Prayer Archives - Page 12 of 15

Laudato Si’: Imagining a better world

June 15, 2017

Linda Jones is Head of the CAFOD Theology Programme. On the second anniversary of Pope Francis encyclical, Laudato Si’, she reflects on how we can free our hearts and minds to transform our world.

We can each imagine what the world could be like, though we might each have a very different picture in our minds. As Christians, we have a passionate love of God and our neighbour, especially neighbours who are treated as if they don’t matter. We can hear the ‘cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’, and we long to respond.

Yet the challenges are so many, and seemingly so huge, that some of us simply find it all too much. Where do we start? Is it even worth bothering to try? Pope Francis identifies some of the biggest issues facing us in his inspiring encyclical, Laudato Si’: climate change, pollution, migration, work, poverty and inequality… rapidification, an over-reliance on technological change for solutions, and more.

Download prayers on Laudato Si’

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Living out our values

January 24, 2017

Dr Susy Brouard with Laudato Si' — Dr Susy Brouard is a Theological Advisor to CAFOD

Dr Susy Brouard is CAFOD’s Theological advisor and has a passion for Catholic social teaching. Here she explains how our values were chosen and how CAFOD staff try to live them out in their everyday work.

Fourteen years ago today I started working at CAFOD. My role was to help the Catholic community make connections between their faith and issues of justice. However, after seven years my role changed and I was asked to work specifically with CAFOD staff, helping them to understand how our values are rooted in Catholic social teaching (CST) and the implications of this for their work.

What are CAFOD’s values and how were they chosen?

Before 1996, CAFOD did not name any specific principles from CST, but stated more generally that we shared “in the process of integral human development and the building up of the Kingdom of God on earth”.

However, in 1996 we explicitly stated our Vision, Mission and Values. The VMV, as they became known, were created with input from staff, from CAFOD supporters and from our overseas partners. At this stage, our values were named as: compassion, solidarity, partnership, integrity of creation, stewardship and hope.

Follow our weekly Gospel reflections Continue reading “Living out our values”

Advent: Hope amidst the gloom

December 8, 2016

Sue Cooper, a CAFOD supporter from Corpus Christi parish in Wokingham, reflects on what Advent means to her as a time of hope and light amongst the winter gloom and darkness.

Sue Cooper at a CAFOD supporter event in Parliament — Sue Cooper (left) at a CAFOD supporter event in Parliament

How I dislike this time of year. The dark nights and the cold, wet weather force me inside, and living in an area of the South where it rarely snows, there’s not even that brightness to lighten my mood. The news, too, speaks of horror in Syria and tumult in Iraq as well as an uncertain future for us here. It is miserable, but amidst the gloom there is hope.

The Sunday Mass readings throughout Advent warn us to ready ourselves and our anticipation of future events is filled with light and expectation. We have not been abandoned in the darkness, there is one who is coming to us who brings peace and cares for those on the margins. And in preparation to welcome the one who comes, we must respond to the call of John the Baptist and “repent” and change our ways. As the weeks unfold the anticipation and the excitement grow: the Word is made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, is coming!

Follow our Advent calendar of daily reflection and prayer on the readings throughout the season

As we prepare for Christmas, Advent is a time to take stock of what has happened in the past year. As a family, we post up pictures on our website with short captions to share with our extended family and friends what we’ve been up to. It’s a time to consider those who have died during the year, our achievements and perhaps ponder the “might have beens”. Continue reading “Advent: Hope amidst the gloom”

What Advent means to me

November 29, 2016

CAFOD volunteer Trevor Stockton, from St Anthony of Padua parish in Wolverhampton, reflects on the significance of Advent in his life, past and present.

Trevor Stockton speaking at a Romero Mass in St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham — Trevor Stockton speaking at a Romero Mass in St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham

Advent was a word I didn’t know about until I started going to church in my teens. The period before Christmas and Christmas itself really took on a new meaning for me thereafter.

Before then, as a child in a working class family in the 1940s, Christmas was simply all about having a few treats that we didn’t get all year round. Having an ordinary stocking filled with nuts, dates, a tangerine and other similar luxuries was amazing. A few, and I mean a few, simple presents followed by a family Christmas meal made the day. There was no television and the day continued with playing games. So, the weeks before Christmas were spent in anticipation of this special time.

Now, Advent means trying to put the religious significance into perspective against a backdrop of a society which seems to see Christmas as a purely commercial, money-making, money-spending time, whatever the cost to self, others and the environment.

Follow our Advent calendar for daily reflections on the Scriptures throughout the season

After I have had the annual tussle with myself about the negatives of this commercial approach, Advent’s true significance to me is as a time of preparation for the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus – who forms the basis of our Christian faith.

Continue reading “What Advent means to me”

Live with mercy this Advent

November 28, 2016

Rachel McCarthy, who works in CAFOD’s Theology Programme, reflects how we can continue to bring the mercy of God to our global family throughout Advent.

Children in a refugee camp — Children from Syria seek shelter in a refugee camp

On Sunday 20 November, Pope Francis sealed the Holy Door on the Year of Mercy. This past year has been a wonderful opportunity for us to experience the richness of God’s mercy. And the Jubilee has moved us to bring the tenderness of God to all, especially the most vulnerable.

It is worth reflecting back on the Year of Mercy, to understand how we can continue to make mercy a meaningful part of our lives. For me, mercy is a fruit of prayer. Earlier this summer, I walked through the Holy Door of a cathedral in southern France. It was a beautiful shrine: on the entrance of the door I admired the painting of a tree, reminding me of how God holds all of creation in the palm of his hand. Kneeling before the statue of Our Lady, the Mother of Mercy, I felt God’s tender closeness, holding me tight.

The Year of Mercy has ended, but the Lord’s mercy is everlasting. From generation to generation, God shines out his faithful love to all creation. From the child in its mother’s womb to the woman who has reached the end of her life, God raises us up in infinite mercy. This is a gift given to all- no matter who we are, where we come from, or what we have done.

Follow daily reflections with our Advent calendar

Mercy opens my eyes. Christ opened the eyes of the disciples through acts of divine mercy: through his blessing of the adulterous woman, his tears for Lazarus, the washing of the disciples’ feet. Today, we see the need for mercy all around us. In our own neighbourhoods and across the world, many are cold, hungry, troubled, and longing for love. Rivers are polluted, forests are stripped bare, and beautiful creatures are being killed for profit.

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What CAFOD is doing in the Gaza Strip

November 23, 2016

Olwen Maynard has been working on CAFOD’s Middle East Desk since 2006. Here, she looks back at what the generosity of CAFOD’s supporters made possible in the two years following the last major military offensive.

Drinking clean water in Gaza — A young boy takes a drink of water made clean thanks to your donations (Credit: CRS/Shareef Sahan)

A cup of clean water

Gaza’s tap water is heavily contaminated and dangerous, but buying bottled water is expensive, and can mean having to cut down on food. CAFOD has been working since 2013 with Islamic Relief to provide Reverse Osmosis Units to poor women-headed families, so they can filter their water and make it safe for drinking and cooking. Over the two years since the 2014 airstrikes, which caused massive further damage to the water supply infrastructure, the project has been extended to another 220 families and also to 65 kindergartens, providing clean water for thousands of children, along with hygiene education to help them stay healthy.

Please give to our Advent appeal to help more people around the word

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Bearing witness to mercy

November 15, 2016

Rachel McCarthy works in the CAFOD Theology Programme. She reflects on the inspiring prayers, gifts and actions of the Catholic community throughout this Year of Mercy.

At the beginning of the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis proclaimed, “May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst!”

I have been amazed by the ways you have borne witness to God’s mercy this year, through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Thank you for all you do to stand alongside our sisters and brothers living in poverty. Here, we celebrate how you have brought mercy to your local communities and our world.

Download Year of Mercy prayers

Feed the hungry

LiveSimply Leeds-4 (800x533).jpg — A Harvest offering for people who are hungry

This Harvest, St John Bosco’s parish in Woodley offered gifts to people who are hungry around world.

Rita Belletty said, “This year we held a creation mass and Harvest offering. It is a token offered back to God in thanksgiving for the gift of fruitful earth, sun and water, joined by our own labour, making us co-creators with God. The second offering was a globe which was taken up to remind us that it is the whole world we are praying for.”

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Harvest Fast Day: Prayers for a brighter future

October 1, 2016

Catherine Gorman works in CAFOD’s Theology Programme. She reflects on a request from Vladimir in Bolivia that we pray for him and his family this Harvest.

“If people in England and Wales were able to pray for us, we’d like them to pray for our dreams to come true and that our work isn’t in vain, but that what we wish for our land will come true.” Vladimir, 25, Bolivia

Pray for Vladimir and his family this Harvest

This simple request for prayers reminds me of how universal the Church is. It makes me aware of our similarities, despite the differences in our lives and circumstances. Continue reading “Harvest Fast Day: Prayers for a brighter future”

Canonisation of Mother Teresa

September 4, 2016

On the day of the canonisation of Blessed Mother Teresa, Daniel Hale, from our campaigns team, reflects on her lifetime of charitable work.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Photo credit: Manfredo Ferrari

Mother Teresa, one of the most globally iconic people in the Catholic Church in the 20^th century, is being declared a saint this weekend in Rome. For many, this is the high point of the Pope’s Year of Mercy. Pope Francis holds Teresa up as the embodiment of Jesus’ words, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Download our prayer vigil on care for creation

Leaving the relative comfort of her teaching order, Teresa began a ministry to those living on the streets of India. She showed the touch of God’s mercy to the ‘untouchables’ of society. To those who didn’t know more, her reputation was one of absolute charity – feeding the hungry and comforting the dying. When I grew up, Mother Teresa was its personification.

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5 ways to pray on World Day of Prayer for Creation

September 1, 2016

Rachel McCarthy works in CAFOD’s Theology Programme. Here, she reflects on how you can celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September.

The Church of the Divine Providence, San Salvador.

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation fills me with gladness. How beautiful it is to think that Catholics all across the world will join together in thanks and praise for the wonderful gifts with which God blesses us.

The World Day of Prayer marks the beginning of the season of creation, which ends on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (4 October). It’s an important opportunity to spend time in prayer and reflection, to care for the world around us: our common home.

Download our prayer vigil for the care of creation

Pope Francis invites us to celebrate this day to draw closer to God, the Creator of all we can see and touch. From the birds in the sky to the tiniest of creatures, from our next-door neighbour to people in Bolivia, each one of us has been created by God.

Continue reading “5 ways to pray on World Day of Prayer for Creation”