HOPE IN THE FUTURE
From 5th January next year we will be including the Hope in the Future Prayer at the end of each Mass. The prayer embodies our mission as a parish. In the Diocese of Salford the ‘Hope in the Future’ programme was launched by Bishop Arnold in October 2017 and in his forward he reminds us of its objectives
“Pope Francis urges us to be aware of the poverty, isolation, marginalisation and needs of people around us and to bring the practical care of the Gospel to them. In order to do that effectively we must always be strengthening our own communities with a worthy celebration of the Sacraments, a life of prayer, an effective and engaging catechesis of the faith for the young and those who may feel drawn to our Church.”
For those who missed the launch of hope in the future there is an excellent video clip on the Salford website
In the parish of Our Lady of the Valley we launched the first stage of Hope in the Future ‘Celebrating our Parish’ by exploring and recognising the strengths and the weaknesses of the parish in a series of meetings held in Clitheroe, Sabden and Dunsop Bridge. The second stage ‘Harvesting our Talents’ started in October 2018 and involved many parishioners volunteering to assist.
The next step on our journey is to ‘Live the Eucharist’ and will provide an emphasis on how we can build on the celebration of Eucharist to ensure that our parish is mission orientated through our welcome, our liturgy and our hospitality.
The Hope in the Future Prayer will be said at the end of the bidding prayers at each Mass and will remind us of how central the missionary parish is to Our Lady of the Valley parish.
