Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

June 25th, 2022 by Dave Heywood

Friday 1 July 2022

Warrington Walking Day

8.30 am Mass in church

9.15 am Banner & Statue Bearers arrive

9.30 am Line up outside St Benedict’s Church

9.50 am (approx) Procession leaves

Pictures for the last Walking Day 2019

 

Thursday 30 June 2022

Animals and Humans

(click on text to enlarge)

 

Wednesday 29 June 2022

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Apostles, Peter and Paul.  There will be three Masses in the parish:

9.15 am School Mass (in church) at St Oswald’s
11.00 am Mass at St Benedict’s
7.00 pm Mass at St Oswald’s

Mass sheet we will be using in church:    SS Peter & Paul Mass Sheet 2022

 

Tuesday 28 June 2022

Synod National Synthesis released

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has been following the Synodal Process called by Pope Francis, reflecting on the theme “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, mission” and has now reached an important moment.  Since October 2021, the dioceses, national organisations and religious communities have been engaged in listening conversations on the central themes, exploring the way the Church embraces more fully her missionary mandate in the world of today.

The diocesan and national organisational reports were submitted to the Bishops’ Conference just before Holy Week this year, and since then, the National Synthesis Team has been working on producing the “National Synthesis” – reflecting on the reports received, discerning the main themes that have emerged from the listening conversations, and collating them together to give a picture of the synodal process in England and Wales.

You can read the document here:    synod-national-synthesis-england-wales

This week, the Bishops of England and Wales will gather to discern their response to this National Synthesis.  Their work, together with the synthesis document will be sent to the Synod Office in Rome as the formal submission to the Synod from England and Wales.  Along with reports from all the other conferences in the world, the Synod office will be reviewed to create the first Instrumentum Laboris, which the Synod Office is calling the “Document for the Continental Stage.”

 

Monday 27 June 2022

The Tenth World Meeting of Families concluded in Rome yesterday.

The event began with an International Theological-Pastoral Congress and concluded with a vigil and a Festival of Families along with a great final Eucharistic celebration.  You can relive the event online here:

World Meeting of Families 2022 Rome – #WMOF22 (romefamily2022.com)

 

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) – 26 June 2022

 

 

Mass Sheet we will be using in church:    Mass Sheet (Sunday 13C)

Bidding Prayers:    Bidding Prayers (Sunday 13C)

Reflection on the Readings:   prego-sunday-13-otc-2022

 

CAFOD’s Prayer for Ukraine

Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.

Amen.

 

Some Funnies

 

 

 

 

God bless,
Fr Dave

---

Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

June 18th, 2022 by Dave Heywood

Friday 24 June 2022

Wise words from Raymond Friel on his Twitter:

“Those who are loved at home, go to school to learn.
Those who are not, go to school to be loved,
but often ask for love in the least loving way.
Since I heard a wise and wonderful headteacher say this
it has always stayed with me.”

 

Thursday 23 June 2022

Every Wednesday, Pope Francis holds a General Audience.  In recent weeks, he has been offering a catechesis on old age.  Yesterday, he reflected on what the apostles, Peter and John, can teach us about old age.  You can read what he shared here:

General Audience, 22 June 2022, Old Age 15

 

Wednesday 22 June 2022

Archdiocesan Synod – one year on

Update from Fr Philip Inch:

Synod – One year on – YouTube

 

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Feeling overwhelmed?  Put off by too much to do?

Cut tasks down into small manageable tasks…

 

Monday 20 June 2022

“We can evaluate our Eucharistic adoration according to how we take care of our neighbour like Jesus does.  People hunger for food, but also for companionship, consolation, friendship, good humour, attention.”

Pope Francis at the Angelus, 19 June 2022

 

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (C) – 19 June 2022

Mass Sheet we will be using in church:    Mass Sheet (Corpus Christi C)

Bidding Prayers:    Bidding Prayers Corpus Christi 2022

Reflection on the Readings:   prego-corpus-christi-year-c-2022

 

CAFOD’s Prayer for Ukraine

Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.

Amen.

 

Some Funnies

 

 

 

God bless,
Fr Dave

---

Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

June 11th, 2022 by Dave Heywood

Friday 17 June 2022

Thinking about the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday, a thought from Pope Francis:

“Jesus speaks in silence in the Mystery of the Eucharist. He reminds us every time that following him means going out of ourselves and not making our life a possession of our own, but rather a gift to him and to others” (16 June 2022).

 

Thursday 16 June 2022

A Day of Shame

On Tuesday, the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Brian McGee, wrote:

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Today is a shameful day when Britain deports asylum seekers to Rwanda. These people have fled violence, hunger, and poverty and only want to make a fresh start in life. Being young and determined, they have much to offer our country. Nevertheless, they will be cruelly deported today!

In my house hangs a photograph taken over twenty years ago of myself and my mum outside a house in County Donegal. From that house, my dad, as a five-year-old, was evicted. Soon afterwards he and his family sailed on the Derry ‘Cattle Boat’ to start a new life in Greenock, where he continued to know poverty but also encountered racism and sectarianism. Nevertheless, Scotland did provide fresh opportunities and, allied with their hard graft, their lives improved but, in the process, they also contributed to their new country.

My history is no different from that of most Scottish Catholics, for most of us descend from immigrants. Very few of them would have passed today’s stringent Home Office tests! It is hypocrisy to deny others the opportunity afforded to us. What would our forebears think of us? To close our eyes to the desperate and the poor is to deny the Christ we profess to love.

May the Holy Family, who were themselves forced to seek asylum in Africa, move our hearts to discern that we are all brothers and sisters.

+Brian

 

Wednesday 15 June 2022

Asylum seekers’ dignity must be protected and upheld

Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Migration Issues of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, issued the following statement yesterday:

“The UK’s plans to forcibly deport to Rwanda some of those seeking refuge in our country is shamefully illustrative of what Pope Francis has called the ‘loss of that sense of responsibility for our brothers and sisters on which every civil society is based’.

The plan is presented as a humanitarian response to combat people trafficking and smuggling yet the result will compound the suffering of those who are already victims. Crime is defeated by confronting the perpetrators not by punishing victims. This scheme will increase the difficulties of those hoping for a new beginning, and it does nothing to address the problems which cause people to flee their homes.

Migration is a complex issue, but it is not resolved by delegating our roles and responsibilities to other countries. Our starting point should be the innate dignity of every person, created in the image and likeness of God. Our Christian faith demands that we respond generously to asylum seekers whose dignity must be protected and upheld.

Whether or not the flight to Rwanda takes off today we are now in a new situation. With greater force we insist that asylum seekers are not commodities for profit, nor are they problems to be rejected and deported by government. Instead, we should be guided by the four verbs provided by Pope Francis in our approach to migrants and refugees: ‘Welcome, protect, promote and integrate’.”

Source: Catholic Bishops Conference of England & Wales

 

Tuesday 14 June 2022

Golden Jubilee of Bishop Tom Williams

On Friday 27 May, Bishop Tom Williams celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.  Bishop Tom was ordained in the Metropolitan Cathedral in 1972 by Archbishop George Andrew Beck and was ordained as titular Bishop of Mageo and Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool on 27 May 2003 again in the Cathedral by Archbishop Patrick Kelly.

Bishop Tom reflects on 50 years of priesthood with Peter Heneghan:

 

 

Monday 13 June 2022

Ruby Jubilee of Bishop Tom Neylon

On Tuesday 31 May, Bishop Tom Neylon celebrated the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.  He was ordained by Pope St John Paul II at Mass in Heaton Park, Manchester, during the Papal Visit in 1982.  He was ordained as Titular Bishop of Plestia and Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP on 3 September 2021 in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Bishop Tom reflects on his 40 years of priesthood with Lizzie Horridge:

 

 

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (C) – 12 June 2022

Mass Sheet we will be using in church:    Mass Sheet (Trinity Sunday C)

Bidding Prayers:    Bidding Prayers (Trinity C)

Reflection on the Readings:   prego-trinity-sunday-year-c-2022

 

CAFOD’s Prayer for Ukraine

Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.

Amen.

 

Some Funnies

 

 

God bless,
Fr Dave

---

Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

June 4th, 2022 by Dave Heywood

Friday 10 June 2022

Pope Frances on Vaccines for All

“I add my voice to that of the Pan-American and Pan-African Committees of Judges for Social Rights in calling on the World Trade Organization to adopt measures to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines for all, especially the peoples of Africa.  Equitable access to safe and effective vaccines is fundamental to saving lives and livelihoods.  Africa must not be left behind.  No one is safe until everyone is safe” (10 June 2022).

 

Thursday 9 June 2022

Vacancies in the Archdiocese

Governance Officer:    Governance Officer

Retreat Coordinator:    Retreat Coordinator

 

Wednesday 8 June 2022

 

Tuesday 7 June 2022

The Queen’s Letter to the Nation

 

Monday 6 June 2022

If you didn’t get to see Paddington Bear visit the Queen on Saturday evening during the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace, you can watch it here:

🥪 👜 Ma’amalade sandwich Your Majesty? – YouTube

 

Pentecost Sunday (C) – 5 June 2022

Mass Sheet we will be using in church:    Platinum Jubilee Mass Sheet (website)

Reflection on the Readings:   prego-pentecost-year-c-2022

“The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light… The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console.”

St Cyril of Jerusalem

 

Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Today, we join churches all over the country in praying for the Queen as she marks her Platinum Jubilee.  We give thanks for her wise leadership, her devoted and selfless service to the people of our country and the Commonwealth nations, for her deep faith and for her example.  There will also be a Jubilee Lunch in St Benedict’s Parish Centre from 12.00 noon.  This will be the first time we’ve been able to have a parish social occasion since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Almighty God, we pray,
that your servant Elizabeth, our Queen,
who, by your providence
has received the governance of this realm,
may continue to grow in every virtue,
that, imbued with your heavenly grace,
she may be preserved
from all that is harmful and evil
and, being blessed with your favour
may, with the royal family,
come at last into your presence,
through Christ who is the way,
the truth and the life
and who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

 

Some Funnies

 

 

 

God bless,
Fr Dave

---