Daily Prayers

Prayer is Love, I want to Love

Category: Fr John’s Weekly

Suffering

Dear Fr John, I find it disappointing to have you raise that question yet again “Why does God allow suffering?” All my life I’ve heard people grumble like that – and now you. Isn’t it obvious that it isn’t God? Most of the suffering you can point at is caused by people – wars, revolutions,…

15/04/2018
Violence Among Our Young

The student was in her final year at school. Suddenly she changed. From having been steady at her studies she seemed not to care, fell behind in her work, and A levels were coming. I pleaded with her to resume her good work. She had tired of school, saw no point in anything except having…

07/04/2018
Pastoral Letter – (Bishop Patrick McKinney)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, On this first Sunday of Lent I wish to speak to you about the connection between Almsgiving and the Eucharist. CAFOD, as you know, is our Catholic Agency in England and Wales for Overseas Development. It works closely with local partner agencies in many poor and developing countries. As…

25/02/2018
Dreams

I asked my mother if she would enjoy seeing a young man coming towards her on a yacht. She said she was satisfied with my father coming home from work on a bike.

11/02/2018
Family Funerals

A radio broadcast suggested that people need advice on funerals and their high costs – but from whom? The local minister or priest was seen as the one best placed to advise. Funeral firms can be reluctant to publish their prices, claiming that costs vary according to type of coffin chosen, number of limousines required, bringing…

03/02/2018
Self-assessment!

Don’t bother, say the smart ones. Curl up in your own little world, grumble and grouse about everything and everyone, but don’t get involved because you’ll be criticised for whatever you try and fail to do.

20/01/2018
Christian Unity

“How could you move from the Magi’s gifts to Women Priests via the Death Penalty in last Sunday’s homily?”, asked someone. Simple, by asking you to give your mind to God as a gift on the Epiphany – a wise gift as true as gold, incense or myrrh. Are you in favour of the death…

14/01/2018
Two Years!

I served under a wonderful bishop in British Columbia, Canada, 1971-73. I remembered him in my prayer this week when news of the bad weather across North America came through. My first Christmas day with him saw us 40 below zero! Bishop O’Grady was appointed to Prince Rupert in 1956. Find the port by following…

06/01/2018
My Thanks

Thank you. We had another wonderful parish Christmas. The churches looked beautiful, we welcomed many visitors, the music and singing were joyful and prayerful and our five new servers took their duties calmly and efficiently alongside our long-serving seniors. As I began my days of prayer and reflection (a retreat) on Christmas afternoon, after a…

31/12/2017
A Blessed Christmas

We have had a prayerful parish preparation for Christmas. On the Third Sunday of Advent, there was an outline of the very different stories of the Nativity which are full of fascinating symbol: an ideal invitation to read the stories at home, in our own bible. On Monday evening SPANNED came from Hinckley and sang…

24/12/2017