LiveSimply
Other News
LiveSimply is Launched
at St. George's
Sunday 7th September marked the launch of LiveSimply in St George's. Noreen McGinnity gave the following talk at all Masses:
2025 marks the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’s encyclical “Laudato Si”, a transformative call to ‘care for our common home’. 2025 is also a Jubilee year with the theme Pilgrims of Hope; a year of hope that calls us to reset, renew our faith and commit to building a fairer world where all people may flourish. As we celebrate this special church year we are pleased to announce that St. George’s is beginning its own journey, as a parish family, towards achieving the CAFOD LiveSimply Award. The LiveSimply award is an opportunity for St. George’s to answer the call to care for our common home and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in need, at home and around the world.
We want to celebrate what we already do, and introduce new initiatives that bring our Gospel values to life. A LiveSimply award needs to involve as many people in the parish as possible. Over the coming months there will be opportunities for all ages and abilities to take part through prayer, practical steps, and community outreach. Each person’s different strengths and interests contribute to making it a success. We hope this initiative will deepen our connection with creation, strengthen our community, and make a meaningful difference both locally and globally.
We launch today in this month of September when Christians around the world come together to celebrate the Season of Creation. As part of the launch we are asking each parishioner to pledge just one action they can achieve to live simply, sustainably with creation, or in solidarity with those in need.
Hopefully you have received a paper leaf on your way into church, if not, they are available at the back of church. We invite each parishioner to record their Live Simply pledge on their leaf. We will then use your ‘pledge leaves’ to generate a ‘pledge tree’ which will be displayed on our Live Simply notice board. Parishioners who are unable to attend church can send their pledges in via the website or the parish office and their leaves will be added to the pledge tree.
As you can see, on our display board, we have started adding pledges to our tree.
We are not expecting extraordinary pledges just simple things, that do make a difference, each one of us can do:
Can you replace a car journey with a cycle ride or walk?
Can you pick up the litter in your street – did you know there are 2 million pieces of rubbish dropped each day in UK’s streets?
Maybe you could pray for those living in poverty at home and abroad.
Or follow CAFOD, Mary’s Meals or WaterAid on social media.
Father Lister’s pledge a few years ago was to replace his antibacterial hand wash bottles with bars of soap. We learnt during COVID that washing our hands with soap and water was sufficient. Why have more plastic containers that end up in landfill?
At the back of church, we have a red post box where suggestions of LiveSimply ideas for the parish, or for us as individuals, can be posted. All ideas are most welcome and encouraged. We will share these ideas with parishioners so we can all make small changes to live more simply.
Keep an eye on our parish website, the weekly newsletter and our Live Simply notice board where all our initiatives will be advertised.
To begin our journey upcoming plans for September and October are:
On 20th September there will be an Archdiocese Walk for Creation. The walk will follow a 3.5-mile circular route beginning and ending at our local shrine church of St Mary’s, Aughton. There will be three prayer stops on the walk, with Saint George’s leading one. The walk will conclude with the celebration of Mass. If you are unable to join the walk why not join us for Mass.
On 3rd October, CAFOD’s Family Fast Day, we will celebrate in church a CAFOD Jubilee Pilgrims of Hope reflection, followed by a simple shared lunch at The Venue.
On 29th October Sister Moira from Irenaeus will deliver the Dementia Friends Presentation. Helping our parish become a dementia friendly parish.
Let’s walk this path together, as a parish family, demonstrating through our actions the power to transform our community.
Bidding Prayers
To mark the special launch Mass Deacon Keith wrote a special set of intercessions for the Mass.
Prayer of the Faithful – 23rd Sunday – ‘CAFOD Live Simply’ launch
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PRESIDER: The Lord is our refuge from one generation to the next. We bring our prayers to him now as we seek to care for Creation and for each other.
READER: Lord, help us to understand the true meaning of material things and the riches of our own earth – and show us how you wish us to use your gifts and to act as wise stewards of your Creation. Lord in your mercy
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In the Book of Genesis, we are described as ‘masters of the Earth’; may nations, businesses, and individuals recognise this as a call to care and cultivate; to manage natural resources rather than exploit; to ensure that the fruits of Mother Earth are respected and enjoyed by all.
Lord in your mercy
Loving God, let us model our approach to recycling on your grace which regards no gift or possession as trivial or ephemeral, but as potential for development. Bless those who work in the recycling industry with ingenuity, inspiration and imagination.
Lord in your mercy
Loving God, where there is waste, let us bring recycling;
Where there is recycling, let us bring re-use;
Where there is re-use, let us bring sustainability;
Where there is sustainability, let us bring justice;
Where there is justice, let us bring LOVE.
Lord in your mercy
St Therese of Avila said: Christ has no body but ours, No hands but ours, No feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look on the world. Loving God help us to live like Jesus, who teaches us to remember the poorest among us, may we always hear the cry of the poor, the sick and the lonely.
Lord in your mercy
In a moment of silence we bring our own concerns to the Lord. (pause) Lord in your mercy
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We ask Our Lady to pray for us as we say, “Hail Mary, full of grace ……”
PRESIDER Heavenly Father, receive and answer our prayers and unite us in mind and heart as we seek to build your Kingdom on Earth. We make this and all our prayers through Christ our Lord.
All pictures courtesy of Wix
Live Simply
St Killian Candle System
Our original candle system had been used in the church for decades. Small votive candles in aluminium containers were place in a metal stand. The candle was lit and left to extinguish or blown out at the end of Mass due to safety concerns. Upon extinguishing the metal containers, which were not renewable, were disposed of along with household waste and sent to landfill. The burning candle always had the danger of fire in the church and was a constant source of worry to the parish priest.
Original Candle Stand
In August 2023 the parish moved from a votive system to the Saint Killian Candle System, which is a safe and eco-friendly method for burning candles in a church. It features a glass system that allows candles to burn without emitting smoke or soot, making it suitable for interior spaces. The system is designed to be self-extinguishing with the wax falling into a water tray after burning, ensuring no residue remains. The three-piece glass system consists of a coloured glass that is secured to a stand, a middle glass that acts as a barrier to protect the colour from excess wax, and an inner glass that holds the candle. The coloured glass comes in three colours:
Gold – Divine Light of Christ
Red – The Sacred Heart
Blue – Blessed Virgin Mary
The Lady Chapel
As the candle system was to be housed in a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady, we choose the blue coloured glass.
The candle sits inside the inner glass. The flame is then isolated within secured glass to eliminate the fear of a candle falling over. After burning for 60 to 90 minutes the candle is completely liquid and falls through the hole at the end of the inner glass, extinguishing itself on the way down falling into a water bath to completely guarantee quenching.
Saint Killians candles are made with three times refined paraffin and therefore they do not emit any soot or smoke. The self-extinguishing element to this candle eliminated the need to extinguish the candles at the end of the day or at the end of Mass. Every candle is lit with an intention hence the self-extinguishing allows every intention to burn for its special reason without any interruption due to fear of fire safety.
The system is environmentally friendly. The candle itself uses no plastic/metal cups, helping the environment reduce its plastic consumption one candle at a time. It is self-contained and burns within a glass. The wax is removed from the water bath several times each week and recycled by returning to St Killian and used to produce another batch of candles.
By moving from votive candles to Saint Killian candles Saint George’s Parish has answered the call to care for our common home by choosing a safer and more eco-friendly candle burning system.
Toilet Twinning at St George’s
You can probably drink a glass of water, wash your hands or go to the toilet without it turning into a life-or-death situation. Yet dirty drinking water, unhealthy hygiene and unsafe sanitation cause the deaths of 1.4 million people every year and over 1000 children under the age of 5 every day.
Toilet twinning is a fundraising campaign which helps local communities access decent toilets, healthy hygiene and safe drinking water, providing restricted funding for international relief and development charity Tearfund’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) work in over 50 countries worldwide.
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Toilet twinning is a fundraising campaign which helps local communities access decent toilets, healthy hygiene and safe drinking water, providing restricted funding for international relief and development charity Tearfund’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) work in over 50 countries worldwide.
Tearfund believe that all three elements – water, sanitation and hygiene – need to go together. They are committed to working in full participation with communities, empowering them to own and manage sustainable and safe water and sanitation services. Toilet Twining funds hygiene education via community-led workshops and sourcing local materials for families and communities to build their own toilets
Toilet Twinning is an initiative which invites people to "twin" their own toilet with latrines in poor communities. This is a way of raising funds to enable people in the poorest nations to have clean water and a proper toilet, and to learn about hygiene.
In stable communities, Toilet Twinning works through a model of community mobilisation to create locally owned and locally delivered water and sanitation programmes. Hygiene education is a key focus of Toilet Twinning’s work.
In conflict areas, where little infrastructure exists, Toilet Twinning funds programmes that build toilets and provide clean water.
As part of our Live Simply initiative where we are trying to live in solidarity with our global family, some parishioners have raised funds to twin Saint George’s Parish toilet with a toilet in Panyagor, Kongor, Twic East, South Sudan. We are proudly displaying our certificate in the parish toilet to show our solidarity with the people of Panyagor, South Sudan with the hope that by our small action we can help to transform lives around the world.
