A HUGE THANK YOU to Fr Paul and Ian from Sacred Heart Hook who took part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 10th October and have raised the amazing amount of £1060 for CAFOD WOW! Fantastic!
Ian told me “I wanted to raise funds in support of CAFOD’s Climate Crisis Appeal. The example of Ivanilde’s community community in the Brazilian Amazon really brought home to me that the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world are also the ones who are being hit hardest by climate change. So when I was invited to join Fr Paul Leonard from my parish of Sacred Heart in Hook and take part in the Royal Park’s Half Marathon, it was time to start training!”
Thank you to everyone who supported them and donated to their just giving page.
The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales with support from CAFOD have produced a poster and a prayer card so that every parish in England and Wales can pray for the success of the COP26 Climate change talks that are being hosted by the UK government in Glasgow from 1st to 12th November.
50 prayer cards will arrive in each parish in mid-October and you can order more cards from the CAFOD shop here.
It would be wonderful if every parish could set a time to pray for COP26 and there are other prayer resources on the CAFOD website here.
On Saturday 6th November there will be a climate march in London and CAFOD supporters will gather at St Mary, Moorfields, 4-5 Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LS from 11am before joining the main march outside the Bank of England. We encourage everyone who can make it to London to join us there! You can register for the march here.
Prayer for the COP26 climate summit
Loving God, We praise your name with all you have created.
You are present in the whole universe, and in the smallest of creatures.
We acknowledge the responsibilities you have placed upon us as stewards of your creation.
May the Holy Spirit inspire all political leaders at COP26 as they seek to embrace the changes needed to foster a more sustainable society.
Instill in them the courage and gentleness to implement fairer solutions for the poorest and most vulnerable, and commit their nations to the care of Our Common Home.
We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ your Son.
Martha Vickers our parish volunteer at St Francis de Sales told me about the Season of Creation mass that they had on Sunday 3rd October.
” Fr Zbigniew incorporated the theme in to his homily and linked it with the Gospel as regards our being responsible stewards of the Earth. Our folk group provided the music with some lovely earth focused hymns. We did a small display in front of the Altar on the theme using a globe and reminders about reducing waste/recycling .
The children’s liturgy group which has just started again focused on caring for the earth and they drew a picture of our world which they shared with the congregation when they returned.
At the end of the mass I shared the Harvest family fast day story about how Ivanilde and her community are protecting and resorting the amazon rainforest in the area of Brazil where they live.
Many thanks to Martha and the Justice and Peace group for organising the mass .
