UCM Advent Quiet Day

Members of the Union of Catholic Mothers enjoy their Advent Quiet Day at the Coolock Centre, Newcastle-under-Lyme. December 5th 2009. 

Christmas Fair 2009

Our Christmas Fair is a modest event compared with those of our neighbours, especially those which have schools, but enjoyable none the less! This year, despite the credit crunch we should be able to push the figure up to about £1500, the highest ever.

You can see Fr Peter's (candid) photogallery here.

Shoeboxes

We are still collecting shoeboxes for the Samaritan's Purse 2009 Operation Christmas Child appeal - but here is a photo of some we have collected so far!

Thanks are due to the members of the Union of Catholic Mothers for organising the appeal, and to members of  Sacred Heart, Hanley for their generosity.

More photos can be seen here.

Stephanus and Moesha make their first holy communion

Pictured are Stephanus and Moesha, of our Zimbabwean community. Stephanus was baptised on 2nd August, and together with his sister Moesha they made their First Holy Communion at the monthly Zimbabwean Mass the same day.

Ordination of Fr Paul Johnson

Fr Peter welcomes Fr Paul Johnson into the Presbyterate during the ordination at St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham on 12th July 2009.

First Holy Communions at Sacred Heart, Hanley

Today, the feast of Corpus Christi, nine children of our church family made their Holy Communions for the first time.

The occasion reflected something of the makeup of our diverse community. Our grandaughter, Jessica was the only child whose grandparents were born in the United Kingdom. Of the other eight, two have Ukrainian, Italian and English grandparents, one is the grandson of post-war Italian migrants, another was born in Malawi, another in Kerala (India), and the other three were from Ireland, Sri Lanka and Slovakia. This is Hanley!

The Church was packed (and noisy) and we were especially privileged to welcome Canon David Goodwin, celebrating the Silver Jubilee of his ordination, as principal celebrant of the Mass. The weather also added something very special to the celebration.

We are relying on families to give us their photos for the gallery, so more pictures should be added in the next few days.  The photo gallery lives here.

Salve - Easter 2009 - now available

Salve - the Church magazine - is now available for purchase or download online. Printed copies cost £2, but a download is only 35p. The magazine will be available in Church from Maundy Thursday or earlier, as the printed cost of £2.
In this issue - I found my sister in Australia - Vocations - the History of the Mass - The Year of St Paul - Catholic Mothers - and more ...