Catholic Parish of Guildford
2024 Lent Appeal
This Lent we are focusing on how our prayers and donations will help to support communities attempting to care for their families in challenging climatic and other natural conditions, often producing hazardous situations such as the fishers encounter on the coast of Liberia.
2024 Lent Appeal
This Lent we are focusing on how our prayers and donations will help to support communities attempting to care for their families in challenging climatic and other natural conditions, often producing hazardous situations such as the fishers encounter on the coast of Liberia.
PRAY THE CAFOD LENT PRAYER
Loving God,
When our boat is rocked on the sea of life,
by poverty, illness or disaster,
you quiet the waves, calm the storm,
and lead us safely to shore.
When we work hard for our daily bread,
but at the end of the day go hungry,
you walk alongside us,
calling, "Cast out your nets",
knowing there is enough for all.
When we are lost and uncertain of
how to make a change in our world,
your words ring out: "Come, follow me",
guiding us to new life with you.
Lead us then, Lord,
to play our part in calming the storm
and sharing your gifts with each other,
so that all people throughout the world
may look to the future with hope.
Amen.
When our boat is rocked on the sea of life,
by poverty, illness or disaster,
you quiet the waves, calm the storm,
and lead us safely to shore.
When we work hard for our daily bread,
but at the end of the day go hungry,
you walk alongside us,
calling, "Cast out your nets",
knowing there is enough for all.
When we are lost and uncertain of
how to make a change in our world,
your words ring out: "Come, follow me",
guiding us to new life with you.
Lead us then, Lord,
to play our part in calming the storm
and sharing your gifts with each other,
so that all people throughout the world
may look to the future with hope.
Amen.
FAMILY FAST DAY COLLECTION
In the last few years, CAFOD has shared news of extreme hunger caused by the impact of war, floods and droughts and other emergencies and disasters. Seeing crisis after crisis can feel overwhelming, but Lent reminds us that change is possible, for each of us personally and for our world.
Can you remember the first question Jesus asked his disciples when he appeared on the beach after the resurrection? Jesus calls to them: “Do you have any fish?” “No”, the disciples answered from their boat.
Jesus helps them make a huge catch and John says, "It is the Lord!" Peter recognises who Jesus is by this act of loving care, just as Peter did when Jesus saved him from drowning and calmed the storm. In Liberia, staying safe at sea and making a catch is still a challenge today.
James lives in a poor coastal suburb of Monrovia, Liberia. James told us that when his family had no food, he faced a terrible choice: stay home and stay hungry or put everything on the line to go out onto the water in his small canoe. Five fishermen a month – many he called ‘brothers’ – were dying in storms at sea. Just like him, they couldn’t afford the life jackets, compasses, and other equipment they needed to stay safe at sea and get a good catch.
When he came back home 16 hours later, aching, exhausted, hungry, he would often be empty handed. Even for a skilled fisherman like James, making that journey to sea and back alive without the right tools or safety equipment was difficult enough; getting a catch was almost impossible.
James’ wife Cynthia told us: “Sometimes there wasn’t any food at all to eat. Sometimes we hoped that if there was no food in the morning, we would get food in the evening to eat. But when the evening comes, there is no food. My son was five at the time.”
It is thanks to support from parishes like ours that James now has the equipment he needs to fish safely and sustainably – a compass, life jacket and a GPS tracking system – to find good fishing spots and return home safely. He also has a way of storing fish he catches, so he brings more to shore for Cynthia – his wife and business partner – to sell.
For further insight into the way of life of James in his community take a moment to watch this VIDEO.
Family Fast Day is on Friday 23 February. Please join in by eating simply and giving what you can. Collect a CAFOD envelope to Gift Aid your donation or give online. If you can set up a monthly gift, you’ll help more hardworking people like James to return home safely and feed their families for good.
Details of the various ways in which you can provide financial support to CAFOD are set out below. You can use the CAFOD envelope to Gift Aid your donation, which boosts your donation by 25 per cent. The QR code on the envelope is also an easy way to access the CAFOD website to donate online at home and find out more about James’s story.
Thank you for all your support this Family Fast Day, for your generosity and your prayers. Click HERE to find out more.
Can you remember the first question Jesus asked his disciples when he appeared on the beach after the resurrection? Jesus calls to them: “Do you have any fish?” “No”, the disciples answered from their boat.
Jesus helps them make a huge catch and John says, "It is the Lord!" Peter recognises who Jesus is by this act of loving care, just as Peter did when Jesus saved him from drowning and calmed the storm. In Liberia, staying safe at sea and making a catch is still a challenge today.
James lives in a poor coastal suburb of Monrovia, Liberia. James told us that when his family had no food, he faced a terrible choice: stay home and stay hungry or put everything on the line to go out onto the water in his small canoe. Five fishermen a month – many he called ‘brothers’ – were dying in storms at sea. Just like him, they couldn’t afford the life jackets, compasses, and other equipment they needed to stay safe at sea and get a good catch.
When he came back home 16 hours later, aching, exhausted, hungry, he would often be empty handed. Even for a skilled fisherman like James, making that journey to sea and back alive without the right tools or safety equipment was difficult enough; getting a catch was almost impossible.
James’ wife Cynthia told us: “Sometimes there wasn’t any food at all to eat. Sometimes we hoped that if there was no food in the morning, we would get food in the evening to eat. But when the evening comes, there is no food. My son was five at the time.”
It is thanks to support from parishes like ours that James now has the equipment he needs to fish safely and sustainably – a compass, life jacket and a GPS tracking system – to find good fishing spots and return home safely. He also has a way of storing fish he catches, so he brings more to shore for Cynthia – his wife and business partner – to sell.
For further insight into the way of life of James in his community take a moment to watch this VIDEO.
Family Fast Day is on Friday 23 February. Please join in by eating simply and giving what you can. Collect a CAFOD envelope to Gift Aid your donation or give online. If you can set up a monthly gift, you’ll help more hardworking people like James to return home safely and feed their families for good.
Details of the various ways in which you can provide financial support to CAFOD are set out below. You can use the CAFOD envelope to Gift Aid your donation, which boosts your donation by 25 per cent. The QR code on the envelope is also an easy way to access the CAFOD website to donate online at home and find out more about James’s story.
Thank you for all your support this Family Fast Day, for your generosity and your prayers. Click HERE to find out more.
OTHER CAFOD LENT EVENTS
CAFOD BIG LENT WALK In addition to the Family Fast Day, CAFOD offer us a challenge to walk 200km in 40 days of our choosing to help fight global poverty and walk in solidarity with the millions of our brothers and sisters who go hungry every day. To find out more about the CAFOD Big Lent Walk and how to donate click here. Select your preferred team and make your donation. OTHER CPG CAFOD LENT EVENTS Details of other CAFOD Lent events will be given in the weekly CPG Newsletter, including the CAFOD Soup Kitchen lunch at St Mary's on Sunday 25th February. |
HOW TO GIVE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
There are a number of ways of donating to the CAFOD Lent Appeal:
A. Specific Lent Family Fast Day CAFOD donation envelopes, which include a Gift Aid Declaration for use where appropriate, are available in our four churches. Envelopes can be posted to CAFOD with a cheque, payable to CAFOD, or they can be given to the collectors at church. Collection envelopes will be taken up at Masses over the weekend of 24th and 25th February.
B. Ordinary envelopes may be used to post a cheque (but not cash), payable to CAFOD, at CAFOD Head Office, Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB. If appropriate you can apply Gift Aid by downloading the CAFOD Gift Aid Declaration HERE; completing and signing it and including it with your cheque.
C. Using the CAFOD online donation opportunity HERE, if appropriate applying Gift Aid.
D. Also in our churches there will be terminals available enabling contactless payment of donations directly to CAFOD but in this case Gift Aid is currently not available.
E. Telephoning CAFOD in office hours on 0303 303 3030 to donate over the phone. The donation can be Gift Aided and the office will advise if a Gift Aid Declaration is in force, or needs to be created over the phone.
It would be helpful if all donations to the Lent Family Fast Day Appeal could be made not later
than Monday 11 th March.
A. Specific Lent Family Fast Day CAFOD donation envelopes, which include a Gift Aid Declaration for use where appropriate, are available in our four churches. Envelopes can be posted to CAFOD with a cheque, payable to CAFOD, or they can be given to the collectors at church. Collection envelopes will be taken up at Masses over the weekend of 24th and 25th February.
B. Ordinary envelopes may be used to post a cheque (but not cash), payable to CAFOD, at CAFOD Head Office, Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB. If appropriate you can apply Gift Aid by downloading the CAFOD Gift Aid Declaration HERE; completing and signing it and including it with your cheque.
C. Using the CAFOD online donation opportunity HERE, if appropriate applying Gift Aid.
D. Also in our churches there will be terminals available enabling contactless payment of donations directly to CAFOD but in this case Gift Aid is currently not available.
E. Telephoning CAFOD in office hours on 0303 303 3030 to donate over the phone. The donation can be Gift Aided and the office will advise if a Gift Aid Declaration is in force, or needs to be created over the phone.
It would be helpful if all donations to the Lent Family Fast Day Appeal could be made not later
than Monday 11 th March.
MORE ABOUT CAFOD
To get further information on the items mentioned above and a range of other CAFOD campaigns and initiatives please visit their website HERE. If you are interested in volunteering for CAFOD, click HERE for further information.
If you have any questions about CAFOD or how to donate, please contact Stephen Rowden at
srowden@cafod.org.uk or on 07899 804211.
If you have any questions about CAFOD or how to donate, please contact Stephen Rowden at
srowden@cafod.org.uk or on 07899 804211.
Thank you very much for supporting the CAFOD Lent Appeal.