1 November 2024
All Saints’ Day
To all Priests and People in the See of Beverley
St Bernard of Clairvaux reminds us in one of his sermons that “calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of the patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with the saints.” But not only do we long to share with them the citizenship of heaven, they too “are longing for us.” It is a beautiful image of the bond between the heavenly (eternal) and earthly (transient) realms. It is reassuring to think that we are wanted by the saints as much as we want them. St Bernard also notes that “when we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we one day may share in his glory.” Pray today, as I hope we do every day, that we may be found worthy to be numbered in the company of the saints as we long for them and they for us. Pray earnestly too that our Lord Jesus Christ may appear to us and that we may recognise him when he does. Pray that we may not only share in his glory, but that our lives may reveal his glory. Because of us may others say, “Come, we have found the Messiah!”
The Jubilee Year – A Catechism Course
The Year of Our Lord 2025 – next year! – will mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea which produced the Nicene Creed. Most of us are familiar with this as we recite it every Sunday during Mass. To mark the year, and to meet the requests put to me by many people, there will be a See of Beverley Zoom course that will run from Advent 2024 through to Eastertide 2025, in eight sessions, on the Creed. The course is aimed primarily at lay people, especially those who are running parishes without the presence of a permanent parish priest but is open to everyone. The aim is to enable people to deepen their understanding of our catholic faith. For further details and to sign up, please see here
There may well be other material produced by individual dioceses, parishes and The Society. Make use of those resources as appropriate but please do priorities the See of Beverley one so that we can grow in faith and friendship together. My hope and prayer is that this course will enable us to become a confident body, upholding the universal catholic faith, within the northern province of the Church of England.
Children and Youth Ministry development day
A lot of energy is going into enabling See of Beverley parishes to develop their children and youth ministry. Thank you to everyone who has been in contact with Jane. Please keep an eye on the website for updates. We are planning a networking and development day for those who are interested in developing or adapting provision for children and young families. There will be an opportunity to view a newly developed space, including resources within church to facilitate full intergenerational participation in worship. This will be on Saturday 8th February 2025 at St Matthew’s Church, Carver Street, Sheffield. Please see here for further details and to sign up.
A second development day will be planned for later in the year in another location, but it will be to build on the first rather than a repeat of it.
Confirmation Preparation PowerPoints
These were created in response to several requests for additional material to what is already available. If anyone else would like to receive them, please email Jane and she will send them to you.
If anyone received them and had issues with downloading let her know and she will resend them to you.
Vocations Retreat
I have been enormously encouraged by the number of men, of all ages and backgrounds, who have approached me to discuss potential vocations to ordained priestly ministry. A 24-hour conference / retreat is planned at Whalley Abbey on the 16th to 17th May 2025 for those in the See of Beverley who are seeking to discern this particular call on their lives. Spaces are limited, but we would like to hear from people who are already in training, those in the formal discernment process and those just beginning to think or pray about it. Details may be found here.
It is important for us all to remember that every Christian has a unique vocation. I hope that all I do and am as your bishop will enable and inspire those vocations. In his inaugural sermon, Pope St John Paul II said this: “Perhaps in the past the tiara, that triple crown, was placed on the Pope’s head in order to signify by that symbol the Lord’s plan for his Church, namely that all the hierarchical order of Christ’s Church, all the “sacred power” exercised in the Church, is nothing other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole People of God shares in [the] threefold mission of Christ [as Priest, Prophet-Teacher and King] and always remains under the power of the Lord … that has as its source … the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection.”
Assisted Dying Bill
The Society Bishops have issued a statement and teaching document pertaining to the Assisted Dying Bill that is going through Parliament this month. I, along with many others, am troubled by the prospect of this or a similar Bill being passed into legislation. This is often a difficult discussion for many so please be generous and compassionate towards one another. Do pray for our parliamentarians. Please read the statement here.
Local events across the See of Beverley
It would be wonderful if we could produce a See of Beverley Calendar to encourage us all to support each other. One of the great things about the July Festival in York was to be surrounded by so many others who have aligned themselves to the See and its vocation. Please send me details of regional conferences, celebrations and pilgrimages (for example) that we could promote as See of Beverley events. We probably couldn’t promote or attend all our Patronal Festivals, that would need to be done locally, but we can do our best to support as much as we can.
Some diary dates to note
Lent Penitential Service: following on from last Lent’s service, I hope to plan another for Saturday 8th March 2025, the first Saturday of Lent. Please keep save the date and look out for details when they emerge.
Chrism Masses:
6th April, 6pm, Horbury Parish Church, Wakefield
13th April, 6pm, venue St Aidan’s Grangetown, Sunderland to be confirmed
14th April, 12noon, venue to be confirmed, Sheffield/Doncaster/Nottingham
15th April, time to be confirmed, Manchester Cathedral
Clergy quiet days:
27th March, 10am to 3pm. North-west region. Venue to be confirmed.
17th June, 10am to 3pm. South-east region. Woolley Parish Church.
14 October, 10am to 3pm, North-east region. Venue to be confirmed.
Lourdes Pilgrimage: Bishop Philip and I would like to gather a group from the northern dioceses to join the Society of Mary Pilgrimage to Lourdes planned for 18th to 22nd August 2025. Please keep an eye out for details and if you think you would like to participate pencil it into your diaries now.
PA to the Bishop of Beverley
I have been blessed to have had Gill Knowles as my PA for nearly two years. She came out of early retirement to help me when I was first made bishop, but the time has come for her to retire properly. She will finish officially on 31st December, but her last day at work will be the 16th of December. Please join me in thanking her for all that she has done for the See of Beverley. I will miss her. I will, however, need to find a new PA to help run the office. The ability to work from home and to be within easy reach of my office will be essential. If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in this role please be in touch with me. Ian Burgess will continue to offer some support as my lay chaplain until the summer so don’t be surprised if you hear from him.
This has been a longer than usual epistle. I apologise. Please do share it.
May the grace of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit go before you.
+Stephen Beverley