Cyclone Nargis in Burma.
The recent Retiring Collection in aid of those affected by Cyclone Nargis in Burma raised a great total of £2,515. The CAFOD Group would like to thank everyone for their generosity of their donations and continued prayers for the victims of the cyclone.

Donkey Derby - 6th July.
The request season is upon us! Today after the Masses the Donkey Derby team will be handing out Waitrose "Bags for Life" (the re-usable ones). Each bag will have a flyer in it reminding you of the sort of things we would like you to donate. As we are every year, we are very grateful for all your donations, big or small. Once you have put a few goodies in the bag, please leave your bags in the Donkey Derby boxes in the church foyer. In particular next week, we are looking for bottles for the bottle stall and fancy goods.

TREE OF FAITH.
You will be able to see that our Tree of Faith has started to blossom with prayers. We hope that the entire community will become comfortable in using this tool in their faith journey. Prayers or names can be written on the leaves or rocks and either attached to a branch or placed on the ground. We will be having a special Mass in August offering up our prayers. Please watch this newsletter for future updates.

TREE OF JUNK.
We still require junk, plastic bottles, cardboard, etc., for our tree of junk on the CAFOD stall at the Harborne Carnival. Please bring your junk to the 9.30am. Children's Liturgy Mass.

Unwanted mobile phones.
You can now recycle your unwanted mobile phones and donate to CAFOD at the same time. Just pop your unwanted phone into one of the envelopes that are available in the porch and put it into the post, CAFOD receives the proceeds and its better for the environment.

Morning Prayer with the Augustinians.
Changes to Morning Prayer with the Augustinians: Every morning, bar Saturdays, parishioners participate with the Friars in praying the daily office. This takes place at 7.30am on Sundays and 8am Monday to Fridays. From now on, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed from 7.15-7.45am on Sundays and 7.45-8.15am Mondays to Fridays. All are welcome to attend. Soon, we will give a fuller explanation of what is entailed in praying the daily office. If anyone wishes to join us for evening prayer, it is in the Priory Oratory at 6pm Mondays to Saturdays and 6.15pm on Sundays.

Tuesday Club Volunteers.
This Club provides the opportunity for older parishioners to dance, play bingo and socialise for 2-3 hours each Tuesday afternoon in the Parish Centre. There is a small team of helpers who are mainly needed to set up equipment, give out bingo tickets and help with tea. We could do with 2 or 3 more . If you feel you could help, please ring Roger or Carole Currier on 427 8360.

Leaving Mass early:
I understand at the evening masses there may be a concern for pensioners needing lifts etc to feel safe getting home. However, my concern is those who consistently leave mass early just to get off before everyone else. What message does this send? The mass is our time for the Lord, do we really wish to cut such time short. The final blessing also is an important part of our celebration it means we take the blessing of the Lord with us as we continue with our daily lives.