Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 10:35-45
The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus. ‘Master,’ they said to him ‘we want you to do us a favour.’ He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.’
When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
Lord you came as one who serves, help us to be faithful servants of You and Your Kingdom and help us serve one another.
Tuesday 22 October is the Feast day of Saint John Paul II (1920-2005)
Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. After his ordination to the priesthood and theological studies in Rome, he returned to his homeland and resumed various pastoral and academic tasks. He became first auxiliary bishop and, in 1964, Archbishop of Kraków and took part in the Second Vatican Council. On 16 October 1978 he was elected pope and took the name John Paul II. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people and the sick, led him to numerous pastoral visits throughout the world. Among the many fruits which he has left as a heritage to the Church are above all his rich Magisterium and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and for the Eastern Churches. In Rome on 2 April 2005, the eve of the Second Sunday of Easter (or of Divine Mercy), he departed peacefully in the Lord. He was canonized by Pope Francis on 27 April, the Second Sunday of Easter 2014.
Saint John Paul II pray for us
Intercessions
Sacred Heart of Jesus have Mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.
Pray for the sanctity of life from conception to natural death.
Pray for upbuilding of Marriage and Family.
Pray for peace in our Country and our communities.
Pray for our young people that they may be protected from the evil one, that they may find a home in the loving Heart of Jesus.
Pray for healing for Adam Grey with cancer, Susan, Kyle, Catherine and Peter, Anne Shepherd, Felicity, Jessica, Marie Bedingfield, Milo, Rosie, John Joynes, Vanessa, Cathy, Matthew, Gina Hardy, Jeff Shore, Owen McEneaney, Reese, Tony, Joan, Jackie, Nathan, David, Derek, Malcolm, Hollie, and Harlan Moon.
Pray for Gina (aged 31) who has had a pancreas and kidney transplant recently but has had to go back to surgery because the pancreas is not working properly.
Pray for Peter diagnosed with leukaemia.
Pray for Alan Guile may the Lord strengthen him and his ministry.
Pray for all in our Parishes who are ill in body, mind or spirit.
Pray for all those we have been asked and have promised to pray for.
Pray for all who are grieving give them strength, consolation and healing.
Pray for our Priests and for vocations to the Priesthood.
Pray for lost souls.
Pray for the conversion of the World.
Lord we continue to pray for Peace in Ukraine and in Israel and Gaza and throughout the World.
Lord we pray for persecuted Christians throughout the World.
Lord we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all peoples and nations.
Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory may they be granted eternal rest.
Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, pray for us.
Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Mary, Bride of the Spirit, pray for us.
If anyone has any prophecy, prayers, readings or intercessions I encourage you to please send them to me. Let us share with one another the gifts and inspirations of the Spirit!
Also if there any changes necessary to the intercessions - please let me know
Resources
1.Theotokos Prayer Group:
https://www.facebook.com/Theotokos-Prayer-Group-142398089120415
/http://theotokosprayergroup.blogspot.co.uk/
2. Daily Mass readings can be found at:
https://universalis.com/mass.htm
3. Bishops Conference of England and Wales Website -
https://www.cbcew.org.uk
4. Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle Website:
Home - Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle (diocesehn.org.uk)
5. Catholic Charismatic Renewal in England:
http://www.ccr.org.uk/
6. Catholic Charismatic Renewal International
https://www.charis.international/en/home/
7. Celebrate Conference website
https://www.celebratetrust.org/
8. CHARIS in England and Wales
www.charisuk.com
9.CaFE - Catholic Faith Exploration (faithcafe.org)
Events
Next meeting of Theotokos Prayer Group is on 22nd October 2024
Meet at St Mary's Presbytery, Major Street, Stockton on Tees at 7.30PM. All welcome.
News
- Cardinal Vincent Nichols
- Cardinal's Homilies
- Pastoral Letter on Assisted Suicide
My brothers and sisters,
This Wednesday, 16 October 2024, a bill will be introduced to Parliament proposing a change in the law to permit assisted suicide. The debate will continue for a number of months, in society and in Parliament, before a definitive vote is held there. This puts in the spotlight crucial questions about the dignity of human life and the care and protection afforded by our society to every human being.
As this debate unfolds there are three points I would like to put before you. I hope that you will take part in the debate, whenever and wherever you can, and that you will write to your Member of Parliament.
The first point is this: Be careful what you wish for.
No doubt the bill put before Parliament will be carefully framed, providing clear and very limited circumstances in which it would become lawful to assist, directly and deliberately, in the ending of a person’s life. But please remember, the evidence from every single country in which such a law has been passed is clear: that the circumstances in which the taking of a life is permitted are widened and widened, making assisted suicide and medical killing, or euthanasia, more and more available and accepted. In this country, assurances will be given that the proposed safeguards are firm and reliable. Rarely has this been the case. This proposed change in the law may be a source of relief to some. But it will bring great fear and trepidation to many, especially those who have vulnerabilities and those living with disabilities. What is now proposed will not be the end of the story. It is a story better not begun.
The second point is this: a right to die can become a duty to die.
A law which prohibits an action is a clear deterrent. A law which permits an action changes attitudes: that which is permitted is often and easily encouraged. Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance.
I know that, for many people, there is profound fear at the prospect of prolonged suffering and loss of dignity. Yet such suffering itself can be eased. Part of this debate, then, must be the need and duty to enhance palliative care and hospice provision, so that there can genuinely be, for all of us, the prospect of living our last days in the company of loved ones and caring medical professionals. This is truly dying with dignity. Indeed, the radical change in the law now being proposed risks bringing about for all medical professionals a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill.
The third point is this: being forgetful of God belittles our humanity.
The questions raised by this bill go to the very heart of how we understand ourselves, our lives, our humanity. For people of faith in God - the vast majority of the population of the world - the first truth is that life, ultimately, is a gift of the Creator. Our life flows from God and will find its fulfilment in God. ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ (Job 1:21) To ignore or deny this truth is to separate our humanity from its origins and purpose. We are left, floating free, detached, in a sphere that lacks firm anchors or destiny, thinking that we can create these for ourselves according to the mood of the age, or even of the day.
The clearest expression of this faith is that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. That is the source of our dignity and it is unique to the human person. The suffering of a human being is not meaningless. It does not destroy that dignity. It is an intrinsic part of our human journey, a journey embraced by the Eternal Word of God, Christ Jesus himself. He brings our humanity to its full glory precisely through the gateway of suffering and death.
We know, only too well, that suffering can bring people to a most dreadful state of mind, even driving them to take their own lives, in circumstances most often when they lack true freedom of mind and will, and so bear no culpability. But this proposed legislation is quite different. It seeks to give a person of sound will and mind the right to act in a way that is clearly contrary to a fundamental truth: our life is not our own possession, to dispose of as we feel fit. This is not a freedom of choice we can take for ourselves without undermining the foundations of trust and shared dignity on which a stable society rests.
As this debate unfolds, then, I ask you to play your part in it. Write to your MP. Have discussions with family, friends and colleagues. And pray. Please remember: be careful what you wish for; the right to die can become a duty to die; being forgetful of God belittles our humanity.
May God bless us all at this critical time.
✠ Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
This Wednesday, 16 October 2024, a bill will be introduced to Parliament proposing a change in the law to permit assisted suicide. The debate will continue for a number of months, in society and in Parliament, before a definitive vote is held there. This puts in the spotlight crucial questions about the dignity of human life and the care and protection afforded by our society to every human being.
As this debate unfolds there are three points I would like to put before you. I hope that you will take part in the debate, whenever and wherever you can, and that you will write to your Member of Parliament.
The first point is this: Be careful what you wish for.
No doubt the bill put before Parliament will be carefully framed, providing clear and very limited circumstances in which it would become lawful to assist, directly and deliberately, in the ending of a person’s life. But please remember, the evidence from every single country in which such a law has been passed is clear: that the circumstances in which the taking of a life is permitted are widened and widened, making assisted suicide and medical killing, or euthanasia, more and more available and accepted. In this country, assurances will be given that the proposed safeguards are firm and reliable. Rarely has this been the case. This proposed change in the law may be a source of relief to some. But it will bring great fear and trepidation to many, especially those who have vulnerabilities and those living with disabilities. What is now proposed will not be the end of the story. It is a story better not begun.
The second point is this: a right to die can become a duty to die.
A law which prohibits an action is a clear deterrent. A law which permits an action changes attitudes: that which is permitted is often and easily encouraged. Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance.
I know that, for many people, there is profound fear at the prospect of prolonged suffering and loss of dignity. Yet such suffering itself can be eased. Part of this debate, then, must be the need and duty to enhance palliative care and hospice provision, so that there can genuinely be, for all of us, the prospect of living our last days in the company of loved ones and caring medical professionals. This is truly dying with dignity. Indeed, the radical change in the law now being proposed risks bringing about for all medical professionals a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill.
The third point is this: being forgetful of God belittles our humanity.
The questions raised by this bill go to the very heart of how we understand ourselves, our lives, our humanity. For people of faith in God - the vast majority of the population of the world - the first truth is that life, ultimately, is a gift of the Creator. Our life flows from God and will find its fulfilment in God. ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ (Job 1:21) To ignore or deny this truth is to separate our humanity from its origins and purpose. We are left, floating free, detached, in a sphere that lacks firm anchors or destiny, thinking that we can create these for ourselves according to the mood of the age, or even of the day.
The clearest expression of this faith is that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. That is the source of our dignity and it is unique to the human person. The suffering of a human being is not meaningless. It does not destroy that dignity. It is an intrinsic part of our human journey, a journey embraced by the Eternal Word of God, Christ Jesus himself. He brings our humanity to its full glory precisely through the gateway of suffering and death.
We know, only too well, that suffering can bring people to a most dreadful state of mind, even driving them to take their own lives, in circumstances most often when they lack true freedom of mind and will, and so bear no culpability. But this proposed legislation is quite different. It seeks to give a person of sound will and mind the right to act in a way that is clearly contrary to a fundamental truth: our life is not our own possession, to dispose of as we feel fit. This is not a freedom of choice we can take for ourselves without undermining the foundations of trust and shared dignity on which a stable society rests.
As this debate unfolds, then, I ask you to play your part in it. Write to your MP. Have discussions with family, friends and colleagues. And pray. Please remember: be careful what you wish for; the right to die can become a duty to die; being forgetful of God belittles our humanity.
May God bless us all at this critical time.
✠ Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment