All posts by Fr. Michael Kirkham

Parish Office Manager

Published Thu, 20/07/2023 by

For Catholic Parish of Belper with Duffield and Ripley New Appointment and Role Description With the growth of the parish and as part of the Parish strategy I now wish […]

Easter triduum services CANCELLED

Published Wed, 05/04/2023 by

With regret, on medical advice, I have taken the decision to cancel the Triduum liturgies in Belper, Duffield and Ripley. I am sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this may […]

Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham

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Saturday 11th June 2022 Join with Bishop Patrick on pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady to pray for vocations, peace in our world, and evangelisation. Transport to Walsingham – […]

Lent Thoughts – 3

Published Sat, 05/03/2022 by

“The man of God is a treasure hidden in a ruin” (Ibn al-‘Arabi) I heard on the radio this morning the testimony of a Ukrainian woman hiding in a refuge in […]

Lent Thoughts – 2

Published Fri, 04/03/2022 by

“Clothe the man you see to be naked and do not turn away from your own kin.  Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, your integrity shall go before […]

Lent Thoughts – 1

Published Thu, 03/03/2022 by

“If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must deny himself; he must take up his cross and come with me, says the Lord” The challenge of Lent […]

Statement on Marriage

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By order of the Bishop, the following statement is published on the first weekend of February each year. Marriage is a lifelong vocation of a man and a woman to […]

My Vision for the Parish

Published Wed, 26/01/2022 by

HOMILY FOR THE SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me (Luke 4:18-19) Last week I shared with […]

Epiphany Blessing of Chalk

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The Church has a custom of blessing homes on the Feast of the Epiphany.  Family and friends gather to ask God’s blessing on their homes and those who live in or […]

EMBRACING THE CROSS

Published Tue, 14/09/2021 by

Homily on Mark 8.27-35 One of the greatest composers of the 20th century was the black musician, Edward Ellington – commonly known as ‘Duke’ Ellington.  Pianist, band leader, arranger & composer he […]

TRINITY SUNDAY

Published Sat, 29/05/2021 by

From the Book Deuteronomy: “Understand this and take it to heart, The Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other.  Keep his laws and commandments […]

Lead Lay Chaplain Required!

Published Mon, 12/04/2021 by

There are vacancies for two Lead Lay Chaplains within the Diocese of Nottingham, at the St Thérèse of Lisieux Catholic Multi Academy Trust and also the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic […]

EASTER 2 HOMILY

Published Sun, 11/04/2021 by

The Gift of Self-control I’d be the first to admit I don’t at this stage in my life make much time to follow sport, but in my youth I used […]

Easter Homily

Published Sun, 04/04/2021 by

How good it is to be back today, celebrating Mass together in church once more! For Christ is risen – he is risen indeed!  And while the parish may not be fully resurrected […]

Lent blog: Day 36 – BLACK LIVES MATTER

Published Tue, 30/03/2021 by

The criminal trial began yesterday of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis policeman accused of causing George Floyd’s death ten months ago.  The arrest and restraint of Floyd was captured on camera […]

Lent blog: Day 35 – THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Published Mon, 29/03/2021 by

Netflix is showing a one-series drama written by Julian Fellowes.  Entitled The English Game and set in the mid-nineteenth century, it depicts the early days of the game as played by the recently-constituted […]

Lent blog: Day 34 – ARE YOU REGULAR?

Published Sat, 27/03/2021 by

The Latin word for ‘rule’ is regula.  At school we used rulers to measure distances and draw straight lines.  This helped our work to be accurate and presentable, in a way that guesswork […]

Lent blog: 17 – REAL PRESENCE

Published Mon, 08/03/2021 by

Margaret and I drove David back to Birmingham yesterday afternoon.  He was able to continue his studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire of Music after Christmas without too much difficulty during […]

Lent blog: 16 – ISRAEL IN EGYPT

Published Fri, 05/03/2021 by

The author of the Joseph cycle in the Book of Genesis is a wonderful storyteller.  If you’ve been following the suggested daily readings in the parish bulletin you will by now […]

Lent blog: 15 – LET US DREAM

Published Thu, 04/03/2021 by

Last night I was invited to an online Zoom meeting, finding myself alongside eight members of five other churches in and around Belper.  So long as there are Christians locally with […]

Lent blog: 12 – MY SUMMERHOUSE

Published Tue, 02/03/2021 by

I spent time yesterday afternoon cleaning out my summerhouse.  I generally vacate it in the last days of October.  I do have a heater in there, but by October it’s getting too […]

Lent blog: 11 – SPRING IS HERE!

Published Mon, 01/03/2021 by

Lent blog: 11 – SPRING IS HERE! Today, St David’s day, is the officially the first day of meteorological spring.  Catkins have been out for some while.  But as I went […]

Lent Blog – 6: OPENING UP

Published Tue, 23/02/2021 by

At the point of writing, I haven’t heard in detail about the Prime Minister’s road map for exiting lockdown.  Just snippets here and there during the course of Monday (22nd February) plus […]

Lent Blog – 4: FREE FOR WHAT?

Published Sat, 20/02/2021 by

Freedom to someone under the yoke sounds bliss.  Freedom from oppression.  From having to do what someone else says.  Freedom to be yourself and choose what you want to do. But what do you want […]

Lenten Blog – 3: LETTING GO

Published Fri, 19/02/2021 by

I had slipped somewhat from my commitment to meditate twice a day.  Hard to put my finger on just when it happened, but Lent comes as an opportunity to reclaim a […]

Lent Blog – 2: SORTING OUT

Published Thu, 18/02/2021 by

I seem to have spent a lot of time sorting things out lately.  First there were all the things at the Presbytery at Ripley to go through in May 2019.  So that […]

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