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

Second Week of Lent

February 24th, 2024 by Dave Heywood

Wednesday 28 February 2024

I knew a hermit who lived by himself for over 35 years. Living alone, his existence was known to few people. Yet, paradoxically, his life was really larger-than-life. He was the most connected man I knew. When he prayed at night, alone, by his own description, he “felt the very heartbeat of the planet, and felt the joys and sufferings of everyone.” That’s the very opposite of an experience we so commonly have when, inside the very buzz of our lives, we feel nothing but our own obsessive restlessness and the smallness of our lives.

Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Tuesday 27 February 2024

Monday 26 February 2024

“Let us pray together for the tormented Ukrainian people and for Palestine, for Israel, and for the many peoples torn apart by war. Let us think of the huge amount of suffering; let us think of the wounded, innocent children.”

Pope Francis, 25 February 2024

2nd Sunday of Lent (B) – 25 February 2024

Mass Sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Lent 2B) 2024

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Lent 2B) 2024

Reflection on the Readings: prego-lent-2-year-b-2024-2024

Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2024

Pope Francis Lent 2024

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

First Week of Lent

February 17th, 2024 by Dave Heywood

Friday 23 February 2024

Funeral Mass for Maureen Knight

Today at 1.45 pm in Our Lady of Walsingham, Netherton.
The link to the livestream is https://vimeo.com/event/4101516/a67b9532fa

CAFOD’s Lent Fast Day

Today is CAFOD’s Lent Fast Day – one of two days in the year when we reach out to poorest of the poor in countries around the world. You can find out more here:

Family Fast Day (cafod.org.uk)

CAFOD’s Fast Day Prayer

Loving God,
when our boat is rocked
by poverty, illness or disaster,
you quiet the waves,
and lead us safely to shore.

When we work hard,
but still go hungry,
you walk beside us,
calling, “cast out your nets”,
there is enough for all.

Lead us, Lord, to play our part
in calming the storm
and sharing your gifts
so all people
may look to the future with hope.
Amen.

Thursday 22 February 2024 – Feast of the Chair of St Peter the Apostle

Yesterday, Parliament’s International Development Committee reported back on conditions in Gaza. Speaking on their return from Al-Arish, Chair of the Committee, Sarah Champion MP, said:

“Nothing that has been reported braces you for the true scale of the horror in Gaza. We’re simply not getting accurate information about the levels of destruction and brutality.

“Listening to seasoned humanitarians tell us that what they’ve witnessed in Gaza makes it the worse disaster they’ve ever seen really brought home the savagery befalling civilians. Aid workers repeatedly questioned why international law wasn’t being followed or upheld in relation to civilians, humanitarians and medics.

“They also expressed a deep feeling of dread and inevitability of Israeli forces carrying out their threat to escalate the assault into Rafah. A senior aid worker described Rafah as water in the bottom of a glass with the pressure getting more and more intense.

“We learned about the lawlessness in Gaza, with Hamas police being killed and civilians getting increasingly desperate. Personally I fear that unless something happens to stabilise the situation, the remaining UN support will withdraw leaving Palestinians utterly alone.

“Politicians around the world need to demand an immediate end to the violence, full access for aid and a long term strategy to rebuild Gaza; both its infrastructure and its society.”

You can read the full report here:

Committee Members report back on conditions in Gaza – Committees – UK Parliament

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Prayer to Our Lady (source unknown)

As my mum’s health deteriorated and she found it difficult to walk, she drew great strength from this beautiful prayer:

Take my hand, O Blessed Mother, hold me firmly lest I fall.
I am nervous when I am walking and to thee, I humbly call.
Guide me over every crossing, watch me when I’m on the stairs,
let me know that you’re beside me, listen to my fervent prayer.
Bring me to my destination, safely every day,
help me with each undertaking as the hours pass away.
And when evening falls upon us and I fear to be alone,
take my hand, O Blessed Mother, once again and lead me home.
Amen.

Tuesday 20 February 2024

Monday 19 February 2024

“We are all wounded. Take those wounds to the Eucharist. Every time you go to a Eucharist, stand by an altar, and receive communion, bring your helplessness and paralysis to God, ask God to touch your body, your heart, your memory, your bitterness, your lack of self-confidence, your self-absorption, your weaknesses, your impotence. Bring your aching body and heart to God. Express your helplessness in simple, humble words: Touch me. Take my wounds. Take my paranoia. Make me whole. Give me forgiveness. Warm my heart. Give me the strength that I cannot give myself.”

Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI

1st Sunday of Lent (B) – 18 February 2024

Mass Sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Lent 1B) 2024

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (Lent 1B) 2024

Reflection on the Readings: prego-lent-1-year-b-2024

Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2024

Pope Francis Lent 2024

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

The Season of Lent

February 13th, 2024 by Dave Heywood

Saturday after Ash Wednesday – 17 February 2024

Friday after Ash Wednesday – 16 February 2024

A beautiful hymn from the Divine Office for Lent:

Creator of the earth and skies,
To whom the words of life belong,
Grant us thy truth to make us wise;
Grant us thy power to make us strong.

Like theirs of old, our life is death,
Our light is darkness, till we see
The eternal Word made flesh and breath,
The God who walked by Galilee.

We have not known thee: to the skies
Our monuments of folly soar,
And all our self-wrought miseries
Have made us trust ourselves the more.

We have not loved thee: far and wide
The wreckage of our hatred spreads,
And evils wrought by human pride
Recoil on unrepentant heads.

For this, our foolish confidence,
Our pride of knowledge and our sin,
We come to thee in penitence;
In us the work of grace begin.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday – 15 February 2024

From Pope Francis’ Homily for Ash Wednesday:

Let us return, brothers and sisters. Let us return to God with all our heart. During these weeks of Lent, let us make space for the prayer of silent adoration, in which we experience the presence of the Lord, like Moses, like Elijah, like Mary, like Jesus.

Have we noticed that we have lost the sense of worship? Let us return to worship. Let us lend the ear of our hearts to the One who, in silence, wants to say to us:

“I am your God – the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care… Do not judge yourself. Do not condemn yourself. Do not reject yourself. Let my love touch the deepest, most hidden corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but will become visible to you again in the light of my mercy.”

Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Day of Fast & Abstinence

Ashes will be blessed and distributed during Mass as follows:

11.00 am Mass at St Benedict’s
7.00 pm Mass at St Oswald’s

Mass sheet we will be using in church: Ash Wednesday Mass Sheet 2024

Prayer sheet for use at home: Ash Wednesday at Home 2024

(Don’t worry if you don’t have any ashes, it’s perfectly okay to use a little soil from the garden instead)

Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

February 10th, 2024 by Dave Heywood

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) – 11 February 2024

Mass Sheet we will be using in church: Mass Sheet (Sunday 6B) 2024

Bidding Prayers: Bidding Prayers (6B) 2024

Reflection on the Readings: prego-sunday-6-otb-2024

World Day of Prayer for the Sick

Message from Pope Francis: World Day for the Sick 2024

Some Funnies

God bless,
Fr Dave

Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

February 3rd, 2024 by Dave Heywood

Wednesday 7 February 2024

“I don’t always find it easy to pray. Often I’m overtired, distracted, caught up in work, short on time, lacking the appetite for prayer, or more strongly drawn to do something else. But I do pray daily because I’m committed to a number of rituals for prayer: the office of the Church, the Eucharist, and daily meditation. These rituals hold me, keep me steady, and keep me praying regularly even when I don’t feel like praying. That’s the power of ritual.”

Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Monday 5 February 2024 – St Agatha