Latest Parish News

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Tea and chat – online!

Tomorrow is our usual first Wednesday of the month tea and chat and it will take place via Zoom – a very easy to use online tool.  If you would like to join us online tomorrow between 10.00 and 11.00 am, please email the parish office before 9.30am tomorrow morning and Nicola will send you the link.  Click here to email the parish.

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Prayer of an Italian Priest

I’m staying at home, Lord!

Prayer of an Italian priest in quarantine whose brother priest died from covid-19

I’m staying at home, Lord! And today, I realize,
you taught me that, remaining obedient to the Father, for thirty years in the house of Nazareth,
awaiting the great mission.

I’m staying at home, Lord, and in Joseph’s workshop, your guardian and mine,
I learn to work, to obey, to round the corners of my life
and prepare a work of art for you.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I know that I’m not alone because Mary, like any mother,
is in the next room, doing chores and preparing lunch
for all of us, God’s family.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I do it responsibly for my own good,
for the health of my city, of my loved ones, and for the good of my brother, whom you put beside me,
asking me to take care of in the garden of life.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the silence of Nazareth, I commit myself to pray, read, study, meditate,
be useful for small jobs, in order to make our house more beautiful and more welcoming.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the morning, I thank you for the new day that you give me,
trying not to spoil it and to welcome it with wonder, as a gift and a surprise from Easter.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And at noon, I will receive the greeting from the angel, I will make myself useful for love,
in communion with you who made yourself flesh to live among us;
and, tired by the journey, thirsty, I will meet you at Jacob’s well, and thirsty for love on the Cross.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And if the evening takes me melancholy, I will invoke you like the disciples of Emmaus:
stay with us, the evening has arrived and the sun is setting.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the night, in prayer communion with the many sick people, the people alone and all the caregivers, I will wait for dawn to sing your mercy again and tell everyone that in the storms you were my refuge.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I don’t feel lonely and abandoned, because you told me:
I am with you every day. yes, and especially in these days of confusion, O Lord, in which,
if my presence is not necessary, I will reach everyone, only with the wings of prayer.

Amen

 

(Disclaimer from Fr Ed: it is not only mothers who do chores and prepare meals!)

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Children’s Liturgy online – 29 March 2020

5th Sunday of Lent — Year A

Today’s story from the Gospel is all about L I F E — about how God gives us life and about how Jesus gives us hope and love to live.

Watch the video of today’s Gospel story:

 

What do you remember about today’s Gospel story?

Jesus hears that his friend Lazarus who lives in Bethany is sick. Sadly, by the time Jesus gets there Lazarus is dead and has been buried for four days.

Jesus goes to the tomb and asks them to roll away the stone which was blocking the entrance. He tells Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Lazarus walks out, covered in the cloths that he was buried in.

How do you think Mary, Martha and the other people there feel when they see Lazarus walking out of the tomb? Why do you think Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead? 

Look 200329Unfortunately sometimes, just like Lazarus in today’s gospel, people do get sick. When this happens they go to the hospital where doctors and nurses work hard to care for them and try to make them better.

We are hearing a lot about people being sick and the coronavirus in the news at the moment. It can be really worrying. Lots of things have had to change, and that can make us feel sad, especially if we miss our friends and family who we can’t meet up with at the moment.

Jesus knows how we feel. He felt very sad and cried for his friend Lazarus who he loved.

We are all doing what we can to keep ourselves and other people fit and well. We are very grateful for all the doctors, nurses and everyone who is working so hard to care for those who are in need.

One example is Sister Consilia, a pharmacist in Zimbabwe. When she was young she was really ill with a disease called malaria. She had to walk for four hours to get the treatment she needed. That’s a long way to walk for help when you’re feeling poorly.

Now she helps other people to get the medicine and help that they need when they are ill. She says, “Through treating and caring for them, I try to show them the love that Christ shows us.”

God gives life to us all. God created us and wants every single one of us to live a happy life, with all the things that we need to grow and be the best people we can be. And Jesus came to show us how to live, how to treat others. How does Jesus ask us to treat others?

[Text adapted from the Children’s Liturgy resources provided by CAFOD]

Downloadable worksheets: