LIVE SIMPLY MESSAGE 13.7.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.  

Sea Sunday is a special opportunity to reflect, pray, and take action for the brave men and women who work at sea to ensure we have everything we need. It also gives us the opportunity to reflect on the wonder of our oceans and the life teeming within them.

A note for all knitters! The Mission to Seafarers is always grateful for knitted items to help seafarers during the long, cold days and nights spent on the open seas. From woolly hats to fingerless mittens, each knitted item finds a home and the seafarers they’re matched to are extremely grateful for the extra warmth! If you can help, their preferred patterns can be downloaded from:https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/wp-content/uploads/Seafarers-Knitting-Patterns-Brochure-copy-NEW.pdf.

God, our Creator, bless and care for all seafarers. As we reflect on the mysteries of the ocean depths, we celebrate the wondrous design of the seas that surround us. Help us to discern how we have polluted our oceans and to empathise with the groaning of creation beneath us. Teach us to sense the presence of God in the tides and currents of the surging seas. Teach us to care for the oceans and all our waterways.  Amen

LIVE SIMPLY MESSAGE 29.6.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.  

Cafod petition ‘Cancel the debt’

129 parishioners signed the petition to cancel debts of the poorest countries desperate to repay loans with extortionate interest rates. Thanks to everyone for their support. Petitions from churches throughout England and Wales will be collected and presented by Cafod to World Leaders.

 If you missed the signing, more information and petition to sign can be found at www.cafod.org.uk/cancelthedebt.     

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 22.6.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.  

This week, let us take time to appreciate the wonders of Creation, “From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe”. On Sunday 22 June it is World Rainforest Day and we should campaign to protect these valuable areas. Then from 23 - 29 June is National Insect week 2025, reminding us that study of even these tiny creatures is an important part of conservation, food production, medicine and ecology. For more information see: https://www.insectweek.org.

CAFOD CANCEL UNFAIR DEBTS CAMPAIGN

CAFOD is asking parishes across the country to sign a petition asking world leaders to look at the global financial system, that results in poor countries borrowing money at extortionate interest rates. We need to create a better system and cancel unfair debts.

Countries like Kenya are unable to clear the debt, meaning far less money available for hospitals and doctors, and schools.

• Please take the time to read the message from Father Charlie from the Archdiocese of Nairobi on the notice board. 
• Please also sign the petition that will be at the back of the church after each Mass 22nd June 2025 or via the link below.
• To learn more, see Cafod.org.uk/cancelthedebt.

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 15.6.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.  

Pope Leo XIV released his 1^st monthly prayer intention for the month of June, inviting all to pray “that each one of us might learn to have compassion for the world.”

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-06/pope-leo-s-june-prayer-intention-for-compassion.html. 

In this light, we invite each other to share in Refugee Week, (16 - 22 June) which has the theme of “Community as a Superpower”. This Refugee Week everyone is invited to spend time with friends and build new connections in and beyond our neighbourhoods. Listening, learning, and laughing together. It’s amazing what we can do when we move together towards a shared goal.

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 8.6.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.  

7–15 June is Great Big Green Week and the theme this year is “Let’s swap together for good”. Great Big Green Week 2025, is a national campaign, when a million people, will come together across the country to be part of a wave of actions for friends and family, climate and nature. We can all make small swaps, large swaps and swaps that change the system, to make our communities better. What swaps can we all make in our daily life that will help improve the environment?

For more information see: https://www.greatbiggreenweek.com/

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 1.6.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.  

Pope Leo XIV, has clearly stated that he intends to build on the environmental work of Pope Francis’ set out in his letter, Laudato Si (Care for our Common home) and has said, “Symbolism is not enough. To be stewards of the Earth, we must be accountable in our choices—starting with our own.”

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) gather together on the 5 June, which is World Environment Day, their meeting will focus on ways of ending plastic pollution globally. So considering the call of Pope Leo, can we all take time to consider how we can reduce our own plastic waste?

LIVESIMPLY MESSAGE 25.5.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.

 “The entire material universe speaks of God's love, God's boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is a caress of God.” (Laudato Si', 84).

National Garden Wildlife Week this year runs from          26 May to 1 June. This week coincides with half term so is an excellent opportunity for families and friends to enjoy the outdoors together and do ‘one simple thing for nature’.  Why not try building a bug hotel, planting more diverse species, making some homemade bird food or making a gap for hedgehogs? Don’t forget to also simply enjoy and thank God for our beautiful world by listening to birdsong, identifying wildflowers or collecting as many different leaves as you can. Did you know that domestic gardens occupy more space than all the nature reserves.  So, if we all do one thing, together we can really make a difference.

LIVE SIMPLY MESSAGE 18.5.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.

Laudato Si was published ten years ago on 24 May 2015, profoundly altering the way we think ‘religiously’. We are still called to be active agents of change - praying, acting and transforming our way of living in communion with creation and the Creator. We pray for our new Pope Leo XIV that he will guide our Church well, extending and developing the work Pope Francis began.

‘‘in the deserts of poverty and loneliness, all those small gestures are helping to make a new humanity blossom in the garden that is God’s dream, always and everywhere for all of us.’ Pope Francis.

The full text of Laudato Si can be found at: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

LIVESIMPLY  MESSAGE 4.5.25

‘We aim to live more simply, sustainably and solidarity with creation.

10 years ago, in May 2015 Pope Francis gave the world ‘Laudato Si’, setting out a bold vision for our common home and 800 years ago, St Francis of Assisi wrote The Canticle of the Creatures. ‘Laudato Mi Signore’. As we give thanks for the life and example of Pope Francis who has passed ‘into the house of the Father’ may his words ring in our hearts this Eastertide.

‘Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope ‘Laudato Si’ 244. To discover more about the Laudato Si movement and how you can respond to the call to live in communion with creation and the Creator go to laudatosiweek.org.