All posts by 3 churches

Don’t wash that hand!

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One Saint and two Blesseds – that’s my tally of holy hands that I have shaken. Pope St John Paul II was canonised recently, and I shook his hand and exchanged a few words back in 1990 on our first September Pilgrimage. Blessed Mother Teresa was beatified a few years back – and I shook her hand in about 1977, when accompanying her to Rome airport in our seminary minibus. She threw me – as saints do – when I asked her to pray for me, by asking the same of me. And finally, Pope Blessed Paul VI was beatified a week or two ago – and I met him, shook his hand, received a book, had a little chat (and a few photos), just after I was ordained in 1978. So – one saintly hand and two blessed ones… so far.

On the Feast of All Saints we celebrate those people who have been “raised to the altar”. They have been proclaimed as certainly having lived a profoundly Christian life and now receiving their heavenly reward. But we also, of course, celebrate those many, many “unproclaimed” saints that I hope we all have met.

Our 3 Churches here bring to twelve the number of church communities where I have served as a priest. I could not begin to count the number of deeply holy people I have had the privilege to meet. From some of the so-called most deprived areas of Wales, to leafy English country towns, to cosmopolitan Ottawa, capital of Canada – and now to the leafy northern suburbs of Cardiff, the people of God often live out their Christian calling in a way which we can only call saintly. Coping with incredible adversity or simply living out marriage or family life, taking their faith into public life no matter the cost, or humbly serving others unnoticed and unacclaimed – it is going on all around us.

So on this Feast of All Saints, give thanks for the saints that you have known, and maybe you could find some way of affirming someone today who is following Jesus so clearly. If they are indeed doing that, they will probably be the last person to want attention – so be simple and brief. Saints don’t like attention!

Fr Matthew

Christ the King bidding prayers, 26 October 2014

bidding prayers

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 26th October 2014

The Celebrant will introduce and also conclude the prayer.

The reader should pause for several moments between the intercession and its response.

Leave about 20 seconds for the quiet prayer. There is no response after this – move straight to the Hail Mary.

CELEBRANT: Brothers and sisters, as a community in prayer let us bring to the Lord our needs.

READER: The response is: Hear our prayer.

READER: We pray for the members of the recent Synod on family life the grace of discernment so that when they meet again next year God’s path for the church will be clearer.

…….. (PAUSE)……….. Lord, in Your mercy……. Hear our prayer.

READER: For our politicians. Grant them the wisdom to plan for a future where everyone is cherished, rather than one where people are divided.

…… (PAUSE)…… Lord, in Your mercy……. Hear our prayer.

READER: May we learn by the inspiration of the Welsh martyrs what it means to love the Lord with all your heart.

…. (PAUSE)…… Lord, in Your mercy.…. Hear our prayer.

READER: We pray for Theo Ray Christopher Evans who is to be baptised on Sunday (or today, or “has been baptised” for 10.30 mass). We welcome him as a new member of our church and pray for his parents, godparents and grandparents, who will help him grow into his faith.

(PAUSE)…… Lord, in Your mercy.…. Hear our prayer.

READER: We pray for those people whose countries are overwhelmed with the Ebola virus and especially for those who care for the sick and dying, who show us what it means to love your neighbour.

(PAUSE)…… Lord, in Your mercy.…. Hear our prayer.

READER:  Let us quietly bring to mind any of our own prayers.  .…. (Long Pause)…. Let us ask the intercession of Mary, mother of mercy: Hail Mary, full of grace, etc.

After a short pause the Celebrant will conclude the prayer.

CELEBRANT: Lord God, our mighty help, hear and grant these prayers we offer to You, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, in unity with the Holy Spirit, now and forever, AMEN.

Pope Francis closes the Synod

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Commentators have praised Pope Francis’s closing comments at the recent Synod. Here are some extracts, starting with some “temptations”….

“One, a temptation to hostile inflexibility or rigidity, that is, wanting to close oneself – within the written word, (the letter) and not allowing oneself to be surprised by God, by the God of surprises, (the spirit); within the law, within the certitude of what we know, and not of what we still need to learn and to achieve. From the time of Christ, it is the temptation of the zealous, of the scrupulous, of the solicitous and of the so-called “traditionalists” and also of the intellectuals.

The temptation to a destructive tendency to “goodness” that in the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots. It is the temptation of the “do-gooders,” of the fearful, and also of the so-called “progressives and liberals.”

The temptation to come down off the Cross, to please the people, and not stay there, in order to fulfill the will of the Father; to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God.”

Later Pope Francis talked eloquently about the Church:

“This is the Church, the vineyard of the Lord, the fertile Mother and the caring Teacher, who is not afraid to roll up her sleeves to pour oil and wine on people’s wound; who doesn’t see humanity as a house of glass to judge or categorize people. This is the Church, One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and composed of sinners, needful of God’s mercy. This is the Church, the true bride of Christ, who seeks to be faithful to her spouse and to her doctrine. It is the Church that is not afraid to eat and drink with prostitutes and publicans. The Church that has the doors wide open to receive the needy, the penitent, and not only the just or those who believe they are perfect! The Church that is not ashamed of the fallen brother and pretends not to see him, but on the contrary feels involved and almost obliged to lift him up and to encourage him to take up the journey again and accompany him toward a definitive encounter with her Spouse, in the heavenly Jerusalem.

…We still have one year to mature… the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families.”

Fr Matthew

Christ the King bidding prayers, 19 October 2014

bidding prayers

Bidding Prayers for the 29th Sunday of the Year

We come together as a community to put our petitions before the Lord.

Reader; The response is;

Hear our prayer

Tomorrow / today is Mission Sunday. Let us bring to mind all those, who today and throughout the ages, have ministered to others at home and abroad.  May their example help us to follow your teaching and to serve one another …..……… pause ………

Lord, in your mercy  hear our prayer

We pray for the people affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria.  May the leaders of our world persevere in seeking solutions to alleviate their suffering.

…..……… pause ………

Lord, in your mercy  hear our prayer

We pray for the members of our own community here in Cardiff, and we think especially of those who do not enjoy good health and those whose independence is diminishing.   May they know the warmth of companionship, and experience your abiding love and reassurance.

…..……… pause ………

Lord, in your mercy  hear our prayer

We pray for ourselves that we may find the time to experience your peace and serenity.  …..……… pause ………

Lord, in your mercy  hear our prayer

Let us spend a few moments in silent prayer. ….. …………long pause ……

We ask Mary the mother of our Lord, to join her prayers to ours saying;

Hail Mary………….

P. We ask God the Father to hear and grant our petitions through him who lives in glory with You and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.