Prayers and positive readings and liturgy support for Adults and children

With these few words I really want to thank you all for the efforts of the last two weeks. I thank all of you who have been able to live stream the regular celebration of Mass and the Holy Week ceremonies. There is widespread feedback of how much this is appreciated and how extensively taken up. Many have expressed gratitude for the consolation and encouragement they have received and how this is contributing not only to a continuing practice of the faith but also a deepening of some of its important aspects. Participation figures from churchservices.tv are remarkable! Thank you all very much!

Most importantly, I wish to thank every one of you who do not have the facility to live stream and the virtual congregation that it brings, yet remain quietly faithful to the daily celebration of Mass on your own, especially in an empty church. This is an act of our ministry and of our interior dedication which can be difficult to maintain. Yet it is of immense value. In these circumstances we miss the visible presence of the faithful and the encouragement and, often, the inspiration they give us. We know, as they do, the infinite value of the Mass itself. We cling to the knowledge that at every Mass the angels and saints are with us. By celebrating Mass we make real the great prayer of Jesus and we become part of his constant pleading for the world before the Father. How much we need that pray right now! So I thank you for your fidelity and offer you every encouragement in sustaining this life-giving daily offering.

Also the Cardinal wanted us to know about an on-line retreat which begins tomorrow evening.

Easter Triduum

Worshipping with the Communion of Saints As we try to make our way through this worldwide pandemic, we’re learning new ways of being together while trying to stay physically apart. This situation affects all aspects of our lives, including the way we worship. As we approach the days of Easter Triduum,

Led by LGBT+Catholics Westminster by Zoom on Good Friday

Stations 2020 single slides

 Many Catholic newspapers are now available on line. Click here for details: http://www.churchpaper.co.uk/

 CAFOD have downloadable children’s liturgy resources available for most Sundays throughout the year.

CAFOD are hosting a live online children’s liturgy for families, on Sundays at 10am.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

There are websites to support you in prayer. The Jesuit website Pray As You Go is wonderfulhttps://pray-as-you-go.org/Sacred Space, the website of the Irish Jesuits is also beautiful and offers currently a Lent retreat.

Prayers and positive readings

3/4/2020

This beautiful prayer was written by an Italian priest who is self-isolating at the moment and very sadly lost his own brother a few days ago to Covid-19…

I’m staying at home, Lord!

I’m staying at home, Lord! And today, I realise, you taught me this, remaining obedient to the Father, for thirty years in the house of Nazareth, waiting for the great mission.

I stay at home, Lord, and in Joseph’s studio, your keeper and mine, I learn to work, to obey, to round the corners of my life and prepare you a work of art.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I know that I am not alone because Mary, like any mother, is in the next room, doing chores and preparing lunch for all of us, God’s family.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I do it responsibly for my own good, for the health of my city, for my loved ones, and for the good of my brother, whom you have put beside me, asking me to take care of him in the garden of life.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the silence of Nazareth, I pledge to pray, to read, study, meditate, be useful for small jobs, in order to make our home more beautiful and more welcoming.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the morning, I thank you for the new day you give me, trying not to spoil it and welcome it with wonder, as a gift and an Easter surprise.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And at noon I will receive the greeting of the angel, I will make myself useful for love, in communion with you who have made you flesh to live among us; and, tired of the journey, thirsty, I will meet you at Jacob’s well, and thirsty for love on the Cross.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And if the evening takes me melancholy, I will invoke you like the disciples of Emmaus: stay with us, the evening has arrived and the sun sets.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the night, in communion of prayer with the many sick, the lonely and all the caregivers, I will wait for the dawn to sing your mercy again and tell everyone that, in the storms, you have been my refuge.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I don’t feel alone and abandoned, because you told me: I’m with you every day. yes, and especially in these days of confusion, O Lord, in which, if my presence is not necessary, I will reach everyone, only with the wings of prayer.

Amen

27/3/2020

Churches Together in England have released the following statement

As our nation faces the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, Churches Together in England (CTE) is encouraging Christians across our nations to continue uniting in prayer, praying #PrayersOfHope in their homes at 7.00 pm each Sunday evening.

Following the overwhelming response which the National Call to Prayer and Action received on Mothering Sunday, CTE has prepared a candle poster for those who would like to place a permanent symbol in their front windows of Christ’s light shining in the darkness. Visit www.cte.org.uk/prayersofhope

This poster has been made available due to our awareness of the potential fire risk posed by lighting live candles, particularly on windowsills. We are keen to avoid adding any pressure to our emergency service personnel, particularly at this difficult time.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ John 1:5

Please join us prayer at this challenging time.

26/3/2020 From Jonathan Bryan author of EYE CAN WRITE

Cerebral Palsy, Coronavirus and Me by eyecantalk Finding words to describe the condition that has had the most impact on my life is difficult, so when CP Teens asked me to be one of their faces for cerebral palsy month I decided to portray cerebral palsy as a monster. At the moment we are facing a monster as a nation with this insidious virus and I am aware that for those already living with the occupying forces of cerebral palsy our defences are weakened to further attacks. I am praying for all my friends. But I am also praying for everyone who is gripped by fear, because fear is far more dangerous. Fear doesn’t just threaten our physical health, it monopolizes our mental health and paths the way to selfishness. Perfect love drives out fear. So every day I pray to Love Himself and am filled with gratitude – there is so much to be thankful for. Every day I will post on Twitter what I am thankful for.

25/3/2020  Thank you to Caroline for sharing this prayer with us

A prayer from Cheryl, our parish administrator’s granddaughter.

Click here for Prayer when confined to your home

Lockdown by Richard Hendrick  (Brother Richard), a Capuchin Franciscan priest-friar in Ireland

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing