Welcome to Black History Month at St. Julie's. We hope conversations might be started that continue long after the end of October.
Here's a short intro (1:16) for 2020:
A prayerful reflection (3:55) focusing on a conversation between a person and God:
So how much do we know of Black History? Here's a video (7:46) that might, unfortunately, be surprising.
The last video referred to 1919. So, what was that all about? Our city is significantly involved. Find out more (5:37) N.B. This video comes with a warning about language used.
1919 was the year after the First World War. Here's an important perspective on that conflict (6:17) which is not often explored.
So, that was very definitely history! What about today and most particularly education today? Here's a BBC report (12:28) about what it is to be black and at Cambridge University.
We've all probably heard of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott but have you heard about the Bristol Bus Boycott? (Find out more below.)
Help us deepen our understanding, appreciation and experience of living as one people – all made in your image – all sharing a common home.
In this special month and beyond, give us courage to ask questions of ourselves and others – even if those questions and responses make us uncomfortable.
Help us move beyond the complicity of silence which allows injustice to continue. Help us not be party to postponing that day when all of your people will feel valued and loved - and that we arrive together at the awesome moment when there will be no them – only US!
Welcome to Black History Month at St. Julie's. We hope conversations might be started that continue long after the end of October.
Here's a short intro (1:16) for 2020:
A prayerful reflection (3:55) focusing on a conversation between a person and God:
So how much do we know of Black History? Here's a video (7:46) that might, unfortunately, be surprising.
The last video referred to 1919. So, what was that all about? Our city is significantly involved. Find out more (5:37) N.B. This video comes with a warning about language used.
1919 was the year after the First World War. Here's an important perspective on that conflict (6:17) which is not often explored.
So, that was very definitely history! What about today and most particularly education today? Here's a BBC report (12:28) about what it is to be black and at Cambridge University.
We've all probably heard of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott but have you heard about the Bristol Bus Boycott? (Find out more below.)
Help us deepen our understanding, appreciation and experience of living as one people – all made in your image – all sharing a common home.
In this special month and beyond, give us courage to ask questions of ourselves and others – even if those questions and responses make us uncomfortable.
Help us move beyond the complicity of silence which allows injustice to continue. Help us not be party to postponing that day when all of your people will feel valued and loved - and that we arrive together at the awesome moment when there will be no them – only US!
Welcome to Black History Month at St. Julie's. We hope conversations might be started that continue long after the end of October.
Here's a short intro (1:16) for 2020:
A prayerful reflection (3:55) focusing on a conversation between a person and God:
So how much do we know of Black History? Here's a video (7:46) that might, unfortunately, be surprising.
The last video referred to 1919. So, what was that all about? Our city is significantly involved. Find out more (5:37) N.B. This video comes with a warning about language used.
1919 was the year after the First World War. Here's an important perspective on that conflict (6:17) which is not often explored.
So, that was very definitely history! What about today and most particularly education today? Here's a BBC report (12:28) about what it is to be black and at Cambridge University.
We've all probably heard of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott but have you heard about the Bristol Bus Boycott? (Find out more below.)
Help us deepen our understanding, appreciation and experience of living as one people – all made in your image – all sharing a common home.
In this special month and beyond, give us courage to ask questions of ourselves and others – even if those questions and responses make us uncomfortable.
Help us move beyond the complicity of silence which allows injustice to continue. Help us not be party to postponing that day when all of your people will feel valued and loved - and that we arrive together at the awesome moment when there will be no them – only US!
Welcome to Black History Month at St. Julie's. We hope conversations might be started that continue long after the end of October.
Here's a short intro (1:16) for 2020:
A prayerful reflection (3:55) focusing on a conversation between a person and God:
So how much do we know of Black History? Here's a video (7:46) that might, unfortunately, be surprising.
The last video referred to 1919. So, what was that all about? Our city is significantly involved. Find out more (5:37) N.B. This video comes with a warning about language used.
1919 was the year after the First World War. Here's an important perspective on that conflict (6:17) which is not often explored.
So, that was very definitely history! What about today and most particularly education today? Here's a BBC report (12:28) about what it is to be black and at Cambridge University.
We've all probably heard of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott but have you heard about the Bristol Bus Boycott? (Find out more below.)
Help us deepen our understanding, appreciation and experience of living as one people – all made in your image – all sharing a common home.
In this special month and beyond, give us courage to ask questions of ourselves and others – even if those questions and responses make us uncomfortable.
Help us move beyond the complicity of silence which allows injustice to continue. Help us not be party to postponing that day when all of your people will feel valued and loved - and that we arrive together at the awesome moment when there will be no them – only US!
All Souls - the commemoration of all the faithful departed
02/11/2024
Just as Jesus mourned the death of his friend, Lazarus, so we mourn those who have died.
We mark this day thinking about the gift they have been to us; the difference they still make to our lives and we offer this traditional prayer: (AVAILABLE HERE AS A 1:00 VIDEO)
495 journalists were killed between 2014 and 2018, an 18% increase over the previous 5-years.
Only 131 cases of journalists’ killings are reported as being resolved since 2006, representing an overall impunity rate of 88%.
Beyond fatal attacks, journalists endured other violations such as physical attack, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, imprisonment and torture.
Harassment and other harmful acts are increasingly prevalent in the online sphere, and are especially dire for women journalists.
Syria was the most dangerous country for journalists, followed by Mexico and Afghanistan.
The Arab States region, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific account for more than three quarters of killings. Source: UNESCO 2019
A PRAYER FOR TODAY:
God of truth,
we give thanks this day for those who work in the media,
investigating, communicating, holding people in power to account.
We ask you to bless them with wisdom and strength -
showering them with the sense of satisfaction that comes from a job well done!
Give those who investigate crimes against journalists the courage and determination to bring perpetrators to account.
Anniversary of the murder of 6 Jesuits and their 2 companions in El Salvador
16/11/2024
On the morning of November 16, 1989, an elite battalion of the Salvadoran Army entered the grounds of the Jesuit University of Central America, with orders to kill Father Ignacio Ellacuría—an outspoken critic of the Salvadoran military dictatorship—and leave no witnesses.
When it was all over, the soldiers had killed six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her 16 year old daughter in cold blood. The Jesuits Massacre is one of most notorious crimes of El Salvador’s 12-year civil war, which left over 75,000 people dead including most famously Archbishop (now Saint) Oscar Romero.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
God, Creator of life and human dignity,
we celebrate the witness of your martyrs
for faith, for peace, and for justice.
Have mercy on the souls of these departed ones and grant them peace.
May the memory of the Jesuits and the members of the Ramos family
who died in El Salvador in 1989
help us move to a deeper understanding of the demands of justice
and guide us to speak your truth to those in power.
Give us the courage to raise our voices for those who suffer oppression and violence.
Grant us your joy as we work to bring your kingdom to this world. Amen.
Perhaps tolerance is a simple as following the teaching of Jesus to "Treat others as you'd like to be treated!"
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
While the United Nations designates today an International Day for Tolerance,
we know that you, God of all people, call us to something higher,
to something beyond mere tolerance.
We pray that you would enable and empower us to be people of love and compassion,
who actively seek the good of the other and work to to that day when people from all tribes and tongues might come together in peace, embracing and delighting in our differences.
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation – more than half the global population. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
673 million people still practise open defecation worldwide. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
Today, at least 2 billion people will have to use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. (WHO 2019)
Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths every year and is a major factor in diseases such as intestinal worms, trachoma and schistosomiasis. (WHO 2019)
297,000 children under five are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene. (WHO 2019)
All of the above is not because we don't have the technology! After all, human beings went to the Moon over 50 years ago! Do we, and the governments who serve us, need to re-align some priorities?
Let's spend a few moments imagining what it must feel like not to have a toilet.
What might you have to do if there was no toilet available?
Why might this have a disproportionate effect on females?
What are the possible consequences of not having a toilet?
A PRAYER FOR TODAY (from CAFOD)
Loving God,
we pray for a world of justice
where everyone has access to
a toilet and clean water.
May all our sisters and brothers throughout the world
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Welcome to World Children's Day! This used to be called Universal Children's Day but the day has been re-branded!
This day was set up in 1954 by the United Nations. In 1959, the UN agreed its Declaration on the Rights of the Child. In 1989 the Convention on the Rights of the Child became the most widely ratified international human rights treaty, setting out a number of children’s rights including:
the right to life,
to health,
to education
to play,
to family life,
to be protected from violence,
to not be discriminated,
and to have their views heard.
Here's a short but brilliant video (1 min 17 secs) from the children of Yemen!
Here's another video clip (2 mins 54 secs) which gives a bit more information and which includes one particularly surprising fact about a country which does not give its children the same rights as others around the world!
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Grief is something we all experience at some point in our lives. While no two people react in exactly the same way, there is much to learn from hearing about others' experiences and sharing our own when we feel able to.
If you are grieving and want to talk to someone, do approach someone you trust.
If someone who is grieving approaches you, don't worry - you won't make it worse. The worst has already happened. If they want to talk, just listen.
Here are some reflections on what it can be like to lose someone.
This is a video which you might find helpful:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. AMEN
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING
Jesus, healer and teacher,
you know what it is like to lose someone you love and you wept for your friend, Lazarus.
Help me make sense of what is happening,
because some days I feel angry, some days I feel lost,
some days I feel helpless, some days I don't feel at all.
Send me comfort and people to walk with me.
Help me through this pain,
and let treasured memories sustain me.
Help me to have faith that my loved one is now with you,
free from pain and worry.
Help others who are grieving this same loss.
I ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
25/11/2024
DID YOU KNOW .....?
1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner
Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care
Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday;
200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM)
1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2017; while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances
71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited
Violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill health than traffic accidents and malaria combined.
Here's a video (2 mins 33 secs) which gives us all food for thought!
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
29/11/2024
This day was established way back in 1977 when the UN declared that Israel's occupation of Arab territories was illegal and that peace could only come about in the region if Israel withdrew from these places. No such withdrawal has taken place.
In 2018, Maria Fernanda Espinosa (the President of the General Assembly of the UN) reported that:
43% of the Palestinian population were refugees - and half of them were below the age of 18
47% of the population of the Gaza strip were living with food insecurity
the average water consumption of the Palestinian populations in Gaza was 66 litres per day - well below the recommended ration of 100 litres per day.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, said on this day in 2018:
"Today, in particular, our hearts are heavy with the suffering of the people in Gaza.
Approximately two million Palestinians remain blocked in increasing poverty and unemployment, with limited access to adequate health, education, water and electricity.
Young people see little prospect of a better future.
I urge Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of people and goods, which also hamper the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, without jeopardizing legitimate security concerns.
I call on Hamas and other militant groups to halt their military build-up in Gaza, including the indiscriminate launching of rockets and incendiary devices directed at Israel. "
There seems to be little progress and, all the while, people suffer!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
O Lord, You are the peace and peace emanates from You.
O God of Glory and Majesty grant us security and safety,
and alleviate the suffering of your people.
O Lord, bring comprehensive and just peace to our country and region
so that our people and the peoples of the Middle East and the whole world
would enjoy the fruit of peace, stability and coexistence.
We want peace for us and for our neighbours.
We seek prosperity and peace of mind for ourselves and for others alike.
O Lord, answer our prayers and make successful our endeavors
for you are most just, most merciful, Lord of the Worlds.
This prayer was offered by the Muslim President Abbas of Palestine in Rome when he met Pope Francis and Shimon Peres, the Israeli President in June 2014.
Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare
30/11/2024
Chemical weapons have been used for centuries. In the 17th century, France and Germany signed an agreement NOT to use poison bullets! In 1899, countries at the Hague Peace Conference declared they would not use projectiles which contained "asphyxiating or deleterious gases".
However, during the First World War, over 100,000 humans died and more than 1 million were wounded by the use of gas.
In the Second World War, gas was not used in combat but was used in the Holocaust Concentration Camps.
In 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention (proposed in 1993) came into force on 29 April. Its purpose was, “for the sake of all mankind, to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons.”
And so, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was set up to monitor this happening. There have undoubtedly been huge successes and OPCW Member States represent about 98% of the global population and landmass, as well as 98% of the worldwide chemical industry. The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what it has done to eliminate chemical weapons. OPCW claim to have eliminated 97% of all chemical weapons.
However, throughout the Syrian Civil War (which started in 2011) - and as recently as 2017 - chemical weapons have been used.