Today 15 St Edmund’s students from St Edmund’s Chaplaincy team travelled to St Chad’s Cathedral, in Birmingham, along with other schools in the Diocese to attend the annual Chaplaincy Commissioning Mass.
Archbishop Bernard Longley being the main celebrant along with other priests from the Archdiocese. BCYS and Kenelm Trust led the music. Sinead Cullen Barrett of our Sixth-form Chaplaincy team gave a reading and two of our altar servers, Abigail Caron and Jessica Roberts, assisted the Archbishop and priests throughout the Mass.
Archbishop Bernard opened his homily by saying ‘Do not be afraid’ taken from the Gospel reading today. He explained to the students and congregation that he and the Lord understands that sometimes it can be hard to be different, to say you believe in God and thanked everyone for their commitment in making our schools a faithful caring example to others.
The Archbishop also spoke of the Bishops’ Synod in 2018 on ‘Youth, Faith and Discernment’ and asked us to listen to the words of Pope Francis , “So today, my friends, Jesus is inviting you, calling you, to leave your mark on life, to leave a mark on history, your own and that of many others as well.”
“So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven” taken from the Gospel of Luke.
During the Mass, Lay Chaplains of the Archdiocese were presented with the ‘Archdiocese of Birmingham Certificate of Lay Chaplaincy’ after 18 months of dedicated study. Mrs Ferris, our Lay Chaplain, received her certificate from the Archbishop. Mrs Ferris’s ministry to the community of St Edmund’s grows stronger and deeper. We are very proud of her richly deserved success.
All the students loved being part of the celebrations today. Mrs Hughes and Mrs Ferris are proud of our students for their commitment to Chaplaincy, the school and their faith.