St Benedict's, St Mary's and St Oswald's Warrington

Weekdays of Christmas Time

December 30th, 2023 by Dave Heywood

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (B) – 8 January 2024

Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the last day of Christmas.

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
who, when Christ had been baptised in the River Jordan
and as the Holy Spirit descended upon him,
solemnly declared him your beloved Son,
grant that your children by adoption,
reborn of water and the Holy Spirit,
may always be well pleasing to you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Gospel (Mark 1: 7-11)

In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said: ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’

It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John. No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord – 6/7 January 2024

Mass sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Epiphany) 2024

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Epiphany) 2024

Reflection on the Readings: christmastide-2023-24-to-read-online

Friday 5 January 2024

Prayer Thought

“If our hearts and minds struggle to engage in prayer, we can always still pray with our bodies. Physical gestures and postures like making the sign of the cross, kneeling, raising our hands, joining hands, genuflection, prostration are prayer. We should never underestimate the importance of these bodily gestures. Simply put, when we can’t pray in any other way, we can still pray through our bodies!”

Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Thursday 4 January 2024

Wednesday 3 January 2024

Tuesday 2 January 2024 – St Basil the Great & St Gregory Nazianzen

“Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because He cannot be at home in it, because He is out of place in it, and yet must be in it, His place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied status as persons, who are tortured, bombed, and exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in the world.”

Thomas Merton in an essay titled “Time of the End is the Time of No Room”

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God – 1 January 2024

Mass sheet we will be using in church:

Solemnity of Mary Mother of God Sheet 2024

Feast of the Holy Family (B) – 31 December 2023

Mass sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Holy Family B) 2023

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Holy Family B) 2023

Reflection on the Readings: christmastide-2023-24-to-read-online

Pastoral Letter: Pastoral Letter Holy Family 2023

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

Octave of the Nativity of the Lord

December 26th, 2023 by Dave Heywood

Thursday 28 December 2022 – Feast of the Holy Innocents

Matthew 2: 13-18

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt.

Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

Wednesday 27 December 2023 – Feast of St John, Apostle & Evangelist

The blanket bombing of civilian populations must end!

Excerpt from the Homily given by the Bishop of Elphin, the Most Reverend Kevin Doran, for Christmas 2023:

“The prophet Isaiah, who (let it be said), was a pre-Christian, Jewish prophet, speaks very graphically of what happens when human relationships break down; “the rod of the oppressor”, the “footgear of battle”, the “cloak rolled in blood”. These are images which, unfortunately, are just as real and relevant today as they were in the time of Isaiah, except that we can now add “rockets, drones, missiles and high-powered rifles”. The promised child was born but the hope he brings has yet to be realised because, somehow, we have continuously failed to understand the meaning of his birth. We have not understood that we can never take peace for granted; that, like God, we must always be ready to make the first move.

“It is not always that easy to know what our first move should be. What does the Holy Spirit prompt us to do? This is something that we need to bring to prayer. It seems to me that present war in Gaza calls for a very clear response from Christians. Without denying to the State of Israel the right to actively defend its people and its territory, I think it has to be said very clearly that the blanket bombing of civilian populations and the destruction of everything that is necessary to sustain life simply cannot be justified. It must end and it must end immediately. This is a message which we can all communicate respectfully to those who need to hear it.”

For full text of homily: Bishop Doran: ‘the blanket bombing of civilian populations … must end and it must end immediately’ | ICN (indcatholicnews.com)

Tuesday 26 December 2023 – Feast of St Stephen, First Martyr

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord

December 24th, 2023 by Dave Heywood

CHRISTMAS EVE & CHRISTMAS DAY 2023

A very happy Christmas to you all!

CHRISTMAS EVE
6.00 pm Christmas Vigil Mass at St Oswald’s
Mass Sheet: Christmas Vigil Mass Sheet 2023

11.30 pm Christmas Midnight Mass at St Benedict’s
Mass Sheet: Christmas Midnight Mass Sheet 2023

CHRISTMAS DAY
8.30 am Christmas Dawn Mass at St Oswald’s
Mass Sheet: Christmas Dawn Mass Sheet 2023

10.30 am Christmas Day Mass at St Benedict’s
Mass Sheet: Christmas Day Mass Sheet 2023

Christmas Eve
BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge, at 3.00 pm (repeated on BBC Radio 3 on Christmas Day at 1.00 pm).
BBC Radio 4 will also be broadcasting Midnight Mass from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral at 11.30 pm.

Christmas Day
Mass will be livestreamed at 11.00 am from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral on YouTube:

Monday 25 December 2023, Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord – Christmas Day – YouTube

Some funnies…

God bless,
Fr Dave

4th Week of Advent

December 23rd, 2023 by Dave Heywood

4th Sunday of Advent (B) – 23 December 2023

Mass Sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Advent 4B) 2023

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Advent 4B) 2023

Reflection on the Readings: prego-advent-4-year-b-2023

Prayers for Peace: Prayers for Peace

Helping the People of the Holy Land: Israeli-Palestinian Crisis

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

3rd Week of Advent

December 16th, 2023 by Dave Heywood

Saturday 23 December 2023

Christmas Eve
6.00 pm Christmas Vigil Mass at St Oswald’s
11.30 pm Christmas Midnight Mass at St Benedict’s

Christmas Day
8.30 am Christmas Dawn Mass at St Oswald’s
10.30 am Christmas Day Mass at St Benedict’s

Friday 22 December 2023

Thursday 21 December 2023

We are loved by an unending love.

We are embraced by arms that find us
even when we are hidden from ourselves.
We are touched by fingers that soothe us
even when we are too proud for soothing.
We are counseled by voices that guide us
even when we are too embittered to hear.
We are loved by an unending love.

We are supported by hands that uplift us
even in the midst of a fall.
We are urged on by eyes that meet us
even when we are too weak for meeting.
We are loved by an unending love.

Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled,
Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices;
Ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles;
We are loved by an unending love.

Rami M. Shapiro (b. 1951)

Wednesday 20 December 2023

For the inhabitants of the Holy Land, a Christmas of pain and mourning looms. We do not want to leave them alone. May we stand by them in prayer and tangible aid. The suffering of Bethlehem is an open wound for the Middle East and the entire world.

Let us pray together before the Nativity scene for children who will experience a difficult Christmas in places where there is war, in refugee camps, in situations of profound misery.

Pope Francis

Tuesday 19 December 2023

Advent Penance Service

Service of Reconciliation this evening at 7.30 pm in St Oswald’s. All welcome.

God of power and mercy,
open our hearts in welcome.
Remove the things that hinder us
from receiving Christ with joy,
so that we may share his wisdom
and become one with him when he comes in glory.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Monday 18 December 2023

In the times when we find it hard to pray.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we are too occupied by busyness.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we stop working for the Kingdom.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we find it hard to forgive.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we lack compassion towards our neighbours.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we want only to think of ourselves.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we do not want to get involved in social issues.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we want to have more material possessions.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we put off living as if this day is the last.
Come, Lord Jesus!

In the times when we fail to long for you.
Come, Lord Jesus!

STOP PRESS

Killings at Holy Family Catholic Church, Gaza:

rcdow.org.uk-Cardinal expresses horror at killings in Holy Family Church compound

3rd Sunday of Advent – 17 December 2023

Mass Sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Advent 3B) 2023

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Advent 3B) 2023

Reflection on the Readings: prego-advent-3-year-b-2023-1

Prayers for Peace: Prayers for Peace

Helping the People of the Holy Land: Israeli-Palestinian Crisis

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

2nd Week of Advent

December 9th, 2023 by Dave Heywood

Friday 15 December 2023

Prayer for Peace in the Holy Land

O God of all
Of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael:
Our hearts are broken in pieces at the suffering and murder of your people.
Our voices cry for peace and for justice.

Comfort those who grieve,
Console and heal the injured,
Be close to those in fear,
Restrain with your mighty hand those who perpetrate violence.

Send us your wisdom in all that we say and do,
That our voice may always seek justice, peace and security for all.
Amen.

(Churches Together in Britain & Ireland)

Thursday 14 December 2023 – St John of the Cross

“In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human success, but rather on how much we have loved.”

“In the inner stillness where meditation leads, the Spirit secretly anoints the soul and heals our deepest wounds.”

“Silence is God’s first language.”

“However softly we speak, God is so close to us that he can hear us; nor do we need wings to go in search of him, but merely to seek solitude and contemplate him within ourselves, without being surprised to find such a good Guest there.”

St John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Wednesday 13 December 2023 – St Lucy

Tuesday 12 December 2023

Hear Angels Cry

There won’t be a Christmas tree or traditional festivities in the place of Christ’s birth this year because of the thousands killed in the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Instead, the focus in the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square in Bethlehem will be on praying for peace.

Amidst the rubble and ruins, a poignant voice rises to declare that the light of hope will persist in the small West Bank town where the Christmas story unfolded.

Youstina Safar, a resident of Bethlehem and a student at Bethlehem University, has collaborated with the London-based band, Ooberfuse, to deliver a powerful message through their Christmas song, “Hear Angels Cry”. The song resonates with the belief that hope for a better future, born in the hearts of humanity, remains resilient in the face of aggression.

Pope Francis, has not only heard about the song, but has sent a message to Cardinal Vincent Nichols commending it for drawing attention to the Holy Land. The Pope wrote that his hope was that the song “will inspire many people this Christmas to pray for a new flourishing of fraternal solidarity, reconciliation and peace in the Holy Land.”

Singer, Youstina Safar, hopes “Hear Angels Cry” will provide a shard of light in the darkness: “In the midst of despair, our song Hear Angels Cry stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of hope in Bethlehem.”

Cherrie Anderson, from the band Ooberfuse, remarks: “The dimming lights in Manger Square honour those who tragically lost their lives in the Holy Land. Hear Angels Cry embodies Jesus’ message of love, prevailing even in the face of hopelessness. All proceeds from the song will directly benefit those suffering in Gaza, particularly the children reconstructing the fragments of their lives.”

Proceeds from the song will go to Friends of the Holy Land, a UK charity which is also registered in Palestine. Through its office in Bethlehem, it is well-placed to get urgent, personalised aid to the families most in need in Gaza and the West Bank, and will make sure the most in need are helped quickly by the proceeds from the song.

Watch on Youtube now: https://bit.ly/418x6lF

Friends of the Holy Land (FHL): www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/

Monday 11 December 2023

“Love makes us happy not only in heaven but also here on earth. If we want to be truly happy, then let us learn to transform everything into love, offering to others our work and our time, speaking kindly words and doing good deeds. We can all do it!”

Pope Francis, 11 December 2023

2nd Sunday of Advent – 10 December 2023

Mass Sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Advent 2B) 2023

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Advent 2B) 2023

Reflection on the Readings: prego-sunday-advent-2-year-b-2023

Prayers for Peace: Prayers for Peace

Helping the People of the Holy Land: Israeli-Palestinian Crisis

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

1st Week of Advent

December 2nd, 2023 by Dave Heywood

Friday 8 December 2023 – The Immaculate Conception of Mary

Thursday 7 December 2023

click to enlarge

Wednesday 6 December 2023

A beautiful service from York Minster to begin the season of Advent:

Live: Advent Procession broadcast from York Minster – YouTube

Order of Service: Advent-Procession-2023

Tuesday 5 December 2023 – St John Almond

Monday 4 December 2023

An Advent Prayer

Loving God,
as your light grows in the dark of winter,
bring its strength and its hope to the people of the Holy Land
and to all people who suffer through war and conflict.
Just as you sent the star of Bethlehem to lead the way to your Son,
guide all people – leaders and citizens – to follow your ways of peace and justice.
As we remember the difficult journey of Mary and Joseph,
may the Holy Family be a source of courage for each of us,
helping us to reach out in friendship to the oppressed and displaced of this world.
Help us to see in the Christ-child we welcome this Christmas,
the one who came to bring an end to all divisions.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

(From the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, Ireland)

1st Sunday of Advent – 3 December 2023