An All Saints Church Marlpool publication
This is something for young and old, couples, families and singles. Dance to live music!
Don’t know how to dance? – You’ll be in good company! The ‘caller’ will teach us the steps dance by dance.
Reserve your tickets early as numbers are limited .Just phone or text the above number to book tickets – we will hold them for you and you can pay on the day.
A recent BBC documentary by the BBC highlighted the appalling and long lasting aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII
Some of todays Hydrogen Bombs are 1,000 times more powerful than the Atomic Bombs dropped on Japan! It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to realise what horrors the deployment of such weapons would wreak!
For those of us who didn’t really live through it, it’s easy to underestimate just how close the world was to a truly disastrous situation at the peak of the Cold War. With tensions boiling over at times and everyone living in fear of the possibility of nuclear war, it was a pretty terrifying time.
One of the most famous and scary episodes in this behind-the-scenes escalation came between 1981 and 1983, when the world’s fate hung on a knife edge.
In 1981, the Russian Government became so afraid of a pre-emptive strike by the US with its nuclear arsenal, General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and KGB chairman Yuri Andropov began Operation RYaN (Nuclear Missile Attack), a huge surveillance operation. Things only got more tense from there, as the US started to fly its planes briefly into Russian airspace to test their defences and remind them of the threat they carried, while the Russian authorities invested more and more in both defence capabilities and its own missile armada.
It was in this atmosphere that, on 21 September 1983, the Soviet Orbital Missile Early Warning System (SPRN) reported that a single intercontinental ballistic missile was on its way from the US to Russia.
The officer on duty that night was Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, and he might just have saved the world by remembering a key detail from his training. Intelligence suggested that if the US launched a real attack, it would be with at least three missiles, but only one was apparently incoming, which didn’t seem right to Petrov.
Petrov made the unbelievably brave decision to label the data as a false alarm, and didn’t alert his superiors, a judgment that would quickly be proved correct as no missile actually entered Russian airspace.
Petrov told the BBC’s Russian Service in 2013: “I had all the data [to suggest there was an ongoing missile attack]. If I had sent my report up the chain of command, nobody would have said a word against it.” He added: “The siren howled, but I just sat there for a few seconds, staring at the big, back-lit, red screen with the word ‘launch’ on it. “There was no rule about how long we were allowed to think before we reported a strike.”
Instead, Petrov reported a system malfunction, and realised he’d been correct when nothing happened after half an hour. This wasn’t the only time there were near misses during the Cold War but it was one of the closest, and a reminder that sometimes it only takes one person to avert catastrophe.
Petrov’s decision may have literally saved humanity!
Nuclear weapons are unlikely to become a thing of the past until they are rendered useless by an, as yet unknown, defence system. We can only pray that no country or other agency is ever foolish enough to initiate a nuclear attack and that in the event of a false alarm the watchkeepers are as brave as Stanislav Petrov.
There were more Christians persecuted during the 20th century than in all previous centuries put together. The situation has not improved in the 21st century. Barnabas Aid works tirelessly with persecuted Christians throughout the world. The song in this video contrasts the freedoms of Christians in the West with the severe persecution faced by believers in other arts of the world. It urges us to acknowledge the struggles of our fellow Christians’ struggles and to actively support and empathise with them.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew chapter 25
barnabasaid.org
Where do I begin? With a prayer, a plea, or just a simple hello? I guess it doesn’t really matter, since you already know what’s in my heart before the words even reach my lips.
I want to start by thanking you. Thank you for this beautiful life, with all its twists and turns, ups and downs. Thank you for the people you’ve put in my life — family, friends, teachers, strangers — who have shaped me into who I am. Their kindness, wisdom, laughter, and love have gotten me through so much.
Thank you for the talents and abilities you’ve given me, however small they may be. I may not be the best singer, the greatest athlete, or the most eloquent speaker, but I appreciate whatever gifts I have, and I want to nurture them.
Thank you for the opportunities I’ve been given. For education, for travel, for experiences that have expanded my mind and shown me more of this amazing world you created. I know so many are not nearly as fortunate, so I do not take these blessings lightly.
Most of all, thank you for being there in both triumph and tragedy. In times of joy, when I’ve accomplished a goal or had an adventure, you were there celebrating with me. And in times of heartbreak, when I felt lost, alone, and afraid, you were right there next to me, lifting me up with your unconditional love and showing me the way forward one step at a time.
I’m grateful for each day you give me on this earth. For another sunrise peeking over the horizon. For another chance to live, learn, and grow. I know life is fragile and fleeting, so thank you for this gift.
Yet still I come to you with all my human flaws. Searching, striving, struggling, hoping. Falling down and wondering if I’ll ever have the strength to stand back up. Questioning who I am, why I’m here, and what my purpose could possibly be in this vast universe of yours.
In my darkest moments, when I feel utterly alone, give me the courage to remember that I’m never truly alone because you are always there beside me. Holding my hand, guiding me home.
In times of anger, when I’m blinded by rage at the injustices of this world, reminds me that darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only your light and love can illuminate the shadows. Calm the tempests that batter my heart and give me the wisdom and compassion to be an instrument of change.
When I feel worthless, broken, disenchanted, and begin to believe the lies that I have nothing to offer, speak truth into my heart. Remind me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made in your image. That I have a purpose here. Help me hear my calling above the noise and negativity of the world.
Forgive me for my many sins. For harboring anger and hatred when I should show mercy. For apathy when I should care. For selfishness when I should give freely. You know I am imperfect, yet you love me still. Help me reflect your light each day through kind words and selfless acts.
Guide me to build deeper connections with others. In my relationships, give me the wisdom to speak the truth with compassion. Help me see each person as the complex, beautiful child you made them to be, not simply the mask they wear on the surface. Teach me to love unconditionally.
God, when I face trials that feel too heavy for me to bear, let me remember that I never walk alone. You can see the path ahead even when all I see is darkness. Give me the faith to take things one day at a time, trusting that the sun will rise again. Help me to surrender my anxieties and burdens to your infinite strength.
As I lie down to sleep tonight, I pray that you will grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
But most of all, I pray for joy. I pray that I will wake each morning with joy in my heart, eager for whatever adventures the day may bring. I pray that I will nurture an attitude of gratitude through all of life’s ups and downs. And I pray that each night when I rest my head down, I will have joy in the memories made that day.
This is what I ask of you, God: Help me live my one life fully. Give me the strength to pursue my dreams wholeheartedly, without fear or hesitation. In each moment, help me show compassion to others and live in a way that reflects your light.
I know the road won’t always be easy, but you will be walking right beside me each step of the way. And for that promise, that faithful, unwavering love, I am forever grateful.
Amen.
Stress is part of everyday life and living. It can make you feel exhausted, unable to cope and in a state of flight response plays a critical role in how we deal with stress and danger in our environment. Essentially, the response prepares the body to either fight or flee the threat. It is also important to note that the response can be triggered due to both real and imaginary threats.
Understanding the body’s fight-or-flight response is one way to help cope with such situations. When you notice that you are becoming tense, you can start looking for ways to calm down and relax your body. These activities are for new ways to cope with stress.
GET OUTSIDE – being outside in nature is great for wellbeing. Going for a short walk or sitting in a green space can have an extremely calming effect on how we feel. Just sit and listen to the birds, focus on their different sounds, take in deep breaths and you feel so much better. Try gardening – as it can also have a positive impact on our brain chemistry, influencing the release of serotonin and cortisol, which help us feel good. For many gardeners, a daily stroll around the garden is one of the most enjoyable things to do. It allows you a peaceful moment to see what has grown or changed.
TRY SOMETHING CREATIVE – When we’re doing something creative, we’re using a different part of the brain to where stress is occurring. Even for 5 minutes, being creative can help to relieve feelings of pressure. You could draw, doodle, sew, sing, paint.
EXERCISE – (yes, I know, everyone says exercise) even the thought of it will make you feel more stressed, but it is a very effective way to combat stress. When we exercise our bodies release endorphins which help us feel good. (and you don’t have to spend hours in the gym), you could go for a walk or jeffing (jeffing is walking for 60 seconds and a light jog for 60 seconds), it’s been proven that this helps your heart too, and any exercise that gets your heart pumping even a little, daily is good for you. Dancing is another form of exercise, listening to your favourite music and dance away to it. PRACTICE MINDFULLNESS – Noticing your emotions and gaining a sense of perspective on them. It’s typically done by sitting or lying down in a quiet place and focussing on your breathing. This enables you to focus on the present moment and gradually let go of outside thoughts and distractions. (When I do this, I pray). It’s the ability to be fully present and fully engaged with whatever you are doing in the moment. Start by noticing things in your immediate surroundings such as smell, touch, sounds, taste, and sight – this can help to ground you. There are lots of free apps on the internet and on YouTube to help you start mindfulness practice.
WRITE DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS – You’re not writing with the aim of anyone reading it, just for yourself to get down on paper what you’re feeling. This can be a big stress reliever. Listen to music, and try some classical music at night, this can help you relax.
ALLOCATE SOME TIME FOR YOURSELF AND DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY – When we’re busy it’s easy to eliminate the things we enjoy from our schedule. But these are the things which help us to relieve stress.
TALK TO SOMEONE – As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved. Speaking to a friend, loved onTaken from an article in the Grapevine Erewash Mag, adapted by Christina J Ashcrofte, colleague or therapist can help you lighten the stress you may be feeling.
Taken from an article in the Grapevine Erewash Mag, adapted by Christina J Ashcroft
Judging by the list of priorities identified among the UK electorate by a pre-election survey, climate change comes fairly low on the list. That is understandable since many, perhaps most, of us have immediate issues with; the cost of living, the NHS, Social Care to name but a few. However, we might need to rethink.
The second annual Indicators of Global Climate Change report, which is led by the University of Leeds, reveals that human-induced warming has risen to 1.19 °C over the past decade (2014-2023)—an increase from the 1.14 °C seen in 2013-2022 (set out in last year’s report).
Looking at 2023 in isolation, warming caused by human activity reached 1.3 °C. This is lower than the total amount of warming we experienced in 2023 (1.43 °C), indicating that natural climate variability, in particular El Niño, also played a role in 2023’s record temperatures.
The analysis also shows that the remaining carbon budget—how much carbon dioxide can be emitted before committing us to 1.5 °C of global warming—is only around 200 gigatons (billion tons), around five years’ worth of current emissions.
On that basis, if we don’t reduce CO2 emissions quickly and dramatically our world will change irrevocably and not in a good way.
Unlike most other greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide, once it is in the atmosphere remains there for between 300 and 1,000 years and with it the effect it has on our climate. So on current projections it is not too dramatic to say that we are staring disaster in the face, not just for us but for our children and grandchildren.
A young primary school teacher taking a class discussing ‘Equality’ began by asking if anyone in the class had recently hurt there elbow. A few put their hands up so she gave each of them a plaster for their elbow. She then asked if anyone had bumped their heads. Again, a few hands went up. The teacher proceeded to give each child who had bumped his or her head a plaster for their elbow. The children looked confused. The teacher then asked if anyone who’d recently grazed their knee to put their hand up. She proceeded to give each of these children a plaster for their elbow. By this time the children were all looking very confused.
The teacher explained that although she had treated all of her class equally in giving everyone a plaster for their elbow that was clearly a silly thing to do as only some of them had hurt their elbows.
She went on to explain that equality meant giving everyone the same opportunities and this often meant treating some people differently. Some children in the school sometimes needed ear protectors because they found classrooms too noisy for them to concentrate, others might have difficulty with sitting and needed a special chairs, yet others might find concentration hard and so needed special help and so on.
The teacher then asked the class to consider how each of us could treat each other equally. After an animated discussion the class agreed that we shouldn’t always expect to be treated exactly the same or treat each other exactly the same. We should try to help one other be the best we and they can be.
Wise words indeed!
Mar 24, 2024
ROME – Exactly 80 years ago today, on March 24, 1944, the Nazi occupiers of Rome shot 335 Italians to death, mostly civilians, in a series of caves on the southern outskirts of town called the Fosse Ardeatine. The killings came in retaliation for an attack the day before by the Italian resistance that left 33 German soldiers dead, making it a ratio of ten Italian lives lost for every one German.
(In a rare lapse in Nazi efficiency, bureaucratic confusion led to five more people than strictly necessary being executed.)
Among the victims that day was one Catholic priest: Father Pietro Pappagallo, 55 years old at the time, who’d been in a Nazi prison since January, having been turned in by a snitch for his activity in sheltering Jews, monarchists, communists, intellectuals, anti-fascist activists, gays, and anyone else targeted by the occupation.
While there’s no special reason why the loss of a priest’s life matters more than anyone else’s, the Pappagallo story nonetheless merits retelling today, in part because it captures the entire drama of the early 20th century birth of “social Catholicism” in miniature.
Pietro Pappagallo was born on June 28, 1888, in the mid-sized town of Terlizzi in the Puglia region of southern Italy. His family scraped by on limited means – his father was a ropemaker, while his mother raised the eight children. As a youth he worked with his father and also did seasonal labor on local farms, until his mother decided to enroll him in a local school, from which he eventually entered the seminary.
At the time, families of a candidate for the priesthood were required to make a payment to cover the cost of his studies, so Pappagallo’s mother signed over a meager couple of pieces of land she’d inherited from her family to cover the cost.
He was ordained on April 3, 1915, having escaped being drafted for World War I because of a problem with his heel. The next day he celebrated his first Mass, and on the traditional holy card printed for the occasion, he inscribed the celebrated prayer for peace composed by Pope Benedict XV, who had memorably termed WWI “useless slaughter”: “From you, God of mercies, we implore with our groans an end to this immense scourge; from you, peaceful King, we rush with our prayers for the longed-for peace.”
Benedict XV was, in some ways, the original “Peace Pope,” and Pappagallo clearly drew inspiration from him.
Just like in the United States, in the early 20th century scores of people from Italy’s impoverished south were heading north in search of work, and Pappagallo wanted to serve them. He ended up in Rome in the 1920s, serving as director and chaplain for a boarding house attached to a massive rayon factory called Cisa Viscosa, which had been financed by American investors.
Quickly, he discovered that the hundreds of workers housed by the company were being terribly mistreated: Routinely forced to work overtime without additional pay, at the threat of being fired if they refused; denied the social security benefits allotted to other laborers in Rome; being treated in a discriminatory fashion by managers because they came from the south, and therefore were regarded as second-class citizens; and routinely suffering health problems related to the toxic chemicals used in the factory’s processes to which they were exposed with any protection.
Pappagallo immediately launched protests, which prompted the factory owners to appeal to their protectors in Italy’s fascist regime, who in turn reached out to a Vatican official named Monsignor Ferdinando Baldelli, who would later become a key aide to Pope Pius XII. Baldelli told Pappagallo to stand down, telling him it wasn’t his role to be a union organizer, and that his efforts could disrupt negotiations between church and state to settle the so-called “Roman question.”
We have the letter Pappagallo wrote to Baldelli: “Monsignor, I see myself in the workers at the boarding house. They come from my land, and they’re immigrants too. The fact that they haven’t gone overseas doesn’t make their situation any less painful or difficult … The work in the factory is dehumanizing. I don’t find it just, and I can’t appease myself with arguments about politics, which don’t interest me at all. I only know that the faith, and a sense of humanity, don’t allow me to ignore my brothers, to whose service I’ve been assigned. If you’re not on their side, I can only say that I’m upset and confused.”
Baldelli promptly had Pappagallo removed from his position at the boarding house, with the idea that he would enter a training program for priests to serve Italian immigrants overseas and leave the country.
Despite that, Pappagallo managed to hang on in the Eternal City, eventually becoming chaplain to the Oblate Sisters of the Child Jesus, a post which came with an apartment near the great basilica of St. Mary Major. He transformed the apartment into a sort of halfway house for immigrants moving south to north, and eventually convinced the sisters to give him use of several other facilities in the area for the same purpose.
Thus when the German occupation of Rome began in September 1943, Pappagallo was ideally positioned to provide refuge for all those targeted by the Nazis. One priest friend who visited Pappagallo in late 1943 would note in his diary that the apartment was a “mezzanine full of refugees.” Many of those who took refuge with Pappagallo would escape the Nazis with false passports and other documents provided by two of the priest’s nephews, Gioacchino and Tommaso, who ran a nearby printing shop and who churned out fake papers by night for people sent their way by their uncle.
Eventually an informant tipped off the Nazis, and Pappagallo was arrested on Jan. 29, 1944. He was taken to the infamous Gestapo prison on Via Tasso, which today houses the Museum of Liberation. There he was tortured at the personal direction of Herbert Kappler, an SS officer and Chief of Police in occupied Rome, but refused to divulge the names of anyone else involved in sheltering targets of the regime.
Fellow inmates would later testify that Pappagallo always shared the meager amounts of food and water he was given with others, and that he acted as a sort of spiritual father for other prisoners, even those who didn’t share his faith. Two young communists, Aladino Govoni and Tigrino Sabatini, later said they’d been intrigued by his prayer book, and so he began explaining the psalms to them, thereby not only passing the time but giving them badly needed comfort.
When the time came to carry out the reprisals on March 24, 1944, Kappler put Pappagallo’s name on the list, and so he was herded onto one of several trucks that carried the condemned out to the Fosse Ardeatine for execution. On the way, he offered blessings and heard the confessions of anyone who asked.
Once they arrived at the site, one witness would later say, Pappagallo managed to slip out of the ropes with which the prisoners’ hands had been bound, raised his arms to the heavens, and blessed those who were to die and forgave those doing the killing.
After his death, Pappagallo helped to inspire the character of Don Pietro in Robert Rossellini’s classic 1945 film Roma città aperta. In 1998, Italian President Carlo Ciampi awarded Pappagallo the Gold Medal for Civil Merit, the country’s highest civilian honor, saying the priest had sacrificed his life “with serenity of spirit, a sign of his faith that always illuminated him.”
In 2000, Pope John Paul II included Pappagallo on a list of 20th century martyrs. In 2018, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center declared Pappagallo “Righteous Among the Nations,” recognizing his role in saving Jews during the Holocaust.
On this day 80 years ago, in other words, a priest went to his death who incarnated the burgeoning Catholic social consciousness of his day. While his executioners succeeded in ending his life, they obviously had no power to extinguish his legacy, which in many ways is the legacy of the social gospel in miniature — and which, arguably, is more alive today than ever.
Seemingly, less than half of the population of the UK believe that God even exists. It’s also likely that a good proportion of these non-believers have only a very sketchy understanding of Christianity or for that matter of any faith.
Heanor Cornerstone is a group of Christians from different backgrounds and traditions who’s mission is to present Christianity in a way that is accessible to anyone and everyone.
Part of their approach to achieving this is to produce a set of short podcasts starting from the most basic of questions: ‘Does God exist’. All sessions will be available on ‘Spotify’ and sessions will be posted here and elsewhere as they are published,
Never been to a Barn Dance? Can’t dance? The big advantage about this sort of dance is that the majority of us either don’t know the steps or have forgotten them. Every dance is demonstrated before hand and the ‘caller’ guides us throughout the dance . It really is fun for all ages.
Check out the poster below for details
