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| Robert Prevost: Pope Leo XIV |
In his opening address, before he gave the people in St Peter's Square and people throughout the world, he reminded us of the words of the risen Lord,
Peace be with you
and spoke of peace throughout the whole earth and encouraged us all to build bridges and work together for peace.
Please pray for Pope Leo XIV
During his pontificate Pope Francis has invited us to pray for those in need around the world, whilst all his prayer intentions for the year were published the usual monthly video for May is of course not available. However instead a short video reminding us all of those prayer intentions throughout the years has been prepared with those recipients thanking Pope Francis for his prayers and encouragement to us all to pray for ...
And whilst we await and pray for the Cardinals who will discern who will be our new Pope we remember Pope Francis' prayer plan to pray for working conditions
Let us pray that through work, each person might find fulfillment, families might be sustained in dignity, and that society might be humanized. Amen
Our Holy Father Pope Francis passed away on Monday morning. After leading the Church as the 266th successor of St Peter for 12 years he has gone to his eternal reward.
As a parish we keep him in our prayers, and pray also for those cardinals who have the solemn duty of choosing the new pope. Books of condolence are available at the back of the Cathedral to sign.
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| Book of Condolence |
This is located next to the statue of St Peter holding the keys and is a replica of one in Rome. A reminder of the first Pope and link of continuity with Pope Francis who was the 266th Pope.
The Bishop will celebrate a requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the Holy Father on Monday at 7pm in the Cathedral. Please make a special effort to be there to show our love and esteem
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| St Peter's Key's |
From a previous Easter Octave post: The peaceful Beauty of Lancaster Cathedral created by a parishioner.
We pray for the repose of the soul and give thanks for the life of Pope Francis who has died today Easter Monday, aged 88. The Vatican News item.announced:
"Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God."
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, from the Casa Santa Marta, Monday 21st April at 9.45am
_FXD.jpg/500px-Portrait_of_Pope_Francis_(2021)_FXD.jpg "Pope Francis") |
| Pope Francis |
“Let us pray that the use of the new technologies will not replace human relationships, will respect the dignity of the person, and will help us face the crises of our times.” Pope Francis
“Forgiveness means giving another chance. God does this with us all the time.”
This month Pope Francis shares his story and calling to the priesthood. He invites us to trust in young people and the Holy Spirit at work in their lives. and asks us to create spaces in our communities to support their dreams, doubts, and discernment journeys.
The Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for January : Let us pray for migrants, refugees and those affected by war, that their right to an education, which is necessary to build a better world, might always be respected.
As the bishop announced in his letter last weekend Pope Francis will open a Holy Year for the entire Catholic Church in 2025. These special years of grace take place every 25 years and are an opportunity for spiritual renewal for the entire Catholic people.
The theme of this Holy Year will be ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. The focus of a Holy Year is the pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles SS Peter and Paul in Rome.
This pilgrimage has special indulgences attached and is a chance to return to the sources of our faith in the early Church. However, the Holy Father wishes this to be celebrated across the Church as well. As such, he has asked that this Holy Year be opened solemnly in every Catholic cathedral in the world on 29th December this year. The Bishop will celebrate the 10.30 Mass that day in our cathedral to inaugurate the Holy Year for our diocese. The Pope has asked that this Mass be preceded by a special procession, and contain particular ceremonies to explain its significance.
More details will follow about how the Bishop has planned to celebrate this year in our diocese.
Pope Francis says:
“Every vocation,” he reminds us, “is like a ‘diamond in the rough’ that needs to be polished,” through a journey of ongoing growth. For “formation does not end at a certain moment, but continues throughout life.” ... – the importance of communitarian life, prayer, dedication to bearing witness to the Gospel, closeness to the lives of others. All these things are learned through an integral formation that begins “in the seminary and the novitiate, in direct contact with the lives of other people.” The Pope Video Project
We pray for vocations and for all those who are exploring their vocation to be a priest, religious sister or brother or a deacon.
For further information from the National Office for Vocations National Office for Vocations whose mission is 'helping people to hear God's call. And of course people should also feel encouraged to talk to our own priests Fr John and Fr Matthew.
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| Screen shot of National Office for Vocation websiteNational Office for Vocation website covering all vocations, single, married, ordained, religious and consecrated |
The Pope's message for April focuses on the role of women. Pope Frances says:
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| Pope Francis offering special blessing to women |
This is a privilege of women alone! ... I think of all women: I thank the for their commitment to building a more humane society, through their ability to grasp reality with a creative eye and a tender heart. Pope Francis
We are blessed with so many gifted and talented women who either belong to the parish or like me engage in activities offered by the parish. Women often follow in the footsteps of many recognised and unrecognised Women Saints. You are invites to send a pledge or perhaps a sentence about someone you would like to remember in your life or your favourite female saint. (NB If its your mum or a relative please add at least their first name, and relationship and email to catechist @ lancastercathedral.org.uk).
To start us off and help celebrate and remember important women in people's lives including women saints, women involved in the online prayer activities and catechesis within the parish have shared important women or sent a pledge for what they will do to mark this day. Because the whole of March is dedicated to Women's History month if any readers want to send things to share about women who have inspired them or championed others have things.
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| Diane's pledge for International Women's Day |
One of my favourites Saints is St Teresa of Ávila. She was a proper natural Castillian character: people that call to the bread, bread, and to the wine, wine. Never afraid of calling things by their names, meaning clear and honest, straight to the point. Always with her feet on earth, and at the same time in an amazing relationship with God. A wonderful example of woman, and Christian for me.
St Teresa of Avila Prayer Let nothing disturb you
Kathryn one of our meditators shares memories of her Grannie Vera.
I would like to remember my Grannie Vera, who, although being stepmother to my Mum, loved me as her own grandchildren and often wrote long detailed letters up to her death in her nineties. Her cooking and hospitality was phenomenal but most of all was her capacity to love and was much loved in return.
St Clare is my favourite courageous female! She was prepared to stand up to St Francis and the Pope in her determination to follow Lady Poverty. She had a face to face conflict with invaders too, who scurried away defeated by her purity and bravery.
Finally for this week, but it would be great to share some more next week. Veronique who comes to Gospel Share and is one of our Children's Liturgists shared a photograph and writes:
I would like to remember all the women who would have liked an intellectual career but couldn't have one: as co-organizer of a conference for Jean Genet’s centenary of birth at the Odeon Theatre in Paris, I was blessed to have this moment with Hélène Cixous, the French feminist writer who has been doing so much for women. She is not just a political role model for women, but also a brilliant poet who has been helping readers realize that feminine writing is different, that men like Genet can also be feminist and write with a feminine posture, and that different voices matter more than ever in today’s society.
Veronique and Helene
We'd love to hear from others during the month of March about inspiring women in your life, favourite women saints.
We pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world inflame the Church with their courage and missionary enthusiasm.
Each month as well we a short video there is a monthly prayer and a monthly reflection to help us understand more about the particular prayer intention. This month we might ask the question:
The “New Martyrs” include our brothers and sisters compelled to flee their homelands, leaving behind friends, families, and the familiar embrace of their cultures due to their unwavering faith in the Lord. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be their true and everlasting home, providing strength and healing amid their trials.To read the full reflection, by Fr Peter Gadalla SJ (Jesuit Priest)
“every sick person has the right to medical, psychological, spiritual and human assistance. ... Healing is not always possible, but we can always care for the sick person, caress them.”
Pope Frances has decided that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee. A year of Jubilee is something which happens every 25 years. The theme is “Pilgrims of Hope”, a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and a climate crisis.
A year of preparation for the Jubilee Year started in Advent 2023 and during 2024 we are encouraged to explore individual and community of prayer. Throughout the year we'll share different prayers and welcome people to share their favourite prayers and perhaps a story about why it is important to you.
Logo of the Jubilee 2025
We pray that the Holy Spirit may help us to recognise the gift of different charisms within the Christian community and to discover the richness of different traditions and rituals in the Catholic Church.
We are blessed by having people whose families or they themselves come from so many different countries around the world. We are a universal church and we have much to learn about the traditions and rituals from different countries. During January we'd love to share traditions and rituals from around the world, a chance for all to share their favourite rituals.
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| Families celebrating Feasts of Pentecost, Trinity and Corpus Christi Remembering we all belong to a diverse family. |
We pray that people living with disabilities may be at the centre of attention in society, and that institutions may offer inclusive programs which value their active participation.
Some people are born with an impairment and others gain an impairment because of an illness or as they get older. A disability is something that may affect how we do things and may mean we need different things to allow us to make our contribution to our church community.
Each month we will share the Pope's intentions. As we are only sharing this at the end of the month we'll link this theme to the one in January when we will be focusing on diversity.
Think of the ways we already help to make our community inclusive:
Have you seen this notice in the porch, can you work out what it means? This is sign language for people who are Deaf and use British Sign Language.
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| British Sign Language |
On Sunday we celebrate World Mission Sunday where we think of missionaries around the world and where as the video explains they are thinking of us. This short video in different languages highlights how all around the world people are helping one another. Missionaries play an important role in being their for others and in reaching out around the world, they are effective because, as Pope Francis says:
because missions, in their worldwide network reflect the rich variety of people with a thousand faces
