Thank you to Fr Jim for his reflection in the latest St Lawrence and St Paul's newsletter.
"During this time I periodically go into church and imagine where people usually sit and pray for them as I might
during mass. It is a rather melancholic experience and brings home the enormity of our experience as a Christian community. The gathering of the faithful and the sharing of communion is our life-blood and the core of our religious experience. We have had to learn how to be alone together. I am hoping that, at first at St Lawrence, we can get a live streaming service working. This would be good not just during lockdown episodes at the present time, but for the housebound and other interested parties in the future. (The lack of a phone line at St Paul’s makes the project a little more challenging but the advent of 5G might solve the problem.)
during mass. It is a rather melancholic experience and brings home the enormity of our experience as a Christian community. The gathering of the faithful and the sharing of communion is our life-blood and the core of our religious experience. We have had to learn how to be alone together. I am hoping that, at first at St Lawrence, we can get a live streaming service working. This would be good not just during lockdown episodes at the present time, but for the housebound and other interested parties in the future. (The lack of a phone line at St Paul’s makes the project a little more challenging but the advent of 5G might solve the problem.)
The latest from the Diocese informs us that churches might be opened for private prayer in July. This is not without its own challenges.
I quote from the letter:
One of the challenges when the churches reopen is to observe the social distancing. Volunteers will need to be in the church at all times to ensure that anyone coming into the church sanitises their hands both going in and going out of the building. It is recommended that people wipe the area in which they have been praying with an antiviral/antibacterial wipe as they leave. Each day when the church is closed, the building will have to be cleaned. Door handles should be cleaned regularly during the day when the church is open.
It may be difficult for some parishes to find a number of volunteers who can share a rota for when the church is open. I would recommend that the opening of the church is for specific times. It may be that you are unable to open the church on all days. When we get the go ahead to open our churches it will probably be for private prayer only. The celebration of Mass and the other Sacraments will come at a later date. That will partly depend upon whether we can show that we are observing the guidelines issued by the government.
It may be difficult for some parishes to find a number of volunteers who can share a rota for when the church is open. I would recommend that the opening of the church is for specific times. It may be that you are unable to open the church on all days. When we get the go ahead to open our churches it will probably be for private prayer only. The celebration of Mass and the other Sacraments will come at a later date. That will partly depend upon whether we can show that we are observing the guidelines issued by the government.
Peace be with you. God bless.
Fr Jim"
Fr Jim"
Apart, yet together. #ChurchAtHome
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