🕯️PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

This weekend, as we mark the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, coinciding with the Jubilee of Migrants in Rome, we are inviting you to pray with us in a spirit of solidarity and hope for all people who are on a journey seeking safety, security and refuge.

Pope Leo XIV, in his message for the occasion, has called us to see migrants as missionaries of hope: as men, women, and children whose presence challenges us to live our faith in a deeper, more authentic and more inclusive way.

The intercessions below from Jesuit Refugee Service UK are offered to help you pray for migrants, refugees, and displaced persons around the world. They are especially suited for use during this special Jubilee weekend but can be prayed at any time, as a reflection of the Gospel call to welcome the stranger and to work for justice and peace.

✝️“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35)
For all migrants and refugees around the world, that they may find safety, welcome, and dignity in their journey, and that we may open our hearts and communities to receive them with love.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

✝️“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Ps 9:9)
For all people forced to flee their homes due to war and persecution, that they may find safety, and find hope through the compassion of others.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

✝️“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ” (Ga 6:2)
For all people working to give a warm welcome to refugees, in thanksgiving for their effort and generosity. We pray for organisations like the Jesuit Refugee Service, and for all who accompany, serve, and advocate for refugees.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

✝️“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13:2)
For our local communities, that we may be moved by the Gospel call to welcome the stranger and act in solidarity with those on the margins.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

✝️“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression” (Is 1:17)
For political leaders and decision-makers: that they may uphold the dignity and rights of migrants and refugees, and work for peace and justice in our world.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

✝️“You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Dt 10:19)
We remember the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, and all the stories of migration in Scripture. We pray for children and families displaced by conflict, that they may be protected, reunited, and given the opportunity to flourish in safety.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

✝️“He will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Rv 21:4)
For all who have died on their journey seeking refuge, that they may rest in God’s eternal peace, and that we may honour their memory by working for change.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Worth the watch


This obituary film charts the life of Pope Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires.

Feast of St Francis
Say sprayer for Pope Francis🙏
Francis was the son of a prosperous cloth merchant in Assisi. When his father objected to having his goods sold without his consent to pay for the restoration of a church, the bishop commanded Francis to repay the money. He did. He also renounced his father and gave back everything he had ever been given, even his garments. He began a life of perfect evangelical poverty, living by begging and even then only accepting the worst food that people had to give. He preached to all the love of God and the love of the created world; because, having renounced everything, he celebrated everything he received, or saw, or heard, as a gift. A rich man sold everything and joined him in living next to a leper colony; a canon from a neighbouring church gave up his position and joined them also. They looked into the Gospel and saw the story of the rich young man whom Jesus told to sell everything; they saw Jesus telling his disciples to take nothing with them on their journey; they saw Jesus saying that his followers must also carry his cross. And on that basis they founded an order. Francis went to Rome himself and persuaded the Pope to sanction it, though it must have seemed at once impractical and subversive to set thousands of men (however holy) wandering penniless round the towns and villages of Europe.
Because Francis was wearing an old brown garment begged from a peasant, tied round the middle with string, that became the Franciscan habit. Ten years later 5,000 men were wearing it; a hundred years later Dante was buried in it because it was more glorious than cloth of gold.
There is too much to say about Francis to fit here. He tried to convert the Muslims, or at least to attain martyrdom in doing so. He started the practice of setting up a crib in church to celebrate the Nativity.
Francis died in 1226, having started a revolution. The Franciscans endure to this day.


________

Collect

O God, by whose gift Saint Francis
was conformed to Christ in poverty and humility,
grant that, by walking in Francis’ footsteps,
we may follow your Son,
and, through joyful charity,
come to be united with you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Archbishop Nolan has expressed his horror at the terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue.
He said: "The attack on innocent people taking part in a religious event in broad daylight is an act of evil which should be condemned by all right-thinking people. The Jewish community was memorably defined by Saint John Paul II as ‘our older brothers in the faith’ and we feel a special closeness to them in this hour of sorrow and fear.
"My prayers, and those of the Catholic community are for those who have died, the bereaved, the injured, and those who feel anxious and afraid. Leaders of all faiths must unite in times like this to make it clear that killing and destruction in the name of religion is abhorrent. Violence and inhumanity have no place in the tenets of the great world faiths.”

Archbishop Nolan has expressed his horror at the terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue.
He said: "The attack on innocent people taking part in a religious event in broad daylight is an act of evil which should be condemned by all right-thinking people. The Jewish community was memorably defined by Saint John Paul II as ‘our older brothers in the faith’ and we feel a special closeness to them in this hour of sorrow and fear.
"My prayers, and those of the Catholic community are for those who have died, the bereaved, the injured, and those who feel anxious and afraid. Leaders of all faiths must unite in times like this to make it clear that killing and destruction in the name of religion is abhorrent. Violence and inhumanity have no place in the tenets of the great world faiths.”