Blessed Robert Grissold Catholic Church
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Welcome to the website of Blessed Robert Grissold Catholic Church in Balsall Common. Here you can find details of the parish, our latest newsletter, services and sacraments offered by the Church and, in our parish archive, the events we have held. As a parish we value your privacy. Please follow the link here to learn more about the privacy policy that covers all catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Birmingham,
Father Frank writes
Today in the Gospel we hear how the apostles Peter, James and John were given a glimpse of Christ’s glory on the Mount of the Transfiguration - the same glimpse of glory that we are all given when we gather for the Mass, for in and through the sacred mysteries of the Eucharist we ascend to the heavenly places where, with Angels and Archangels and all the host of heaven, we worship the Beloved Son of God who sits at the right hand of the Father. God, the Holy Spirit, gathers us into the cloud of his glory. We listen to him in the scriptures. We feed on him in the Sacrament of the altar. No wonder the disciples “kept silence” and then proclaimed “Master, it is wonderful for us to be here.”
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Holy Week and Easter are the climax of the Christian liturgical year. The time of the Passion and Resurrection is proceeded by Lent, a lengthy period of preparation for these saving and illuminating mysteries. Lent is a time of penitence. It is a time for us to examine our conscience and seek reconciliation with the Lord. Lent is also a time for spiritual growth and enlightenment. In Lent we are invited to listen, and respond, ever more faithfully to the voice of God. Lent also commemorates Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt and their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Lent relates this to our own spiritual journey, to our liberation, our pilgrimage, our feeding on divine manna and of our meeting with God. And, as we see from today’s Gospel, Lent also recalls the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert during which he contended with Satan, the tempter. Our Lent must be a period of fighting against temptation. From this one can see that Lent is a very rich, a very deep mixture of elements which serve to purify and enlighten us. During the time of Lent the Church leads us towards the radiant glory of the Paschal feast. The more serious our Lenten preparation has been, the deeper we shall enter the joyful mystery of Easter and gather its fruits.
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In the Gospel today Christ teaches us about the relationships we should nurture and enjoy as members of his Body - the Church. As the baptised we are called to live and act in a way that is caught up in God’s love and life. In this way we witness to Christ in the world. We are not to live as those who do not know Christ - those who quarrel and divide over selfish preferences, those who are motivated by self-serving desire. Rather, as members of the Church, we are to live differently, bearing witness to the alternative life Christ brings, for, as members of his Body, we are bound to him in his loving mission to the whole of creation. As co-workers with Christ, we are called to enact God’s deep love for the world - to get our minds off ourselves and our petty self-interests and to live together harmoniously.
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In the Gospel today Jesus teaches that the lives of his followers should have a distinctive quality. Like salt, we should add a peculiar flavour to life because our life in Christ is distinctive and peculiar - different from what the world has to offer. This distinctive and peculiar quality of the Christ-life in us should shine like a light in the world, because Christ is the Light of the world. But if we lose our distinctive and peculiar taste - if the light in us is dimmed or hidden through sin, or compromised with the world - then we are no longer fit for purpose and we fail in our witness to the love and light of Christ - a witness that is vital in order that all may “taste and see that the Lord is good”.
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According to Christ's teaching, even the destitute, if they have the faith, hope and love of Christ, are in far happier circumstances than the selfish rich. Jesus says, "Woe to you rich ones you have your consolation now." If through the faith, hope and love of Christ the poor can avoid the destructive bitterness which often accompanies destitution, they are far more open to the Gospel message and the Kingdom of Heaven than the rich and comfortably indifferent. The faithful poor have no treasure here below, their treasure is above, their solitary refuge and boast is in the Lord – their greatest treasure.
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This is the Sunday within the Octave of Payer for Christian Unity and, as Christians, we must be deeply committed to that unity among believers for which Jesus prayed. The two great commands of Christ, to love God with our whole strength and being and to love our neighbour as our self, show us the way to that unity, for the more we grow in love and unity with God the more we will grow in love and unity with one another. The scriptures proclaim God’s great love for the world and of his plan to draw all things together in unity in Christ. It is our great privilege to be caught up in this great love of God which we celebrate in the Eucharist where, by faith, we perceive God drawing and gathering his scattered creation into one in Christ.
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In today's Gospel the Baptist calls Jesus the 'Lamb of God.' This title expresses Jesus' sacrificial character for, in the Old Covenant, a lamb was one of the usual animals of sacrifice. This name also points to Jesus' purity, to his gentle patience and to his humble and loving resignation with which he submitted to the sacrifice of the Cross.
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and we leave behind the touching scene of the crib. Jesus has moved from the helpless infant of Bethlehem to a grown man who takes upon himself a tremendous burden and responsibility. The burden is the weight of the sins of humankind. The responsibility is to make reparation for those sins.
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The Pope’s Prayer Intention for January: Let us pray that praying with the Word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church
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If we want to understand Jesus’ life and mission there is no better place to begin than with the mystery of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The humble home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Nazareth is a fruitful school of the Gospel and a place where Christian virtues are nurtured and thrive. Here we see the outworking of the Divine plan to make the family a community of life and love - the “domestic church” - in which the members of the family are formed in the faith. In this way the Holy Family is a model for every Christian home.
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We see in the Gospels how God fulfils the promises he has made through the people of the Old Covenant, and he does this in a bewildering way. The fulfilment of the promises of old comes through a young Jewish girl who accepts the will of God and the work of his Holy Spirit in her. Her husband, Joseph, is confused about the events surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus but such perplexity is to be expected because God’s ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts and, according to God’s loving purposes, revealed in both the Old and New Testaments, something utterly ‘good’ and utterly ‘new’ is breaking into our world with the birth of Christ
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We see in today’s Gospel how God fulfils the promises he has made through the people of the Old Covenant, and he does this in a bewildering way. The fulfilment of the promises of old comes through a young Jewish girl who accepts the will of God and the work of his Holy Spirit in her. Her husband, Joseph, is confused and perplexed by how is betrothed came to be found with child but he believes God’s word, delivered by the angel of the Lord, and takes his wife to his home.
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In the first reading today we hear some of the loveliest words in Scripture. The prophet Isaiah, setting aside the fear and gloom of the contemporary political situation, looks forward to a Golden Age when God’s salvation will transform every living thing. The barren places of nature will bloom; the weak and the frail will be strong; Jerusalem will be a new centre of creation. And if we listen carefully, we will recognise words used by Handel in his setting of the Messiah - celebrating the God, who comes to us in Jesus, to make all things new.
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The invitation to welcome the God who comes to us in Christ and to cast away empty living is repeated in the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Advent. The Opening Prayer of the Mass asks that no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet Christ. And today we hear the lonely voice of John the Baptist who exhorts us to prepare a way for the Lord. May our faithfulness to the spirit of Advent create a space so that the Lord can come to us.
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As we begin Advent our thoughts are guided, through the liturgy, to the coming of Christ - his first coming to us in humility and weakness and his second coming in majesty and power. The description of the Second Coming of Christ should not fill us with fear, rather we should look forward to it and prepare for it through prayer and right living. So let us resolve to stay close to Christ through our daily prayer. Perhaps praying the rosary daily - even if it is only offering up a decade - and meditating on what Christ wants to say to us in the Gospels. In this way we will learn to discern his voice - calling us to follow him in the way we must walk.
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The feast of Christ the King, which the holy Church throughout the world celebrates today, brings to a close the Church’s liturgical year. Our image of a monarch tends to be of one who lives a privileged life and lords it over others. Christ our King is not like that. He came to serve, not to be served and he wants us to imitate him in his loving service of others. That is why, as St. John of the Cross said: “In the evening of life we shall be examined on love.” If to love and to serve our neighbour is heavenly, hell is the suffering of one who can no longer love.
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The Gospel today speaks of persecution for Christ’s true followers and Jesus makes it clear that in time of trial it is profitable for us to endure this suffering for the sake of Christ. The Lord says: ‘By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves.’ To patient endurance in every trial we suffer, in every affliction, whether this is insolent and contemptuous treatment, humiliations, bodily weakness or the attacks of Satan, or any trial whatsoever caused either by people or by evil spirits, must be added wholehearted thanksgiving, prayer and humility. For, it is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give God thanks, for he disposes all things, good or otherwise, for our benefit.
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In the Gospel today Jesus speaks of the life of the Resurrection and he makes it clear that this is eternal life - a life qualitatively different from our natural life - because ‘the children of the Resurrection’ ‘can no longer die.’ We were made children of the Resurrection through Baptism - when we were baptised in the name of God the Holy Trinity in whose eternal life we now share. It is because we are ‘children of the resurrection’ that we ‘dare’ to call God ‘Our Father’ and it is for this same reason that we are presented, at Baptism, with a candle lit from the Easter candle which represents the light and life of the Resurrected Christ, in whose light and life we share. And being children of the Resurrection, we are also children of God - the God who lives and reigns for ever and ever and we are called to shine as lights in the world to the glory of God, our Father
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We have completed the month of the Holy Rosary. St Dominic, a Catholic, did most in the development and the early spreading of the Rosary, and many Catholic saints since have highly praised the power of this great means of prayer, nevertheless the Rosary is valued and prayed by members of many different Christian traditions, including Lutherans, Methodists and Anglicans. Richard Baumann, a Lutheran, writes: “When the Rosary is said, truth sinks into the subconscious like a slow and steady downpour…It is a long and persevering gaze, a meditation, a quieting of the spirit in praise of God.” J. Neville Ward, a Methodist minister says: “The Rosary has a profound message for our times…It is a message of consolation, Scriptural in its background, and reasonable as well as devotional in its content.” According to the Reverend Ward, the Christian who has a Rosary in his or her hand is within an ancient tradition, for no other scheme of prayer has been so widely used in the Christian West. And the Anglican Guardians of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham write in their handbook: “The Rosary is a devotion of which many people are frightened. But it is quite simple and quite sensible; it is like looking at a picture book on our mother’s knee… pictures connected with the Life, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord, are shown to us by His Mother and our Mother, who prays with us and for us.” The Holy Rosary is a sure weapon and protection of true unity in the Church.
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October, the month of the Rosary continues. Through praying the Rosary, we are invited to contemplate the mysteries at the heart of our faith. This leads us to draw closer to Jesus’ life and teaching and helps them to become ever more deeply embedded in our hearts and minds. We can also relate the mysteries of the Rosary to our own lives - applying them to our own spiritual journey and needs. Also, we can name an intention as we pray the Rosary, dedicating our prayer to someone or something - giving thanks to God or exercising love for others by praying for them or asking God’s grace for our own personal needs. If anyone requires instruction on how to pray the Rosary, I will be happy to help.
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Safeguarding
The Parish follows the safeguarding standards advised by The Archdiocese of Birmingham. You can view these standards by following the link here.
A link to the Archdiocese safeguarding website can be found here.
Safespaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused by someone in the Church or as a result of their relationship with the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales or the Church in Wales. If you have been affected, however long ago, Safe Spaces can provide you with support. You do not have to have told the police or the church authorities, and you do not have to still be involved with the church. Your information will not be shared without your consent unless you or someone else is in immediate danger. To contact Safespaces, please follow the link to their website here.
The Isaiah Journey The Isaiah Journey is a working group of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales which has grown out of the need for a pastoral-spiritual response to the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse in the Church. It provides A Guide for Survivors of Abuse that can be found here.
The Safeguarding Rep for our Parish is Monica Green and she can be contacted via email at sg.brg.balsallcommon@rcaob.org.uk.
The Parish follows the safeguarding standards advised by The Archdiocese of Birmingham. You can view these standards by following the link here.
A link to the Archdiocese safeguarding website can be found here.
Safespaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused by someone in the Church or as a result of their relationship with the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales or the Church in Wales. If you have been affected, however long ago, Safe Spaces can provide you with support. You do not have to have told the police or the church authorities, and you do not have to still be involved with the church. Your information will not be shared without your consent unless you or someone else is in immediate danger. To contact Safespaces, please follow the link to their website here.
The Isaiah Journey The Isaiah Journey is a working group of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales which has grown out of the need for a pastoral-spiritual response to the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse in the Church. It provides A Guide for Survivors of Abuse that can be found here.
The Safeguarding Rep for our Parish is Monica Green and she can be contacted via email at sg.brg.balsallcommon@rcaob.org.uk.
Parish Events
Looking for the rest of the Parish Event List? We have archived the list from our old site but you can still view them here.
Date
| Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 09.07.2016 | Church Consecration | This is a very special year in the life of our parish, as our church will be consecrated on 9th July by Archbishop Bernard Longley. Preparations are already underway, both for the consecration service itself, and for various fund-raising activities. Updates on our progress so far are published in our Easter newsletter available online (along with our weekly Sunday bulletin) on this website For more details of how you can be involved, please speak to Joe Martin or Ian Clarke, or email enquiries@brgparish.org.uk. |
| 10.07.2016 | Candle of Dedication | The dedication for this week is Francis Clements |
| 10.07.2016 | Prayer Life | The meditations and instruction on prayer in the Christian spiritual life continue on Wednesday during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament |
| 10.07.2016 | Ethiopia Appeal and Collection | There is a serious food crisis in Ethiopia. Extreme weather shifts, part of the El Nino effect, mean severe drought has left millions of people in need of emergency food aid. 400,000 children are already suffering from malnutrition and we need to act now to prevent a far more terrible crisis. Please give to the collection today for CAFOD's emergency humanitarian response. And please pray for those who are suffering. |
| 10.07.2016 | Consecration | A huge thank you to all those who worked to make the Consecration of our church such a blessed occasion yesterday. There will be a more in depth write up of the mass and celebrations soon! |
| 10.07.2016 | Consecration Pictures | Pictures of the consecration celebration are now available by clinking on the link or accessing the Parish Archive via the menu. |
| 12.07.2016 | Mass time change for this week | Please note that this week's Tuesday Mass is earlier than usual and will be at 9.30 am to allow Fr Frank to attend the monthly Deanery Meeting of clergy |
| 17.07.2016 | Candle of Dedication | The dedication for this week is Richard Brennan |
| 17.07.2016 | Car Park | Thank you to Paul Ryan for his generous donation of time and materials in repairing the gulley in the car park. If anyone would like to talk to Paul about driveways, paving or landscaping please call him on 07831 386621 |
| 24.07.2016 | Candle of Dedication | The dedication for this week is for Jo Nijst |
| 24.07.2016 | Consecration candles | We would like to thank those who donated the four consecration candles put up in the church. These are in memory of the following. Bridge and Perry family, Cotterill family, McLean family, Daniel Mark Lester and Amy Pullen |
| 24.07.2016 | Fr Frank on holiday | Father Frank is on holiday this week. There will be a Eucharistic Service at 10.00am on Tuesdays while he is away. There will be no Mass with the Anointing of the Sick in July and no First Friday Mass in August. |
| 24.07.2016 | Baptism of Eve Elizabeth Ryder | We pray for Eve and for her family, godparents and friends as they gather, after Mass today, for her Baptism.CAFOD Collection |
| 24.07.2016 | CAFOD Collection | Thank you so much for the generous CAFOD donations collected in the last two weeks. An exceptional total of £382 was raised and that is without the Gift Aid extra reimbursement which will make the final total well in excess of £400. Thank you especially to all who took the time to fill in their details |
| 31.07.2016 | Fr Martin Newell CP | We look forward to welcoming Fr Martin who will celebrate Mass here next Sunday. |
| 31.07.2016 | Candle of Dedication | The dedication for this week is for Jo Nijst |
| 31.07.2016 | Fr Frank on holiday Please Note | Whilst Fr. Frank is away the only celebration through the week will be a Eucharistic Service at 10.00am on Tuesday. Normal service will be resumed on Wednesday 10th August with Mass, followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and meditations until 8.00pm. There will be no First Friday Mass in August |
| 03.08.2016 | Get-together | This Wednesday 3 August. We are off to Harvington Hall on a coach trip. Leaving BRG at 10 o'clock sharp! |
| 07.08.2016 | Father Ed | A warm welcome to Father Ed O'Connell, a Columban Father, who will be presiding at the Mass today. Father Ed will also talk to us about the work he is doing with the poor in Lima, Peru. Our Parish have been helping Fr. Ed for 16 years with our Breakfasts and money from our Bottle. |
| 07.08.2016 | Candle of Dedication | The dedication for this week is for Jo Nijst |
19.03.2026
40 Hours Adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will take place at St John the Evangelist, Banbury from Thursday 19th March at 6.30pm through to the 4pm Vigil Mass on Saturday 21st March. This is part of the deanery prayer for vocations
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15.03.2026
Visit of Relic of St Carlo Acutis: Sunday 15th March - veneration of relic and his Eucharistic Miracles exhibition at St Joseph's Whitnash, with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in church during the day for Vocations and talk at 3.30pm
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14.03.2026
We are holding an evening of food and merriment on Saturday 14th March at 7 pm. The cost is £10 per head. Pam is collecting names / money on Sunday after Mass. Please support this event in aid of Parish funds
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14.03.2026
Save the Children Charity Spring Fayre on Saturday 14th March 10am to 2pm at St.Francis of Assisi parish Centre, Kenilworth. Free admission and free parking. Buy hand-made goods, cards and Easter gifts, have some delicious refreshments, or take part in the raffle. Contact Julia on 07855843914 for more details.
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07.03.2026
These will be held at the Methodist Church each Saturday from 21st February until 21st March, breakfast from 8.45am, the talk at 9.00am. BRG will be hosting on 7th March. Please see Louise Perry if you can help
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07.03.2026
The next Churches Together “Coffee Together” is on 7th March at the Jubilee centre, hosted by the Methodist Church.
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06.03.2026
This years’ service, prepared by the people of Nigeria, will be held at the Methodist Church on Friday 6th March at 6.30pm and will be followed by light refreshments. Everyone is welcome.
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03.03.2026
Tuesday 10:00am Mass followed by Stations of the Cross (followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
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01.03.2026
Our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament on the First Tuesday after Mass (at BRG) and every Thursday (at SF) during March will be dedicated to this intention
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01.03.2026
This Sunday 1st March, Ian will give a short presentation after Mass to launch our second event as part of the Archdiocesan Planned Giving Campaign. The focus of this event will be to ask you to give of your time and skills to support the running of our parish by volunteering to join one of the many groups or rotas that are necessary to ensure our parish continues to operate.
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01.03.2026
All are invited to use our Prayer Tree in the Narthex. Take a tag, date it, write your prayer, and hang it on the tree. Prayers stay on the tree for one month and are shared at prayer group meetings
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01.03.2026
The Family Fast Day is on 27th February; envelopes will be available at Mass on Sunday 1st March. Donate by envelope, online at cafod.org.uk/envelope, phone 0303 303 3030, or text CAFODLENT to 70085 (£10). Online donations are doubled.
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22.02.2026
All are invited to use our Prayer Tree in the Narthex. Take a tag, date it, write your prayer, and hang it on the tree. Prayers stay on the tree for one month and are shared at prayer group meetings
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21.02.2026
As usual the Methodist Church is the venue for the Churches Together Lenten Breakfast talks. The theme is “Good Books”. These will be each Saturday morning from 21st February until 21st March, breakfast from 8.45am (pastries, tea & coffee) donations please. The talk begins at 9.00am. Each church will act as host in turn. Blessed Robert Grissold will be hosting on 7th March. Volunteers welcome
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18.02.2026
Ash Wednesday Mass and imposition of Ashes: 6.30pm on Wednesday 18th February
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18.02.2026
Let us make every effort to make a good start to the season of Lent and to use this time to renew and deepen our life in Christ. To help us prepare for the celebration of Our Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection the following are available during Lent att Blessed Robert Grissold, Balsall Common: Tuesdays 10:00am Mass followed by Stations of the Cross
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18.02.2026
In the penitential season of Lent, we do not sing the Gloria, and the Alleluia is dropped from the Gospel Acclamation
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17.02.2026
The next Quiet Morning will be on Shrove Tuesday, 17th February, 9.30 am – 12 noon. It will be at St Mary’s Church in Temple Balsall and led by the vicar Debbie Collins.
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15.02.2026
Mass on the First Tuesday of each month will be followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at 11:00am.
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15.02.2026
There will be a second collection today for the LIFE Charity
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Parish Calendar
