News Items
THANKYOU FROM SOUTH LIVERPOOL FOODBANK (VIA SVP) MAY 2026:
Wow - what can we say? Except that we're totally blown away by your kindness and your latest donation.
The £500 you donated will make a real difference, enabling us to continue to be there for people day after day - providing emergency food when the cupboards are bare, a listening ear when things feel overwhelming, and advice to help people take control with dignity.
We know that severe levels of hardship still prevail in our communities and while falling inflation has helped some, many are still struggling to cope. Thousands of people and families are having to face impossible choices: heating or eating, bills or food.This is so sad and it’s why hundreds are being forced to turn to our food bank every month.Last year alone we were able to provide 6,816 local people with emergency food and toiletries - 2,204 of those were children. In addition, everyone who turned to us had access to a dedicated Citizens Advice Adviser. She helped over 200 people gain, on average, an extra £1,750 in their pockets - making it less likely they’ll need to use our food bank again.
This would not have been possible without your continued support.And for that we’re truly grateful.
PROJECT ZIMBABWE A MESSAGE FROM FRANCES
When you read this, I will already be on my travels to Zimbabwe. I would like to thank you for your support and prayers. Please also remember to pray for the five students who will be Ordained whilst I am there. FRANCES.
WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY 2026
The theme of this year's World Communiations Day is "Preserving Human Voices and Faces"
To read Pope Leo's message for World Communications Day click here
For prayers focusing on communication click here
To support the communications work of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales click here
A POEM ON THE PASSING OF FR CASEY
PARTING
As Innocents born into our mystical world,
We quickly discover the parameters
That determine the length and quality
Of our mortal existence;
If there is a beginning,
There must be an end.
As Life unfolds,
Joys and sorrows mark the years
With indelible nuances
Of events, places and people.
The Bishop Eton confreres and parishoners
Mourn the loss of one unique Scot
Who touched their worlds – not flamboyantly,
But with charming erudition and humorous wit.
He led a life of loving devotion and service
To his Redemptorist Vows and Confreres,
Brave to the end.
Thank you, Dear Father Jim.
We shall miss you –
Until we meet again!
Eileen Murray © 30 April 2026
A POEM ON THE PASSING OF FR CASEY
PARTING
As Innocents born into our mystical world,
We quickly discover the parameters
That determine the length and quality
Of our mortal existence;
If there is a beginning,
There must be an end.
As Life unfolds,
Joys and sorrows mark the years
With indelible nuances
Of events, places and people.
The Bishop Eton confreres and parishoners
Mourn the loss of one unique Scot
Who touched their worlds – not flamboyantly,
But with charming erudition and humorous wit.
He led a life of loving devotion and service
To his Redemptorist Vows and Confreres,
Brave to the end.
Thank you, Dear Father Jim.
We shall miss you –
Until we meet again!
Eileen Murray © 30 April 2026
I'm back again by Fr James Casey C.Ss.R
Yes, I’m back, although I don’t know for how long. I left Bishop Eton and checked in to the Royal Liverpool Hospital at 7.30am on the 18th July 2016. A few days previously I had visited my brother in Glasgow to assure him that there was nothing to worry about and to avoid my never seeing him again if things did go wrong. I didn’t think they would, but when the patient is 82 years old and the surgery is of the car crash variety, there is room for doubt. But when I was told I had between six and nine months to live and surgery was proposed as my best chance of a cure, I was all for it. My mind was in “bring it on” mode.
I was wheeled into the operating theatre. I had been there before and so was pretty relaxed. It was a matter of breathing deeply and drifting off, for an indeterminate period of time, to a happy place, from thence to be awakened by the kindly voice of a Filipino nurse purring in my ear: “James how are you?”. At least that is how it happened in the past. This time it was different. I have no recollection of ever awakening from that general anaesthetic, or being coaxed out of sleep by some kindly nurse. No, I was locked , it seemed, in another world, in a very unhappy place, a dark place populated by drug addicts, gun runners, kidnappers—me being one of the kidnapped with no possibility of ever being ransomed. You see, I was being moved from one dank window- less place to another. There was no way I would ever be traced.
Mind you, I did resist, especially when I came to believe that my cancer was a fiction and that I and other elderly folk had been conned into hospital for experimental purposes. I fought back physically. I remember the struggle as they tied me down and I resisted with all my might. Months later when I was back here in Bishop Eton a parishioner told me her daughter, a nurse at the Royal, had been involved in one of my battles against the powers of evil, i.e. half-a-dozen nursing staff. Apparently I called the lady’s daughter a witch. Considering the state of mind I was in, or out of, at the time, she got off lightly!
Let me tell you that my operation for oesophageal cancer was carried out successfully. What set me back and laid me low was a sudden post-operational infection. While I hallucinated and raved, the doctors, nurses and staff of the Royal worked hard to keep me alive and did so with awesome good will. Such was my mental and physical state that several weeks passed before I was fully aware of where I was and what was going on around me. And it was then that I began to stand still . Days became interminable; I lay there and prayed that they would end, but they wouldn’t!
Nights were equally obstinate; there was no way they were going to give way to the days. I must confess that as I lay there, I languished — oh how I languished. You see, if there was no way the days were going to give way to the nights and vice versa, life would be at a standstill and I’d be lying there forever, a forlorn old creature hooked up to feeding tubes and electric wires, hoping there would be a powercut.
And talking of prayer, my advice to those preparing to go into hospital is: pray before you get there! This I learned years ago when I was seriously ill in Rome. I was suffering from a bacterium capable of killing me and I never said a prayer—I couldn’t. For the past sixty years as a religious and priest I’ve been more than happy to pray several times a day. I’ve studied prayer and lectured on prayer, but that has been no help when sickness was draining the life out of me. During my stay in the Royal I doubt that I ever managed to finish a Hail Mary. But, thank God, a phalanx of folk was doing the praying for me. What’s more, I was inundated with “holy” cards wishing me well and assuring me that, not one Mass, but novenas of Masse s were being offered for my return to good health. There were so many of those multiple Mass cards that the Masses promised are probably still being said — even now. If I suffer a relapse, I’m probably still covered
I was all of six weeks in the Royal. As time passed and I became a bit (but not much) brighter and more aware of life around me, I continued to languish. Who could blame me? I was, without warning, introduced to hospital food. Enough! I’ll only upset myself if I say more. I remembered the mouth-watering menus I was presented with when in hospital in Rome. I remembered, too, how we were asked to indicate whether we wanted red or white wine to accompany our meals. To tell the truth I wanted neither red wine nor white wine. There was only one thing I wanted and that was OUT . Like the big child I am, I wanted to go home to our beloved Bishop Eton—yes, to the building, but more importantly to the community that gives life and purpose to the building. Waiting for the day of deliverance/homecoming was anything but easy.
What eased the pain of waiting were the constant visits to the Royal of the different members of our community. Not a day passed without a visit from at least one member of the community. Often, they arrived in threes and fours, helping each other along, and in danger of being mistakenly admitted. This kindness continued during my immediate convalescence at Christopher Grange and has continued to this day here in Bishop Eton, where our home-grown paramedics still attend to my daily technomedical needs.
I’m back home again, and I’m ever so grateful for all that has been done for me. During my illness, I did live through some dark, even frightening, times, but despair was never an option. There were too many on my side. We were a power to be reckoned with. As we lived through this experience, grace, normally thought of as a theological truth, became a lived reality—became words of encouragement, a warm embrace, little acts of service, a willingness to wait and watch and listen and love. We were a grace-fuelled community and we were winners. As they say daftly on television these days: ‘Why don’t we all give ourselves a big round of applause?’
First Published in BE Alive June 2017
ARCHBISHOP SHERRINGTON MESSAGES AND HOMILIES EASTER 2026
To read the Archbishop Sherrington's Easter message click here.
To read Achbishop Sherrington's Homily on the 175th Anniversary of the Notre Dame Sisters in Liverpool click here
To read Archbishop Sherrington's Homily from the Chrism Mass 2026 click here
APRIL 2026 CATHOLIC PICTORIAL
The April Catholic Pictorial is now available. To access the electronic version click here
TOP TIPS FOR A HAPPIER MARRIAGE
CELEBRATING COUPLES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE
📅 Date: Tuesday 19 May 19.30-20.30pm
📍 Location: ONLINE ZOOM click here to register and attend
Come and join us for a fun evening, discovering ways to grow deeper in love for a happier marriage and a happier life! The evening draws on Marriage Encounters’ 50 years of wisdom and experience, based on scriptural truths, and might just be the gear change you didn't know you needed or thought possible.
The evening will be led by Deirdre & Russ Fairman, Leaders of Marriage Encounter England & Wales wwme.org.uk
RESURRECTION - A POEM BY OUR RESIDENT POET
RESURRECTION
Green spears peeping through the earth,
Intimations of re-birth.
Snowdrops braving Winter’s cold.
Daffodils streaming, sparkling, bold,
Flood the faded world with gold.
Crocuses of different hue
The sterile soil with life renew.
Spritely robin flirts and sings
To give our earth-bound spirits wings.
Buds on leaden branches swell,
Lengthening days do Spring foretell.
May Christ in Triumph succour all
Who suffer, helplessly in thrall.
Let all of Easter’s blessings bring
The happiness of Eternal Spring.
Eileen Murray ©
CATHOLIC PICTORIAL MARCH 2026
The latest edition of the Catholic Pictorial is available in the porch. For an electronic copy click here
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