Parish launches new Lenten Challenge as part of the Live Simply Campaign
The Parish Live Simply campaign was strengthened through showing the film Global Healing, commissioned by the Bishops of England and Wales, to promote the Pope’s call to us all to care for the planet in Laudato Si’.  

Parishioners gathered on Friday 1 March in the Parish Hall for a bring and share supper.  When everyone had had their fill, the first part of Global Healing was shown and parishioners then shared their thoughts on the two questions posed in the film: How do you experience the gift of creation? and How do you feel about the state of our planet?

They then went on to see Part 2 of the film, entitled Conversion, at the end of which two further questions were framed:  How are you challenged by ecological conversion?  What sacrifices could you make to help heal the planet?  Again, parishioners discussed the implications in their own lives.

Part 3 of the film, Global Healing: how faith helps us care for our common home, featured a young family and how they are attempting to live a simple life.   Through their examples, many ideas were shared and Bishop John Arnold, Chair of CAFOD, invited us all to think of practical examples of how we might take our responsibilities to care for the planet more seriously through actions and prayer.

There followed a discussion of further action that could be taken to promote Global healing in the parish and, as a first step, the group endorsed the plan to Give Up (some) Plastic for Lent.  Cards were distributed at all Masses over the weekend and a string of plastic single-use and throw-away bottles was draped over the entrance gates to the church to draw attention to the the impact of plastic on our daily lives.  Click here for roller banner.