Synodality/Climate Change/Nuclear Weapons
On ‘Synodality’
“Breakthrough comes about as a gift of dialogue, when people trust each other and humbly seek the good together, and are willing to learn from each another in a mutual exchange of gifts. This is an ‘overflow’ of love, breaking the banks that confined our thinking and causes to pour forth answers that formerly we could not see. As Pope I want to encourage such ‘overflows’ by reinvigorating the ancient practice of ‘Synod’. The term comes from Greek and means ‘walking together’ and its goal is to recognise, honour, and reconcile differences on a higher plane where the best of each can be retained: differences are expressed and polished until you reach, if not consensus, a harmony that holds all together. Therein lies its beauty: the harmony that results can be complex, rich and unexpected. In the Church the One who brings about harmony is the Holy Spirit.”
CALLING US TO PRAYER AND SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP
‘The Bible says that whoever finds a friend has found a treasure. I would like to invite everyone to go beyond their groups of friends and build social friendship, which is so necessary for living together well.
We especially need to have a renewed encounter with the most impoverished and vulnerable, those on the peripheries. And we need to distance ourselves from populisms that exploit the anguish of the people without providing solutions, proposing a mystique that solves nothing.
We must flee from social enmity which only destroys, and leave “polarization” behind.
And this isn’t always easy, especially today when part of our politics, society and media are bent on creating enemies so as to defeat them in a game of power.
Dialogue is the path to seeing reality in a new way, so we can live with passion the challenges we face in constructing the common good.
Let us pray that, in social, economic, and political situations of conflict, we may be courageous and passionate architects of dialogue and friendship, men and women who always hold out a helping hand, and may no spaces of enmity and war remain.’
ON HEALING THE PLANET
‘Laudato si, o’ mi Signore’ (Praise be to you, my Lord). In the words of this beautiful canticle, St Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us : ‘Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs’.
This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of all with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’
ON NUCLER WEAPONS
Pope Francis has stated : ‘Now is the time to affirm not only the immorality of the use of nuclear weapons, but the immorality of their possession… genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian effects of any employment of nuclear devices and the risk of accidental detonation as a result of any kind of error, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned. They exist in the service of a mentality of fear.’
TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
PRIEST: Today we find strangely harsh words on the lips of Jesus, words that seem to reject a woman who comes to him in her need. Yet her coming leads him to discover the depth of his mission from God his Father and to offer all peoples his saving love. Let us ask forgiveness when we are not prepared to open our minds to new ideas and our hearts to new people…
READER: For whenever we see people as a threat rather than as a gift
LORD HAVE MERCY…
For whenever we are closed to new experiences of God or of our world;
when we hurt rather than heal
CHRIST HAVE MERCY…
For each refusal to welcome someone who is different,
someone we do not understand
every harshness in our words and contempt in our hearts
LORD HAVE MERCY…
PRIEST: May our God absolve us of our sins,
heal us of our wounds,
cast out our every fear,
and open wide our hearts to the gift of every person,
and so bring us and all creation to everlasting life…
AMEN!
TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
For the whole Church that we might all share in the Universal Love of God for all peoples and nations and, becoming truly Catholic, serve the world’s peace; that God will give wisdom, compassion and prophetic courage to our Universal Pastor, Pope Francis as he enables the Church’s Global Synod
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
As the Church is challenged to be a House of Prayer for all Peoples, may it be the servant and instrument of God’s struggle for peace, for justice and for integrity for our conflict-torn world: we pray peace for all the peoples of Ukraine, Sudan, the Middle East, Yemen, Niger and Ecuador
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
As our young people received exam results this week, we pray for them as they shape their future and make far-reaching decisions – may they rejoice to use their skills and gifts to create a better and more just world, and value themselves and others not by exam results but by the ‘wonder of their being’
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
We pray for our LGBTQ+ friends throughout the world, especially those threatened by laws that victimise them and Christian leaders who uphold their condemnation – may the Holy Spirit of God’s Universal Love lead them and us ‘into all truth’
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
We pray for our parish community that we will always seek to be ‘God’s Field Hospital’, a place of healing and welcome to all without exception; may our nation have a new heart of compassion and acceptance for our refugee and asylum community
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
We pray for all who serve the safety of our communities in the Police Force, for all who administer the Justice system of our land – may they be supported as they deal with the most shocking of crimes while seeking always True Justice for all our people
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
For the sick and housebound and all who care for them in hospital, hospice or home: for all who are terminally ill and are journeying towards the eternal heart of God;
for those who have died recently: those who died in the Wildfires especially in Hawaii and all those who have drowned in the refugee boats;
and for all whose anniversaries are at this time:
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Share Your love with us…
Mary, Queen of peace amd Mother of all Peoples, pray with us for our children baptised today…
HAIL MARY…
Let us pray in a moment’s stillness …
NINETEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
PRIEST: We have powerful images presented to us this morning: the prophet meeting God on the mountain; Paul willing to loose salvation if only his Jewish people would embrace His Lord; and Peter walking towards Jesus on the storm tossed sea. Powerful images that speak to us of the power of faith and prayer. We have come to meet the living God in this Eucharist: let us like Peter be aware of our weakness and bring that weakness before God with a repentant heart.
READER: For not making space in our busy lives to listen
to the whispering voice of God deep within us;
for too often not having the faith really to pray…
LORD HAVE MERCY …
For the times we lack the faith to trust in the God who calls us;
When we do not have the courage
to ‘launch out over the deep’, risking for God…
CHRIST HAVE MERCY …
For the weakness of our faith when the storms overwhelm us;
for the ways we no longer gaze upon the Lord who holds us
in the darkest hour and most fearful turmoil
LORD HAVE MERCY …
PRIEST: May the God of Compassion come to us in every storm of guilt,
and bring us peace;
may the Risen Lord draw close to us in our weakness
and heal our fears with his mercy;
may the Holy Spirit whisper deep within our hearts the forgiveness
that brings us peace beyond all understanding;
and may God raise us all to everlasting life…
AMEN!
NINETEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
That the Church of God will teach us how to pray, to go up the Mountain of God’s Presence and listen to the whispering voice of God deep in the heart and at the centre of the storm: may the renewal of the Church be energised by a renewal of prayer and faith
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
In the midst of the storm Jesus calls out to the world – ‘Courage, it is I! … Come!’ : in the midst of the many crises facing our world at this time, may many search for the the reality of God, taste of the riches of prayer to be found in the Christian tradition, and have the courage to walk towards the Christ of today’s world
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
Like St Paul and St Edith Stein, we too pray for the Jewish People all over the world, that in fidelity to the Covenant with the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, they might discover in Jesus not an enemy but a fulfilment, and in Christians not foes but friends and companions along the Ways of God … we pray also for peace between Israel and Palestine and for the stricken peoples of Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen and for the freedom of the Uiga Muslims of China
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
For those communities around the world who have suffered from the effects of Global Warming: floods, wildfires, storms and heatwaves; may all humanity and the leaders of nations and multi-national companies listen to the cries of the Earth and act decisively and quickly to save and heal our planet for future generations
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
On this Sea Sunday, we pray for all who serve us on the seas, for all seafarers who are exploited by their employers; and for the Church’s Mission to Seafarers and their families
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
We pray for all who live the contemplative life, in monasteries and convents, in hermitages and shanty towns, in ordinary homes and families … may they stand faithfully before the Presence of God with hearts open to listen and love, and encourage us all to the prayer of silent loving and waiting stillness
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
May the sick and housebound embrace with love their ministry of prayer and intercession, as we now pray for them: for …;
for those who have died recently: especially … and those killed in the wildfires in Hawaii, war and conflict in Sudan and Ukraine
and for all whose anniversaries are at this time:
[READER] LORD TEACH US TO PRAY…
[Response] Speak to our hearts…
Mary, Woman of Prayer, Prophet of Justice and Queen of Peace, pray with us, pray for us ..
Hail Mary…
Let us pray in a moment’s stillness …
FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD
PRIEST: As we celebrate today the beautiful Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, we behold the Glory of God, the glory that each of us carries deep within our being. For we are all created in God’s image and likeness. And the Glory of God is humanity fully alive. Transfiguration is only complete, however, when we have transformed our world from war and injustice into the glory of equality, justice and peace among all the peoples of the earth. Sadly today is also the anniversary of the dropping of first Atom Bomb – upon the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Its dark cloud of death and destruction has overshadowed the world ever since! To transform a world addicted to weapons of mass destruction will demand we truly listen to Him – God’s Word made flesh – and act! Let us now bring our world of war to the God of Peace and limitless Mercy.
READER: For the human addiction to war and destruction
that it be transfigured to peace and healing
LORD HAVE MERCY…
For the mountains of injustice and inequality
that diminishes all human beings, both rich and poor alike
CHRIST HAVE MERCY…
For the transformation of our inhumanity that wounds
into the divine Humanity that is fully alive and life-giving
LORD HAVE MERCY…
PRIEST: May God our Father speak his words of forgiveness and mercy to our hearts;
May the Transfigured Christ transform the darkness of our sin into the glory of His love;
May the Holy Spirit be the light of justice, healing and compassion in our hearts,
and bring us to everlasting life…
AMEN!
FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD
That the Church of Christ may seek to glorify God by listening to the Master, each other and the world, proclaiming hope and humanity to all, and building a Kingdom of Justice and Peace upon the Earth
[reader:] LORD, REVEAL YOUR GLORY…
[response:] AND SPEAK YOUR WORD TO US
For the Peace of the world and a global commitment to Nuclear disarmament, as we mark this tragic Anniversary of the dropping of the Atom Bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima; we pray that the nations will find sanity and never again threaten destruction of our world and mass murder of our people
[reader:] LORD, REVEAL YOUR GLORY…
[response:] AND SPEAK YOUR WORD TO US
That in our parish and diocese we may build on the witness and vision of St Pope Paul VI, whose anniversary is today…that his life’s work of the renewal and transformation of the Church may be embraced with renewed vigour and courage – we pray for Pope Francis as he seeks the reform of the Church by revitalising the vision of the Second Vatican Council and gathering us in the Global Synod.
[reader:] LORD, REVEAL YOUR GLORY…
[response:] AND SPEAK YOUR WORD TO US
For peoples everywhere, but especially in the developing world, in particular for the people of Yemen, Sudan, Ukraine and Tigray/Ethiopia as war, famine and disease are multiplied: that their tragedy may be transfigured into miracles of peace;
[reader:] LORD, REVEAL YOUR GLORY…
[response:] AND SPEAK YOUR WORD TO US
For the young people of the Church all over the world who have gathered in Lisbon for the World Day of Youth: that they may ever grow in commitment to Jesus Christ and His Body the Church and so bring their gifts of faith, of hope and of love to the People of God and the Peoples of our common home, our planet
[reader:] LORD, REVEAL YOUR GLORY…
[response:] AND SPEAK YOUR WORD TO US
That the sick, wounded and broken of heart, mind and body may find their wounds transfigured into wholeness – we pray especially for …
for those who have died recently and all who have died in the many conflicts wounding our world;
and for those whose anniversaries are at this time: … and remembering all those killed in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
[reader:] LORD, REVEAL YOUR GLORY…
[response:] AND SPEAK YOUR WORD TO US
Mary, One who glorified God in all things, pray with us for the peace of the world and for the wisdom and courage to tackle Global Warming
HAIL MARY…
We pray in the presence of God’s Glory for all human need…
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
PRIEST: We celebrate today that Jesus is the Wisdom of God, and we should give everything for the rich treasure that He is. We celebrate also that Jesus has given His whole self for us whom he speaks of as the pearl of great price. Jesus challenges us to help others discover the treasure, to rediscover themselves as His pearl of great value. He challenges us to ‘give everything’ as the only way to open ourselves to the incomparable treasures of His love. What in reality do we give, what are we prepared to sacrifice … and more important what are we not prepared to sacrifice in order to be effective servants of the Gospel, bearers of the Kingdom to our world?
READER: For listening to other wisdoms
rather than live by the challenging wisdom of the Gospel
LORD HAVE MERCY…
When we are prepared to sacrifice much for our ambitions,
but little for our faith or the mission of the Gospel
LORD HAVE MERCY…
Because Christ gave everything, even life itself,
to gain us for His Father, and to give us New Life
LORD HAVE MERCY…
PRIEST: May the God of Wisdom pardon us,
may Jesus who sacrificed himself for us be ever merciful,
may the Spirit fill us with the peace of forgiveness,
and bring us and all creation to the rich treasure of everlasting life
AMEN!
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
That the People of God might always seek Christ and live by His Wisdom which alone can give life: we pray especially for the Holy Spirit to guide Pope Francis and the Church’s Global Synod – may the voices and experience of the whole People of God be allowed to reform and renew the Church, to be fit for our 21st Century Mission
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Teach us Your Wisdom…
The Spirit and Wisdom of God also seeks to draw us into unity: that the diverse peoples of our own nation, with all the challenges of our Post-Christian and secular society, might work for a new unity of global co-operation in the light of the crisis of Global warming: we pray also for the people of Yemen that their terrible suffering and for an end to war in conflict in Ukraine, Sudan and Cameroon and the birth of peace built on justice
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Teach us Your Wisdom…
For all scholars and scientists, for teachers and researchers, that their work with help all search for and find the wisdom to build a more just and humane world – a world of equality and a healed planet sustaining future generations
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Teach us Your Wisdom…
For our parish community that we might more readily cast the dragnet of Mission into the depths of the Inner City and draw many to New Life in Christ … that we might place the Mission of the Gospel at the centre of our vision as a parish family: we pray especially for our ‘St Nicholas Bread’ Food Bank and our Borderlands Charity and all whom we serve
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Teach us Your Wisdom…
We give thanks and pray for all grandparents and the elderly of our parish family and our nation – may their wisdom and experience be listened to and valued: may they know they are cherished and cared for by our community
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Teach us Your Wisdom…
That God might bring everything to the good for those who suffer most … that the sick might strengthened and healed: …
for those who have died recently, in particular …., all the victims the wars and conflicts conflicts that are wounding our world;
and for all whose anniversaries are at this time:
[READER] LORD WE PRAY…
[Response] Teach us Your Wisdom…
Mary, seat of Wisdom who shares the Treasure of Christ with us, pray with us for our world…
HAIL MARY…
Let us pray in a moment of silence …