Coventry Deanery
Vocations Mass
The Coventry Deanery Vocations Mass
was held on Monday 14th February 2011 at Sacred Heart Church. The
principal celebrant of the Mass was Fr Christopher Jamieson, former
Abbot of
Worth Abbey, and newly appointed Director of the National Office for
Vocation.
The church is decorated with Heart
symbols created by the different
schools. Last Monday was also Valentine’s Day and so we might be
tempted to think that the heart symbol was chosen with that in mind. No
it wasn’t. Shortly before Mass started Cardinal
Wiseman Head teacher, Mrs Helen Knight, explained it was in
direct reference to
Blessed John Henry Newman: Heart unto Heart and asked "have you the
heart". Many of
the inscriptions had been placed there by primary school children about
to
make their confirmation. When Blessed John Henry Newman was appointed
as a Cardinal in 1879 he
had to choose a motto to go with his coat of arms. He chose the Latin
words Cor ad Cor loquiter – heart speaks unto heart, from St Francis de
Sales (1567-1622) a French Bishop and great spiritual writer whom
Newnam revered.
The church was packed, with extra seating
being brought in from the
Hall. All
the primary schools were represented together with Cardinal
Wiseman and Bishop Ullathorne Secondary Schools.
Following the Gospel Fr Christopher
Jamison gave the sermon. He immediately established contact with
the youth in the
congregation by asking what schools were represented. He continued by
asking
about the star of the film ‘Never say never”. All the children
knew it was
16 year old Justin Bieber. Fr Christopher told us that Justin
Bieber had prayed before accepting his recording contract and continues
to pray each day seeking God’s guidance.
He compared this with the boy
Samuel in the First Reading who one night, around the age of 13 heard
God’s voice calling his name but didn’t know it was God calling and
assumed it was the voice of Eli (a Jewish High Priest). Eli had to help
Samuel realise that it was God calling him and he told Samuel how to
respond with those powerful words: “Speak Lord, your servant is
listening.” Fr Christopher made a very inspirational point: that all
those years ago Samuel needed help to realise God was calling him
and we need that same help today from each other, so he encouraged us
to join discernment groups around the country where we could listen to
what God wants to speak into our hearts and find the vocation God is
calling us to. Heart unto heart. The National Vocation website can be
found at: www.ukvocation.org
After Communion the children from
Sacred Heart Primary School performed a sacred dance on the theme
of God’s love. This was followed by a period of silence.
After Mass there was a retiring
collection
for the Malawi Project that Cardinal Newman school are involved
with. Malawi is one of the poorest counties in the World. The
school has been
involved with various projects for around three years with
Bunda LEA
School. More information is
available on the school website www.cardinalwiseman.coventry.sch.uk
Speaking Fr Tonty
Norton, Parish
Priest, "This occasion made me really proud of our Catholic schools and
reminded me of just how lucky we are to have them". Fr Christopher
Jamieson also commented on how touched he was by the whole event and
has taken away happy memories of Coventry.
It
was a truly wonderful occasion
Link to photos taken at the Mass. Click on a
picture below to see a larger view.
