice and a deep spirituality. She pulls this off without being arrogant or showing off her developed understanding of the Rule of St Benedict and theology in general. I think she achieved this because she gave so much of herself in her writing that you feel that you know her and she is your friend. She gives herself to you just as she gave her life to God when she left behind a brilliant academic career to become a nun a long way from her native country. If you are looking for something fresh and interesting to read Sister Mary David might be the answer. I guarantee that you won’t fall sleep with Sister Mary David’s book in your hand.

16 Profile Claire Bellis-Knox Twenty years a teacher and still driven to make a difference

Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP Archbishop of Liverpool

24 ‘Samaritanus bonus’ on the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life

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 Picture credits: Cover, Main Feature and Profile: Peter Heneghan Advertising Sales team 0151 709 7567 sales@cpmmmedia.com Copy deadline November 2020 Monday 5 October 2020 Website: www.catholicpic.co.uk Twitter: @PicCatholic Youtube: CPMM Media

Subscriptions To take out a subscription please email Kim O’Brien at kim.obrien@cpmmmedia.com or call 0151 709 7567 or contact Barbara on 0151 733 5492 Publisher CPMM Ltd Suite 4 Pacific Chambers, 11-13 Victoria Street, Liverpool L2 5QQ 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.

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Main Feature A building for a bright tomorrow

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News From around the Archdiocese

14 Sunday Reflections Liturgy and Life

18 Nugent Black History Month Celebrations 19 Animate Youth Ministry Introducing a new face at Animate 23 Cathedral Record Back from the Silence

26 Pic Extras Mums the word News from the KSC 28 Pic Life The Voice of an Angel 30 Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network Pray with Pope Francis for the laity’s mission in the Church

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A building for a bright tomorrow The new building at St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School does not just provide hope for the future – it also completes an inspiring story of recovery.

By Simon Hart It is the newest primary school building in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, and its symbolism could hardly be greater. In the words of Claire Bellis-Knox, the head teacher of St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School on Church Road, off Prescot Road, the splendid building which opened its doors to her 235 pupils earlier this year represents a source of hope for an entire community.

‘It has given our children, parents, staff and wider school community hope for the future,’ she attests. ‘As a faith school, we’re a hub of the community. For the parents, they were being told our school had longevity, it was sustainable and the future was bright for the children and the families in our wider school community.’

For the visitor to the new school building, there is no shortage of features which mark St Cuthbert’s out as somewhere distinct: from the inner 4

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courtyard which Mrs Bellis-Knox regards as ‘the heart of the school’, via the deliberately calming, pale grey colour scheme applied throughout the interior, to the so-called ‘working wall’ of the classrooms with their interactive promethean boards – a technological leap forward made possible by funding from the Archdiocese.

‘Our computing resource in our old school was really archaic to say the least,’ she explains, ‘but now we are right up there with modern technology and the children have been so receptive to it.

‘For our children, it has completely revolutionised the way in which teaching and learning occurs,’ she adds of their transformed surroundings. ‘The fabric of our old building was quite decrepit and although we made the most of a poor situation our new school setting is absolutely perfect and allows us to maximise opportunities for teaching and learning for the benefit of our children.’

‘We had to make sure for our parents, our children, our staff that we created this setting that was going to be unique but would facilitate teaching and learning for all our children regardless of their level of need.’

Claire Bellis-Knox, head teacher

Rags to riches To appreciate fully the significance of this new building, and a ‘rags to riches’ story as Mrs Bellis-Knox calls it, it is necessary to spool back some years in the life of a school founded in 1928 on the ground floor of St Cuthbert’s Church. After the closure of the church in 2002, the school’s own future became increasingly bleak, with pupil numbers falling and rumours of closure growing.

A new chapter opened in 2006, however, thanks to the innovative step of partnering St Cuthbert’s with St Sebastian’s Catholic Primary School in Fairfield in a federation through which the head of the latter school, Dennis Hardiman, assumed the role of executive headteacher, working alongside a head of school at St Cuthbert’s.

It was only this past summer that Mr Hardiman, whose efforts earned him an MBE, retired from his role, and looking back today, he believes that without the ‘innovation’ of bringing the two schools together, St Cuthbert’s might well not have survived.

‘The Archdiocese in co-operation with the local authority took the risk

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Chris Williams (Archdiocese of Liverpool), Pat Moloney (Chair of Governors), Dennis Hardiman (Former Headteacher), Claire Bellis-Knox (Headteacher)

to initiate a brand-new system of school leadership – a federation with St Sebastian's – and this was the keystone to the success story that has been acknowledged both locally and nationally,’ he says. From less than 12 children in Key Stage One in 2006, St Cuthbert’s now has a waiting list and has featured on The Times’ Top 100 Primary Schools list.

If St Cuthbert’s was gradually restored to good health, the goal of a new building for the school first arose in discussions between Mr Hardiman and the late Father Pat Kelly, then parish priest of St Sebastian’s and the first chair of governors of the federation. Pat Moloney, today’s chair of governors, recalls how the pair ‘were always ambitious for a school building’.

He goes on: ‘Father Kelly's successor from 2009 as chair of governors, Mike Laird, himself a former pupil at St Cuthbert's, continued to strive with Dennis for a new build. With the support of local and national politicians, these efforts eventually resulted in St Cuthbert's being included in the Department for

Education’s new build programme.’

There was substantial help from the Archdiocese, which contributed to the project’s overall cost of £5.7m.

Meanwhile, Liverpool City Council gifted St Cuthbert’s a quarter-acre of land. Staff and pupils moved into the finished building in January, though the second phase of work only concluded in August with the opening of an outdoor play area on the site where the old school stood.

Mr Hardiman, not surprisingly, shares in the delight of ‘our governors, staff and children who haven't stopped smiling since we took over the whole site. This, in Covid times, was sweet reward for all the hard work to deliver a 21st-century school that our community deserves and are grateful for.’

Close consultation It is fair to say this hard work involved the entire school community, given how teachers, pupils and parents were all consulted over a broad range of aspects as the building project took shape. ‘Our children were very opinionated,’ laughs Mrs Bellis-Knox. ‘Some wanted a

swimming pool – that was never going to happen!’

Yet so many other wishes have been granted thanks to a process of close cooperation with the architects, Kier (including, for instance, the boys’ preference not to have urinals in the toilets).

Mrs Bellis-Knox explains: ‘We had a pupil voice, parent voice and staff voice and came together with several ideas of what architecturally the school would look like and even finer details such as choosing the paint colour for the classroom. We did a massive amount of research to make sure the environment would maximise learning.’

This is no exaggeration. The research carried out by Angela Brough, the Assistant Head Teacher and Early Years Lead, included studies highlighting the importance of communication-friendly spaces (CFS) for the school’s youngest children. Meanwhile, Kate Lunt, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENCo) noted the findings of environmental research by

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the National Autistic Society.

‘Recommendations have certainly been adopted to ensure that our school environment will be autisticfriendly,’ she says. ‘In addition, design choices also accommodate our children, staff or parents who suffer from hypersensitivity.’ Hence the choice of a ‘restful’ pale grey throughout the entire school.

‘We wanted to make sure as soon as our children came on site, there was somewhere they felt proud of and were safe to explore in as well as to learn.’

Claire Bellis-Knox, head teacher 6

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Mrs Bellis-Knox adds: ‘What is typical of a primary school would be primary colours plastered everywhere but our research said the colour palette should be neutral.

The walls are very pale grey and it allows for any displays around the school to be focused and purposeful rather than having a sensory overload.’

The courtyard in the centre of the school is arguably the most significant space in the school as an outside place which all the children can access. ‘In our previous school we were very much

landlocked so that was top of the priority list,’ Mrs Bellis-Knox affirms.

‘We were looking at having space for them to play, to explore, to investigate – just to make sure the children had a little bit of green space.

‘Prescot Road is a very built-up area and some of our children live in flats or only have a backyard in the house and may not feel comfortable going to local parks so we wanted to make sure as soon as our children came on site, there was somewhere they felt proud of and were safe to explore in as well as to learn.’

Rooted in faith On the wall of the head teacher’s office where she sits sharing these reflections is a piece of stained glass, taken from the old church building of St Cuthbert’s which stood above the former school. A cherished memento – and not the only one.

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She observes: ‘That was something really close to my heart. We wanted to make sure we took a couple of stained glass windows from the church above the school as we were desperate to ensure there was some acknowledgement in the new school of our old school. There were so many memories in the old building for so many people and we thought it would be very foolish to lose everything.’

As well as the aforementioned stained glass, an old piano has also been kept while the architect provided 60 slates from the original roof. ‘They’re going to be displayed on the walls of the school and will have positive messages and affirmations for the children as they go around the school,’ the head teacher says.

in his newsletter to the school’s efforts to raise funds for the crosses, parishioners responded with admirable generosity.

‘Father Mark put it out to parishioners and lots of people were sending money in,’ recalls Mrs Bellis-Knox. ‘There was one parishioner and Father Mark didn’t know who it was but they posted an envelope through the presbytery door with £500 in cash for the crosses! Overall, we got something in excess of £850 from people who really believed in making sure when

you walked into the school, you know you’re in a Catholic school.

‘We have a beautiful cross in the courtyard as well so can use that space for collective worship and reflection time,’ she adds. ‘It’s amazing the belief people have in us as a school to have made those contributions. It doesn’t matter whether it was £5 or £500 they believe in us.’ Belief which is certainly not misplaced as the transformation of this resilient and vibrant school shows.

‘Thankfully they were also able to get the statue of St Cuthbert off the roof of the old school and he will be positioned in the next month or so at the front of the building. As people come into the school there’s an acknowledgement we’re still a Catholic school – it’s a brand-new building but we’re well aware our roots lie in the faith of the school.’

That faith is equally apparent inside. On a wall in the dining room reads the message: ‘In love with Christ. Be the best I can. Be kind to one another.’ Moreover, each classroom displays a new cross and this brings us to one final piece of the story – namely the part played by the local parish of St Oswald’s and St Cuthbert’s in helping fund these specially commissioned crosses. When Father Mark Beattie, then parish priest, referred

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‘Listen, my son’ Rule of St Benedict

www.buckfast.org.uk/vocation vocations@buckfast.org.uk

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God calls to us constantly, longing to guide those who yearn for life and desire to see good days into the way of peace. The Rule of Saint Benedict helps us to hear God’s voice, in the Holy Scriptures, in the sacred liturgy and in our brothers in community. If you are a single man longing to live your Catholic faith in a way which brings great joy as it demands the best of you, consider whether God is calling you to be a Benedictine monk at Buckfast Abbey.

Please reach out to us, and we will do all we can to help you.

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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

Prepare the Future: Taking the Common Good Seriously The Archdiocese of Liverpool Justice and Peace Commission are taking up Pope Francis’ challenge to ‘Prepare the Future’ by holding an online Zoom event on the morning of Saturday 10 October from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon.

‘Prepare the Future: Taking the Common Good Seriously’ is open to all and follows on from the Annual

Assembly which was held in June.

The focus of the Assembly held during the Covid lockdown was inspired by Revelation 21:5 – ‘See, I am Making All things New’ and took the form of an online series of talks and discussions.

Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald began the assembly framing the theme in a spiritual context and coining the phrase

‘inspiritation’. Our Christian responses were highlighted through Father Diarmuid O’Murchu, from the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, who spoke on ‘Framing the Conversation Local and National Issues’ emphasising the power of networks and the fact that ‘we are servants to a wisdom greater than our own’.

Christine Allen, Director of Cafod, continued by looking at what we have learnt from COVID-19 and how we respond specifically internationally through Cafod… like the option for the poor, we have to recognise where pain and oppression exists and acknowledge that perhaps a generic response isn’t enough. The assembly ended with an invigorating panel discussion with Diarmuid, Christine and, Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham addressing the issues of our time in spiritual, social, environmental, and political contexts.

To continue the theme the assembly participants were keen to explore ‘Prepare the Future’ and as such we are delighted that Christine Allen can once again join us on Saturday 10 October 2020 for a live presentation through Zoom where there will be an opportunity for small group discussion afterwards as well as some questions. We will be discussing ‘Prepare the Future: Taking the Common Good Seriously’.

To register please visit the Liverpool Archdiocese Justice and Peace Website at www.jp.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk and the link will be shared with you.

All the talks and discussions from the assembly, including a highlights clip, are available on the Liverpool Justice and Peace YouTube channel (link on the website under Annual Assemblies) and we very much hope you can join us.

Numbers are limited so do register as soon as you can.

Sandymount House of Prayer The Montfort Missionaries at Sandymount House of Prayer are beginning to move forward in these times by re-opening safely and slowly.

All events are risk assessed in accordance with government guidelines and the guidance from the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. All groups sign terms and conditions and regularly updated risk assessments are in place.

Currently Prayer Groups are meeting on zoom. On alternate Wednesdays at 6.30 pm the Women of St Joseph meet with teaching from the Catechism and wonderful women’s fellowship led by Kathy Riley.

Sandymount prayer group meets on zoom on Tuesdays at 7.00 pm with rosary prayers and praise led by Anthony Glyn.

If you wish to join the above prayer groups to which all are welcome Tel: 0151 924 4850

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news diary

Obituary of Sister Mary Magdalen Sister Mary Magdalen, the foundress and first Head of Maricourt Catholic High School, died in the early hours of Wednesday 2 September aged 95.

In 1957 she was asked by her Order, the Sisters of Mercy, to go to Maghull to open an Independent Girls School following a request from the local community. The school was to be known as Mater Misercordiae High School. On 12 September 1957, the school opened in the convent parlour with only 16 eleven-year old girls.

The tiny school grew and, by 1964, became a Girls Grammar School with Voluntary Aided Status for the then Bootle Education Authority.

After only four years as a Grammar School the Reverend Mother at the time was approached by Archbishop George Andrew Beck to annexe a newly built, but as yet unoccupied, Parish Secondary Modern building, and to undertake co-ed Comprehensive education for the area. Mater Misercordiae was transformed into Maricourt and had its first intake of boys as well as girls in September 1968 under the Lancashire Education Authority.

Sister Mary Magdalen was tireless in her work and efforts to make Maricourt a great school, serving the needs of the local community and giving so many young people a fantastic education. As a result of her efforts the school grew in numbers and between 1968 and 2005 and had no less than 19 major building developments to house its 1500 pupils. Many of the developments were initiated and supervised by her and funded by the Sisters of Mercy.

Sister Mary held the position of Headteacher for 32 years and retired at the age of 65 at Christmas 1989 but remained as a Governor. She became Chair following the sudden death of Bishop Kevin O'Connor in 1994. She remained as a member of the Maricourt Community until 2017 when, due to failing health, she moved to the Sisters' retirement home, McCauley Mount, in Padiham.

She was a formidable figure on the Diocesan Education scene over many years, an inspiration as a Sister of Mercy and a Headteacher, and will be remembered for her hard work, determination, and faith.

Her Funeral Mass was celebrated in line with current restrictions by Canon Joseph Kelly on Tuesday 8 September.

Liverpool charity urges support for stranded seafarers Liverpool Seafarers Centre (LSC) has urged churchgoers to keep stranded seafarers in their prayers with an estimated 300,000 still awaiting repatriation owing to the Covid-19 crisis.

The Crosby-based ecumenical charity echoed the International Maritime Organization’s plea to governments to resolve the crewchange crisis which has had a devastating impact on the mental health of so many stuck on ships because of travel restrictions.

LSC chief executive John Wilson asked churchgoers to continue to remember those who make a living from the sea as well as to lobby their MPs. Ahead of World Maritime Day on 24 September, the IMO asked governments to designate seafarers as key workers and implement its protocols to allow safe crew changes and remove restrictions on flights, travel and medical care. At an International Maritime Summit in July, 13 out of 15 countries had agreed to exemptions yet subsequent reports said most of the 13 had not moved to put immigration, travel or health procedures in place to facilitate the transfer of crews.

LSC has been liaising with local authorities on repatriation and also lobbying for measures to give greater rights to those working beyond their contracts. Wilson said: “We’re now six months into the pandemic with no end in sight for the thousands trapped on board ships long beyond the time their contracts should have ended. Those workers that we’ve visited describe feeling 10

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forgotten and abandoned. They’re missing their families and home life, and the isolation they feel from living in cramped conditions for such a lengthy period is impacting on their mental health.

“For those unable to get to work, there’s the added blow of being unable to earn money, which will prove difficult in these troubling times,” he added. “We’re calling on governments to do what they said they would and help these vital workers return home.”

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news diary Archdiocese opens spirituality and outreach centre

By Father Chris Thomas On Sunday 2 August it was announced that St Thomas of Canterbury in Waterloo was closing, with the buildings to be used by the Irenaeus project.

On the 9 September we celebrated the final parish Mass there so now it’s full steam ahead as we try to turn these wonderful buildings into a centre for spirituality and outreach.

The development of a centre will enable us to continue to offer short courses on methods of prayer and the Scriptures. During the Liturgical seasons of the year there will be evenings and days of prayer and retreats of various sorts. We will still be able to provide opportunities for spiritual direction and accompaniment and will be involved in diocesan training for Eucharistic ministers. We will also be available to go into parishes and support other groups as we have done for the last 20 years. Our prison ministry will continue too.

We hope that the centre will be open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm for people to access a prayer space in the wonderful sanctuary area of the Church.

There will be a bookshop and a coffee drop-in for those in the wider community.

We hope that on two days of the week there will professional counsellors available to chat with people As many of you know, for several years we have run a sing-along for those living with dementia and their carers. As soon as we are able, this will be resumed but we will be able to offer more support through the drop-in. A local GP wants to run groups to support those with mental-health issues, particularly in the area of spirituality, and a part-time prison chaplain hopes to establish groups for exprisoners who often find themselves alone on release from prison. As other needs arise, we will try to respond to them now that we have the space to do so.

Additionally, the different rooms in the centre will be available for hire for various diocesan, parish and other groups.

As you can imagine, all this is very costly and we have almost exhausted our very kind supporters who have raised a lot of money for this project. Therefore, we have set up a small fundraising group because there are alterations that have to be made to the Church to make it fit for purpose If you think you can help us in any way, do please call us on 0151 949 1199 or email jenny@irenaeus.co.uk.

Obituary of Rev Anthony Garrett Father Anthony Garrett, former Parish Priest of St Aidan, Huyton and St Cuthbert, Liverpool, died on Thursday 3 September, aged 97 years. He was in the 36th year of his priesthood.

Anthony Paschal Garrett was born on 17 May 1923 in Waterloo, Liverpool, the son of Thomas and Norah Garrett. His father was the main agent for the Harrison Shipping Company and his mother a schoolteacher at St Alexander’s, Bootle.

He was educated firstly at Seafield Convent Preparatory School and then at St Mary’s College, Great Crosby.

Aged fifteen, he was apprenticed to Rigby’s Auto Engineers of Great Crosby from 1938 until 1941, before joining the Royal Air Force. He was attached to a mobile radar warning unit and found himself in Normandy following the D Day landings. After demobilisation in 1947 he found work as a relief theatre manager for a subsidiary of the J. Arthur Rank Theatre Group. During this period he married Elizabeth Gradwell, from Little Crosby, and they had a daughter, Helen. Sadly, they were blessed with only a few years of marriage, as his wife developed an inoperable brain tumour and she died at the age of just 35.

As theatres began to close in the wake of the burgeoning television industry, he found more secure employment with Borthwick and Sons, meat importers, at Canada Dock, where he worked from 1954 until 1960. After a brief administrative job in local government at Bootle Town Hall from 1960 to 1963, he returned to industry for a succession of jobs through the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1981 he was accepted by Archbishop Derek Worlock as a student for the priesthood and studied at the Beda College in Rome. He was ordained priest at St Jerome’s, Formby, on 23 June 1985.

Following ordination, he was appointed as assistant priest at St Oswald’s, Old Swan, Liverpool. In November 1991 he was appointed parish priest at St Aidan’s, Huyton, before his final appointment to St Cuthbert’s, Liverpool, in January 1993. He retired from active ministry in 2002 and spent his remaining years near Maidstone in Kent.

His Funeral Mass was celebrated on Friday 18 September at St Mary’s, Little Crosby, followed by burial in the churchyard.

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Hospice launches 2gether Appeal to ‘sustain our future’ St Joseph’s Hospice has launched an appeal in response to the fundraising challenges it continues to face owing to the Covid crisis. The 2gether Appeal aims to highlight the importance of support from local people amid the closure of charity shops and ongoing cancellation of events.

This year’s Christmas Ladies Day is the latest event to suffer from the restrictions in place on large gatherings and socialdistancing requirements. The hospice’s head of fundraising, Maxine Armstrong, said: ‘Together, we’re managing to navigate our way through the challenging times of the Covid-19 crisis but, as we begin to look forward, we must refocus on sustaining our future.

‘Our staff have continued to provide compassionate care to some of the most vulnerable members of our community during this crisis and we’re continuing to ensure that our patients with complex palliative care needs can access the care they require and deserve.

‘However, as a charity, our income streams have been hit hard over the last six months. Due to Covid-19, we had to close all our charity shops, cancel all our

fundraising events and suspend all lottery canvassing and face-to-face collections.

This will have a massive impact on the hospice and together we need to focus on sustaining our future and that is what the 2gether Appeal is all about.

‘All donations received will go straight to work helping families deal with the suffering, confusion, doubts and fears that

surround the end of a loved one’s life.

Please support our appeal and help us to sustain the future of your hospice for our community.’

For more information, visit www.jospice.org.uk/Fundraising/2getherappeal.aspx or contact the fundraising team on 0151 932 6044 or email fundraising@jospice.org.uk.

God speaks to His children

by Fionn Shiner A lockdown project, inviting high-profile personalities to record the Bible from start to finish, has reached its climax and is now available in full. Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) enlisted the support of bishops, a BBC presenter and an actor – among others – to each read a chapter of ‘God speaks to His children’, an abbreviated Bible for younger readers.

The project, now completed, was originally conceived to help parents during lockdown. Dr Caroline Hull, ACN (UK)’s community outreach manager, said it will be an invaluable resource for children.

Dr Hull said: ‘We hope primary schools, families and especially young children will make use of the Child’s Bible Project in the classroom and at home.’

Every weekday since Easter Monday (13 April) ACN uploaded to YouTube a video of a chapter being read out, and also provided a weekly workbook containing video links, activities and other resources, which can be accessed on the charity’s website.

Alex Macqueen, who has starred in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans, The Thick of It, The Inbetweeners and Peep Show, read chapter 11, while Jen Copestake, a BBC presenter, read chapter nine. About 25 Catholic bishops from Argyll and the Isles in Scotland to Plymouth in south-west England also read and reflected on a chapter with headteachers, lay leaders 12

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ACN’s Child Bible being read by children in Zimbabwe: © Aid to the Church in Need

and ACN staff and volunteers taking part.

Dr Hull added: ‘I hope that everyone involved feels proud of what we have achieved both for our children here at home and also, through our prayers and support, for the millions of Christian children who receive copies of the ACN Child’s Bible elsewhere in the world.’

The project came in response to the Bible initiative ‘The God who speaks’ by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, and celebrates ACN’s Child’s Bible which has been translated into 190 languages with more than 51 million copies printed.

More information about the ACN Child’s Bible Project and all 20 workbooks can be found on the ACN (UK) website: https://acnuk.org/resource/childs-bible-project/

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news diary The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

by Michael Byrne (Lieutenant - Lieutenancy of England Wales) The modern Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which grew out of the Crusaders in medieval times, is a lay Order of the Church, which was revived by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1847, to support and maintain the newly established Patriarchate in Jerusalem. The Church had no structures, organisation, or money, and needed to be supported in its establishment. Although our role has since modernised and developed, this still remains our core commitment. So we have a specific papal mandate, and are not therefore just a general charity. It is true to say that without the Order there would be no Church in the Holy Land.

There are 64 lieutenancies worldwide with approximately 35,000 members. There are about 600 Knights and Dames in the Lieutenancy of England and Wales with priests and bishops as members to provide the spiritual dimension for the Lieutenancy’s eight sections. On formal occasions, to express our collective identity, the Knights wear robes consisting of a cream cloak with a Crusaders Cross on it with a black beret, and the Dames wear a black cloak with the same Cross and a veil. On admission into the Order we make promises during Mass to commit ourselves to the work of the Order, and we also promise allegiance to the Holy Father. So spirituality is very much part of our identity.

Our work takes many forms. In addition to supporting the Patriarchate, Lieutenancies adopt projects to support the Church in the Holy Land. Projects we have undertaken or contributed to over the years include being the main sponsors for the Youth Centre in Nablus, refurbishing schools in Nablus, and Jordan, and renovating the presbytery in Aquaba. At the moment we have two and are investigating a large building programme with the Seminary in Bethlehem.

We also directly fund and assist parishes and people at the grass roots level, under three headings, humanitarian aid, education, and pastoral care.

Michael Byrne – Lieutenant - on a school visit

Knights and Dames of the Holy Sepulchre

Last year we visited the Syrian refugees in Jordan with Father Mario. Our pilgrimage spent over £2,000 at the refugee workshop he established, and then we were happy to pay for a good lunch at the restaurant he established for the male refugees to run. This, is just one example of many, giving employment and bringing money into families that badly need it.

We contribute to the running of the Seminary in Bethlehem and all the schools, and we also run a pastoral care programme for seminarian students who come over each year during the summer.

Like everybody else this year has been very difficult for people in the Holy Land, and in response to our Order’s appeal we sent out £250,000 to the Christians there for the basic necessities of food, medicines and domestic expenses. We never lose sight of people’s needs in their daily lives.

Pilgrimages are an important part of our work, and we normally visit the Holy Land, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, twice a year, when we always visit the parishes and schools and give them donations. They always emphasise just how important such visits are. It is not just a question of material support. To be with the people in their parishes, and homes demonstrates our solidarity with them, and we recently sent a substantial cheque to the parish priest in Gaza.

Obviously this year the pilgrimages had to be cancelled, and so instead, we are organising a virtual pilgrimage where we can share in streamed masses from the Basilicas of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Annunciation in Nazareth, and have zoom meetings with people there.

Although unable to be physically present with the Christians in the Holy Land, we can talk to them and continue to support them while they carry on their difficult daily life in the land where Jesus lived died, and rose again.

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sunday reflections On a liturgical note During August I was fortunate enough to visit a small village outside Oxford called Littlemore. It was here that a young Anglican minister named John Henry Newman served as vicar. After some years of prayer and study, he was received into the Catholic Church by an Italian priest, Dominic Barberi, who was a member of a religious order, the Passionists.

At the request of the Bishops of England and Wales, Saint John Henry Newman, canonised by Pope Francis in October 2019, is now to be celebrated on 9 October as a Liturgical Feast, meaning that at the Mass we pray the Gloria and in the Prayer of the Church (the Divine Office) we pray the Te Deum, two great hymns in praise of God's goodness.

Being able to spend time at the place where Newman became a Catholic brought to my mind one of his wellknown reflections: ‘God has chosen

Sunday thoughts We live in a world of climate-change deniers, Covid conspiracy theorists, and alternative facts. There is nothing new in this.

In successive Sunday gospel readings for October, Jesus tells two stories. Using images of a vineyard and a wedding feast, he illustrates the absurdity of positions held by the chief priests and elders.

‘Blind Pharisees’ would have to be really blind not to recognise what he’s getting at. Gospel readings for the final two Sundays of the month see them retaliate. Innocent-sounding questions are used to trap Jesus. In 2020 such conversations would be recorded, ready to be leaked to the press.

Jesus is as adept in deflecting incriminating questions as he is in defending himself from physical attack.

Elsewhere in the gospels he hides himself from those who want to stone him and escapes from those attempting to frogmarch him to the top of a cliff. The message of the gospels is that his enemies will only succeed

Canon Philip Gillespie

me for some definite service’ (Meditations and Devotions, March 1848).

There is a radio advert at the moment which asks for people with purpose and surely this is what we must be because of our Baptism – consciously people with a purpose, aware of the great service to which God calls us, to work for His glory and the good of all people through our words and our actions. How we do that will be rightly different for each one of us ... there is a variety of gifts, but always the one purpose.

Dominic Barberi, the man who was given the great grace of receiving Newman into the Church, is buried in our own Archdiocese and you can pay a visit to his shrine in the church of Saint Anne and Blessed Dominic at Sutton St Helens.

Saint John Henry Newman, Blessed Dominic Barberi, pray for us.

Mgr John Devine OBE

at a time of his Father’s choosing.

Accounts of conflict in the early Church suggest that some of the first Jewish converts might have been Pharisees who brought their rigid certainties with them. Diehard attitudes to the reception of non-Jewish converts split the Church. Would it be unreasonable to suggest that similar attitudes survive today in those implacably opposed to Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried?

It was reported a few weeks ago that Pope Francis paused in his weekly blessing to call out gossip in the Church, especially within the Vatican.

He spoke of the devil as the ‘biggest gossiper’ who is seeking to divide the Church with his lies. ‘Please brothers and sisters, let’s try to not gossip,’ he said. ‘Gossip is a plague worse than Covid. Worse. Let’s make a big effort: no gossiping!’

Weekly Reflections are on the Archdiocesan website at www.liverpoolcatholicresources.com 14

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You are God’s masterpiece Aunty Nellie was my mum’s aunt. Nellie lived in Southport where she had been evacuated during the Second World War. It was there that they remained after the war had wreaked its chaos and happier times returned. When I knew her, Nellie was a feisty, elderly lady, full of energy, opinions and home-spun wisdom.

When I was very small, I was, apparently, quite cute and Nellie would say to me: ‘Your face will make you your fortune. You’re a masterpiece.’ Whenever I think of Aunty Nellie, I have a warm feeling in the base of my tummy because she spoke truth into a small, vulnerable boy’s life, a truth that I have now come to know is an eternal reality. Every human person who has ever lived is God’s masterpiece; but, more than that, is always becoming God’s masterpiece, as God moulds and forms us throughout our lives.

I have been lucky enough in my lifetime to see many so-called masterpieces. I have marvelled at Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son, been filled with wonder at the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s magnificent statue of David.

Real masterpieces point us beyond ourselves. They help you to move into the arena of the numinous, which means they transport you into a deeper sphere of life.

They point you towards the divine because of their spiritual quality.

Every human person is God’s masterpiece.

We are individual works of art. How often is our breath taken away by the wonder of humanity? Where do we find ourselves transported into an awareness of the divine when we look at our brothers and sisters? I am sure, for many of us, that is not our experience and yet we really are God’s masterpiece, God’s work of art if the Scriptures are to be believed.

Some of the work I do is in the area of spiritual accompaniment. So I know that for some people it can be a long journey to a place of true acceptance of our worth in God’s eyes. For most of us, it takes a lifetime of facing ourselves and journeying within to realise that we are God’s work of art. Silence is key to this knowledge because silence encourages us to begin the process of facing ourselves and the ways in which our lives are shielded from the truth of God’s presence. Silence also helps us to begin to let go of some realities that stop us knowing that we are God’s work of art. These things are hard to deal with. So, we give up being silent before God, missing the gift of discovering that we are beloved works of art, God’s masterpiece.

Fr Chris Thomas

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Synod Sunday 2020

by Father Philip Inch, Synod Moderator The weekend of October 18th was to have been the weekend of our Synod 2020 gathering.

Friday night: a service of prayer at the Cathedral; Saturday: all day Synod Members in The Edge in Wigan and then the Mass on Sunday at the Cathedral. As you know the pandemic has meant we have had to make changes to the Synod 2020 timetable. Our Synod weekend will now be in June 2021 (June 19th and 20th 2021).

We are still keeping faithful to Synod Sunday which will be on the weekend of October 18th. Across this weekend we will be making public a message from the Archbishop and the Synod members will be sent the summary list of proposals.

In his Pastoral Message the Archbishop will remind us all of the important part we all have to play in our Synod journey. The work of the Synod has not stopped, the Synod has not been asleep and God is still asking us to reflect on becoming the kind of Church God is calling us to be and in many ways we have been invited to do this with a new urgency at this time.

The Archbishop is reminding us of something that Pope Benedict said in 2012: ‘Lay people should not be regarded as “collaborators” of the clergy, but, rather, as people who are really “co-responsible” for the Church’s being and acting...It is therefore important that a mature and committed laity be consolidated, which can make its own specific contribution to the ecclesial mission with respect for the ministries and tasks that each one has in the life of the Church.’

(August 10th 2012 to Catholic Action International gathering.)

This is very much the role of each of us in the next part of our Synod journey. Over 3,500 proposals were submitted – thank you. The Synod Working Party (and others) have worked with all these proposals and have faithfully kept all the proposals and ideas that have been highlighted.

A summary of these proposals will be sent to all Synod Members and from October 19th these will be available on the Synod 2020 website. (www.synod2020.co.uk) Please make sure that you have a look.

The summary proposals are grouped under the 4 Synod Themes but you will notice as you read them that they also include the proposals and reflections that were sent in as part of our listening and reflecting during Covid-19. You will see that as well

as 120 proposals there are 45 affirmations. These capture what was highlighted but was not in the form of a proposal.

At the beginning of December each Synod Member will have to indicate which of the ideas and issues that they are most drawn to.

They will need your contribution to do this faithfully. Please talk to your Synod Members. They cannot faithfully be part of discerning the way forward without your input. This will not be easy due to on-going restrictions, but it is so necessary. This work will then enable us to present to you, in March, the Synod Proposals to be voted on in June 2021.

After June a team of people (from across our Diocese and from Dioceses around the country) will work on drawing up a Pastoral Plan in the light of the Synod Proposals which we will promulgate at the start of Advent 2021.

The next phase of our exciting Synod journey will have to take place as we all live with restrictions on our abilities to gather together. Pope Francis is firm on Synodality as the way forward. This is a time when once again we must be open to what God is asking us to do and a time when the future shape of the Church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is becoming clearer.

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profile

Claire Bellis-Knox

Twenty years a teacher – and still driven to make a difference - by Simon Hart September brought a special anniversary for Claire Bellis-Knox, the head teacher of St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School. It was 20 years exactly since she first stepped into a classroom as a newly qualified teacher. A long time ago now, yet that early sense of excitement is something not forgotten.

‘As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a teacher,’ she begins. ‘I started working in St Sebastian’s Primary School in 2000 as an NQT and I remember at my interview, when asked “What are you most looking forward to about teaching?”, I replied, “I can’t wait to be called Miss”. I was so excited thinking, “I’m going to achieve my dream”. Every single day I count my lucky stars that I’ve been given the opportunity to make a difference.’

We are speaking over Zoom but her enthusiasm is palpable and that desire to make a difference undimmed as she embarks on the latest challenge of her teaching career. Her new role as outright 16

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head teacher at St Cuthbert’s in Old Swan came up after the retirement of Dennis Hardiman, the executive head of the federation of St Sebastian’s and St Cuthbert’s. She explains: ‘I was head of school for several years but as Dennis, the executive head, decided to retire, the governors made the decision to move from a hard to a soft federation with a designated head teacher in each school.’

It is a step she did not necessarily envisage taking as that young teacher two decades ago. ‘My heart has always been in the classroom, being with the children and making a difference,’ she reflects. ‘That’s always been what I got up in the morning to do. The road to assistant head, deputy head and now headship almost happened accidentally.

It was never the goal but as you grow and mature and see the impact you can have on the wider school community, that’s when you take stock.

‘With teaching, I knew I always wanted to be a teacher; with leadership, it was more of an appreciation that you can

actually make a difference to the wider school community. Our school is the hub of the community and having dedicated staff behind you can have such a positive impact on families in addition to the child. That was probably more the incentive.’

First steps Claire’s own school days unfolded at Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School in Garston, her home district as a girl, and St John Almond Catholic High School. It was as a teaching graduate, fresh from the IM Marsh campus of Liverpool John Moores University, that she first turned up at St Sebastian’s in 2000. Looking back, she feels blessed for the guidance received from Day 1 from Mr Hardiman.

‘I worked alongside Dennis for 20 years and he was such an inspirational leader, a maverick in his field,’ she says. ‘I have always been surrounded by exemplary teachers or educationalists who really inspired me from the first day of teaching. I really do miss him as for 20

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years I’ve always had him by my side.

Now it’s about establishing a different support network but the federation has been phenomenal in that.’ Here she cites the support of her counterpart at St Sebastian’s, Jacqui Mulligan, adding: ‘We support one another, share common goals and have always been unified in our approach.’

It was early in her career that she witnessed the forging of this federation in 2006. She had a spell, as assistant head at St Sebastian’s, of working across both schools. Then, in 2012, she made the move to the school she now calls home.

‘It was a bit unnerving moving to work full-time at St Cuthbert’s and I thought my heart would always remain at St Sebastian’s. But I have to be honest, I feel like I’ve found my home coming here.’

The word home is not used lightly. Hers is a school with a rare energy. ‘It’s the team you have around you,’ she observes. ‘When you know you have a support network of exceptional staff who have the children at the heart of every decision made, it just makes life so much easier for us as a team and outcomes are so much more positive

for us all.

‘I’m lucky in that so many staff members are “home-grown”. Some were past pupils as primary school children. Lauren Murphy, my Year 5 teacher, was in my very first class in 2000. Lauren has grown from being a conscientious eightyear-old into an outstanding teacher. She has given back tenfold to the children in her care. She along with all members of staff are beacons – our children simply gravitate towards them.’

‘Battled and blossomed’ If her staff shine brightly, Claire is the lodestar. It was she who oversaw the move to the new building into which teachers and pupils stepped for the first time in January. A special moment for a school ‘that has battled against the odds and blossomed’. It is a school, moreover, that is proudly Catholic. She smiles as she reveals how the fundraising that enabled her to afford a newly made cross for each classroom even became a family affair. ‘My parents (Kevin and Christine Knox) paid for a cross for the school so it was very much a wider school community approach in ensuring

that we had our faith displayed. I brought my little boy into school and when he walked in he said, “Wow Mummy, your school is a church school!” As soon as you walk in, you know.’

Her boy, four-year-old Harry, is the focus of life away from school together with husband Steven. ‘At home our son doesn’t see us working. We make sure family time is sacrosanct.’ For the St Anthony of Padua parishioner, meanwhile, time to herself is often spent pounding the streets of south Liverpool.

‘I’ve taken up running more recently in an attempt to clear my mind in preparation for the next working day and the challenges it may bring. It’s about looking after the whole you. I run five days a week, 5K a day, Sunday to Thursday. After story time with my little one, that’s where I get my head space.’

All the more important now that she is a head teacher. Yet she would not have it any other way. She reflects: ‘When we built the school and I became aware that the headship was to be advertised it was at that point that I thought, “How can we invest so much time and energy in making our school so perfect and then give it to somebody else?”.’

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Normandie Wragg Chief Executive Nugent

Being a ‘Culturally Competent’ organisation requires us to further develop the ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures.

Cultural competence encompasses being aware of one's own world view, developing positive attitudes towards cultural differences, gaining knowledge of different cultural practices and world views.

Over the past month I, like many CEO’s in the charitable sector, have been having important conversations with staff teams about equality, diversity and inclusivity to consider how we can learn, adapt, and evolve in response to these important issues, both internally and externally. How we become culturally competent.

These issues are important to us because the people we care for, protect, educate

and inspire, come from all walks of life, and so do we. To this end I am proactively learning, listening, watching, and self-reflecting, as well as acknowledging my privilege, to embrace equality, diversity and inclusivity.

Personally, and in my role as CEO, I pledge to be even more vocal in highlighting issues of racism and inequality, and to support vital anti-racism work in opposing racism and promoting racial inclusion.

In order to turn my learning into action I have set several challenges for Nugent in the form of pledges which include: • Conduct a staff listening exercise/forum for staff who have been affected by racism due to the colour of their skin • Conduct an Equality Audit with our services and our charity • Identify where we could improve our

offer and culture to support our BAME beneficiaries • Review our policies on inclusion, equality and diversity • Ensure that our recruitment processes further reduce risk of unconscious bias and discrimination • Increase BAME representation in the organisation to match the ethnicity profile of the Liverpool City Region 13.8% Our values will be a key part of embedding these pledges in work: Integrity / Ambition / Courage / Compassion / Optimism / Respect / Dignity.

We have also released our anti-racism statement, outlining how we will turn learning into action and become culturally competent and inclusive throughout our work and lives. Read our full statement at wearenugent.org

Black History Month Celebrations Alongside our Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity work, across Nugent we will be finding different ways of celebrating Black History Month during October, aimed at inspiring, educating and engaging the people we serve and reflecting the diversity of Nugent as an organisation.

Throughout all of our schools, care homes, and community services we’ll be reflecting how our organisation and culture has been enriched and our society made stronger through the influence of Black Britons across our 140-year history.

At Nugent House school in Billinge, Marydale Lodge in St Helens and Clumber Care in Formby our children and young people will be participating in a range of activities during their day to day learning but also through developmental activities that will enable students to orienteer their way through key BAME figures of recent history.Students will be taking part in Black History Month inspired cook outs, a drumming session from the music department and ‘reaching for the stars’ by understanding the story of ‘hidden figures’ including the BAME women mathematicians involved in the 1969 Apollo Moon landing.

And across our adult care residents will be talking part in activities looking at diversity and culture through memory and finding

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ways to reflect personal experience and celebrate our cultural differences.

We’ll be partnering with key organisations and groups across the archdiocese to engage our learning in ways that can have a long lasting impact on us as people and Nugent as an organisation.

You can find more about our Black History

Month Activities at wearenugent.org or by following us on social media, search @wearenugent.

Our picture is of Kian from Nugent House School, you can see his Iaccord Rap here https://www.nugenthouse.co.uk/casestudies/rapper-kian-records-iaccord-rap/

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youth ministry

Introducing a new face at Animate Animate Youth Ministries’ new gap-year member, Kelsea Curran, reflects on her faith and her decision to join the team at Lowe House for 2020/21.

As an avid reader of the Catholic Pic, I already knew that Father Simon had said that I would be writing the first article of the new term so I was prepared for this.

First of all, I should introduce myself: I am from Liverpool and have lived in the city my whole life. I grew up in St Clare’s parish in Sefton Park and attended Bellerive FCJ Catholic College. I had my first taste of life with Animate when doing work experience with the team towards the end of 2019. I was able to work with different schools within the Archdiocese during that short period, which meant that when I did

eventually join I knew what was to come. I felt a little ahead of the game ... just how I like it!

I first heard about Animate when they came into my school soon after I first started there in 2013. This was during a mission week and it allowed me to learn more about my faith and feel like I was able to get more involved with what I believed in. After that they basically could not get rid of me! I attended Alpha, Faith In Action, Youth Alive and just about every other event they put on. Now for my gap year with the team and, so far, working with, and as a part of, Animate has been so rewarding

even at this early stage. I have been able to inspire young people just as I was once inspired, meaning an opportunity to give back to others what I received.

Growing up, I was always around religion, whether it be in school or at home. My nan took me to church every week. I cannot remember a time when I did not go to Mass, other than when my nan was unwell or unable to attend herself (now, thankfully, I’m big enough to go on my own!).

Literally a week after making my First Holy Communion – I am pictured (above) on the day with my granddad Liam – I became an altar server in my parish. I later began serving Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral and I would suggest that those experiences on the altar have helped me to understand how important faith is for others around me. I have had some surreal experiences too, such as serving Mass in churches I would never have thought I would even visit. I can only imagine what opportunities Animate will open up for me in the coming months …

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hopefully seeing and maybe working with some of you in the near future (socially distanced and all) during these strange times, God bless, Kelsea

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education news A novel way of borrowing books at ASFA The Academy of St Francis of Assisi (ASFA) is delivering library books to students in a unique way this term.

As the academy’s library has been unable to open as normal to students, librarian Ms Wade has created a novel way of sharing ASFA’s huge array of books.

With a decorated trolley jam-packed with fiction and non-fiction, Ms Wade has been making her way around the school playground during breaktimes, allowing students to take books to read in school or at home.

Once read, the books are then returned to the quarantine box.

Students can also request a specific book which Ms Wade will deliver to them on the trolley’s next outing.

Ms Wade said: “Although the library is closed for the time being, the idea of not having a thriving space, which is so valued by our students, deprives them of the vital cultural experiences which are important to their development. So, I decided to bring the books to them!

“Everyone has been really positive about this new way of borrowing and it’s been an excellent way to introduce the library

to the new Year 7s and to re-establish the relationship with the older year groups.

“The trolley is cleared every day and the conversations evoked in the playground are a pleasure to hear from early in the morning until school closes.”

Mr Kevin Maddocks, head of school, said: “The school has a strong belief in the value of reading for pleasure and the students’ eagerness to borrow the books indicates that they value it too.”

All new together at Our Lady’s Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School in Birkdale welcomed back lots of children into Nursery and Reception at the start of term.

However, they were not alone in their excitement and enthusiasm for a new

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start as they were visited by the new Head, Mrs Catherine McDermott as she came to the end of her first full week.

She chatted with them about new beginnings and asked them what they were looking forward to doing. Rather like

many of the Reception children, who moved up from Nursery. she is not really new to the School as she was appointed as Deputy Head in 2018 but like the children she too is settling into new routines. On the retirement of their long-serving Head, Maureen Hillsdon, the Governors were delighted when Mrs McDermott agreed to be Acting Head as she can provide a seamless transition which is so essential in the current pandemic.

Unlike the children who were each presented with a Teddy bear, wearing an Our Lady of Lourdes tee shirt to take home and have adventures with, Mrs McDermott was presented with lots of paperwork.

Reflecting on her first week as Head she felt proud that all of the changes put in place to support the children and staff worked so smoothly. The rewards of being the Head of such a wonderfully supportive ‘family’ far outweigh the challenges.

The Birkdale community wishes Mrs McDermott, all the staff and children an exciting and productive journey together.

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education news St Cuthbert’s goes online for prospective student visits St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School took a different approach to its traditional open day this year, in light of the ongoing global pandemic.

As changing COVID-19 restrictions continue to cause uncertainty, the St Helens school took an innovative approach to welcoming prospective students and their parents into its community, creating a microsite offering various levels of access to the school building, its staff and students.

Parents and children were able to access the school at any time by taking a virtual tour of the school, while also being able to watch online interviews with teachers, course leaders and its headteacher, Catherine Twist, as they answered some of the most popular questions from families considering the school.

For those seeking a more personal experience, there were opportunities to participate in a Q&A session led by St Cuthbert’s senior team - 10 studentappointed Year 11s who liaise with other student year heads and represent the voice of the school’s young people.

There were also a series of live ‘Meet the Teacher’ Q&A sessions with the headteacher, heads of year and specific course leaders and video calls with individual teachers will be offered for

parents who have specific questions about the school and curriculum.

The school had already tested the digital approach with its new Year 7 intake by creating a dedicated ‘transition’ area on its website that features introductions from current Year 7 students, form tutors and headteacher.

As the work was undertaken during lockdown, audio recorded by each teacher has been accompanied by animations of the teachers, students and the school itself.

Catherine Twist, headteacher at St Cuthbert’s High School, said: “In a year where there has been so much uncertainty and disruption for young people in our community, we wanted to ensure that we remained open for all prospective students and their parents.

“We have always taken an innovative approach to education and community engagement, but this year we have really pushed the boundaries to ensure that people can access us at any time, from wherever they are and whatever their circumstances.

“We want to provide reassurance that whatever happens St Cuthbert’s, its students and staff team are always here at the heart of our local community.”

Senior team member, Jessica Morris, added: “Being appointed to the senior team during the COVID-19 outbreak has been a strange but exciting experience.

The best thing about being a student at St Cuthbert’s is that we pull together and we always find ways to stay connected and keep on learning.”

‘Credit our children for smooth transition to class bubbles’ Shaun O’Hara, a teacher at St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School in Lydiate, describes his return to the classroom after the Covidenforced six-month break.

September again and back to school – and I, for one, was delighted.

Within our school, staff returned with a renewed energy and optimism that we would be able to make the transition back to full-time education as smooth as possible for our pupils.

Two INSET days provided us with the opportunity to meet, socially distanced, to finalise our plans. We implemented a staggered arrival into school for each year group as well as a new learning timetable, which took hand-washing into account at various points throughout the day.

Each class is grouped as a bubble. This means that the children and any adults working with them remain within their own bubble throughout the school day. We have designated areas for each bubble to play in and any equipment used by another group must be either quarantined or disinfected before its next use.

We are all guilty of sometimes not giving the children enough

credit and those first few days back were a shining example of that. Not only have they embraced the many changes to the school day, they have also returned with an increased thirst for learning and a desire to pick up exactly where we left off in March.

While we all wish we could meet as a school for assemblies, it simply can’t be done right now. Yet class assemblies are taking place each week and we are still giving out weekly awards to show the pupils just how much we recognise and admire their individual strengths.

There has been a lot of talk in the media about whether it is safe to return to school at this time. I can’t speak for anybody else but, in my school, I absolutely do feel safe. Adults are following socialdistancing guidelines and the children have adapted to the new rules seamlessly. Throughout this crazy time, school has been a welcome slice of normality and I am grateful to everybody within St Gregory’s that it is such a positive environment. I feel very lucky to be spending my days in the best job in the world – long may that continue!

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cathedral

by Dr Christopher McElroy Director of Music, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

Back from the Silence A cathedral chorister's life is a hectic one. Daily rehearsals and liturgies, schoolwork, instrument and vocal lessons and practice are just some of the things on their agenda each day.

But, since the end of March the choristers of the Metropolitan Cathedral, just like those from other Cathedrals, have been silent.

Well, they haven’t quite been silent, and in fact, our choristers have been working hard away from the Cathedral. During lockdown and through to the end of July, our choristers were taking part in daily rehearsals and theory sessions on Zoom with Cathedral music staff. A great deal was achieved during this time, however, the raison d'etre of a Cathedral chorister is to sing at liturgies in their Cathedral.

In July, when government guidance permitted it, the Cathedral began welcoming the congregation to Mass once again, and over the summer music has been provided by a cantor and organist at the main Sunday Masses. On 13 September we were excited for the first time to have a small vocal ensemble of four singers leading the music at the Solemn Mass. Judging by the e-mails received and comments made on the livestream, the return of vocal music at Mass was indeed welcome, and enabled people to more deeply enter into the liturgical celebration. Over the next few weeks, we plan to increase the number of adult singers leading the music at Sunday Mass.

Before we were able to reintroduce choral music, hours of time, effort and planning were spent drawing up risk assessments to allow the singers to contribute their artistry to the Sunday Mass safely.

Amongst other things, this means ensuring that all adult singers are spaced 2 meters apart, not sharing music and not singing over loudly.

Even more planning has gone into planning the safe return of our choristers to singing. Unlike many other English Cathedrals, where full daily choral services have now resumed, we have decided to take a very cautious approach to returning our choristers to their role in leading the sung liturgy in our Cathedral.

Cathedral Record Canon Anthony O’Brien – Cathedral Dean At the time of writing the Prime Minister had just announced further restrictions to put the country on alert level four, the second highest level on the scale of measures following an increase of coronavirus cases. This pandemic is continuing to have a profound effect on every aspect of our society with some people and sectors being affected more than others.

From 22 September the choristers began rehearsing on a daily basis in our two choir schools: Runnymede St Edward’s and St Edward’s College. Having not sung together for six months, we have planned a full five weeks of rehearsals in school before we consider whether they are ready to sing once again in the Cathedral.

Choristers operate very much as a team, and although they have been working together via Zoom, nothing can replicate the joy and experience of singing together in the same space. I hope that in the November issue we will have news of when our choristers will be returning to singing in the Cathedral for Mass.

The streaming of Mass on the internet via Facebook and YouTube has become an important means of evangelization during the last six months for Catholic parishes worldwide. Viewer numbers for the Masses broadcast from the Cathedral have been amongst the highest in the UK, so it was decided to invest in permanent equipment in the Cathedral to allow for the continued streaming of liturgical events.

As part of this installation a camera has been installed in the choir area, along with high specification microphones. It is our hope that these new facilities will allow the ministry of the choir to be shared beyond the walls of the Cathedral, amongst people throughout the country, and indeed the world, allowing us to (virtually) echo Psalm 117 to ‘Go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news.’

Thankfully, we are still able to have public celebrations of mass and the celebration of other sacraments with limited congregations but the regular life of our parishes and Cathedral have been significantly affected by the current situation. Our normal pastoral contact with people and groups cannot take place and with so much uncertainty regarding how long we will have to continue like this we can’t plan ahead for events and special services which are normally at the heart of our Cathedral life.

One recent concession we have been given for services is that we can now have a small number of singers singing if they are safely distanced from one another. With the support of ‘Friends of Cathedral Music’ we have been given a small grant so that we can manage to stream choral evening prayer online as well as having some limited choral music at public services.

The Cathedral music department are now beginning to prepare recorded choral services for November, Advent and the Christmas period. These will be available for all to watch at the appropriate seasons in readiness in case we are not able have any special services at these times.

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‘Samaritanus bonus’ - on the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life ‘Samaritanus bonus’ (The Good Samaritan) is a newly published letter by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Francis, which reiterates the condemnation of any form of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and advocates support for families and healthcare workers.

‘To cure if possible, always to care’

On Tuesday 22 September 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced the publication of a Letter approved by Pope Francis on 25 June and entitled ‘Samaritanus bonus’ ‘The Good Samaritan’ – On the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life. It’s official publication date is 14 July – the feast day of St Camillus de Lellis, the patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses and physicians.

The Letter aims to provide concrete ways to put into practice the parable of the Good Samaritan, who teaches us that ‘even when a cure is unlikely or impossible’, medical care, nursing care, psychological and spiritual care ‘should never be forsaken’.

Incurable, never un-care-able ‘To cure if possible, always to care’.

These words of Pope Saint John Paul II explain that incurable is never synonymous with un-care-able. To provide care until the very end; to ‘be with’ the sick person; to accompany, listen to, make him or her feel loved: this is how loneliness and isolation, the fear of suffering and death can be avoided. The entire document is focused on the meaning of pain and suffering in the light of the Gospel and of Jesus’s sacrifice.

Inalienable dignity of life ‘The uninfringeable value of life is a fundamental principle of the natural moral law and an essential foundation of the legal order’, the Letter states. ‘We cannot directly choose to take the life of another, even if they request it’. Citing Gaudium et spes, the document reiterates that ‘abortion, euthanasia and

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wilful self-destruction poison human society’ and ‘are a supreme dishonour to the Creator’ (no. 27).

Obscuring the sacred value of human life The document cites several factors that limit the ability of apprehending the value of life, such as when life is considered ‘worthwhile’ only if certain psychic and physical conditions are present. One of these obstacles the

Letter notes is a false understanding of ‘compassion’. True compassion, it explains, ‘consists not in causing death’, but in affectionately welcoming and supporting the person who is sick, and providing the means to alleviate his or her suffering. Another obstacle it lists is a growing individualism that provokes loneliness.

The teaching of the Magisterium It is a definitive teaching that euthanasia

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represents ‘a crime against human life’, and, therefore, is ‘intrinsically evil’ in every circumstance. Any ‘formal or immediate material cooperation’ constitutes a grave sin against human life that no authority can ‘legitimately recommend or permit’. Those who approve laws in favour of euthanasia ‘become accomplices’ and are ‘guilty of scandal’ because these laws contribute to the malformation of consciences.

The act of euthanasia must always be rejected. However, the Letter acknowledges that the desperation or anguish of the person requesting it might diminish or even make ‘nonexistent’ his or her personal responsibility.

No to aggressive treatments The document also explains that protecting the dignity of death means excluding aggressive medical treatments. Therefore, when death is imminent and inevitable, ‘it is lawful… to renounce treatments that provide only a precarious or painful extension of life’, without, however, interrupting necessary ordinary treatments the patient requires, such as food and hydration ‘as long as the body can benefit from them’.

Palliative care is a ‘precious and crucial instrument’ with which to accompany the patient. Palliative care must never include the possibility of euthanasia, the Letter emphasises, but should include the spiritual assistance of both the person who is sick and the members of their families.

Support for families It is important in caring for a sick person that he or she is not made to feel like a burden, but that they “sense the intimacy and support of their loved ones. The family needs help and adequate resources to fulfil this mission”. State governments need to “recognise the family’s primary, fundamental and irreplaceable social function (…) [and] should undertake to provide the necessary resources and structures to support it.”

Prenatal and paediatric stages From the moment of conception, children affected by malformation or other chronic illnesses are to be accompanied in a ‘manner respectful of life’. In cases of ‘prenatal pathologies…that will surely end in death within a short period of time’, and when no treatment exists to improve the child’s condition, the child ‘should not be left without assistance, but must be accompanied like any other patient until they reach natural death’, without suspending food and hydration. The

Letter states that ‘recourse to prenatal diagnosis’ is ‘obsessive’ in today’s society and notes that it sometimes results in the choice for abortion or other ‘selective purposes’. Both abortion and the use of ‘prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes’ are ‘unlawful’, the Letter asserts.

Deep sedation To alleviate pain, medication is used that may ‘induce the loss of consciousness’.

The Letter affirms that it is morally licit to sedate ‘to ensure that the end of life arrives with the greatest possible peace and in the best internal conditions’. This also applies to types of sedation that hasten ‘the moment of death (deep palliative sedation in the terminal stage)’. But it is not acceptable that sedation be administered that ‘directly and intentionally causes death’, something the Letter defines as a ‘euthanistic practice’.

Bishop John Sherrington

The vegetative state Even in the case when the patient is not conscious, he or she ‘must be acknowledged in their intrinsic value and assisted with suitable care’, which includes the right to food and hydration.

There may, however, be cases in which ‘such measures can become disproportionate’ because they are no longer effective or because the means of administering them ‘create an excessive burden’. In this case, the Letter states that ‘adequate support must be provided to the families who bear the burden of long-term care for persons in these states’.

Bishop Paul Mason Bishop John Sherrington, the Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Bishops Conference of England and Wales said: ‘I welcome the release of “The Good Samaritan” at a time when the fragility of human life has never been clearer to our society and the world. The letter presents us with the Church’s consistent and unequivocally clear teaching against assisted suicide and euthanasia. Its emphasis on the need always to prioritise care for life reminds of our nature as relational beings with innate and inalienable dignity.

‘Care for persons at the end of life inevitably involves complex and difficult ethical questions and decisions.

“Samaritanus bonus” makes detailed and helpful clarifications regarding moral concerns, including basic care and the requirements for nutrition and hydration, analgesic therapy, accompaniment and care of critically and terminally ill children, and the limits to aggressive medical treatments which would deprive

death of its due dignity.’

Bishop Paul Mason, Lead Bishop for Healthcare and Mental Health, said: ‘There is an essential focus in “Samaritanus bonus” on the centrality of human accompaniment in the care of critically and terminally ill people. This demonstrates the importance of ensuring that healthcare workers and families are adequately prepared to care for people nearing the end of life.

‘Importantly, the letter also stresses the need to ensure appropriate conscientious objection provisions are in place for healthcare workers where governments have already legislated to allow euthanasia.’

‘Samaritanus bonus’ can be read in full at: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastam pa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/09/22/2 00922a.html

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Mums the Word What a wonderful experience we had at Our Lady’s, Lydiate, on Wednesday 9 September when we held our Bimonthly Mass for the first time since March.

We were celebrating the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Catholic Mothers’ branch in St George’s parish, Maghull. They could not live-stream the Mass from there so Father Grant Maddock kindly offered the use of his church and his technological knowhow.

The Mass was celebrated by the UCM’s spiritual adviser, Fr David Potter, with Monsignor John Butchard as concelebrant. Music was supplied by seminarian James Finnegan, the grandson of Maureen, our Archdiocesan president. The ladies of St George’s had prepared a beautiful Mass booklet, and were in turn presented with an illuminated certificate to mark the occasion.

In line with the Covid-19 requirements, only the UCM members from St George’s, some members from St Gregory’s (the sister parish of Our Lady’s) and the Diocesan Committee were able to attend, but what we lacked in numbers we made up for with enthusiasm. In his homily Fr David urged us to trust in God and keep praying urgently for an end to the coronavirus. It was lovely to see familiar faces smiling broadly behind their masks, but what an effort it was not to sing when we heard the strains of ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ and ‘Be Still My Soul’ soaring through the church. It was a truly moving occasion.

The next Bi-monthly Mass will be on 18 November at St Margaret Mary’s, Knotty Ash, and hopefully will be live-streamed (watch this space!). I close with the words of Margaret Kelly, president of St Joseph's foundation, when she gathered together her socially-distanced members: ‘I wanted everyone to feel that although we cannot meet as before, we still exist and are there for each other.’

Madelaine McDonald, media officer

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A century of service News from the Liverpool Province of the Knights of St Columba

Archbishop Malcolm hands over reins to new national adviser

One of the main aims of the Knights of St Columba dating back to the order’s foundation has been to assist and support the Church hierarchy and clergy in all things appertaining to the Catholic faith and so it is most pleasing when a member becomes a priest.

Brother Ryan Black, a member for 12 years, was ordained to the priesthood on 15 August at St Mirin’s Cathedral in Paisley by Bishop John Keenan, having completed his studies at the Scots College Seminary, Rome.

The KSC immediately made him a member of honour and our photo shows him receiving his certificate from the deputy supreme knight, Henry Welsh, at St Francis of Assissi, Port Glasgow. We are delighted to congratulate Father Ryan on his ordination.

Our own Archbishop Malcolm McMahon was a member of the Knights in London before joining the Dominican order in 1976 and his

subsequent ordination to the priesthood by the late Cardinal Basil Hume on 26 June 1982. For the last 15 years, the KSC has been honoured and privileged to have Archbishop Malcolm as our national ecclesiastical adviser but he has now decided to relinquish that office and we thank him for the advice and guidance given to us over the years and wish him well for the future.

Archbishop Malcolm will be succeeded by the Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, who has expressed his delight in being asked to assist the order from the place where it was founded 101 years ago. Archbishop Philip was ordained as a priest on 30 June 1975 and became Archbishop of Glasgow on 8 September 2012. We extend a very warm welcome to him and thank him for accepting this role.

Websites: www.ksc.org.uk www.kscprov02.weebly.com Email: dpokeane@aol.com

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PIC Life The voice of an angel?

By Moira Billinge I remember hearing on the news how, just past midday on 7 March 2015, emergency services in the US state of Utah had responded to a call made by three fishermen standing on a bridge over the Spanish Fork River, near the Colorado border. They reported that there was a partly submerged car upside down in the river.

On arrival at the scene four police officers and two firemen could hear a woman’s voice pleading, ‘Help me! Help me!’ from inside the car. They had no idea at that stage who was in the vehicle but said that the voice was ‘distinct and as plain as day’ and it catapulted them into action. One of the officers stated that the voice ‘wasn’t something that was just in our heads’. In fact, it was so clear that one of them shouted in response, ‘We’re trying! We’re trying to get in there!’

All six men went into the water and in

their desperate attempt to save whoever was in the car, they lifted the vehicle on to its side and found a toddler, still alive, in the rear. The child had been above the level of the water. They cut her out and formed a human conveyor belt to pass her up the hill to safety.

The water was so cold, that the rescue crew members could only stay in for short periods. Several officers had to be treated for hypothermia. Tragically, the other occupant of the vehicle, in the driver’s seat, had died. Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck had been returning home the previous night after visiting her parents when she hit a cement barrier on the bridge and careered into the river. One of the rescuers said the trauma was such that she did not survive the impact of the crash. He added that the voice, which they had all heard so clearly emanating from the car, had not been that of her daughter, Lily. Neither was it Lynn’s, because, according to the autopsy, she had been dead for between 12 and 24

hours. Lily was critically ill but, miraculously, survived with no lasting ill effects.

The officers at the scene were all experienced and highly trained men, and not given to making up stories. In their profession they rely on facts and figures and hard proof. None of them could explain how they could have heard the voice. One has stated that it ‘must have been the voice of an angel’.

The Bible acknowledges the existence of angels and records visits by them to people on Earth. Sometimes they are in a recognisable human form: for example, the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, or the angels who appeared to the shepherds at the Nativity and at the mouth of Jesus’ tomb at the Resurrection. They have also appeared to people in dreams, and in visions.

God gives every human being in creation a guardian angel to help, protect and guide us through our lives.

There is a reference to them in Matthew 18:10: ‘See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in Heaven their Angels always see the face of my Father who is in Heaven.’

Was it the voice of an angel who called to the rescuers of baby Lily? It cannot be proved or disproved, but, a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas, puts it beautifully: ‘To one who has Faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without Faith, no explanation is possible.’

Worth a visit - Anglesey If you take an autumnal trip to the isle of Anglesey, you will find there is far more to it than unspoilt beaches and wildlife habitats, writes Lucy Oliver. In the north of the Welsh island, the town of Amlwch is home to an unusual Catholic church designed by the Italian architect, Giuseppe Rinvolucri, who settled in Conwy and was responsible for designing a number of churches, including the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Porthmadog.

The inter-war building takes inspiration from Amlwch’s maritime heritage, as the reinforced concrete is fashioned in the shape of an upturned boat with porthole windows. This Grade II-listed building is dedicated to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, and Saint Winifred, the seventh-century Welsh martyr remembered at Holywell.

While the church continues to welcome parishioners and tourists, another local structure survives as a reminder of the area’s rich copper mining industry. Parys Mountain Windmill was built in 1878 to assist in removing water from the mine shafts and though no longer operational, it continues to impose upon the surrounding landscape. It is a 10-minute

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drive from Amlwch where the Sail Loft Heritage Centre down at the harbour is also worth stopping at for its maritime exhibits.

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Catholic Pic Tours The Catholic Pic announces two special pilgrimages for readers for 2021, in association with Northern Star Travel No deposit required to reserve your place!

Poland in the Footsteps of St Pope John Paul II & St Faustina 9 days £949 departing from Liverpool May 2021: dates to be confirmed 2 night’s dinner, bed & breakfast Warsaw 1 night dinner, bed & breakfast Czestochowa 5 nights dinner, bed & breakfast Krakow Warsaw • Niepokalanow • Swinice Warckie • Czestochowa • Wadowice • Krakow Zakopane • Auschwitz • Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) • Wieliczka On this journey, we will follow in the footsteps of three great Polish saints - St John Paul, St Maximilian Kolbe and St Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy - as we embrace the culture of the Polish people.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 8 days £1350.00 departing from Manchester Departure: October 4th 2021 4 nights half board 4* Hotel Bethlehem 3 nights half board 4* Hotel Tiberias.

Tel Aviv • Caesarea • Stella Maris • Nazareth • Cana • Tiberias • Sea of Galilee • Jordan River Mt Tabor • Jerusalem • Ein Karem • Bethlehem • Qumran • Jericho • Dead Sea • Mt of Olives Mt Zion • Holy Sepulchre • Capernaum Guiding in the Holy Land with a licensed Christian Guide.

Sea of Galilee

Gardens of Gethsamane, Jerusalem

For more information about what the trips include and the full itinerary please either email: enquiries@cpmmmedia.com or telephone Barbara on 0151 733 5492 Catholic Pictorial

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Pope Francis – Worldwide Prayer Network The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network promotes the monthly prayer intentions of Pope Francis. People from around the world suggest papal prayer intentions in each country to their national office, which selects some of them and sends them to the international office of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network at the Vatican. After the Pope’s prayer and discernment, the official set of monthly prayer intentions, are then translated into the major world languages and published in print and digital formats.

October’s Universal Intention of Pope Francis – Pray with the Pope for the Laity’s Mission in the Church convened by Pope Francis in 2019 in Rome, he reminded us powerfully that ‘the heart of the church’s mission is prayer’.

Mission without prayer would not really be mission, but activism; often a good and wholesome enterprise but not always sustained by the grace we need. Let’s pray with the Pope this month and continue to pray as we go about our mission, linking our Christian lives to the Heart of Christ, in the Church.

by Father David Stewart SJ The Prayer Intention for October, offered to the whole church by Pope Francis through his worldwide prayer network, concerns ‘The Laity’s Mission in the Church’. He invites us to pray with him that ‘by the virtue of baptism, the laity, especially women, may participate more in areas of responsibility in the Church’.

We know well that each of us, as a baptised person, is empowered for mission through the Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Our word, ‘mission’, derives from a Latin word, ‘mittere’, which means ‘to send’; therefore, part of our Christian initiation is to know ourselves as people who are sent. And each sacrament is, as Pope Francis has taught, a moment, an action that ‘extends throughout history the salvific and life-giving action of Christ’.

Maybe, this month, we could usefully spend a few moments reminding ourselves about what we believe about baptism. A good place to start is the actual Rite. We can remember that this is a sacrament; as we were taught when younger or as catechumens, an ‘outward sign of inward grace’. Therefore, it is far more, far deeper than a ‘naming ceremony’, or christening. Looking at the ceremony of baptism, we see how the parents and godparents make important, solemn commitments, in the hearing of everyone, to ‘keep alive the flame of faith’ in the newly baptised person. We symbolise that by lighting a baptismal candle from the Easter Candle and by the ritual clothing with the white baptismal garment. These good people renew the grace of their own baptisms by solemnly and freely renewing their baptismal promises. Then at the heart of the Rite is the threefold baptism with the blessed water at the font; baptism in the name of the Blessed Trinity.

The baptised person, from this point

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Three proposals for the month ahead 1: Baptism, and the two other sacraments of initiation, Confirmation, and Eucharist, empower each of us for mission. Resolve to take a few moments of quiet meditation this month to reflect on where you see people in your parish or worshipping community, particularly women, carrying out that mission. Might it surprise you to think of what they are doing as ‘mission’? Then reflect on what particular mission and area of responsibility God’s inviting you, now, to discern, as a baptised member of the People of God.

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onwards, now has a mission. This is God’s mission, given to them by means of the Rite of the Church, because the Church’s very nature is missionary; it is to continue the work of the risen Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit. Pope Francis has suggested several times that we could recall the day and date of our own baptisms, the start of our mission.

Many people celebrate their birthdays but probably fewer mark their anniversary of baptism.

Christian spirituality underlines and feeds our mission yet at the same time our mission shapes our spirituality, or ought to.

At the world gathering of directors and coordinators of his personal Prayer Network,

2: Make a resolution to get to know those people who have recently been baptised in your parish, adults and children alike, and say a prayer for each of them, their parents, sponsors and god-parents. Send a message, or write a card or letter, to one or more of them, promising your prayers and support as they take up their Christian mission.

3: Follow Pope Francis’s suggestion about marking our own baptismal anniversary, just as we would a birthday. In 2014, at a general audience, he suggested, ‘Today, at home, go look, ask about the date of your Baptism and that way you can bear in mind that most beautiful day of Baptism.

To know the date of our Baptism is to know a blessed day’. Why? Because ‘We are called to live our Baptism every day, as the current reality of our lives’.

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Keep up to date with all the news from around the Archdiocese online at: www.catholicpic.co.uk You can now follow us on twitter at:

@PicCatholic

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