LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 22.9.24

We aim to live more simply, sustainably and in solidarity with each other.

The 21 September is recognised as the International Day of Peace.  It is a timely reminder, especially after a summer of unrest locally, nationally and internationally that we are all responsible for peace. Sometimes we can find this task overwhelming.

St Teresa of Calcutta told us: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love” and that “Peace begins with a smile”.

Let all of us today, commit to spreading peace in our homes, parish, schools, workplaces and the ripples will flow out into the world – start with a smile.

ALSO…

To celebrate the Season of Creation in our community, the Live Simply Team, together with the Salvation Army’s Fresh Expressions Team from Strawberry Field, invite you to join us for a Creation Walk in Strawberry Field on Monday 23 September at 2.00pm. All are welcome! We will gather in the Prayer Space for a short reflection on the themes of this year’s Season of Creation. After this, there will be time to explore the wonderful prayer Labyrinth in the grounds.

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 15.5.24

 What do today’s scriptures say to us as we are being urgently called to speak out and work to save Earth as a nurturing home for all?

Does our faith in God’s presence and faithful protection reflect the faith of the Servant in Isaiah and of Jesus? Can we pray in the spirit of the psalm in gratitude for God’s mercy and faithful presence to us in our lives, drawing strength and trust from our experiences?

Are we conscious of those who have been killed or have suffered great violence for their work responding to the Cry of Earth and the Cry of the Poor? Who are these prophets in our region of the planet?

How do their courage and witness affect us?

How can it inspire and encourage us to express our faith in God’s mission to us to heal Earth in urgent action? ALSO…We are now into the second week of Fairtrade Fortnight.

Please continue to 'Be the Change' and include FT products when you shop.

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 8.9.24

Fairtrade Fortnight will run from the 9 September – 22 September. It’s 30 years since Fairtrade products first hit the shelves. Fairtrade’s goal is more than people just being aware, it’s about them encouraging an active choice to support over2 million Fairtrade farmers and workers across 58 countries, wherever possible, to ensure they can earn a fairer wage. However big or small a purchase this Fairtrade Fortnight, you have the power to #BeTheChange.

Look out for the Logo during your weekly shop and maybe just make one swap to a fairtrade product this year! When you choose Fairtrade, you contribute to a fairer, more sustainable future for food production. When you choose Fairtrade, you help ensure farmers receive a fairer price for what they grow. When you choose Fairtrade, you help rebalance power in supply chains.

Be The Change, Choose Fairtrade. www.fairtrade.org.uk

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 1.9.24

We aim to live more simply, sustainably and in solidarity with each other.

The Season of Creation runs from 1 September (World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) to 4 October (the feast of St Francis of Assisi).

This ecumenical season is dedicated to prayer and action for the protection of creation. It is a time to renew our relationships with God our Creator, and with all creation, as we join together in prayer.

Our Year of Prayer Gathering for September will encourage us to pray with creation, this is on Monday 9 September, 6.30pm at Bishop Eton.

In his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2024, Pope Francis encourages us to seek to live "a life that becomes a song of love for God, for humanity, with and for creation, and that finds its fullness in holiness."

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 25.8.24

We aim to live more simply, sustainably and in solidarity with each other.

‘We praise you Lord for Sister Water, so useful, humble, precious and pure… We praise you Lord, for Sister Earth, who sustains us with her fruits, coloured flowers, and herbs…We praise and bless you Lord, and give you thanks, and serve you in all humility.’ (from the ‘Canticle of the Sun’ by  St Francis of Assisi).

World Water Week is taking place from 25-29 August. It reminds us how blessed we are to have constant running water. In thanksgiving for what we take for granted, could we pray again, with Pope Francis, for world leaders especially that they remember the needs of the poor. Perhaps we could also try to save water at home and make a donation to WaterAid or another charity that provides clean water to poor communities?

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 18.8.24

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth………. and God’s spirit hovered over the deep. (Genesis 1, 1-2). But Almost 1 in 10 people globally don’t have clean water close to home,1.5 billion people don't have their own toilet, Almost 2 billion people lack clean water and soap. Every minute a newborn die from infection caused by lack of clean water and an unclean environment. Diarrhoea caused by dirty water and poor toilets kills a child under 5 every 2 minutes. Basic water services alone could save women 77 million working days per year.

See WaterAid, https://www.wateraid.org/uk/what-we-do/facts-and-statistics

During World Water Week can we continue to pray for all the people who lack clean water and do what we can to help. Can we also continue to praise God for what we have (maybe even for our British rain!) as we prepare for Sunday 1 September, which begins the Season of Creation

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 11.8.24

Last Tuesday we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration.  This coincides each year with the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which can be seen as a terrible parody of the Transfiguration. 

The intensive light and the cloud were the source of death rather than a place to meet God.  As we continue to pray with Pope Francis for all political leaders, can we join together to pray especially that they may be guided to work for peace here at home and throughout the world.

The following is part of a prayer from CAFOD.  To see the whole prayer please visit the CAFOD website at  https://cafod.org.uk/pray/prayer-resources/confort-o-comfort-your-people:

We pray for world leaders that they may establish structures for justice, protecting human dignity, enabling reconciliation and building God’s kingdom.  Comfort, O comfort your people.

LIVESIMPLY AWARD CELEBRATION JUNE 2024

In June we celebrated (simply!) not only achieving the CAFOD LiveSimply Award, but also the amazing spirit of cooperation between our parishes and between many groups within the parishes, that made this achievement possible. Thank you everyone!

Each parish received a wooden plaque, hand finished by artisans in Cambodia. The wood is sustainably sourced acacia and making the plaques enables the people with disabilities who make them to earn their own income. Once they are fully mounted both plaques will be proudly displayed  in our two churches. 

Read more: LIVESIMPLY AWARD CELEBRATION JUNE 2024

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 7.7.24

We aim to live more simply, sustainably and in solidarity with each other

Plastic can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
Littered and landfilled plastic breaks down into microplastics contaminating our food, our air and our water. Are we poisoning the planet or helping save it? How many single use items can we avoid this PLASTIC FREE JULY? coffee cups, water bottles, meat/fruit/ vegetables wrapped in plastic, carrier bags etc?

Find out more, take the quiz or make a pledge at www.plasticfreejuly.org

RESPONSE FROM JOHN HYLAND OF THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 

Good evening,

Thank you for writing to me about fossil fuels, poverty and food banks.  

Like you I am deeply concerned about rising hardship and the need for food banks in our community and across the country.  

Under this Conservative Government, households experienced the biggest fall in living standards on record. Living standards will be worse at the end of this parliament than they were at the start.

Soaring energy bills, food prices and housing costs are overwhelming millions of families and pensioners. We need a Government with a plan to tackle this cost-of-living crisis, but instead the Conservatives have made it so much worse because they just don’t care. 

Their cost-of-living crisis has plunged a million more people into poverty – many of them children. Tens of thousands of families have been made homeless. Many more families are relying on foodbanks – including some of the hardest working people in our country and people are seeing their living standards plummet at a faster rate than ever before.

Liberal Democrats have set a target of ending deep poverty within a decade, and will establish an independent commission to recommend further annual increases in Universal Credit to ensure that support covers life’s essentials, such as food and bills.

We are the only party that is serious about tackling child poverty. Children do not choose to be born to parents who already have other children and it is unfair to design the system that punishes them.  We would remove the two child limit and lift half a million children out of poverty.  Liberal Democrats would also remove the benefits cap as it disproportionately affects people with higher housing costs, larger families, and those who have family-members with additional needs.

Read more: Response from John Hyland - Liberal Democats