Tag: older people

Prayers for Holy Week

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Holy Week, the holiest week of the year, invites us all to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made for all of us. As we journey through these days – recalling Jesus Christ’s fear, suffering, anguish and death and then the glory of Easter – we are gently reminded that every stage of life carries its own meaning and grace.

In later life, the challenges of ageing – whether physical ailments, aches and pains, loneliness, loss or the weight of memories – can trouble us and lead us to doubt, anxiety and sadness. Yet Holy Week speaks directly into these experiences. It reminds us that suffering is not without purpose, that quiet endurance has dignity, and that even in moments of loss, there is the promise of new life.

We have compiled some prayers for Holy Week below, prayers to help us reflect through this week.

Through reflection and prayer, may this Holy Week become a time of peace, connection, and renewed hope.

Growing Old Grace-fully, Holy Week 2026

A Holy Week prayer for older people

God our Father,

As we walk through Holy Week,
we remember Jesus on the road to Calvary—
weighed down, yet faithful,
wounded, yet still moving forward.

So too in our own lives,
as the years gather and our strength changes,
we carry burdens we did not once know—
aches in body, losses in heart,
and the quiet letting go of what was.

Teach us, like Christ,
to walk this path with courage and trust,
to accept each step with grace,
and to know we are never alone.

And as Easter dawned with light and new life,
remind us that growing older is not only loss,
but also transformation—
a journey toward deeper peace,
renewed hope,
and the promise of resurrection within us.

Amen.

Growing Old Grace-fully

Prayer for Holy Week

Lord Jesus,

This Holy Week we follow you on your sorrowful and glorious journey,
your journey to the Cross and Resurrection.

Today we ask that we may walk with you,
give us grace to see the deep love you show us.

As you were welcomed with joy and acclaim to the Holy City,
your betrayal by the crowds soon overwhelmed their cries of Hosanna.

On the Cross, you made yourself servant taking the sins of the world upon yourself.

May our lives reflect your desire to serve God our Father first;
that we may serve you in our brothers and sisters.

When we face suffering and disappointment, may we know your love.

When we are feeling lost, may we know that you are with us.

When we are worried, may your Cross be a sign of hope and strength.

May this Holy Week be for us a time of renewal in faith and love.

Through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Fr Christopher Warren from St Mary’s Church, Hexham for Churches Together, Hexham

Prayer for Holy Week

Jesus my Lord, let me strengthen my courage by taking on the courage of all those people who have been “centurions” for me.

Many have faced disasters and hard times with great constancy. The upper hand of evil never turned them against you. They kept going.

Let me be like them, Lord. No matter what the cross, let me never stop declaring you to be “truly the Son of God, the source of my hope, the reason why I will never quit on life.

Amen

Catholic Online

Carers Project launched

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Growing Old Grace-fully is delighted to announce the launch of a new Carers Project, which will be a key focus of our work.

The main aim of the project is to recognise and value the role of unpaid carers and offer emotional and spiritual support to them within the Catholic Diocese of Leeds.

Unpaid carers can often face isolation at a time when they may have difficult decisions to make and a range of emotions that caring for a loved one can bring.

The project aims to help reduce the isolation, giving carers the opportunity to engage with other Christian carers and support each other through their faith.

So many people, including many older people, have caring responsibilities of some sort, for spouses, friends and adult children with special needs. Caring is something hugely important to society and a real vocation, whether chosen or not. 

The project will be coordinated and led by Michelle Anderson and we are delighted Michelle is joining the Growing Old Grace-fully team.

Michelle Anderson, Carers Project Coordinator

Michelle introduces herself as follows:

“I live within the Diocese of Leeds and am a parishioner of the Parish of St Mary and St Patrick in Batley and Birstall. I am the Parish Administrator and also a Foundation Governor of St Mary’s Catholic Primary Academy. I take an active part in parish life and enjoy meeting new people. Since leaving education I have been involved in support and care in a variety of roles.

“Working with older people, and advocating for vulnerable people and those in need of support, has always been something that has been close to my heart. Making a difference and helping to make improvements in people’s lives, no matter how small, is something I have always been passionate about”.

Would you like to be involved in the project?

There will be a number of ways to be involved in the project. These will include:

  • Regular online meetings where carers will have the opportunity to chat and share with each other, including space and time to pray.
  • Days of reflection for carers
  • Online talks where carers will be able to share their reflections and look at how faith helps.

If you would like to get involved with the project or you feel the project could be of benefit to you or someone you know please get in touch, either through your parish priest or by visiting our website growingoldgracefully.org.uk.

You can also email carersproject@growingoldgracefully.org.uk and contact Michelle directly.

“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.” Psalm 46:2

Pastoral Worker for Older People – first report

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Dr Frances Norton, Pastoral Worker for Older People at Mary Mother of God Parish in Bradford has done her first report, which gives an excellent account of the amazing work she has been doing.  

The Pastoral Worker for Older People is a project proposed and commissioned by Growing Old Grace-fully and funded by The Ladies of the Grail. 

Dr Frances Norton, Pastoral Worker for Older People, Mary Mother of God Parish, Bradford

Frances describes how she has been a regular visitor to older people of Mary Mother of God parish in Bradford, to offer older people spiritual opportunities, giving space to develop a fuller faith and prayer life.

She has organised trips: To Our Lady of the Crag, Knaresborough, Our Lady of Doncaster (at St Peter-in-Chains), Our Lady of Manchester (at St. Mary’s, ‘the Hidden Gem’) and also organised also one-off events funded through local council bids, such as the icon painting and brambling for the Feast of the Assumption; and afternoon tea and memory box crafts.

This is a great start to this very positive and special project. We thank The Ladies of the Grail for the funding, Monsignor Paul Grogan and the parish for taking on and overseeing the project and role – and of course to Frances for delivering the work!  

To read Frances report, click on the button below.

Pastoral Worker report

A busy and productive year – Annual Review 2025

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To access the Annual Review, click on the above or on the button below.
Annual Review 2025

The Growing Old Grace-fully Annual Review 2025 gives an account of our activities in 2025.

Carol Burns, Growing Old Grace-fully Chair of Trustees gives an overview in her Chair’s Report.

There is also a first report from the Dr. Frances Norton, Pastoral Worker for Older People at Mary Mother of God Parish, Bradford, which is very exciting – and gives a good sense of the amazing work she is doing there in this role. This is a project proposed and commissioned by Growing Old Grace-fully and funded by The Ladies of the Grail. Frances has also done the first of her own reports here, which is well worth a read and shows the difference she and this project is making in the parish and area.

On page 2, there are details of Growing Old Grace-fully’s two main overall activities – dementia awareness and training (online and in-parish); and our programme of spiritual events, online and in-person, which in 2025 were centred around the theme of being Pilgrims of Hope, as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of the Catholic Church.

As ever, we thank our funders who enable our work to happen – and who support and engage with us.

2026 Calendar – key dates

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Growing Old Grace-fully produces a handy calendar of key dates in 2026 related to older people and later life. This can help parishes and other communities plan specific events around Feasts in the Church calendar or national events related to later life and older people.

Our mission is to enhance the spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing of older people across the Catholic Diocese of Leeds through raising awareness, inspiring and supporting responsive action in parishes. Part of this is to encourage parishes to have events and specific services for older people. Events and services celebrating later life and the contribution older people make to parish, community and society. Plus events and services related to the challenges of later life – such as healing Masses, services to remember loved ones and to deal with grief, bereavement, dementia and loneliness.

In the Calendar you will find relevant Catholic Feast Days and other Church occassions, most notably World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in July, as well as national and international events and weeks related to older people and later life.

Do consider marking some of these in your parish – as well as using them as an opportunity for reflection and prayer.

You can download the calendar here by clicking on the button below:

Calendar 2026

Happy Christmas from Growing Old Grace-fully

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Contemporary Ethiopian nativity icon. Source here.

We wish a Happy Christmas to all from Growing Old Grace-fully.

This Christmas, we give thanks for the hope born in Bethlehem – the baby Jesus and a light that shines at every stage of life, even if we cannot always see it, when our eyes are turned towards the darkness that too often falls across our troubled world.

Christ’s birth in the stable shows that hope comes from the humblest and most unexpected places. We must always be open to that hope and be prepared to see it and pray that we too will hear the angels and see the star.

As we celebrate the joy of Christ’s coming among us, we honour the wisdom, faith, and love of older people, whose long lives witness to God’s faithfulness through the years.

Jubilee Year coming to an end

This is also the end of the Jubilee Year of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.

The last major official events of the 2025 Jubilee will be the closing of Rome’s four Holy Doors, accompanied by the solemn closing rites and the celebration of Mass.

The first to close will be the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on December 25th at 6:00 pm.

This will be followed by the Basilica of St. John Lateran on December 27th at 11:00 am.

On December 28th, at 10:00 am, the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls will be closed.

The last Holy Door to close will be that of St. Peter’s Basilica on January 6th at 9:30 am, with a Closure Rite and Mass presided over by Pope Leo XIV. The Holy Year officially concludes with the celebrations of the Feast of the Epiphany.

We pray more than ever for hope in these final days of this special Jubilee year.

May the peace of the Christ Child fill your hearts and homes, and may hope, kindness, and grace accompany us all into the year ahead.

Some prayers for Christmas

We thought we knew where to find you;
we hardly needed a start to guide the way,
just perseverance and common sense;
why do you hide yourself away from the powerful
and join the refugees and outcasts,
calling us to follow you there.

Wise God, give us your wisdom

We thought we had laid you safe in a manger;
we wrapped you in the thickest sentiment we could find,
and stressed how long ago you came to us;
why do you break upon us in our daily life
with messages of peace and goodwill
demanding that we do something about it?

Just and righteous God, give us justice and righteousness

So where else would we expect to find you
but in the ordinary places with the faithful people
turning the world to your purpose through them.
Bring us to that manger, to that true rejoicing,
Which will bring wisdom, justice and righteousness alive in us

Stephen Orchard
Based on Luke 2. v1-20
From Janet Morley Bread for Tomorrow

Cradled-Christ Eucharist

God reached out
and
with the lightest
of touch
set the world aflame
with his adoration.

He so loved
each
And every one,
that he gave
his most Beloved Son

In order that we,
that is
you
and me
and all humankind
might be born anew.

Not only on Earth,
but
in Heaven, too,
and cascading
through all Creation,
Is the cradled- Christ Eucharist.

Amen.

Susan Hardwick from Shine on Star of Bethlehem (complied by Geoffrey Duncan)

Prayer for Christmas in later life

Loving God,
as we welcome the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ,
we come before you in these worrying and uncertain times.
In the quiet of the manger, grant us hope;
in the light of Christ, grant us peace;
and in your abiding love, strengthen our trust in you.

We thank you especially for the gift of older people and later life.
For their wisdom, faith, patience, and steadfast love,
for the memories they carry and the hope they continue to offer,
we give you praise.
May they know their dignity, their value, and their cherished place
in your Church and in our families.

As the Christ Child comes among us,
unite young and old in compassion and care,
and help us to walk together with courage and kindness.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Freelance opportunity – carers project

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Growing Old Grace-fully is looking for an energetic self-starter to work on a freelance basis assisting  the development of a new project supporting spiritual and emotional needs of unpaid Carers in the Catholic Diocese of Leeds.

The appointee will build upon the work of the Growing Old Gracefully project which has been celebrating older people for over 15 years.

The project involves providing online support to reduce isolation and work in parishes.

The successful appointee will be an excellent organiser with outstanding communication skills, a good understanding of the needs of older people and sympathy with the ethos of the Catholic Church as well as commitment to ecumenical partnerships.

The project has funding for a part-time role, working 12 hours per week (or monthly equivalent) at £20 per hour plus travel expense.

We have funding initially for a one-year contract.

The closing date is January 16th 2026

Interviews will be held on Thursday January 28th 2026

To send for an application pack please e mail carol.burns@yahoo.co.uk

Pilgrims of Hope: Journeying as Older People

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On Wednesday 8th October 2025, Growing Old Grace-fully welcomed people to Cathedral Hall, formerly Wheeler Hall, a beautiful, accessible space behind Leeds Cathedral, for a morning of reflection as part of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope.

After registration and welcome refreshments, Carol Burns, Growing Old Grace-fully’s Chair of Trustees, introduced the event, led by Paula Shanks and Mgr. Donal Lucey.

Paula introduced the theme of the morning by briefly reviewing the themes of the ‘Doorways of Hope’ series of reflections that have taken place on Zoom throughout this year of Pilgrimage: First of all, seeing Glimpses of Hope, then Living in the Flow of Hope and then Holding Hope throughout life.  She explained that the invitation for people was for a deeper sense of themselves as pilgrims of hope in their daily lives at this stage of life.

The morning of reflection then began with a stilling – a time of guided prayer. A candle was lit within a centrepiece, which had been placed in the centre of the circle. 

Paula gently guided the group in a time of prayer to settle their bodies and minds and become still and centred. She based this on a quote by Fr Richard Rohr, ‘God’s love is the still point and centre of this turning world.’

The group were asked to notice their hopes and desires for the morning and to spend some time speaking with God about this. The stilling ended with the group listening to, ‘Be still for the presence of the Lord’ and a time of silence.

The first session was led by Mgr Donal who spoke about our history of being pilgrims. He explored the theme of the journey of our lives and acknowledged the importance of each different stage.

He quoted from the poem Somewhere by RS Thomas, “The point of travelling is not to arrive, but to return homeladen with pollen you shall work up into the honey the mind feeds on“.

Paula then explored aspects of the themes ‘Glimpses of Hope’ and ‘Living in the Flow of Hope’. She used images, music, poetry and time for silent reflection to help the group to go deeper and open their awareness more fully the presence of Hope in their lives. To notice the glimpses of Hope offer within each day and the places where there is a sense of ‘flow’ within their lives and within themselves. To see these all as places of invitation to a deeper sense of God’s presence and love that is already with them. A time of prayer then followed using Lectio Davina on Psalm 23 and the group were given some questions for personal reflection.

Mgr Donal then spoke to the group on the final theme, ‘Holding Hope in a Fragile World.’ He explored the fragility of the world and how the wisdom, faith and strength of older people are all gifts that the world needs.

He also stressed the gifts of encouragement and time that we have to offer, particularly to the younger people in our lives.

The morning concluded with a closing liturgy based on the theme of being pilgrims. Isaiah 40: 28-31, bidding prayers and a blessing were read by different members of the GOG team.

Paula has prepared a summary sheet from the event, which can be downloaded here.

At the end of the event, everyone was invited to leave a thought from the day, a comment or a reflection, and stick it on a feedback board.

The comments people left were as follows:

“Wonderful, powerful presentation with deeply meaningful slides. A lot of preparation and prayer must have gone into it before.”

“A thought provoking morning. I feel uplifted. The interaction was beneficial.”

“Very affirming and encouraging. A good balance of input and meditation. God bless and thank you.”

“Thank you a million times!”

“Really good thank you. Nice to meet other “old” “graceful” peers!”

“Very thoughtful and inspiring window into the fruitfulness of old age. Thank you!”

“Our role – to ENCOURAGE. Breakthrough from action.”

“That was a beautiful morning, thank you all who contributed. Will come again. Love, thanks and prayers.”

“What a spiritual morning! Thank you.”

“A hopeful, restful morning. Holding our heads up. Thank you.”

“Brilliant. Thank you Paula and Fr. Donal all who planned it. Look forward to the next one!”

“Thank you for all you do. Last to come and last to leave, after meeting old friends.” 

“Thank you for organising the face-to-face event.  Excellent.”

A shared lunch followed which was enjoyed by all.

We thank Paula and Fr Donal for leading this very special event and to all who attended.

Afternoon Tea and Memory Box Crafts – Wednesday 1st October, St Winefrede’s, Wibsey

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On Wednesday 1st October – International Day of Older Persons – there is a special afternoon tea and memory box crafts event in St. Winifrede’s Hall, Wibsey (part of Mary of Mother of God Parish).

The event is taking place between 3-5pm and all are welcome.

It is being organised by the parish’s Pastoral Worker for Older People, Frances Norton. To attend, just email Frances at: pwop.marymotherofgod@dioceseofleeds.org.uk or the office office.marymotherofgod@dioceseofleeds.org.uk or call the parish office 01274 677992.

Christians on Ageing – Faces of Hope in Later Life – Conference

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On Wednesday 24th September, 10:30am – 4:00pm, Christians on Ageing are hosting an online free conference ‘Faces of Hope in Later Life’, focusing on the positive horizons of later life as well as its challenges.

The keynote speaker will be Revd Michael Jackson, formerly Director of St John’s Winchester Charity and author of Still Love Left: Faith and Hope in Later Life.

In addition, the Conference will hear from:

John MacMillan, CEO of the Eric Liddell Community, Edinburgh, whose work with older people in the community embodies Eric Liddell’s values of compassion, inclusion and hope in all circumstances.

Olivia Luijnenburg, pursuing post-doctoral studies on dementia at Kings College London. She is a medical anthropologist with a special interest in residential care for older people, dementia care, spirituality and spiritual care.

The lunchtime interactive workshop will be led by Liv McLennan, co-founder and director of Sounds Better CIC. Liv has a particular interest in working with people with dementia and respiratory conditions. She is currently undertaking doctoral studies in intergenerational music within a care home setting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

To book a place please click here.