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We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the 4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What is love? (Baby, don't hurt me)... Is there only one type of love? What's the difference between family love , and other love ? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Glory to you O Lord. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, befor

On the 8th DECEMBER the Church celebrate the Solemnity of THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. It might seem strange that whilst in Advent, and preparing for the birth of Jesus, we pause to remember the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Catholics believe that, in order that she might be worthy to be a tabernacle of the Son of God, Mary was kept free from Original Sin so that she might give a completely free ‘yes’, when asked to bear th

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the 3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What is the difference between happiness and joy ? Have you ever done something kind for someone who couldn't repay you? How would you advise someone who wanted more joy in their life? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Glory to you O Lord. At that time: When John heard in prison about the deeds

We have now begun a new Church year which began on the FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. In the season of Advent, we begin to prepare ourselves to receive Jesus in the celebration of Christmas. We make space in our lives and in our hearts, to receive anew God who became human, so that we might know him, be loved by him and share that love with others. There are various practices that help us prepare for Christmas throughout ADVENT. The Advent Wreath is one of these traditions. You will

On NOVEMBER 30th the Church remembers SAINT ANDREW THE APOSTLE. Andrew was born in Bethsaida, on the shore of lake Galilee, and worked as a fisherman there until he was called by Jesus. He may have first been a disciple of St John the Baptist and became one of the first to follow Jesus before introducing his brother, Simon (Peter), to Christ. There can often be a lot of competition between brothers, yet in St Andrew we see someone who after introducing his brother Peter to

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the 2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What gives you peace? What seems more difficult than it should be? Rate your level of inner-peace out of 10! WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Glory to you O Lord. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is

On 22nd NOVEMBER the Church remembers SAINT CECILIA who is the patron saint of Musicians and Poets! Her existence and martyrdom are considered historical, however there is some legend regarding her life. Cecelia lived in the 2nd Century and came from a wealthy Christian family. She wanted to totally dedicate her life to God, but was forced to marry a wealthy nobleman called Valerian. At the wedding she sat apart from the groom and sang hymns throughout the service (hence her

On NOVEMBER 21st the Church celebrates the PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. The Presentation of a child was something that all Jewish parents would do - similar to infant baptism for Catholics. On one hand, this reminds us of the ordinariness of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her childhood. However, we also remember that she was chosen before birth to be conceived without sin (the Immaculate Conception) so that she could carry God within her which also relied on her ow

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What is the difference between wishing and hoping? What's the best surprise that you've ever had? How long would you wait for the life you want? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Glory to you O Lord. At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming o

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What makes someone powerful? How do people express their status or power? If you were a king or queen, what would be most important rule of your kingdom? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: Glory to you O Lord. At that time: The rulers scoffed at Jesus, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself,

On the 11th NOVEMBER we remember all those who all armed forces members who served to defend our freedom. At 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month, we observe a 2-minute silence as the Armistice agreement, which ended the fighting of WW1, began at 11 o’clock on the 11th November 1918. In WW1 alone, 21.5 million people died (roughly the population of Sri Lanka). 8.5 million were soldiers, but the rest were civilians. In WW2 over 54 million people lost their lives (equi

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING | AUTUMN TERM 2

On 4th NOVEMBER we remember Saint Charles Borromeo, he was born in Arona Italy in 1538. By the age of 12, Charles was dedicated to the church and helping people so any money he did not use for his education, he gave to the poor. At the age of 23 he became a cardinal governing the papal states, supervising the guards of Malta, the Franciscans and the Carmelites. When Pope Pius III died (his uncle), Borromeo moved to Milan to clean up the corruption in the church in doing so he

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the 33rd SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME YEAR C GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. When have you felt like giving up? When have you persevered? What is worth persevering for? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: Glory to you O Lord. At that time: While some were speaking of the Temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, Jesus said, ‘As for these things that y

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What makes you angry? Can people change? How have you changed a bad situation into something good? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John: Glory to you O Lord. The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and

On NOVEMBER 2nd the Church celebrates the memorial of ALL SOULS . Here we remember and pray for all the ‘faithful departed’ that aren’t formally recognised as Saints by the Church. Often this includes those people close to us - our family and friends who have died. The liturgical colour of this feast is violet. Violet is the colour of preparation, and we see it used in Advent and Lent whilst we prepare for Christmas and Easter. On All Souls Day, we pray for the souls who are

There isn’t actually a feast of “Halloween”. Despite there being lots of confusion to its origins, it is part of an authentically Catholic tradition. Despite the modern fascination with scary stuff, it’s actually a way of celebrating life, but by remembering and praying for the dead. The name Halloween is a blending of the phrase ‘All-Hallows-Eve’. All Hallows Day is the olde English way of saying 'All Saints Day', the solemnity celebrated on November 1st. On this feast, we

OCTOBER 22nd is the feast of SAINT JOHN PAUL II. John Paul II was Pope from 1979 to 2005. He was born in Poland in 1920 and saw Nazism...

We take this theme from the Gospel reading of the THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS GATHER +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. When do you feel happiest? Why do people spend so much time doing things that are proven to make us unhappy? How would you describe someone who is blessed? WORD A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Glory to you O Lord. At that time: Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down,

OCTOBER 18th is the feast of ST LUKE the EVANGELIST. This Gospel writer was a man of science which - a doctor. This reminds us that even...