Weekly Record

7 June 2009

Mysteries come in all shapes and sizes – a bit like people. Why some men go bald and others don’t, why some live to a ripe old age and others die young etc. Many spiritual writers stress that having a sense of wonder and mystery is an important part of being fully alive. We often talk in church of the Trinity as ‘The Mystery’. I have come to the opinion that we have got things the wrong way round the Trinity is ‘The Reality’ and the mystery is ourselves and how our limited understanding grapples with the full revelation of God. Anyway none of this makes it any easier preaching on this Feast.

This Sunday afternoon at 3.00pm two married men will be ordained to the Permanent Diaconate. They are Michael Birchall and David Vincent Boyle; both are from Warrington. Archbishop Kelly will preside at the ordinations. We pray for them and their families this weekend. There are no candidates to be ordained a Deacon this year who are training for the priesthood – which will mean that next year there will be no priestly ordination for our Diocese. We are certainly going through lean times at present and the impact of this is being felt more deeply at parish level each year.

Next Sunday there is a second collection for the support of our priests in retirement. At present we have nearly 70 priests in retirement due either to ill health or as scripture says those ‘whose days of boyhood are over’. Eight of our priests are 90 or over and 40 are octogenarians. An ongoing challenge that the Diocese faces is to provide a range of suitable accommodation for them to live in so that they are not having to face the pressured demands of parish administration in old age and yet are still able to play an active role in church life. Over half of the Chapter of Canons of the Diocese are now retired and we benefit greatly from their wisdom and years of experience. Please be generous in support of this annual appeal.

The Crypt opened to the public this week but due to the good weather people have wanted to stay outside in the sunshine and there have been less visitors to the Cathedral than normal. This has given a good opportunity for those who are on duty on the different days to familiarise themselves with the new exhibitions in the Pontifical Hall. Please note that the Crypt will not be open to the public on Sundays.

Who would have thought it possible – we now have two collection boxes in the shape of the Cathedral in the main entrances. It all began about a year ago, as a part of the refurbishment works, when it was mentioned to the joiners on site that we really needed units which caught peoples eye more than the ones that were in place and that also had a glass top so that visitors would be more encouraged to make a donation towards the upkeep of the Cathedral. Anyway with the input of others and a promise of funding by the Cathedral Friends the concept grew. It has taken some time and was not without its challenges but the two units are now complete and have pride of place as you enter the Cathedral. They will certainly catch peoples eye as they enter and leave the Cathedral. All that remains to be seen is that they encourage people to be more generous in supporting the Cathedral.

Canon Anthony O'Brien
Cathedral Dean