Woodhall Spa Parish
Welcome to Woodhall Spa Parish
Our Lady and St Peter Woodhall Spa
click on the picture above to see inside and here to see the garden
Sunday 10am Mass and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10.00am
Serving Woodhall Spa, Horncastle, Coningsby and Metheringham
Parish Priest Fr John O'Donnell
Our Lady and St Peter
15 Cromwell Avenue, Woodhall Spa, LN10 6TH
Tel 01526 352245
e-mail catholic.church.woodhallspa@gmail.com
The Catholic Church in England and Wales
Daily Readings - read the entire New Testament over a 2 year period
(reading plan courtesy of Gideon International)
St Mary's Church of England Church, Horncastle
click on the picture of the church to see inside
Saturday 6pm Mass
Live and recorded Masses at St Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham
Please click on the picture link below
For todays Mass Readings and for the Readings for the Week
click on the date link below
Live and recorded liturgies and addresses of Pope Francis with English commentary
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ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION PRAYER
Offered as an example of a suitable prayer for use by home viewers wishing to participate in a Live Streaming of the Mass
After the celebrant has received Holy Communion himself, the celebrant reads aloud the Act of Spiritual Communion, and invites the home viewers to say the words of the prayer with him.
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen
Notices
For “Churches Without Walls” and "Community of Enquiry" meetings, programme and information click here
"Talking Philosophy & Theology: a Carmelite Perspective - Reading & Discussion Zoom Group - Open to All" - A group of Third Order Carmelites, a lay organisation, are offering a course via Zoom on the philosophy that is woven into the spirituality of Ss Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Sr. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). Meeting via Zoom in Jan. Feb. & March. as follows: 1st & 3rd Wednesday evenings at 7.45 pm for 8.00 -10.00 pm, on 2nd Thursday afternoons at 12.45 pm for 1.00 -3.00 pm, on NB Theology starts on 4th (not 5th) Thursday afternoons in February 2024 Should anyone be interested please contact james.hunter200@btinternet.com Click here for more details
Pope Francis April 2024
For the role of women
Let us pray that the dignity and worth of women be recognized in every culture, and for an end to the discrimination they face in various parts of the world.
In many parts of the world, women are treated like the first thing to get rid of.
There are countries where women are forbidden to access aid, open a business, or go to school. In these places, they are subject to laws that make them dress a certain way. And in many countries, genital mutilation is still practiced.
Let us not deprive women of their voice. Let us not rob all these abused women of their voice. They are exploited, marginalized.
In theory, we all agree that men and women have the same dignity as persons. But this does not play out in practice.
Governments need to commit to eliminate discriminatory laws everywhere and to work toward guaranteeing women’s human rights.
Let us respect women. Let us respect their dignity, their basic rights. And if we don’t, our society will not progress.
Let us pray that the dignity and worth of women be recognized in every culture, and for an end to the discrimination they face in various parts of the world.
April 2024
Pope Francis Catechesis Series on Vices and Virtues - Fortitude
Excerpt below click on the picture link above for the full text
Today’s catechesis is dedicated to the third of the cardinal virtues, namely fortitude. Let us begin with the description given in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions” (1808). This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the virtue of fortitude.
Nottingham Diocesan E-Magazine
Easter 2024
Grapevine Newsletter
10 January 2024
The Cost of Living Crisis
Autumn 2023 Cost-of-Living Statement
click on the picture link above to access the statement
Since our last statement on the cost-of-living crisis, issued by our Department for Social Justice, some aspects of the crisis have eased while other problems have emerged. The persistence of social and economic difficulties for many has led us to issue a new public statement.
At the Bishops' Conference, we are acutely aware of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis up and down the country.
The crisis is having a devastating effect on families, pushing many deeper into poverty and leading many others to struggle with day-to-day living costs.
Who owns food?
Our friends at CAFOD have launched a new campaign to ‘Fix the Food System’. It highlights the threat to farmers worldwide from the growing monopoly of a small number of seed corporations. The solution to this injustice is ‘seed sovereignty’ – safeguarding the age-old rights of farmers and consumers to self-determination.
But food sovereignty is not just a challenge for people abroad. In a five-minute read, we explore the wider vulnerabilities of our food system, and how Catholic social teaching can help us respond. And we highlight some farms here in Nottingham Diocese where we can already see principles of Catholic social teaching in action.
This is the first of a number of articles on food and justice over the coming year, thanks to support from CAFOD
“Laudate Deum”: the Pope’s cry for a response to the climate crisis
Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015 encyclical. We’re not reacting enough, he says, we’re close to breaking point. He criticises climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our common home flows from the Christian faith.
New Lectionary to be launched in England and Wales for Advent 2024
The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has confirmed the approval by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for the new Lectionary. The Lectionary, which includes the scripture readings for Mass and the sacraments, will come into use in Catholic parishes in England and Wales from Advent 2024.
Vocations Sunday 21.04.24
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Vocations Sunday or Good Shepherd Sunday. In the day’s gospel reading, Jesus says, ‘I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd is the one who lays down his life for his sheep’.
Marriage Week 2024
7-14 February
Marriage Week is an annual celebration offering the opportunity to support and promote marriage and family life. It is celebrated this year from 7-14 February.
A Christian marriage is rooted in faith; that means faith in God, as the giver of life and the one who promises eternal life to those who believe in him.
Peace Sunday 2024
Sunday 14 January
click on the picture link above for the full details
For his theme for the World Day of Peace in 2024, Pope Francis has chosen ‘Artificial Intelligence and Peace’. Whilst this might seem a strangely technical theme, we do need to think about the consequences of the advances in AI for peace and justice.
Hope and Anchor: Prayer, Hope, Action
The 2024 Year of Prayer with Caritas Diocese of Nottingham
Caritas Diocese of Nottingham is responding to the invitation of the Year of Prayer by in turn extending an invitation to you.
Once a month, on a Monday or Tuesday between February and June, we will help each other reconnect our prayer, hope and action in society. And why 'Hope & Anchor'? Because this will be an online open house, a contemplative but convivial space - like no pub you've been to before.
We will learn ways to pray together with Scripture using 'lectio divina', and we'll have the type of spiritual conversation which was used at the recent Synod meeting in Rome - all with the aim or returning to the world as agents of change in our neighbourhoods and the wider world.
We'll meet for five sessions on Zoom each at 7.00 p.m. for an hour or so:
Monday 12 February
Monday 11 March
Tuesday 16 April
Tuesday 14 May
Monday 10 June
You don't need to come to every session - come when you can, and come as you are. Register here and we'll send you the Zoom link as a reminder before each session. Just log on when you can make it - we look forward to meeting you at Hope and Anchor.
Love the Stranger
Love the Stranger'Love the Stranger' presents a Catholic response to refugees and migrants. It is a 2023 document of the Department for International Affairs.
Love the Stranger places the human being at the heart of our pastoral outreach, looking beyond statistics and policies to the person – each with a name, a face and a story. The document offers 24 guiding principles and has been endorsed by the Holy See, COMECE, CAFOD, CSAN and Caritas Social Action Network members.
Prayer Day for Peace in the Holy Land - March 8th
Cardinal Nichols is encouraging Catholics to have a special focus to pray for peace for the people of the Holy Land on 8 March
Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ Statement on Holy Family Parish in Gaza
Cardinal Vincent Nichols has issued a statement on the killings in the Church compound of the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City - click on the picture link above for the statement.
CAFOD Advent Appeal
Israeli-Palestinian Crisis
The devastating conflict in Israel and Gaza has so far taken the lives of over 14,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis. Tens of thousands more are injured, and over 1.4 million people have lost their homes.
We are working closely with our local partners in Gaza to reach those who have been affected by the conflict, supporting 10,000 families with vouchers to purchase essentials like food, water and bedding and providing shelter support and solar lanterns where electricity has failed.
CAFOD
Call for a ceasefire in the Holy Land
Thousands of people have been killed across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory as the region witnesses the deadliest days in recent history.
CAFOD unequivocally condemns this shocking killing and kidnapping of civilians.
But we know more violence is never the answer.
The scale of the Israeli government’s violent retaliation is causing more civilian deaths and injuries. The decision to withhold food, water and fuel from reaching the two million inhabitants of Gaza – half of whom are children – will inevitably lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
Will you email the Foreign Secretary to urge the UK to play its part in upholding international law, ensuring humanitarian aid can reach people in need, and works with other world leaders to secure a lasting peace for the region?
CAFOD
Israeli-Palestinian Crisis
How you can help
We have all been shocked and saddened by the devastating conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Our local partners are actively responding and providing urgent humanitarian aid to those in need.
Street Pastors in Lincoln
Seventeen towns and cities in Nottingham Diocese have a Street Pastors scheme which reaches out to young people..
Lincoln Street Pastors are looking for people who are willing to offer up their time and their prayers for the Night Time Economy streets of Lincoln and become one of the team of Lincoln Street Pastors.
To find out more about what's involved follow the links below.
Ukraine
Pray for Peace in Ukraine
Click on the picture link above for details
Good news for prospective hosts
of Ukrainian refugees
October 2022
We are happy to announce a new matching service under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, supported by the nationwide Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) in England and Wales.
St John of God Hospitaller Services in partnership with CSAN are offering a matching pathway, training and support programme for sponsors and individuals displaced by the war in Ukraine. We aim to support people on their journey and provide opportunities to integrate into our community in the UK.
After months of the brutal Russian war in Ukraine, the number of people fleeing the war and in need of shelter remains high and will continue to rise as winter is fast approaching.
We are very conscious that so much of our attention is rightly focused on those at home who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. There will be those in our communities less affected by that who may be able and willing to open their hearts and homes to displaced people from Ukraine. Can you help?
CAFOD Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal
At least 3 million people have fled their homes to escape conflict in Ukraine. Your donations will reach families who are in urgent need of help.
Parishes of Welcome
The war in Ukraine shows no sign of ending soon, and its people are continuing to flee. Would you like to help your parish extend a welcome to refugees? Are you seeking to host a family or individual - or do you already have a guest and experience you'd like to exchange with fellow hosts?
We have received numerous expressions of interest in hosting refugees from the conflict in Ukraine. Compassion and solidarity are alive and well in the Diocese of Nottingham. That's why we're opening a Parishes of Welcome scheme, to help you find the support you need as a welcomer, locally and nationally, within the Church and beyond.
Even if you don't have spare accommodation, there are already plenty of opportunities to develop the care, support and accompaniment that will help those who have fled Ukraine to find a place of safety.
Pope Francis Message for the 56th World Peace Day 01.01.23
Click on the picture link above to read the message
Sponsorship to all Ukrainian refugees
Click on the picture link above for details
Caritas in Ukraine
Caritas Ukraine and Caritas-Spes are working on the ground to help about 13.000 people in different parts of the country, and especially in critical areas such as Mariupol, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kyiv and Odessa. Caritas Internationalis have launched a campaign to support their work, especially for the most vulnerable people, such as the elderly and children in the conflict zones.
#HelpUkraine
Organisations in Derby serving the Ukrainian community have come together to launch the #HelpUkraine appeal. The national launch was hosted by the Ukrainian Parish Church of St Michael the Archangel, near the Arboretum. It is introduced in the video above by Fr David Senyk, parish priest of communities the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in the area of our diocese.
You are invited to donate to this appeal, which is managed by the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain with the Church's support. It represents the efforts of Ukrainians here in Nottingham Diocese and across the UK, and is the perfect way to show solidarity with our own neighbours, and their efforts for their compatriots, in this crisis.
youth2000uk Youth 2000 seeks to draw young people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, lived at the heart of the Catholic church. www.youth2000.org
The Joy of Love
Reflection document on Marriage and Family Life
Click on the picture link above for details
Pope Francis Message for the third world day for Grandparents and the Elderly 22.07.23
Click on the picture link above for details
Pope Francis Letter to Married Couples December 2021
Pope Francis Message for the first world day for Grandparents and the Elderly 25.07.21
Click on the picture link above to read the letter
Novena on the Care of Creation
The 'God Who Speaks' team offers this Novena of readings and prayers as tangible action to respond to the urgent climate change issues we all face.
please click on the picture link
A Father's Heart - A Podcast for Catholic Dads
This new podcast series from the Diocese of Nottingham for the Year of St Joseph will explore what does it mean to be a Catholic Dad , taking St Joseph as our model. Each month a section of the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde will be explored through conservation with two dads from the Diocese of Nottingham sharing their thoughts and experiences.
'Being a Disciple'
The 'Being a Disciple' series was run in conjunction between the Diocese of Nottingham and Catholic Voices over four evenings on Zoom in January 2021.
Brenden Thompson, CEO of Catholic Voices presented in each session a fundamental principle of being a Catholic disciple. Session 1 explores the Word of God and how as disciples we are called to internalise it that means to live it, to share it and to seek to know it better.
This course was aimed at both those who would like to grow in their personal discipleship and those who want to help others grow.
The recordings are presented here for you to access and use this course to help you grow as a disciple or to help others in your community.
Let us pray for peace, and let us bring it about, starting in our own homes!
May we help people to discover the joy of the Christian message: a message of love and mercy. Pope Francis
Pope Francis: our path is to take care of others
Pope Francis 03.02.15 - Daily contemplation of the Gospel
Daily contemplation of the Gospel helps us to have true hope. The Pope again urged people to take 10 minutes out of their day to pick up the Gospel and talk to the Lord, rather than waste it on TV soap operas or listening to other peoples’ gossip.
Take up the Gospel, read and imagine the scene, imagine what happens and talk to Jesus, from the heart. And with this we allow hope to grow, because we have our gaze fixed, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
We should all carry out this contemplative prayer. 'But I have so much to do!'. At home, 15 minutes, pick up the Gospel, a small passage, imagine what happened and talk with Jesus about it. So your gaze will be fixed on Jesus and not so much on a TV soap opera, for example. Your ears will be focused on the words of Jesus and not so much on your neighbourhood gossip ... ".
Hope comes from this prayer, he said, adding "our Christian life unfolds in that context, between memory and hope": "Memory of our past journey, memory of so many graces received from the Lord. And hope, looking at the Lord, who is the only one who can give me hope. And in order to gaze at the Lord, to know the Lord, we pick up the Gospel and carry out this contemplative prayer.
Today, for example, try for 10 minutes - 15, no more – to read the Gospel, picture it and say something to Jesus. And nothing more. And so your knowledge of Jesus will be bigger and your hope will grow.
Bishop Patrick recommends the new Pocket Gospels
Pope Francis has said "Everyone should carry a small Bible or a pocket edition of the Gospels and should find at least a few minutes every day to Read the Word of God"
Priced £4.99 from the Bible Society
Daily Readings - read the entire New Testament over a 2 year period
(reading plan courtesy of Gideon International)
Sunday & daily Mass live streamed at
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Thoughts from Elston Hermitage on Angels
Of all things visible and invisible angels then are part of that invisible side of God's creation and so worthily deserve our attention.
Angels are God's messengers not only for great occasions but we can be assured they are constantly looking after us too as promised by the Psalmist 'The Lord will command his Angels to guard you in all your ways, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone' (Ps. 91 11-12). Angels then are body and soul guards, and each of us has a guardian angel to watch over us.
Pope Francis: Guardian angels our companions on life’s journey
Pope Francis at Mass at Casa Santa Marta. "Guardian angels exist, they are not the fruit of imaginative doctrine, but companions that God has placed beside us on our life’s journey."
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