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Archived News from 2007
For current news from 2008 click here.
In the midst of the regular pace of day to day life there are
always certain highlights. These are some of the more special things that
happened for us in 2007. Events are listed in reverse order.
Happy
Christmas!!
During the
last month we have continued the task of settling into the neighbourhood and
trying to meet people and discover what is happening locally. The
following is a brief summary of some of the things we have done so far...
-
Walking
the streets each day and trying to become familiar with the
neighbourhood and its residents.
-
Using
local shops as much as possible and beginning to get to know local
shopkeepers.
-
Popping
into Aston library which is a great source of information about local
news and events.
-
Building
relationships with our neighbours. Still only two of the new
houses in our development are occupied. We are hoping other
neighbours will be moving in early in the New year.
-
Attending
local neighbourhood events - e.g. open days at the Fire Station and City
Academy and meeting of local faith leaders.
-
Attending
Sunday mass regularly in the local parish and coming to know
parishioners (even singing in the parish choir some Sundays!)
-
Supporting
the Catholic primary school and attending its Christmas plays and
concerts.
-
Attending
the weekly meeting of the Senior Citizens group.
-
Attending
meetings of the Catholic clergy in the city Deanery.
-
Mark has
been to the Irish Dancing club a couple of times!
-
Made
contact with local Anglican ministers, attended Sunday Service at Aston
Parish Church (Anglican) and attended the Anglican carol service.
-
Met with
the local Lee Abbey Household Community (Anglican lay community) which
has been based in Aston since the late 1980's and begun an ongoing
reflection on the nature of a ministry of presence here.
-
Met with
two local priests who are deeply committed to social outreach ministry -
Fr Michael White in Kingstanding and Fr Ray Collier (Columban) in
Bristol Street. Both are keen to meet with us regularly to be of
mutual support to each other.
-
Had two
further reflection days with Sr Breda Noonan to review progress and plan
strategy.
-
We have
also notified Restore (the Birmingham Churches Together refugee and
asylum seeker befriending service) that we are now available to work as
befrienders in the Aston area.
We have lots
of plans for further deepening our insertion into the neighbourhood in the
coming weeks and months and we will let you know how we are getting on.
The process of establishing a ministry of presence is a slow, patient one.
Nevertheless we are convinced that the time taken to build relationships
gently and naturally will bear the fruit of trust and openness in the long
run.
Over the next
couple of weeks we will be taking a bit of a break. Carl will spend a
few days with his parents after Christmas and Mark will travel to Belgium
for a while to be with his family. Ton will stay in Aston and then
make a visit to Holland in February or March.
May we take
this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and joyful Christmas and pray
for God's abundant blessings on you for the coming New Year. Thank you
for all your support and encouragement over the last year, especially during
the long and frustrating wait to move into Aston. May we all look
forward with hope to the opportunities that the New year will bring!
First of all, many apologies for the deafening silence
from us for the last five weeks. It took much longer than expected
to get a phone line installed (one month!) and then get our broadband
internet account transferred from Princethorpe (another 10 days).
We are now, at last, fully able to communicate with the outside world!
The last couple of months have flown by. Much of
the initial time was taken up doing work around the house - (assembling
furniture, fixing mirrors, towel rails and lights, sorting out a rather
long snagging list, etc.). We have also been honouring previous
commitments - Mark attended a few days of the Chevalier Centennial
Congress in Issoudun to share the experience of our preparation for this
project, All three of us were present at the English Assembly at the
beginning of October, Ton facilitated the Irish Assembly a couple of
weeks later, Carl has just returned from two weeks in Southern Russia
where he has been visiting the Irish MSC mission there, and Ton is
presently in Rome for a meeting of the Congregational Finance Advisory
Board. We also had a very interesting visit from Dave Edwards who
is School Principal in a Primary School in the MSC Parish in Adelaide,
Australia. Dave was keen to visit us and hear about our project
and also visit Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School here in Aston.
Apart from all of our travels and visits, however, we
have also begun to get out and about in the neighbourhood and start the
patient process of coming to know and understand the area. The
local people have been very friendly and welcoming. We will write
more about what we are discovering and noticing soon.
We have engaged the help of a Columban Sister who has
experience of city ministry, overseas missionary work and group
psychology to assist us in regular reflection on our experiences and
help us in reviewing progress and making decisions regarding ministry
commitments. Our first couple of meetings with Sr Breda have been
very helpful. Breda is currently making a visit to Burma and our
prayers are with her and her fellow Columban sisters there.
As we reported on 30th September, we finally got the keys
on September 26th. Carl and Mark moved in immediately while
carpets were fitted and some initial furniture was delivered. On
Monday 1st October we hired a van and moved all our belongings from
Princethorpe to Aston. Ton returned from holidays that evening and
at long last, after over a year of waiting, all three of us were able to
take up residence in Aston. Since then we have been busy getting
everything we need for the house and assembling flat-pack furniture.
We now have our flat-pack certificates! One of the other new
houses is occupied and the family that have moved in there (Bangladeshi)
have been very friendly and welcoming. So too has Fr Peter Jones,
the Parish Priest, who invited us for supper last Saturday and
introduced us to the Parish last Sunday morning.
We will have to wait another 10 days before we can have a
telephone line installed and then it will probably be another week
before we can arrange to get our broadband internet account transferred
to the new number. In the meantime we are having to make use of
local internet cafes. Please be patient with us for the next few
weeks until we really get back into the swing of things. Then
we'll upload some photos we have taken since we moved.
Many thanks to all of our friends, supporters and
benefactors who have sustained and encouraged us throughout the long
period of waiting and for keeping faith in us and this project. We
look forward to sharing with you regularly what we are discovering and
doing in Aston.
The last few
weeks have been incredibly frustrating, waiting each day for news of
completion on the house. The final snagging which was supposed to only
take three days, in the end took three weeks! after some final legal
complications we managed to complete on Wednesday 26th September.
Ton has been on holidays in Holland for the last couple
of weeks to coincide with the Dutch Province's celebrations of jubilees,
so in Ton's absence Carl and Mark moved into the house immediately and
began work on cleaning and getting the place habitable. Carpets were
fitted on Thursday and some initial furniture was delivered on Saturday.
We have a van hired to do the major move from Princethorpe on Monday 1st
October. Ton returns from holidays on the evening of the 1st.
It has been really good to spend the last few nights in
the house and to begin to make contact with our new neighbours - all of
whom have been incredibly welcoming.
We will be without internet connection for the next
couple of weeks so please be patient until we are able to update this
page again. Next time we will upload a series of photos of the new
place.
May we say a special thank you to all our friends and
supporters who have been so important in keeping our spirits up during
the last difficult and frustrating months. We have had a couple of
visits already and we look forward to welcoming many more of you over
the coming months.
The summer
holidays are over (for most of us) and Mark and Carl returned to
Princethorpe to continue the frustrating wait for news on the completion of
our house in Aston.
Carl began his
summer break in Bristol at the end of July to celebrate with his family the
40th birthday of his sister, Sheena. He then spent a week with his
parents in Devon and Cornwall in the South West of England before concluding
his holidays with five days in Dundee in Scotland visiting good friends Mike
and Eleanor.
At the same
time that Carl was away Mark had returned to Belgium to have a couple of
weeks holiday with his family. From there he travelled to Dublin,
Ireland with Manus Ferry MSC where together they were hosting a meeting of
the Young MSC of Europe (see news item at
www.mscireland.com)
After that he spent a week in Donegal (North West Ireland) visiting James
McKelvey, a friend from his days in formation in Ireland.
During the
last two weeks of August Carl and Ton made the most of the few days of
sunshine that were available in England this summer(!!), and helped out with
covering the local parish while Teddy O'Brien MSC (parish priest) recovered
from knee replacement surgery.
During those
two weeks we had a couple of false starts with the house. On two
occasions we were informed by the Estate Agent that completion on the house
was immanent, only to find a few days later that the NHBC certificate
(National House Building Council 10 year warranty on new houses) was still
outstanding.
Finally, on
Wednesday 5th September we got word from our solicitor that the certificate
had been issued and forwarded to us. Later that afternoon we travelled
to Aston with our Solicitor and Surveyor to meet with the vendor and
undertake a final inspection and snagging of the house. It is hoped
that if the final snagging items can be dealt with swiftly we will be in a
position to complete the sale and move house next week. We'll keep you
posted!
Mark was in St
Alban's for the weekend of the 14th/15th July to help out with masses.
Ton returned
from his break in Ireland on 15th July after spending a really great week
with his family in a cottage in West Cork. Despite the Irish Summer
not being up to its usual standard, they were able to make the most of the
week and get to visit much of the West Cork and Kerry region.
Carl was in
Tamworth and Leeds on the 18th/19th July for the funeral of Clare L'Amie, a
close friend and one of the parish catechists in Tamworth. This last
week Carl has been visiting friends in the Tamworth and Birmingham area
while Mark has been preparing his presentation to an MSC Conference later in
the year and Ton has been continuing his translation work on the English
text of the history of the MSC Dutch Province.
On Tuesday
24th July we heard from our solicitor regarding the house in Aston.
After a couple of recent exchanges between both sets of solicitors we have
been informed that towards the end of the building phase the builders went
into liquidation and that this has been the reason for recent delays.
The Vendor's solicitors have informed us, however, that we could expect the
NHBC Certificate within the next 14 days. Once that happens, and
assuming there are no further delays, we should then be able to complete on
the house. But with the experience of the last few months we will only
believe it when it happens!!
On Tuesday
24th July we attended a meeting of the City Parishes in Birmingham hosted by
Bishop Philip Pargeter (Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham) and Fr Pat Browne
(recently appointed administrator of the Cathedral). The meeting of
parish clergy, religious and lay leaders, was the first such gathering and
was a good experience of sharing what is happening across the city. In
October Bishop Pargeter will begin a visitation of the Cathedral Deanery
parishes. This will involve similar meetings and it is hoped a greater
partnership can be forged between the parishes; sharing resources, learning
from each other and collaborating on common projects.
On the morning
of 26th July Mark flew to Belgium to commence his holidays. Carl will
travel to Bristol tomorrow (27th July) to celebrate his sister's 40th
birthday before travelling to his parents in Devon for some holiday.
Ton will stay at Princethorpe and hold the fort, waiting for word from our
solicitor!
Well almost a
month has passed since our last update. Sorry for the delay - but to
be honest there hasn't been much to report! We are still waiting for
completion on our house and progress seems to be excruciatingly slow!
We were all set to begin completion the first week of July, having been
informed that the vendor had passed all the necessary paperwork to his
solicitor. A couple of days later, however, we were told that the 10
year warranty from the NHBC (National House Builders' Council) had not yet
been provided and would take another couple of weeks. Now we are
waiting on news some time during the week beginning 16th July.
During the
last few weeks we have been keeping ourselves occupied with other
commitments. Mark was in Dublin towards the end of June for a meeting
of the MSC Formation Advisory Group, Ton was in St Albans for a gathering of
the Spirituality of the Heart Group, Carl was also in Dublin for a
Provincial Council meeting, and Mark helped out at a service of anointing of
the sick in Tamworth.
On Friday 29th
June we were delighted to welcome Hilary Clay from Cambridge and Franz and
Annie van Santfoord from Tilburg, The Netherlands. Franz is the
brother of the late Ton van Santfoord MSC, who was Provincial of the Dutch
Province prior to Ton Zwart. Hilary was a lifelong friend of Ton van
Santfoord's and, with the help of Ton Zwart, has been preparing for
publication a book of the correspondence they exchanged over many years
while Ton was working in the Philippines. Hilary has been a tremendous
supporter of our project since its inception. Unfortunately they got
rather lost on their way to us after a few days in the Peak District of
England, so a planned lunch out had to be hastily replaced by an impromptu
late lunch in! The simpler food didn't take anything from the
enjoyment of the afternoon.
At the
beginning of July Carl's parents came to stay for a couple of days and while
his mother Julie visited old friends from the midlands area Carl took his
father, Rod, to the one day international cricket match between England and
the West Indies at Edgbaston (Birmingham). Unfortunately England lost,
but neither the result nor the rain showers throughout the day dampened the
enjoyment.
The same day, 4th July, Ton celebrated his 65th birthday.
In the evening, after Carl and Rod had returned from the cricket and
Mark had returned from a meeting of the MSC English Assembly Steering
Committee in Tamworth, we all met up for a meal in a local pub and were
joined by Alan Whelan MSC and Julie Tranter (Carl's mother).
The following day Carl and Ton travelled to Cork in
Ireland for the Province-wide Jubilee celebrations. This September
Ton celebrates 40 years of ordination. 11 members of his family
also travelled to Cork to join with him in celebrating. All 12 of
them have stayed on in Ireland for a week's family holiday in
Glangarriff in the beautiful West Cork area.
While Ton and Carl were in Ireland Mark spent the weekend
at a youth festival in the Westminster Archdiocese, just outside London,
representing the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart as part of our
Vocations promotion.
Ton is due to return this coming Sunday and we will see
what next week brings regarding possible progress in moving into our new
home. As soon as there is any news you'll be the first to know!!
Happy Feast
Day to you all!! As we celebrate this Feast Day in a mixture of
sunshine and showers here in Princethorpe, we are reminded of God's faithful
love than never abandons us and which provides both the warming sunshine and
refreshing showers in life to bring forth growth and produce the very best
in our own loving.
The last
couple of weeks have been a continuation of the frustrating and seemingly
interminable wait to move house.
As we wrote
our last entry in this blog Mark's mother and brother were due to arrive.
They spent a lovely few days here and enjoyed a whistle-stop tour of
Coventry, Warwick, Leamington, Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Cotswolds,
Herefordshire and Shropshire and a trip to Birmingham and Aston. I
think they went home exhausted! It was great to have them here and we
look forward to their next visit.
Carl was in
Dublin again earlier this week for meetings during which Mark and Ton were
helping out with reconciliation services at the MSC parishes in Tamworth and
Wappenbury in preparation for Confirmations and First Holy Communions.
On the house
front... as you know, we had expected to complete some time towards the end
of the week commencing 28th May, then again some time during the week
commencing 4th June. On Monday 11th June we received a phone call from
the Estate Agent saying the Vendor was now out of the country on business
and wouldn't be back until the 18th June! We'll see what next week
brings...
Once again it
has been a few weeks since we last posted any news. Apologies to Ita
in Waterford who has been checking the site regularly and was wondering what
had happened! The webmaster has been away for the last week and a half
(in Waterford... where he met Ita) and didn't get round to posting some news
before he left - so many apologies to all!!
As you will
have guessed, there is not much progress with the house. The
kerbstones outside the house were finally dropped a couple of weeks ago.
Then it was just a matter of finishing up some electrical work - or so we
were told! We were informed that the vendor hoped to be able to
complete on Wednesday 30th May. Wednesday came and went, and so did
Thursday and Friday until we finally got a call to say that there was going
to be a final inspection of the property on Monday 4th June and that the
vendor was hoping to be in a position to complete some time between the 6th
and 8th June. Watch this space!!
In the
meantime we have been trying to remain as patient as possible - not always
easy! Carl has been in Waterford (Ireland) for the last 11 days where
he was leading a week's retreat at the MSC Retreat Centre, Grace Dieu Manor.
He arrived back to Princethorpe on 4th June. Prior to that he was in
Dublin for a Provincial Council meeting and in Devon for two nights visiting
his parents.
While Carl was
away Teddy O'Brien MSC celebrated his 40th anniversary of Ordination with a
large gathering of friends for a Mass, a meal and dancing at Princethorpe
College. Mark and Ton joined in the festivities. Many
congratulations to Teddy!
Ton has been
busy editing an English translation of the history of the Dutch MSC Province
for the last few weeks. On 26th May Mark assisted in a retreat at
Princethorpe Retreat Centre which was a wonderfully ecumenical occasion,
with participants from various Christian Churches. Mark led the
liturgy at the close of the day. On 2nd June both Ton and Mark were in
Tamworth for a reflection day hosted by the Spirituality of the Heart
Commission of which Ton is a member. It was a very successful occasion
with some 60 laity attending from across the MSC ministries in England.
The day focussed on the love of God the Father. Another day has been
arranged for October.
Fr Bill
Clarkson MSC has been visiting Princethorpe for the last week. Bill
was Headmaster of Princethorpe College in the 1970's and later returned as
Parish Priest in Wappenbury in the late 1990's. On Friday evening Mark
and Ton joined Teddy O'Brien, Alan Whelan and Bill for a meal in Teddy's
house in Wappenbury and by all accounts had a very pleasant evening
together.
As we write we
are awaiting Mark's mother and brother who are due to arrive this evening
for a first visit to us. When the trip was planned we had fully
expected to be living in Aston by now. As it is, they will have to
make do with the Warwickshire countryside for a few days. We wish them
a lovely visit!
As soon as
there is more news on the house we will update the site - promise!
First of
all... apologies for not having posted news for a couple of weeks now.
As you may have guessed, we are still waiting for news of the house.
Shortly after our last post we thought we were in a position to complete the
purchase, only to find that the kerbstones of the pavement outside the six
new houses had not been lowered so as to give access to the drive-ways of
each house. Our legal advice was that we could not occupy the house
until this work had been done. Accordingly we have been waiting for
the last couple of weeks. We were told by the Estate Agent last Friday
(4th May) that work would begin on Monday 7th May and should be complete by
Thursday 10th. But last evening (10th May) work had not even begun! We
are now told that work is due to begin today, 11th May.
While we have
been waiting other duties have been occupying us. Ton was in
Ireland from 24th to 28th April to facilitate the Irish MSC Spring Assembly
held in Grace Dieu, the MSC retreat house in Waterford. After the
Assembly he visited the MSC community in Galway for a couple of days.
Mark was involved with a group who were having a weekend retreat in
Princethorpe Retreat Centre, and celebrated Eucharist for them on the Sunday
morning. Last week Carl represented the community at the funeral of
Kathleen Hallissey, the mother of Bro. Donal Hallissey MSC, who died in
Cork, Ireland. Donie has ministered in the MSC Parish in Tamworth in
England for many years and he and Carl lived together for five years from
1993 to 1998. On Sunday last Carl was in Tamworth for a baptism of the
grandson of parishioners. This week Ton has been in Rome from Monday
7th May to Friday 11th May for a meeting of the Finance Advisory Board of
the MSC Congregation. On Wednesday 9th May Carl was at a meeting of
the Preparatory Commission of next year's Irish MSC Provincial Conference
and on Thursday 10th Mark was at a meeting of the Formation Advisory Group.
Happy St
George's Day!! Today is the feast day of the patron saint of
England, as well as being Shakespeare's birthday - a double celebration for
the English!!
During Easter
Week we took advantage of the quiet time to get a bit of a break prior to
what we expected was to be a busy few weeks moving house. Mark went to
explore Wales for a few days and Carl went down to his parents in Devon.
Ton, just having returned from ten days in Holland, enjoyed the peace and
quiet of Princethorpe!!
Last week was
a week of a few visits as well as waiting patiently for news on the
house. On Monday we spent the morning meeting with Andrew Crossley and
Sajida Madni, the lead organisers with Birmingham Citizens at their
offices in Moseley, Birmingham. It was a very valuable morning being
briefed on the work of Birmingham Citizens across the city and sharing with
them our vision for our presence in Aston. Having finished the meeting
in Moseley we went straight to the parish of St Joseph's, Nechells
(Birmingham) to meet with Fr Gerry McArdle. Nechells is the
neighbouring parish to Aston and Gerry has been parish priest there since
1994. Prior to Nechells he was working in Wolverhampton for over 20
years and has been involved with citizens organising for many years.
Gerry treated us to lunch in one of the local Chinese restaurants and shared
his own story of being involved in citizens organising and how it has
complemented his parish ministry for several decades. On Tuesday we
returned to Birmingham to visit a small community of the Sisters of
Charity of St Paul the Apostle (Selly Park Sisters) in Aston.
Sisters Marie and Marie have been living in Aston for many years, one
working in the West Indian Chaplaincy and the other in the Fireside Centre
in the city (a centre for the homeless). We had a lovely lunch with
them and benefited enormously from their extensive knowledge of the
neighbourhood. They live only a couple of streets away from our house
so we will soon be close neighbours.
From Tuesday
to Friday we were blessed with a return visit of Fr Herman Van Holsbeek,
Mark's friend from Belgium. Herman is a prison chaplain in Louvain and
was taking advantage of a few day's break to get away and recharge his
batteries. He and Mark had a lovely day in the Cotswolds on Thursday,
making the most of the unseasonably warm and sunny weather
On Friday
afternoon we welcomed Ray Collier, a Columban priest recently arrived
in Birmingham from many years working in east London. Ray is also
trying to establish a ministry of "engaging presence" in the city. He
has a wealth of experience and it was great to make contact and establish
what we hope will be a close and mutually supportive relationship.
We had hoped
that we would be in a position to complete on our house at the end of last
week, but unfortunately there is still some electrical work to be done.
We are hoping that this will be completed in the next few days and that we
will be in a position to complete within the next week. The waiting
seems endless!!
For the couple
of weeks leading up to Easter we have been dispersed as a community.
Ton finally took his belated Christmas holidays which he had
postponed because of our anticipated move to Aston in January(!!). He
travelled to Holland for 10 days on 26th March and had a great time catching
up with his family and Dutch MSCs. Carl was away in Dublin for
a Provincial Council meeting from the 27th to the 30th March and Mark
spent a few days in Tamworth and a few days in Liverpool with the MSC
communities.
At the
beginning of Holy Week we heard that the sewerage problems with our house in
Aston had been resolved and that the necessary connections had taken place.
We are now hopeful that the remaining work will be complete in the next week
or so and that we should be able to move in the next two or three weeks.
On the Monday
of Holy Week Mark and Carl travelled to Tamworth to assist with a
reconciliation service and on Wednesday Mark led a celebration of the
Passover Seder Meal in Princethorpe Retreat Centre.
On the Tuesday
of Holy Week Carl was finally able to launch the new website of the Irish
Province of the MSC. He has been working on this since last
November along with Michael O'Connell MSC (Director of the MSC Mission
Support Centre in Cork, Ireland). The web address is
www.mscireland.com. Do check
it out.
Over the last
few days we have joined the parish community of Wappenbury and Princethorpe
for their celebrations of the Easter Triduum, led beautifully by
Teddy O'Brien MSC, the Parish Priest. This coming week we will take a
bit of a break in preparation for the Big Move (hopefully!!). Carl
will travel to his parents in Devon on Easter Monday and Mark and Ton are
going to make the most of the good weather by exploring some of the English
countryside.
May we wish
each of you a very happy Easter, and thank each of you for your continued
support and encouragement. May the joy, hope and new life of the Risen
Lord be yours, now and always!
On 9th March
we held a meeting to plan for our move to Aston; both the
practicalities of moving house, but more importantly, the strategy we will
adopt to establish ourselves in the neighbourhood. We took time to
prioritise activity for the first few months of our presence in Aston and
agreed to regular, weekly meetings for review, sharing and evaluation.
We also intend to engage the help of a facilitator who will accompany us in
this ongoing reflective work.
From the 11th
to the 13th March all three of us attended the English Spring MSC
Assembly in Swanwick, Derbyshire, which, as usual, was a great
opportunity for all the MSCs working in England to get together in prayer,
reflection and relaxation. During the Assembly Mark and some of the
other members of the Formation Advisory Group were able to present some of
their initial reflections on new models of formation for the Irish Province.
Carl had to
leave the Assembly a day early to travel to Dublin for a meeting of the
Irish Provincial Council with the Superior General as he came to the end
of his first official visit to England and Ireland. While in Dublin
Carl also had a meeting with the company working with him on the development
of the new website of the Irish Province which is due to be launched some
time in the next couple of weeks. Before returning home on Thursday
night he also chaired the first meeting of the Preparatory Commission for
the Irish Provincial Conference which will take place in April 2008.
For the last
two weeks Mark has been leading reconciliation services in Princethorpe
College for each class of Year 7 and Year 8 (11 - 13 years of age).
The feedback has been very positive and, with the College Chaplain out on
long-term sick leave, the school has been very appreciative of Mark's
contribution.
On Friday 16th
March we received yet another blow to our expectations to be moving house
soon. Our surveyor visited the house to do a first "snagging"
list. She was impressed with the quality of the build and the
finishing. However, the sewerage is still not connected and at the
moment it is unclear when this will happen. There is an ongoing
conversation between the City Council and the water authority over whether
or not the mains sewer is adequate to take the additional discharge from the
six new houses. We probably won't have the answer to that dilemma for
another couple of weeks! Meanwhile we still sit and wait. We
will re-asses the situation after Easter and if necessary make alternative
plans for commencing our project in Aston.
March 17th was
St Patrick's Day and we celebrated (commiserated!) in style with Alan
Whelan MSC and Teddy O'Brien MSC from the Princethorpe Community. Mark
cooked a traditional Irish Stew and tried his hand at making Irish Coffee!
All that was missing was the Irish dancing!!
On Tuesday
20th March all three of us attended the 2007 Spring Assembly of
Birmingham Citizens. More than 850 people attended the mass
event at the Great Hall, Birmingham University. Birmingham Citizens is
an alliance of active citizens and leaders from local faith communities,
neighbourhood organisations and institutions committed to working together
in Birmingham for the common good. It is closely linked to
London Citizens
. The organisation provides training and support in the theory and practice
of effective community organising so that communities can bring about
positive change in their own neighbourhoods. The Assembly focussed on
two principal issues; a call to support a "Strangers
into Citizens" campaign and a commitment to support another campaign to
hold a referendum in Birmingham on whether the electorate of the city should
be able to vote for their own directly elected mayor. The "Strangers into
Citizens" campaign is laying an early Day Motion before Parliament after
Easter which will move that Government should regularise the "illegal"
status of many working migrants who have been in the country for more than
four years. One of the keynote speakers at the multi-faith Assembly
was the Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nicholls. We also
met up with many other familiar faces from our contacts in Birmingham and
have since arranged meetings with several key community leaders for after
Easter.
On Monday 26th
February Carl travelled to Ireland to attend the meeting of the MSC European
Provincials' Conference (PEC). The meeting was held in the MSC
Retreat Centre, Grace Dieu, in Waterford from Tuesday the 27th to Friday 2nd
March. Carl is the permanent secretary of the Conference. The
Provincials were accompanied by a member of their Provincial Council.
The Superior General, Fr Mark McDonald, and one of his Assistant Generals,
Fr Tino Fernandez, were also present. Since the Cordate Community is a
project of all eight European Provinces the members of the Conference were
keen to hear a report from Carl on the progress of the project.
Everyone was very sympathetic with our great frustration caused by the delay
in the hand-over of the house in Aston. The 2006 accounts of the
community and the budget for 2007 were approved. Also a small working
group was established to begin to draw up a mechanism and criteria to
evaluate the project three years after moving into Aston.
While Carl was
away Mark went to spend a couple of days with the Oblate International
Community in Birmingham. It was a useful opportunity to chat with
them about the experience of their own three year evaluation that has just
taken place.
With the
benefit of some peace and quiet while Carl and Mark were away Ton worked
hard at preparing some financial documentation for the MSC General
Conference that will take place in Manila in the Philippines in
September of this year. Ton is a member of the Congregational Finance
Advisory Board.
On Saturday
3rd March Ton and Mark attended a day for Religious working in the
Birmingham Archdiocese. At the day several communities presented
the projects they are involved in across the city. It was another good
opportunity to get to know other Religious working in Birmingham.
On Tuesday 6th
March Carl led an evening for parents of Confirmation children in the MSC
parish in Tamworth.
On Wednesday
7th March Carl and Mark went over to Aston to deliver some outside
security lights to be fitted to the house by the electrician. While
there they were able to establish that at long last the water has been
connected and that the electricity board are currently digging up the road
to run the necessary cables to connect electricity to the houses. The
latest twist, however, is that we are still waiting on the Council to
connect the houses to the mains sewer! We are not sure how much this
will further delay our move to Aston.
Today, March
8th, Mark is attending a meeting of the Formation Advisory Group of
the Irish Province. With a renewed drive to promote vocations there is
a hope that we will soon have some candidates wishing to try our way of
life. With this in mind the Formation group are considering new models for formation within
the Province.
From 11th to
15th February Carl was in Dublin for a Provincial Council meeting.
He has also been working on developing a new website for the Irish Province
since last November and while in Ireland he had some meetings with the Web
development company who are designing and hosting the new site. It is
hoped that the site will be launched in the next few weeks. Watch this
space!
News on the
House: On Ash Wednesday we had a telephone call from the Estate Agent
who told us that the electricity and water are due to be connected in our
new house in the coming two weeks. It is anticipated that we should be
ready to commence the process of completion and exchange the week beginning
12th March. This will take between 5 and 10 days. Although it
still seems a long time in the future, at least the end of the waiting seems
to be in sight and hopefully we will be settled in Aston before Easter.
From 21st to
23rd February we were delighted to welcome the Superior General of
the MSCs to Princethorpe. Fr Mark McDonald is on visitation of Ireland
and England. We entertained him and the other members of the local
Princethorpe community to supper on Ash Wednesday. The following day
we took him into Birmingham where he was keen to see our new home and place
of ministry. Fr Mark has been very supportive of our project for a
long time and was one of our conversation partners during the Tilburg
Seminar in February of last year, helping us draw together the key learnings
from the three week seminar. We very much appreciated his
encouragement this last week, despite the seemingly interminable waiting.
On Friday 23rd
February were happy to welcome Dave Nixon MSC, the Vocations Director of
the Irish Province. Dave has been working hard since his
appointment to this role last summer and has developed new promotional
material he wanted to share with us. He has also begun a visitation of
the MSC parishes and communities in England and Ireland.
Over the last
couple of weeks we have completed the RESTORE training course.
It was a most valuable experience, both in terms of the information and
preparation it offered for befriending and supporting asylum seekers, and
also in terms of further networking opportunities among the Birmingham
Christian Churches and their allied organisations and projects.
From 25th to
27th January Mark was in Dublin for a meeting of the MSC Formation
Advisory Group. With much smaller numbers of candidates in
formation for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Irish Province,
the group is considering alternative models of formation experience.
On returning from Dublin Mark stayed in Tamworth for the weekend to help out
with the Sunday masses.
On the 29th
and 30th January Ton was also away, in St Albans, for a meeting of the
Spirituality of the Heart Group which was established at last October's
English MSC Assembly. The group is planning several gatherings over
the coming year for MSC and laity in England to come together to explore and
share on aspects of our rich spirituality.
During the
last couple of weeks our thoughts have been with family and friends who
have been ill. Mark's mother has been in hospital for the last
week for tests, while Carl's father was also in hospital briefly for a
colonoscopy which proved to be all clear. Ten days ago a good friend
of Carl's from Tamworth (Clare L'Amie) had a serious heart attack but
survived resuscitation and was in hospital near Birmingham until yesterday
when she was able to return home. Carl has been able to visit her on
several occasions. Our prayers are with these and many other who have
asked us to pray for them.
The news on
our house is not good! The water and electricity are still not
connected and, having spoken to the builders today, there is still no
indication of when the connections will be made. Realistically it will
probably be a few more weeks. All of this waiting is proving to be
VERY frustrating for us!
The last
couple of weeks have been quiet and frustrating. We had expected
to be moving in the third week of January, but further delays with the
completion of the house have put that back another three weeks or so.
At the moment we are waiting on the connection of the water and electricity
supplies. The Estate Agent is hopeful that everything should be
completed by the end of January.
On Thursday
11th and Friday 12th January Carl was involved in interviews for a new
Deputy Head Teacher (Pastoral) at Princethorpe College. Carl has
been a Governor of the MSC-founded school for the past five years. An
excellent candidate has been appointed to take over this key role in
maintaining and promoting the MSC ethos of the College.
While playing
the waiting game for our house there has been sufficient time to get sick!
Carl has spent a week recovering from a throat and ear infection and Mark
has been shaking off a cold (probably given him by Carl!!). We like to
share everything in our small community!
On Tuesday
16th January we spent a great evening with the Oblate International
Community in Birmingham city centre. They had invited us over for
evening prayer and supper. Having begun a new mission to secularity in
the city centre two and a half years ago, the four members of the community
(from the UK, the USA, Canada and the Philippines) have just completed a
period of evaluation with a view to refocusing their mission strategy.
We first met with them in February of 2005 during our preparatory year and
benefited enormously from the advice they were able to offer from their own
experience of starting a new city mission project. Tuesday was a
lovely evening of sharing our stories and visions of ministry in Birmingham.
We very much look forward to being of mutual support to one another over the
coming years.
Tuesday 23rd
January was the birthday of Alan Whelan MSC. The celebrations
have been extended over the last few days. On Saturday 20th Carl went
to the theatre with Alan to see Shakespeare's Richard III and on Sunday
evening Alan and Teddy O'Brien MSC joined us for a birthday supper prepared
by Mark.
On 23rd January all three of us began a
training
programme for befrienders of asylum seekers and refugees being run over
three consecutive Tuesdays. The
course is organised by
Restore,
the refugee and asylum seekers support project of Birmingham Churches
Together. There were twenty members of local Christian churches
present in All Saints Anglican Church in Small Heath, Birmingham, for the first night of the course which looked at the myths and
facts of refugee and asylum issues. There was also an introduction to
the role of befrienders. Next week will focus on the Asylum process in
the UK with current asylum seekers sharing their experience. The
following week will explore befriending in detail; the role, skills needed,
boundary issues, mutual expectations and support.
All of us are
now back from our holidays. Carl and Ton returned from Carl's
parents in Devon on 2nd January and Mark returned from Belgium on the 7th.
We all had a good break, although Mark seems to have exhausted himself
visiting all his family and friends and tells us he is now in need of
another holiday!!
On the 5th
January Carl and Ton joined other MSCs and the staff and students of
Princethorpe College for a special Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving
celebrated by the Archbishop of Birmingham as part of the 40th Anniversary
celebrations of the foundation of the College by the MSCs in 1966. It
was a lovely occasion and was made even more special by those MSC who
travelled to join us. Most stayed for a couple of nights and so we
were able to catch up and recount stories of by-gone days at Princethorpe
over lengthy meals generously prepared by Teddy O'Brien MSC in Wappenbury.
We are
still waiting for word on our house. On Saturday 6th January Ton
and Carl took Ciaran MacCarthaigh MSC (the previous Provincial and great
sponsor of the common European Project) into Aston to show him the house and
the neighbourhood. The builders have been on holiday of course, and so
there has been no progress with the building since before Christmas.
We are hoping to hear something from the Estate Agent this week regarding a
potential completion date. Watch this space!!
May we wish
all of you, our friends, supporters, families and benefactors, a very happy,
healthy and peaceful New Year! May the Lord bless us all in our new
beginnings!
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