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Do we care about God’s Creation?

Climate change is an issue of social justice, an issue we ignore at our peril.

Pope Francis encourages the Christian community to celebrate the Season of Creation. Following his lead, we are holding a virtual event on Zoom on Tuesday 28th September 2021 from 7pm – 8:30pm. You are invited to take part and contribute your thoughts.

Please join us.  To get the joining instructions please contact us by using the contact form on our Enquiry page.

You can find out more about the Season of Creation here.

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Lectio Divina: News

We are still in holiday time and our numbers are depleted. Those at home have been considering the Gospel for the 24th Sunday in ordinary time year B.

Mark 8: 27-35 You are the Christ. The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously.

You can read their thoughts and reflections here.

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Lectio Divina: News

Our Lectio group took the reading for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B.

Mk 7: 31-37 He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.

You can read their thoughts here.

Remember that you are welcome to join the group.

If you are interested then use the form at the bottom of this page to contact the group leaders.

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Website: News

Once again, a short holiday is going to upset the smooth flow of posts to the website.

Experience has taught me that it is impossible to update the website using just my phone and anyway there is unlikely to be a great mobile signal in the Dales.

I expect to catch up next week.

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The Season of Creation

The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration of prayer and action for our common home. Together, the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray and protect God’s creation.

The season starts on the 1st September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends 4th October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations.

This year we will be uniting around the theme, “A Home for All? Renewing the Oikos of God.” Oikos is the Greek word for “home,” or “household.” By rooting the theme in the concept of Oikos, we celebrate the integral web of relationships that sustain the well-being of the Earth.

  • This year’s symbol, Abraham’s tent, signifies our commitment to safeguard a place for all who share our common home, just as Abraham did in the Book of Genesis. You too are encouraged to place Abraham’s tent in a local garden as a sign of hospitality for the excluded.

    Communities are invited to pray with and for the most vulnerable in their community. The tent can also be present in liturgies or events throughout the Season of Creation as a symbol of the community’s intention to create a home for all.
  • This Season of Creation will be a critical moment for both Catholics and non Catholics to lift up the voices of the most vulnerable and advocate on their behalf ahead of two important summits, the UN Summit on Biodiversity (COP 15) in October and the UN Climate Summit in November (COP 26).
  • To that end, the ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’ petition was launched during Laudato Si’ Week 2021. Catholics and their institutions are encouraged to sign the petition that will ask world leaders to establish meaningful agreements that will repair our common home.
  • Also during this season individuals and communities are invited to participate through:
    • Prayer with all Christians to care for our common home.
    • Care for the Sustainability of our environment: to help all of creation thrive.
    • Raise our voice for climate justice; for example by divesting in fossil fuels.
  • We hope that this Season of Creation renews our baptismal call to care and sustain this ecological change so that life may flourish, and all creatures may find their place to flourish in our common home.
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Lectio Divina: News

Our Lectio Divina for this Friday focussed on the reading for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time year B.

You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human conditions.

In the Catholic Lectionary this appears as Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23, though, as usual in the group, members can choose to consider all Mk 7:1-23

You can read their thoughts and reactions by following this link.

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Prayers Needed


Since March 2020, we took the decision to close both our Coatbridge and Preston Centres. There was so much uncertainty and it seemed wise for us to take advantage of the Furlough Scheme to help with the expenditure of staff salaries. We decided to continue with the Centres being closed until the scheme ended at the end of September 2021 during which time, we would evaluate not just our structures but also our community makeup, our personnel and our staffing situation.

Like so many other charities, we are currently in this discernment process where we are evaluating the effects of the pandemic both financially and strategically. We were not so naïve as to think that things would go back to normal after the pandemic. They wont and can’t as we negotiate what a “new normal” may look like for us in this small UK Province. Covid 19 has changed everything and as the bard himself said “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.”

Therefore, we are asking for your patience, understanding and above all prayers as we try to comprehend what the Spirit is asking of us as we move forward. Also, in early October there will be a meeting of all the Xaverian Provincials of the whole congregation and one of the topics will be the future of the European Provinces.

These are difficult times and the future is uncertain but please accompany us with your support and be in solidarity with us in prayer. As and when decisions arise, we will communicate them to you.

Gratefully yours,
Jim