With the help of God: Yes, please God:
As we move forward after lockdown; yes, to keep safe is a very important priority, but not the only one. The words “By their fruits you shall know them” comes from the mouth of Jesus. One of the great fruits of lockdown for me was “Spring Watch” and its offshoots, a carbon freer world, less plastic in the rivers and seas, a litany could be underway, with please God, a better outlook for the future of the planet.
The life of our church, this too cries out for a response in our time. Here personally I feel a real affliction as I recall the early stages of my journey and the hope that was there at the beginning. The time of lockdown has given me plenty of time to reflect, and it has brought home to me deep rooted failures and weaknesses, which will not disappear from me by any magic thinking. So, back to the beginning with the help of God, I will change and grow up.
With our two churches we have many a great challenge before us. Our first response it that we are two communities, and please God, we will become two sides to the same coin. I have always tried to help this, with an awareness that a body is best when made up of many parts working together for the good of all. When the virus sprung we were struck with the same weakness of most. Our age profile meant that there was a great shortage of help, and so many of the old reliable’ s were rendered out of action. A great thank you to those who are stepping up to the mark as we return to church. This is just one small step in the right direction.
It is now very important to establish these small steps. Many of our elderly parishioners are refraining from returning to our church at the moment, as they receive nourishment for their faith in many ways, especially Mass on T.V. and Skype. If we had young ministers of Holy Communion to take them communion, this would be one of the steps in the right direction. I also want to encourage them to make arrangements with me, so that I could take Holy Communion to them.
A suggestion some time ago now, when garden centres were first opening, was a visit to our Garden of Remembrance. This had some very special moment of grace. Our First Holy Communion preparation has been among the casualties and needs special attention. A meeting of our Parish Finance Committee will take place, please God, next Thursday evening, and please lots of prayers for this very important event. With the help of God we may have a fresh lease of life.