The Catholic Parish of Kenilworth

06/09/2026

Mass times for the week ahead. All are welcome. Saturday is our parish mini pilgrimage from St Augustine's Catholic Primary School via a picnic in Abbey fields to St Francis.

05/09/2026

Next Saturday is the Parish Mini-Pilgrimage, 12th September

When Pope Leo announced the Year of St Francis in 2026, he invited all of us to make a pilgrimage to a special place associated with St Francis. Some of us are lucky enough to be able to go all the way to Assisi, but many of us cannot.

Fortunately for us, this year our pilgrimage destination can any church dedicated to St Francis and we have one very handy, right here!

This gives us a wonderful opportunity to make a pilgrimage together as a church family. Next Saturday, we will come together to answer the call to pilgrimage by making our way home to our own parish Church of St Francis here in Kenilworth.

We are calling this a mini pilgrimage because it is short and accessible to even our smallest parishioners, but we hope that it will be anything but "mini" when our whole parish gathers next Saturday to walk together, pray together, eat together, and commemorate together the life of St Francis in the most beautiful way.

Going on pilgrimage is like taking your faith for a walk. We give our time to walk our route along with our fellow disciples, simply following Jesus together. It is a time to renew our commitment to Christ and strengthen our community bonds.

So please set aside your usual Saturday morning things and come exercise your faith next week.

Meet at 11:30 at St Augustine's, bring your lunch, your whole family and an open heart!

04/09/2026

Message to mark the start of the 'Season of Creation'.

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is 2:4) is the theme of Pope Leo XIV’s Message for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, published in the Bulletin of the Holy See. The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will be on ...

02/09/2026

Prayer for the season of creation.

Let Us Pray the Season of Creation 2026 Prayer:

Living Water

Holy God, whose Spirit hovered over the waters at the beginning, we gather as part of your community of all creation, thirsty for your grace. We give thanks for the gift of water, the veins of our common home, that sustains the cedar and the whale, the
pasture and the city. We are grateful for the local waters that nourish our homelands and our fellow creatures. We give thanks that in your well-watered garden, every drop is a sacred testament to your love.

Yet, we confess that we have treated this gift as a mere commodity. We have choked the seas with our waste and watched the warming tides rise in judgment. We lament the cracked earth of the drought-stricken and the salty tears of the climate refugee. Melt our frozen hearts, O God, and let the waters of repentance flow.

Lord of all Life, you promised that wherever the river flows, everything shall live. Stir in us a calling to care for the waters — to protect the watershed, defend the rights of water, and honor the dignity of the thirsty. May your Word be a spring within us, gushing forth for the healing of the nations.

May God our Father who brought water from the rock sustain us in the desert. May Christ our Lord who is Living Water refresh us for the work of restoration. And may the Holy Spirit carry us on currents of grace until justice rolls down like waters and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amen.

31/08/2026

Our parish is going to Flame 2027 on 6th March, with over 10,000 other young Catholics. If you are in year 9 or above you can join us. Full details from Fr Ryan or Marianne contact [email protected]

FLAME 2027 is getting closer! 🎉 March will be here before we know it, and we’re looking forward to an unforgettable day of faith, friendship and inspiration. Who are you bringing with you? Tag your FLAME group below!

30/08/2026

Mass times for the week ahead. The start of the Season of Creation.

29/08/2026

We are somehow already at the end of the summer holidays and returning to school I hope all goes well for the start of the new school year. May God bless our schools, staff, pupils and families.

A prayer from Br Matthew of Taizé:
"Praise be to you, living God. Help us to remember all the good that we have received during our lives, and fill us with gratitude. You are present in all things, and, through Jesus, you came down to us to reveal the spring from which all blessings flow: a love that will never go away. In return, we would like to offer you all that we are. Your love alone is enough for us."

With my prayers and blessings, Fr Ryan

28/08/2026

Reflection for the week

Reflection - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

Shakespeare is well known for his dramatic openings. One of the most dramatic is in The Merchant of Venice where Antonio declares in powerful monosyllables and perfect iambic pentameter: “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad”.

Antonio is the merchant that gives the play its title. There are many possible reasons for his sadness. He feels the weight of the world upon his shoulders and, what’s more, feels he must continue to bear it, even to his financial ruin and to the possibility that he will forfeit his own life (as he makes the bond with Shylock).

God understands that we can be world-weary: that the worries of this life, especially material concern, can feel insurmountable. This is where God also weighs in and tells us that we are not struggling alone; that he is with us, that we can reach out to others without fear. He also tells us that we are not the sum of our worries or our wealth (or lack thereof).

One of the biggest difficulties, as well as the problem itself, is in being able to share that problem with others. So many people, upon later realisation, wish they had reached out before and sought help rather than let things spiral and one of the fears is that people will think differently of them. In fact, without exception, people will say ‘I wish you told me sooner, so I could help’.

Whatever our struggles or difficulties, if we feel all at sea, we have safe ports where we can land: the port of friendship, the port of family, the port of the church, the port of charities, the port of health care professionals and counsellors.

Fr Ryan Service, St Francis & St Augustine, Kenilworth

24/08/2026

The Season of Creation is a global ecumenical celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home, starting each year on 1 September and finishing on the feast of St Francis, 4 October.

“Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert for our children.” Joint statement from Pope Francis, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury.

The Season of Creation is a global ecumenical celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home, starting each year on 1 September.