 This Advent we begin a year of preparation for the Holy Year in 2025. The Holy Father has asked us to make PRAYER the focus of our preparation. Advent often gets lost in the preparations for Christmas, so to help us focus more on prayer we are encouraging the following initiatives:
 With synod discussions continuing in Rome this month, it may be of interest to check out the 'Synod Page' on our website. You will find the responses we collected at parish level as well documents produced by the Diocesan, Continental and Universal stages. The working document that is being used in Rome, called the Instrumentum Laboris, is available to read. Links to an interesting podcast series by Christopher Lamb can also be accessed. The parish held a send-off ceremony at St. Michaels on Sunday 8th January 2023, to celebrate Sr. Rita for her selfless service for five years. Sr. Rita is set to continue her good works in India as her memorable time with outstanding contributions in the parish especially at St. Michaels and St. Edmunds School come to an end. The ceremony was attended by many parishioners with lots to eat and drink. Many showered her with presents, words of appreciation and encouragement as she embarks on a new journey. Msgr. Mark Crisp concluded with a farewell speech highlighting the fact that many will miss Sr. Rita not only for her good works, but also her warm smile and kindness. The ecumenical #FollowTheStar procession through Wolverhampton took place on Saturday 17th December. Accompanied by the West Midlands Fire Service Band and two alpacas, we walked from St John's in the Square to St Peter's. Along the route, we stopped at the Market and at different points along Dudley Street for readings and carols where we were joined by lots of shoppers. The clip below shows the band playing 'In the Bleak Midwinter' next to the Christmas Tree.  Come along and join us singing Christmas carols and listening to the Christmas story as we walk through the City Centre.
The idea is that we all carry LED Lanterns. For a simple instructions to make a lantern, click on the button below.
As we approach Halloween and All Saints Day, you might find this video useful when planning what to do next week.
Halloween.mp4 from Chris Noonan on Vimeo.  The coach is going to collect parishioners from St Bernadette’s at 1.45pm before going to St Michael’s. We will leave St Michael’s at 2.15pm to arrive at Hednesford about 2.45pm. The return journey will be at 5.30pm via St Michael’s before arriving at St Bernadette’s .
If you haven’t already paid your £5 please bring it with you on Sunday. Any questions please call David Spinks, 07544960402. Unfortunately an item was missed of the bulletin for this Saturday night:
FAMILY SKITTLES NIGHT this Saturday 17th September at 7pm in St Michael’s Church hall. Free entry. BYO nibbles & drinks. Tea, coffee, squash and raffle for charity. All welcome!  Between 28 July and 14 August, Aaron was back at the United Nations for the 10th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Representing the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, he was able to pose questions to world leaders and take part in discussions on nuclear policy. The Catholic Universe Weekly wrote an article about Aaron's first week, available to read using the button below. (See pg1 and 4) Aaron also posted regular updates on his Twitter feed.  On Wednesday 10 August, Aaron was able to visit the Holy See Mission to the United Nations. He was an intern there from September to December 2019. In the picture above, he is standing with Msgr Robert Murphy. Msgr Murphy is the Deputy Permanent Observer and a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. In the edited recording below, Aaron challenged the US Under Secretary for Nuclear Security in her use of the word "minimum" to describe its current weapons stockpile. The High-Level Meeting focused on the US Nuclear Weapons Posture Review.  The Bishops of England and Wales have published a reflection on our responses to the Synod. You can read a copy using the button below. The document will go forward, along with the previously published National Synthesis, to form part of the European continental stage of the Synod.
 The compilation of all the reports from the diocese of England and Wales has just been published. This is the document that is being submitted to Rome as our National response to the Synodal process. To read the full report, click the button below.
Dear Val and all at St Michael’s Church,
Greetings to you all. Nadi(Club) primary school- Good Shepherd School and Good Shepherd clinic This year the situation is the same as last year, nothing changes. The economic situation is becoming a big challenge to us as Sudanese people. Up to now the new government have not yet taken their place in their leadership, that makes the young people remain in the streets. the market is very expensive, the poor cannot afford to eat. This year also many children drop out of the school specially club school, last year the children were 400 but this year there are 210 only because of the economic situation. We were able: To purchase school uniform for two schools. To provide breakfast for the children. Renew the clinic, Electricity, cleaning materials and other needs. We also managed to buy books, pens, pencils, chalk etc. Also we covered the social insurance of the school staff. We as sisters in the parish trying our best to help and support the children and young girls by the grace of God. And also through your contribution that sustained us very much. We thank you for your contribution towards the 2021-2022, may God bless you all. Sr. Angelina Ebrahim On Sunday 19th June, both SS Peter and Paul's and St Michael's held processions to mark Corpus Christi. Thank you to all those who took part! A gallery of images from each church is available underneath the video. SS Peter and Paul Gallery St Michael Gallery There has been much to celebrate recently in our parish. On Pentecost Sunday, Chike Ezike was elevated as a Knight of St Columba. We also celebrated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in St Michael's Hall. Then, on 6th June, the Carmelite Monastery marked its 100th anniversary with a Mass presided over by Archbishop Bernard Longley. Thanks to all those who helped make these occasions so special! Please note that there is a mistake in the printed version of the bulletin in the churches this weekend. There is not an SVP Afternoon Tea gathering in St Michael's hall on Wednesday because the hall is not available. Many apologies.
 When one begins formation for priesthood it feels as though you are in for the long haul and can’t get to the finish-line quick enough. Suddenly, I find myself at the end of fourth year and receiving candidacy -- the Church’s formal recognition of a clerical vocation -- and so the countdown to ordination next year (first as deacon) has begun!
Bishop Paul Mason, bishop to the military, presided over the mass and preached on how God intends us to soar like eagles, but with the Holy Spirit in our wings. I must say, I was quite on air myself. From this point onwards, I may dress in clerics (priestly garb) so as to witness to my intention to complete my formation. The rite involved us being asked if we were “morally certain” of a call from the Lord, and if we are “resolved” to carry on with a view to ordination? I can say that I do now feel interiorly free and happy enough to say yes to Christ and His Church. I was very conscious of the number of you who continue to pray for me. No man makes it through without such support. Thank-you. It seems, however, that I might be part of the old guard who receive candidacy at the end of year 4 of seminary. The Bishops of England & Wales are currently deciding on how to readjust the “ministries” conferred on a discerner so as to bring formation in line with the wishes of Pope Francis. Since he created the lay ministry of catechist it has become more theologically acute that the ministries of reader and acolyte are primarily baptismal ministries that are open to all the faithful and not just those of us progressing towards ordination. As a result, candidacy may be moved earlier on in the process or left up the seminarian to express when he feels ready to take this step. For the moment, however, no-one knows just how everything will develop. As for me, although aware of my many faults, I praise God for calling me to minister soon enough in our Archdiocese and express here, once again, how lucky I feel to have shared the journey thus far with so many wonderful priests and parishioners along the way.  Synodal Path Meeting and the Parish Pastoral Council
As we journey with the Synodal Process, it is a moment to remember the purpose of the Parish Pastoral Council. It is not intended to be a group of people who do things for the parish, but a group of representatives who share your thoughts and suggestions with the parish clergy so that the parish priest can make informed decisions about pastoral priorities of the parish. The Parish Pastoral Council was therefore keen that the work along the Synodal Pathway should continue in the Parish well beyond sending the report of our listening activities to the Diocese. For this reason, there was an open parish meeting on 7th May, to look at how we could move forward across 8 areas of parish life: 1. Participation and Outreach 2. Access and Communication 3. Young People 4. Families 5. Learning about our faith 6. A place for all 7. Support for the poor and marginalised 8. Parish Liturgy and Music Following discussion of the issues that emerged from the listening activity, several potential actions were proposed by those attending, which you can see in this attached document. However, this is just a starting point, and there is an opportunity now for others to also become involved. We are looking to set up a number of short-term task groups, where each group will consider one of the areas, for example ‘Learning about our Faith’. Such a group would agree and add to the priority actions as appropriate and come up with ways that these actions could be taken forward in our parish. If you have a particular interest in an aspect of parish life, and would like to contribute your enthusiasm, your skills and knowledge or your ideas for the future, please consider joining one of the groups. We know that many people are busy juggling work and family life, or for other reasons find it hard to come out to meetings, so there will be flexible ways you can get involved so that as many people as possible can feel part of these next steps. If you would like to get more involved in whatever way, please email the Parish at bca.wolves@rcaob.org.uk and put “Walking Together” in the Subject Line, or phone the Parish Office on 01902 341343 leaving your name and contact number and which area you are interested in, and someone will get back to you. There will also be opportunities over the next few weeks to hear more about the particular strand of activities, and sign up to one of the groups then. This is an exciting time in the life of our Parish, as we get back to a new normal, following two difficult years. I very much hope that many people will feel able to answer the call of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, to walk together to help make our parish life together better. This Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension and then we begin the ancient Novena of Prayer for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Let's pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in all these new initiatives in the parish. We have been experiencing problems with our internet provider, Vodafone, and there was no internet connection to the house all morning today. This mean that Mass could not be livestreamed at lunchtime. Many apologies for this. Hopefully, the disruption has finished and we will not have problems on Sunday, Fr Mark
 Today we pray for Vocations to the Priesthood, Diaconate and the Consecrated life, that many will hear the call to follow Christ to chare the Good News! There will also be a special vocations webinar hosted by the Archdiocese on Tuesday evening at 8.00pm looking at models of holiness which will be all about our parish patron Blessed Carlo. If you would like to sign up for this webinar, go to - Quo Vadis? | Birmingham Vocations Then on Wednesday we will be having our monthly Blessed Carlo Mass, which this month will be at St Bernadette's, and we will also be praying for vocations at that Mass.
 On behalf of Fr Mark, Fr Gary, Fr Sean, Sr Lydwin and Sr Rita, we wish you every blessing over the Easter holiday for you and your families!
The Bulletin is now ready to download from the Home Page. |
