CARITAS SUNDAY

Caritas is the Latin word for Christian love and from which the word charity derives.  As the official catholic charity of our Diocese, Caritas Diocese of Salford runs 21 services and centres covering helping the homeless; alleviating poverty; assisting those suffering from benefit sanctions; raising awareness of human trafficking; welcoming the stranger; visiting the elderly and housebound; campaigning for justice; raising awareness in our schools; housing needs; and supporting single mothers and babies.

A particularly important aspect of Caritas’ work this year will be responding to the Refugee crisis.  Bishop John has written: “In view of the continued Refugee Crisis and Pope Francis’ call to ‘Welcome the Stranger’, the Refugee Response will continue to be main focus of awareness raising and fundraising for Caritas for this year.”

Caritas Diocese of Salford has received terrific local response from individuals and groups of people who have come together from individual churches, ecumenical and multi-faith groups to help with the Refugee Crisis.  With the help of volunteers and learning from professionals, Caritas has set up Refugee and Asylum Drop-In Centres to provide casework support, English lessons, and a welcome face.

      Caritas is pioneering a Community Sponsorship Programme, following a Canadian model, where a community group welcomes a refugee family; from meeting them at the airport, to finding local accommodation, helping with schools, medical registration and providing friendship.

Caritas also offers emergency accommodation to those who find themselves destitute, and individual supporters have campaigned for individual asylum seekers and even housing them in their own homes!

Our parish has worked with Caritas and Revive, a Catholic charity in Manchester, to arrange days out in the countryside, and are piloting the Refugee ‘Come Dine with Me’ project for the diocese.

We should also acknowledge the valuable work done in our parish by the SVP group whose work dovetails with that of Caritas.

There are now 70 Caritas Representatives across the Diocese; volunteers in our parishes who promote both awareness of the charity and encourage support of its work.

If you are interested to get involved in social action with Refugees or to help others in need, then please speak to our parish’s Caritas Representative, Anthony Brown at: abrown.boggarts@googlemail.com or ( 01200 422811 or contact Caritas directly on ( 0161 817 2270 or www.caritassalford.org.uk.

Of today’s retiring collection for Caritas’ Refugee Response, Bishop John appeals: “I warmly invite you to take up the opportunities Caritas Sunday offers for prayers, action and donations.”

Pause for Hope—a prayer initiative against cancer

 I am sure that practically all of us have been affected by cancer, whether it be a close relative, friend or acquaintance, or perhaps even yourself.

Professor Ray Donnelly MBE is a retired surgeon who in 1990 founded a cancer charity which became the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation of which he is the current President. In 1999 he brought together many of the cancer charities in Merseyside for a day of prayer for those affected by cancer entitled “Pause for Hope”. They developed the initiative, the highlight of which is an annual service in one of Liverpool’s two cathedrals.

Pause for Hope works:

• to encourage prayer that the day will quickly come when all cancers can be prevented or cured
• to bring together in prayer those affected by all forms of cancer, their loved ones and carers
• to remember dear ones lost to cancer
• to pray for those with responsibility for providing and allocating resources required in the investigation, treatment and care of patients with cancer
• to help those affected to understand the Christian value of suffering and the great power of the prayers of the sick and those who look after them.
• to help those who don’t have cancer but have a great fear of the disease
• to reach out to those who are at home or in hospital as patients or carers and unable to attend the Pause for Hope services.

This service is open to all dominations and faiths as well as those of little or no religious faith.

I attended this annual service in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.  We were welcomed by Bishop Tom Williams, the auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool, then Monsignor Peter Cookson, who has fought cancer for many years, read his own prayer.

This was followed by prayers and readings by various representatives of different organisations involved with cancer. The prayers were intermixed with hymns and songs by the Birkenhead Operatic Society and a family trio.

I would very much like to have a Pause for Hope event in the Ribble Valley, where everyone could attend and take part and maybe find some solace and comfort.  Would it be possible to form a group in the hope of organising such an event?  If you are interested, please contact me, Carol Riley.  Tel. 01200 426769 or e-mail: cariley.t21@btinternet.com

Summary of Proposals for Deanery of Saint John Southworth:

The following parishes will remain as they are at present:

Saint Peter, Stonyhurst
Saint Mary, Bamber Bridge
Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Gerard Majella, Lostock Hall

The following parishes, already sharing a priest, are proposed for amalgamation:

Sacred Heart, Blackburn and Saint Anne, Blackburn
Saint Alban, Blackburn and Holy Souls, Blackburn [three churches]
Holy Family, Blackburn and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Blackburn
Sacred Heart and Saint Edward, Darwen and Saint Joseph, Darwen
Saint Wilfrid, Longridge and Saints Peter and Paul, Ribchester and Saint Mary, Chipping
Our Lady of the Valley (Clitheroe and Sabden) and Saint Hubert, Dunsop Bridge
Our Lady and Saint Patrick, Walton le Dale and Saint Mary and Saint John, Salmesbury

In addition, the following amalgamations of parishes are proposed:

Saints Mary and John, Pleasington and Saint John Vianney, Blackburn and Saint Peter in Chains, Blackburn [initially with two priests whilst determining which of the church buildings to retain]
English Martyrs, Whalley and Saint Mary, Langho and Saint Mary, Osbaldeston

The following churches are proposed for closure:

One or two of the churches in the new parish of Saints Mary and John, Pleasington (which includes St Paul’s chapel of ease) and Saint John Vianney, Blackburn and Saint Peter in Chains, Blackburn [to be determined during the amalgamation process]

Summary of proposals across the Diocese:

37 parishes remaining as at present
14 amalgamations of parishes already sharing a priest (involving 31 parishes)
32 additional amalgamations (involving 69 parishes)
22 churches closing (or 24 depending on further considerations); 3 of these not currently used
6 situations requiring further consideration (involving 13 parishes)

When all proposals are implemented:

88 or 89 parishes (depending on further considerations) as opposed to 150 at present
161 or 163 churches (depending on further considerations) as opposed to 185 at present

Dear Parishioners,

It was wonderful to see so many children and young families at the 4pm Mass on Christmas Eve. The time certainly suits young families, so this 4pm Childrens mass will be repeated next Christmas.

The following comments are from a priest who works promoting good relations between the Catholic and Jewish communities:

“Another area of common understanding between Jewish and Catholic communities is concern for the created order and the care for the earth, our common home. I have heard many Jewish groups express much gratitude for Pope Francis’ encyclical ‘Laudato si’ (On the Care for our Common Home)

“Pope Francis uses many Biblical texts to explain the essential values on which the encyclical is based. His recurring themes of the dignity of human beings is based on Genesis 1; the origin and connection of humanity to the earth itself is found in Genesis 2; the interconnection and inherent value of all life comes from Psalm 148; the connection of the degradation of the environment to the degradation of the poor are based on the stories of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 as well as other quoted texts. He also uses many of the same laws in the Torah that Jewish environmentalists have been quoting for decades: the laws of the Sabbatical Year and Jubilee from Leviticus 25, the protection of species from Deuteronomy 22:6-7, and the Sabbath imperative to rest, from Exodus 23:12.

“In Laudato si, Pope Francis is focused on climate change’s impact on the poor. His encyclical looks at the moral and spiritual crisis that climate change illustrates: moral, because of its disproportionate impact on the poor, and spiritual because it highlights our disconnection to creation. He makes a deep and thoughtful critique of the modern economy, consumerism, the current concept of progress, and the way in which technology can have a negative impact on the environment if not properly regulated.

“Pope Francis calls for an open and honest discussion among all people to find effective solutions to this growing crisis. Many Jewish communities are seizing this critical moment in the history of our planet to speak out clearly and loudly about our common future on earth that is in jeopardy. Together as Christians and Jews, we must ask: ‘What kind of world do we wish to leave our children?'”

Members of our parish have been exploring this question in our discussions of Laudato si. We meet again a week on Wednesday, 18^th Jan, at 7.30pm in the Presbytery. Why not join us ?

Fr John

A New Year’s Prayer

When the song of the angels has been stilled

when the star has gone from the night sky

when the kings have reached their far shores

when the shepherds have returned to their flocks

then the work of Christmas really begins

to find those who are lost,

to heal those who are broken in spirit

to feed those who are hungry

to release those who are oppressed

to rebuild the nations torn by strife

to bring peace among all peoples

to bring the Light of the Gospel

into the darkest corners of our world

O Lord, as we begin a new year, remind us of our truest

values and our deepest desires. Help us to live in

the goodness that comes from doing what you want

us to do. Help us to put aside anxiety about the

future and the past, so that we might live in peace

 with you now, one day at a time. 

Amen