My Family Prayer Book

2026-05-10  Sixth Sunday of Easter   Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 Samaria was a region of contested Jewish identity - faithful descendants of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who worshiped at Mount Gerizim instead of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Samaritans were worshippers of the same God Yahweh but with different beliefs from other Jews, with each claiming to uphold the identity of Abraham.  Philip, one of the seven presbyters, takes the Gospel to Samaria and baptises them by the water but it is only after Peter, one of the Apostles, lays hands on them does God bless them with the gift of the Spirit - confirming that the Samaritans as a whole are now part of the Church. With this act the old divisions that kept Samaritans and Jews at odds would be undone in the family of God united in Jesus. The same baptism, the same Spirit, would mark them all as beloved children. Even today the Bishop, direct descendants of the Apostles, in most cases is the one ...

  2022-Jul-03: Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time   Opening prayer Heavenly Father, send forth your Spirit to enlighten our minds and dispose our hearts to accept your truth. Help us to listen to one another with openness and honesty, eager to learn from the talents and intuitions that you have given each of us. Never let differences of opinion diminish our mutual esteem and love. May we leave this meeting with more knowledge and love for you and your Son. In the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Theme of the  liturgy   When God decides to call on someone to be a disciple - one has to be ready to leave it all and follow the one true living God Isaiah 66:10-14 Today's reading are from the final chapters in the book of Isaiah reinforcing 3 themes: Call to rejoice, Jerusalem as a mother and God comforting the children of Jerusalem. The "Third Isaiah” (chapters 56–66) was written in the years following the return of Judean exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem in 538 BCE. ...