All posts by 3 churches

Christ the King bidding prayers, 14 September 2014

bidding prayers

Celebrant: God has given us his only Son for our salvation. Therefore, we can hope that he will likewise fulfill all our other needs. We now present those needs to him with confidence.

Reader: The response to our prayers is;

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray that the Church may lift high the Cross of Christ, proclaiming forgiveness and redemption in him alone.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and take hold of the peace and justice that only he can bring.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for married couples, that their marriages will be a continuing source of grace and joy, that they will always be faithful, and that they will be able to reach out in love to others. We remember especially Natasha Wheeler and James Burgon who were married on Friday at St Brigid’s church.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for the children of our parish; may they be encouraged by their parents and teachers to reach their full potential.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We ask that the sick may be blessed with patience during the difficult parts of their journey in life.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray that all who have died may experience the eternal life won by the cross of Christ.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

In the quiet of our hearts we place all our unspoken needs before the Lord

Let us join with the mother of our church as we say: Hail Mary…………..

Celebrant:  Father, We have looked upon your Son and have believed in him. As you grant our petitions, grant us above all the eternal life which is found only in Jesus, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

Leave it to the experts, Fr Matthew

newsletter, ,

This year the Feast of the Cross falls on a Sunday. Rather than offer here a reflection for the feast, I will leave it to no less than St Paul and Jesus Himself. Here are the first reading and most of the Gospel from today’s Mass, Philippians 2:6-11 and John 3:13-17. The sentence in bold is John 3:16 – a verse which many say is the greatest in the whole Bible. If you want to memorise just one verse – it should be this one.

His state was divine,
yet he did not cling to his equality with God
but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are, he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death, death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name which is above all other names
so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

The Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.

Fr Matthew

Christ the King bidding prayers, 23rd Sunday of the year – 7 September 2014

bidding prayers

P My dear friends, let us now bring our petitions to the God who made us.

Reader: The response is… hear our prayer.

Let us pray for greater understanding and tolerance within the Church; between the churches; and between Christians and Muslims… ..pause … … … … …

In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray that ways may be found to restore peace in our world without open warfare; but that love – God’s love for us and our love for each other, will be stronger than hate… …  pause……………….

In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for our schools in Cardiff and especially for teachers and governors, who bear such responsibility in guiding our children… … … pause … … … … …

In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayer.

This weekend we welcome into the faith Isabella Marie Sidoli, who is being baptised and we pray that she will grow strong in faith and love of our Heavenly Father with the help of her parents and god-parents… … pause … … … … …

In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayer.

As we remember those in our parish who are seriously ill, let us pray also for all those in Africa suffering because of Ebola; and for the brave and faithful people who care for them .. … … pause …

In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayer.

For a few quiet moments, let us talk to God in our own way… …longer pause ….. (no response).

In a world of conflict, we turn to Mary, Queen of peace, as we say Hail Mary….

Priest: Loving Father of us all, trusting in your promise to be with us, we offer our prayers through your Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Never ending prayer

newsletter,

As you read this, I can guarantee that thousands of people across the world are praying for you, for the Church and for the world. They are following what we call “The Prayer of the Church”, also known as the “Divine Office”, or as the “Breviary”, from the book that contains it. So what is the Prayer of the Church?

God’s people must be a people of prayer, and there has always been a tradition of continuous prayer, going back to the Temple of Jerusalem. Our ancient welsh Celtic monasteries always had someone praying in their churches. The Prayer of the Church finds its roots more particularly in the prayer life of the monks and nuns in their monasteries, joining together at regular intervals during the day to pray as a community. This has always been in addition to the individual’s prayer time. Over the centuries this custom spread to all clergy and religions. When I was ordained it was one of our promises – to pray with and for the whole church according to the Divine Office. Since Vatican II the whole Church has been encouraged to join in this very special form of prayer. It is part of the official worship of the Church, and so, along with the Mass and the Sacraments, we call it part of our Catholic “liturgy”, and not just a devotion like the Way of the Cross or even the Rosary. In fact, yet another official name for it is the “Liturgy of the Hours”

The Prayer of the Church, in a four week cycle, is centred around the sequence of the psalms, plus hymns, readings and intercessions, and is uniform right across the whole Church. It is broken into five or seven parts throughout the day – the “hours” – with Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer being the main “hinges” as it were.

Morning and Evening Prayer has been prayed in Christ the King before the appropriate Masses for many years. From time to time I am asked if some of it could be prayed in St Brigid’s also. Therefore, on Monday 15th September I will give a short talk on the Prayer of the Church after morning Mass at St Brigid’s, i.e. at approximately 10.00am. It will be about 30-40 minutes and enable us to decide a way forward. Whichever of our 3 Churches you attend, you will be very welcome to join us.

Fr Matthew