My Calendar

Week of Sep 14th

World Suicide Prevention Day

10/09/2024

World Suicide Prevention Day

This is a very sensitive issue and one we often shy away from talking about.

Here's a really special 1 minute video produced by the Samaritans which empowers all of us:

IF YOU, OR ANYONE YOU KNOW, IS STRUGGLING - there are lots of people who want to help - either in school or through the many organisations mentioned in our KEEPING SAFE SECTION.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY (available here as a 1:25 video)

On this day especially, we celebrate the life of each person.

We acknowledge that for some, life is a heavy load of suffering and anguish.

Help us all to talk about our fears, anger, and despair.

Help us find people we can trust – among those we know, or among those who are trained to help.

Help us all to find meaning and purpose in our lives – even in the darkest, most sorrowful moments.

May we all be kind, gentle and listen without judging.

We place before you this day all who have been affected by suicide – that they be comforted in their grief, be set free from any sense of guilt and know peace once more, confident that their loved one is no longer suffering.

We pray this in your holy name. AMEN

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation

12/09/2024

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation

In decades gone by, there was a stereotype that developing countries largely in the Southern Hemisphere could only develop through help given by richer countries from the Northern Hemisphere - many of whom had invaded and governed southern countries in colonial days gone by.

While southern countries had become politically independent of their former Imperial governors throughout the second half of the 20th century, for many years there was an assumption that they had to rely on handouts or loans from the very countries that had occupied them. There was also an attitude that the North knew best when it came to what developing countries needed in order to become richer or more stable.

This day was instituted to bust those myths and to enhance co-operation between developing countries so that expertise in a whole host of areas could be shared effectively. South–South cooperation has been successful in decreasing dependence on the aid programs of developed countries and a shift in the international balance of power.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Loving God,

we pray for wisdom and an ever increasing sense of solidarity between nations.

Help leaders to be generous in sharing knowledge, expertise and resources

as we seek to build a world where no-one goes hungry

and where the vulnerable are not exploited or abandoned.

We ask for all to work towards that day

when everyone will have the dignity of being able

to support themselves sustainably.

We ask this in your Holy Name. AMEN

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

14/09/2024

Here's a video (2:57) offering both information and the chance to reflect on the cross!

If you want to find out more about St. Helen(a) who reputedly found the true cross of Jesus, check out our SAINTS page!

This day, we simply close with the sign of the cross:

In the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

International Day of Democracy

15/09/2024

International Day of Democracy

This video (1:20) charts how people in the U.K got the vote!

This is a video (1:34) from 2015 about the importance of democracy.

Spend a few moments now thinking about why democracy is important?

Just imagine living somewhere where you are treated like you don't matter, where you're not allowed to express your views and not allowed to vote for leaders! Such a situation in South Africa many years ago inspired this song (5:35) to be written. (Why not try signing (that's not a spelling mistake) along?)

A PRAYER FOR TODAY (available here as a 30 second video clip)

God of justice, we pray for those who are denied a voice.

Help those of us who can speak up

to find ways to use our voice for the greater good.

We ask this in your Holy Name. AMEN

Our Lady of Sorrows

15/09/2024