All posts by 3 churches

Time for Sales

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St Francis de Sales is one of the great spiritual writers among the saints. He was born in French Savoy in 1567. Educated in Paris, he was ordained priest in 1593. He became Bishop of Geneva, a very difficult appointment in the time of the Reformation, as it was the centre of Calvinism. During his years as bishop, he acquired a reputation as a spellbinding preacher and something of an ascetic. His motto was, “He who preaches with love, preaches effectively.” His goodness, patience and mildness became proverbial. He died in 1622.

He is remembered especially for his writings, being patron writers and journalists. His most famous work was the “Introduction to the Devout Life”. Here are some pieces of wisdom from this great saint:

Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.

Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed. Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.

We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.

There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.

There are no galley-slaves in the royal vessel of divine love – every man works his oar voluntarily!

And lastly, one of my favourites:

Those who love to be feared fear to be loved.

Fr Matthew

Christ the King bidding prayers, 11 January 2015

bidding prayers, Christ the King

Baptism of the Lord 2015

P. The Father has called us as His chosen people and enables us by His constant gifts. Let us ask again for the special graces which we need at this time

R Our response is “Lord may we listen to your law”

R.we pray for the Universal Church that it may be given the wisdom to embrace the changes which Pope Francis seeks to introduce

PAUSE

R.We pray……… Lord may we listen to your Law

R.Together with the rest of the world we look with horror on the Parisian killings and pray for the victims and their families and friends. Let us pray also that we may always seek to preserve the precious gift of free speech

Pause

R. we pray…….Lord may we listen to your law

R.We pray for families everywhere remembering the anguish of parents parted forever from children and loved ones due to war illness and famine. We ask also for the gift of peace in our own families and for the grace to preserve it

PAUSE

R.We pray…..Lord may we listen to your law

R.Let us pray for all the deceased of our community remembering especially Graham Perryman who has died recently. May the Lord welcome them all into Paradise and grant their grieving families the comfort of His love.

Pause

R. We pray…Lord may we listen to your law

R. We remember the worried, the sick and the lonely in our parish family and ask the Lord to comfort each one of them and their families, carers and medical support teams

Pause

R. We pray………Lord may we listen to your law

R. In the silence of our hearts let us listen to the voice of our beloved Father

Longer pause

R.We ask Mary our mother to join her prayer to ours saying Hail Mary

Etc

P. Lord we ask you to hear and grant our petitions

Through  Jesus your beloved Son

AMEN

On Baptism and beyond – Catechists for our 3 churches

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Today is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. We celebrate that extraordinary moment at the river Jordan when Jesus went down into the water. Three years later he would send out his apostles – and the Church – to teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The celebration of the Sacraments are central to our Catholic life – grace-filled moments that are truly gifts from God. To celebrate them as worthily as possible should be a joy for the community, but this is also a challenge to all of us.

A beautiful development in the period after Vatican II is the role of catechists in preparation for the Sacraments. They accompany those who are preparing, or their parents, for Baptism or Reception, for Holy Communion and Reconciliation or for Confirmation. They share the journey of faith from their own experience of it. We are extremely grateful to all those who are or have been catechists in our 3 Churches.

This Monday all catechists – including those interested in becoming one – are invited to spend a couple of hours together. We will reflect on our role, especially in the light of the Church’s teaching on evangelization, so important to Pope Francis, and then have the opportunity to review our individual programmes and methods. We will conclude with a time of prayer and blessing.

Some questions to ponder in preparation – How do I see my role? What part does my own faith play in that role? What is the purpose of our particular programme – one day’s celebration or for life? How can we develop our ministry and what help could we seek?

St Brigid’s centre this Monday 12 January 7-9pm

Fr Matthew

Christ the King bidding prayers, 4 January 2015 (Epiphany)

bidding prayers, Christ the King,

Priest: Brothers and Sisters as we pray for our needs, let us remember those of the Church and the wider world.

Reader: The response is…. Lord, Show us how to be gift.

We pray for Pope Francis who is revealing a new Spirit of mercy in the Church. (Pause)

Lord, Show us how to be gift.

We pray for all who are working to alleviate suffering in the world…In particular, we remember those striving to combat Ebola in West Africa; and those who have given time freely at Christmas to be alongside others less fortunate than themselves. (Pause)

Lord, Show us how to be gift.

We pray for Sara and Alexandra Siwiak, Erin Mary Farell Williams and Ray Joseph Hennessy who are being baptised here this weekend. May the lives of their parents, godparents and all of us here, be examples of faith to inspire them.

Lord, Show us how to be gift.

At Epiphany remembering the Kings, we pray for those who bring gifts of leadership and authority that they may use them wisely. (Pause)

Lord, Show us how to be gift.

At Epiphany, we pray that the gifts we bring to each other show the presence of Jesus in our lives. (Pause)

Lord, Show us how to be gift.

In a quiet moment, we make our own prayers (Longer pause)

Mary showed forth Jesus to the Magi and so we say……Hail Mary

Priest: Father God, we make our prayers to you trusting in your Son and with the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.