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In today’s Gospel Jesus says: “A man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.” Lent begins on Wednesday - Ash Wednesday - with the Blessing and Imposition of the Ashes. The Church’s season of Lent is an opportunity for us to go deeper into what is at the heart of our lives and what should be first in our hearts. It’s a season in which we are invited to grow in our awareness of those things that blind us to the truth about ourselves and the truth about Christ. Lent is an opportunity to notice the “plank” in our own eye that prevents us seeing clearly how to love God and how to love our neighbour as our self. And it is only by seeing clearly that we can act and speak lovingly. On Ash Wednesday, a day of penance, abstinence and fasting, we enter into the joyful season of Lent - joyful because it is a time established for the purification of our souls and the renewal of our hearts.
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In today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to love our enemies - to love like the God in whose image and likeness we were originally created. Humanity has made itself the enemy of God through its sinfulness - our turning our backs on the way of God’s love. This is seen most keenly in the way humanity treated God’s beloved Son. Yet God loves us. He loves us as we are, but he loves us too much to let us stay as we are. His love wants to transform us, more and more, into the likeness of Jesus, who is true the image of God and who loved his enemies - praying for those who crucified him: “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”
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We were made by God and created for God - to know him and love him forever. So we are happy now if we are poor - poor in the sense of knowing our poverty with regard to the riches of the life for which God has created us. We are happy because this knowledge of our poverty allows us to realise our absolute need of God which leads us to turn to him in trust - trusting in his power to save us. And God does not disappoint those who turn to him in trust.
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After the miraculous catch of fish, which we hear about in the Gospel today, Peter realised, as never before, his own sinfulness and the holiness of Jesus. He asked Jesus to depart from him but Christ showed him that his sins and weaknesses would not prevent him from sharing in his work. While our sinfulness humbles us we should not let it get us down or make us feel that we do not belong to the company of Christ. Christ came to “call sinners.” He is known as the “friend of sinners” - he comes to help us to overcome our sins. That is why, with confidence, we can come before him in the Mass to confess our sins.
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Mary the Mother of Jesus lovingly and willingly united herself to her Son’s sacrifice on the Cross, sharing
in his self-giving for our salvation and redemption. That is why several Popes have called Mary Co-Redemptrix. Mary
teaches us to have faith. If our faith is week, we should turn to Mary. Jesus dying on the Cross bequeaths his mother
to all mankind and especially to all his disciples.
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In today’s Gospel Jesus says: “A man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.” Lent begins on Wednesday - Ash Wednesday - with the Blessing and Imposition of the Ashes. The Church’s season of Lent is an opportunity for us to go deeper into what is at the heart of our lives and what should be first in our hearts. It’s a season in which we are invited to grow in our awareness of those things that blind us to the truth about ourselves and the truth about Christ. Lent is an opportunity to notice the “plank” in our own eye that prevents us seeing clearly how to love God and how to love our neighbour as our self. And it is only by seeing clearly that we can act and speak lovingly. On Ash Wednesday, a day of penance, abstinence and fasting, we enter into the joyful season of Lent - joyful because it is a time established for the purification of our souls and the renewal of our hearts.
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Can we trust the Gospel accounts of what Jesus said and did and of who he claimed to be? Luke, Gentile doctor, Christian convert and missionary companion to St Paul, seems to have no doubts. In the prologue to his Gospel he describes the received teaching as “well founded.” and his confidence is in no small part due to the fact that the accounts of Jesus’ life and mission which had been handed down, were the work of those who, from the outset, were “eyewitnesses.” So we can reliably learn what Jesus said and did, and about who he claimed to be, by attending to the Gospels.
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Love and marriage are very much in the air in our readings today. The scriptures reveal how God created us in order that we might know and love him. God delights in us or, as Isaiah in our first reading puts it: ‘As the bridegroom rejoices in his bride so will your God rejoice in you.’ Two become one in marriage and God created us so that we might be united with him in love - and our God is passionate about our being made one with him - So passionate that he gives himself totally for us in Christ who is born among us to win our love and devotion. This is the greatest love story ever told. Christ reveals the God of love to us in order that we might fall in love with him and so, like him, be prepared to leave all to be wedded to him.
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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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Today, with the holy Church of God throughout the world, we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany means “manifestation” and it was made manifest to the Magi, who were led from afar by a bright star, that Jesus came, not just for the people of Israel but for everyone. This feast draws us away from the temptation to confine the mystery of the Christmas celebration to our own private world and interests. For the Church, Epiphany is a call and a challenge to never become narrow and inward-looking but to remember that, as the baptised, our vocation is to be a light for all people.
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In today’s Gospel Luke relates the story of the Visitation and it involves the encounter of two pregnant women. Mary, who is from Galilee, journeys to Judea, the place where, one day, the son she is carrying will be cruelly rejected and condemned to die. At Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child in her womb “leapt for joy.” Joy is the first response to the coming of the Messiah. Preparing for the great celebration of the Nativity of the Lord means experiencing the joy of knowing that our God is the God who comes to us - the God who gives himself for us because he loves us.
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John the Baptist, who we hear about in today’s Gospel, marks the end of the time of waiting and the beginning of the new age in Jesus. John is the last of the great prophets; for a long time, the people had been without a messenger from God but in John the Baptist the people discovered an end to God’s silence. Through John, they could hear the word of God. We are told that many went out from the towns and cities to see John - which is testimony to his charismatic power to attract people - such is the powerful attraction of the word of God alive and active in a person.
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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
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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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Faith in the God of love can bring great happiness and confidence for “perfect love casts out all fear.” The warnings about the end times in the Scriptures are meant to be a source of hope for us, not fear, for “Christ, by his death and resurrection, has achieved our sanctification.” All we need to do is to place our trust in Christ and so be able to make the words of today’s psalm our own: “You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence.”
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Today in the Gospel we hear the story of the “Widow’s Mite.” The mite was the tiniest coin in circulation. In the Temple the rich were giving from their loose change, but the widow, out of her extreme poverty, gave everything she had: two small coins. Although poor and in need of the few coppers she had, she never hesitated, never counted the cost. She gave everything to God. The widow became famous, not because she gave so little but because, in her extraordinary generosity, she gave so much.
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Through liturgy and worship, formation, evangelisation and social outreach, the Diocesan Vision calls us to work for the renewal of the Church. The then Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, insisted that, “The true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the centre of any renewal of the Church whatever.” This is why the New Evangelisation must be founded on the faithful and fruitful celebration of the Sacred Liturgy as passed down and presented to us by the Church in her tradition. This is because it is in the Sacred Liturgy, especially in the Mass - the source and summit of the Church’s life, that we encounter the saving action of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most profound way. Liturgy for us in the Church is not just a series of actions or rituals but an encounter with the living Christ who alone offers perfect worship to God and who draws all people to himself through the Sacrifice of the Cross made present in the Eucharist.
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October is the month of the Rosary, and we have prayed a decade of the Rosary at each Mass during October as a gentle reminder, if it is needed, of the great riches that are to be had in this form of prayer. Padre Pio, the holy saint who received the stigmata, loved to pray the Rosary. He always kept his Rosary beads in his hand. Because he prayed it almost constantly, he was known as the ‘living Rosary.’ One day his superior asked him how many Rosaries he had prayed that day. Wanting to be respectful and honest with his superior he told him: “I have prayed thirty-four Rosaries today.” On another occasion a follower asked him to teach him a prayer that was most pleasing to our Blessed Lady. Without hesitation, he insisted that none is more beautiful or pleasing than the Rosary. And he further instructed him: “Always say the Rosary. The Rosary is a weapon in our hands.” Near the end of his life, he didn’t talk much and when people sought his advice or help, he would simply show them the Rosary. Let us follow St Pio’s example and always have our Rosary with us.
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October is the month of the Rosary, and the Rosary is Trinitarian and Christ-centred, but it is also a Marian prayer. In the Rosary, we are happy to praise the mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the words of the Archangel Gabriel and her cousin Elizabeth: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.” And in the Rosary, we meditate and reflect on the important events in Our Lord’s life through the eyes of Mary. Another prayer that makes the Rosary Marian is the concluding prayer - the “Hail Holy Queen.” But the two most important prayers of the Rosary are the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary. As St. Louis de Montfort said: “How could there possibly be any more pleasing prayers to Almighty God and the Blessed Virgin, or any that are easier, more precious or more helpful than these two prayers?”
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Parish Events
Date
| Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 25.09.2025 | Parish Pastoral Council | There will be a PPC meeting to discuss the Archbishop’s Planned Giving and Stewardship drive on Thursday 25th September at 7pm at BRG. |
| 21.09.2025 | Evangelii Gaudium Sunday (Home Mission Sunday | A message from Abbot Hugh Allan o.praem, Director of Mission at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference: Evangelii Gaudium Sunday calls us to be joyous in proclaiming our faith. “Evangelii Gaudium” is Latin for “Joy of the Gospel”. Commonly known as Home Mission Sunday, a day for us as the Catholic community to celebrate the beauty of our faith, and our shared commitment to witness to the fullness of life in Christ. Celebrating 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea, the theme for this year is “I believe…”. For more details https://www.cbcew.org.uk/evangelii-gaudium-sunday. The second collection on the 21st is to support the work carried out by the Bishops’ Conference Mission Directorate to support our Church in a wide field of service and mission here in England and Wales. |
| 21.09.2025 | Churches Together in England invites you to support the call to pray for peace in the Middle East on | The coalition is coordinating an act of Christian witness that speaks to a shared commitment to peace, reconciliation, and the dignity of all people. The call to churches across Britain is to pray for peace and coincides with UN World Peace Day and the global call to prayer from the World Council of Churches |
| 21.09.2025 | 40 Days of Life event | Fr Toby Lees OP presents 'Saints and Bible Heroes Who Stood for Life - Inspiration for Today's Mission'. Birmingham Oratory, Upper Hall, 141 Hagley Rd, B16 8UE. 40 Days for Life event but all are welcome. Free entry. Contact Isabel for more details 07773501721 izzyvs@gmail.com |
| 10.09.2025 | Something Greater | Are you being called to be a catechist, or considering another area of ministry? Something Greater could help you to hear more of what God has for YOU! This 8 course session commences 10 September, 7.15pm at St Mary Immaculate, Warwick CV34 6AB. To register please contact canon.david.hartley@rcaob.org.uk |
| 07.09.2025 | Wardens / Welcomers required | We are updating our church wardens list of people who welcome parishioners to church every Sunday, and we need more helpers. Please consider helping, it only comes around every nine weeks. Please see Joe after Mass if you are willing to help or ring him on 01676534916. |
| 07.09.2025 | Saint John Henry Newman | We share in the Archbishop’s joy and celebration that Saint John Henry Newman Oratorian, Cardinal, Scholar, Teacher, Pastor, Prophet, Saint is now also to be a Doctor of the Church. This title is given to Saints who have made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study or writing. This is especially good news for us he had a close association with the Parish of St Francis. For more information on this announcement, please see the noticeboard. |
| 07.09.2025 | Harvington Hall Pilgrimage | Harvington Hall Pilgrimage will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 7 September. Archbishop Bernard is now the main celebrant for full information visit: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/Event/harvington-hall-pilgrimage |
| 26.08.2025 | Diocesan Novena to pray for the Canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi | The Novena of Prayer lasts for nine days starting on 18 August and concluding on his Feast Day on 26 August. This Feast will be celebrated at the 7pm Mass at Blessed Robert Grissold on Tuesday 26th August. All are welcome. |
| 26.08.2025 | Novena Prayer for the Canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi | O God, who so lovingly raised Blessed Dominic to the heights of holiness, learning and apostolic zeal and made him a powerful minister of your mercy, listen to our humble request. We pray that you will in your goodness, grant a miracle through the intercession of Blessed Dominic, so that the Church may further honour him on earth and that many more people will come to know and invoke the help of this faithful servant of the Church. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen. Mary, Mother of Holy Hope, Pray for Us. Saint John Henry Newman, Pray for Us. Blessed Dominic Barberi, Pray for Us. |
| 24.08.2025 | Local mental health support | If you live in Birmingham or Solihull and you’re feeling sad, worried or lonely, we have a safe space to chat. Text the word ‘Space’ to 85258 to talk about your feelings with a mental health professional. |
| 24.08.2025 | Readers needed | Having lost several readers, we need to recruit new members urgently. Please speak with Godfrey Chesshire after Mass if you are willing to join the team. |
| 17.08.2025 | Martyrs’ Walk | The Martyrs Walk will take place in Warwick on Sunday 17th August, in commemoration of the Warwick Martyrs Blessed John Sugar, Blessed Robert Grissold and Blessed William Freeman. Please see the poster on the noticeboard for further details. |
| 15.08.2025 | Parish Office operation resumed | Parish office hours Parish office hours resumed on 15th August |
| 15.08.2025 | Marking the End of World War II in the Pacific: | On Friday 15th August, gatherings were held at 10am at Temple Balsall Cemetery Lych Gate and 11:30am at Berkswell War Memorial. |
| 10.08.2025 | New Appointments for Archbishop | Pope Leo has appointed Archbishop Bernard Longley as a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and as a member of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Archbishop Bernard is already Chair of the Bishops’ Conference Department of Dialogue and Unity, and in May was appointed Vice-President of the Bishops Conference of England & Wales. |
| 03.08.2025 | Foundation Governors | The Diocesan Education Service has launched a new promotional video to support recruitment of Foundation Governors or Directors for Catholic schools. Opportunities are available across the Archdiocese, and all skills and backgrounds are welcome. Visit the diocesan website for more information: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/News/could-you-be-a-foundation-governor-or-director-at-your-local-catholic-school |
| 31.07.2025 | Doctor of the Church | On 31st July, Pope Leo made the announcement that the title Doctor of the Church has been conferred upon St John Henry Newman. This title is given to Saints who have made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study or writing. |
| 27.07.2025 | Thank You | Dominic and Teresa would like to extend their sincere thanks to all friends and parishoners for the prayers and kind words for ‘Baby Jack Green.’ Jack’s first surgery was successful and he is recovering well. |
| 25.07.2025 | WeBelieve | WeBelieve is a Catholic festival celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope taking place from 25-28 July at Oscott College, Birmingham. It will be a mixture of talks, praise, worship, family activities, workshops and opportunities for mass, reconciliation and adoration. There are day tickets as well as weekend tickets available and looks to be a great event catering for everyone, from practising Catholics to those curious about the faith and wanting to know more. https://www.webelievefestival.com/ |
25.09.2025
There will be a PPC meeting to discuss the Archbishop’s Planned Giving and Stewardship drive on Thursday 25th September at 7pm at BRG.
|
21.09.2025
A message from Abbot Hugh Allan o.praem,
Director of Mission at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference: Evangelii Gaudium Sunday calls us to be joyous in
proclaiming our faith. “Evangelii Gaudium” is Latin for “Joy of the Gospel”. Commonly known as Home Mission
Sunday, a day for us as the Catholic community to celebrate the beauty of our faith, and our shared commitment to
witness to the fullness of life in Christ. Celebrating 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea, the theme for this year is “I
believe…”. For more details https://www.cbcew.org.uk/evangelii-gaudium-sunday. The second collection on the 21st
is to support the work carried out by the Bishops’ Conference Mission Directorate to support our Church in a wide
field of service and mission here in England and Wales.
|
21.09.2025
The coalition is coordinating an act of Christian witness that speaks to a shared commitment to peace,
reconciliation, and the dignity of all people. The call to churches across Britain is to pray for peace and coincides
with UN World Peace Day and the global call to prayer from the World Council of Churches
|
21.09.2025
Fr Toby Lees OP presents 'Saints and Bible Heroes Who Stood for Life -
Inspiration for Today's Mission'. Birmingham Oratory, Upper Hall, 141 Hagley Rd, B16 8UE. 40 Days for Life event
but all are welcome. Free entry. Contact Isabel for more details 07773501721 izzyvs@gmail.com
|
10.09.2025
Are you being called to be a catechist, or considering another area of ministry? Something Greater could help you to hear more of what God has for YOU! This 8 course session commences 10 September, 7.15pm at St Mary Immaculate, Warwick CV34 6AB. To register please contact canon.david.hartley@rcaob.org.uk
|
07.09.2025
We are updating our church wardens list of people who welcome parishioners to church every Sunday, and we need more helpers. Please consider helping, it only comes around every nine weeks. Please see Joe after Mass if you are willing to help or ring him on 01676534916.
|
07.09.2025
We share in the Archbishop’s joy and celebration that Saint John Henry
Newman Oratorian, Cardinal, Scholar, Teacher, Pastor, Prophet, Saint is now also to be a Doctor of the
Church. This title is given to Saints who have made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine
through their research, study or writing. This is especially good news for us he had a close association with
the Parish of St Francis. For more information on this announcement, please see the noticeboard.
|
07.09.2025
Harvington Hall Pilgrimage will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 7 September. Archbishop Bernard is now the main celebrant for full information visit: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/Event/harvington-hall-pilgrimage
|
26.08.2025
The Novena of Prayer lasts
for nine days starting on 18 August and concluding on his Feast Day on 26 August. This Feast will be celebrated at the 7pm Mass at Blessed Robert Grissold on Tuesday 26th August. All are welcome.
|
26.08.2025
O God, who so lovingly raised Blessed Dominic to the heights of holiness, learning and apostolic zeal and
made him a powerful minister of your mercy, listen to our humble request. We pray that you will in your
goodness, grant a miracle through the intercession of Blessed Dominic, so that the Church may further
honour him on earth and that many more people will come to know and invoke the help of this faithful
servant of the Church. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Mary, Mother of Holy Hope, Pray for Us. Saint John Henry Newman, Pray for Us. Blessed Dominic
Barberi, Pray for Us.
|
24.08.2025
If you live in Birmingham or Solihull and you’re feeling sad, worried or
lonely, we have a safe space to chat. Text the word ‘Space’ to 85258 to talk about your feelings with a
mental health professional.
|
24.08.2025
Having lost several readers, we need to recruit new members urgently. Please speak with Godfrey Chesshire after Mass if you are willing to join the team.
|
17.08.2025
The Martyrs Walk will take place in Warwick on Sunday 17th August, in commemoration of the Warwick Martyrs Blessed John Sugar, Blessed Robert Grissold and Blessed William Freeman. Please see the poster on the noticeboard for further details.
|
15.08.2025
Parish office hours Parish office hours resumed on 15th August
|
15.08.2025
On Friday 15th August, gatherings were held at 10am at Temple Balsall Cemetery Lych Gate and 11:30am at Berkswell War Memorial.
|
10.08.2025
Pope Leo has appointed Archbishop Bernard Longley as a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and as a member of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Archbishop Bernard is already Chair of the Bishops’ Conference Department of Dialogue and Unity, and in May was appointed Vice-President of the Bishops Conference of England & Wales.
|
03.08.2025
The Diocesan Education Service has launched a new promotional video to support recruitment of Foundation Governors or Directors for Catholic schools. Opportunities are available across the Archdiocese, and all skills and backgrounds are welcome. Visit the diocesan website for more information: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/News/could-you-be-a-foundation-governor-or-director-at-your-local-catholic-school
|
31.07.2025
On 31st July, Pope Leo made the announcement that the title Doctor of the Church has been conferred upon St John Henry Newman. This title is given to Saints who have made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study or writing.
|
27.07.2025
Dominic and Teresa would like to extend their sincere thanks to all friends and parishoners for the prayers and kind words for ‘Baby Jack Green.’ Jack’s first surgery was successful and he is recovering well.
|
25.07.2025
WeBelieve is a Catholic festival celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope taking place from 25-28 July at Oscott College, Birmingham. It will be a mixture of talks, praise, worship, family activities, workshops and opportunities for mass, reconciliation and adoration. There are day tickets as well as weekend tickets available and looks to be a great event catering for everyone, from practising Catholics to those curious about the faith and wanting to know more. https://www.webelievefestival.com/
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Parish Calendar