Newsletter - 8th August 2021
Celebrating life:
when we speak about celebration we tend rather easily to bring to mind happy, pleasant, gay festivities in which we can forget for a while the hardships of life and immerse ourselves in an atmosphere of music, dance, drinks, laughter, and a lot of cozy small-talk. But celebration in the Christian sense has very little to do with this. Celebration is possible only through the deep realisation that life and death are never found completely separate. Celebration can really come about only where fear and love, joy and sorrow, tears and smiles can exist together. Celebration is the acceptance of life in a constantly increasing awareness of its preciousness. Life is precious not only because it can be seen, touched, and tasted, but also because it will be gone one day.
When we celebrate a wedding we celebrate a union as well as a departure, when we celebrate death we celebrate lost friendship as well as gained liberty. There can be tears after weddings and smiles after funerals. We can indeed make our sorrows, just as much as our joys, a part of our celebration of life in the deep realisation that life and death are not opponents but do, in fact, kiss each other at every moment of our existence.
Henri Nouwen, Seeds of Hope, Darton, 1989, p.35
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian.
Focus of the week
Guidance for our parish
We should still use the hand sanitiser on entry to the church and for the time being continue wearing masks during mass.
Please continue to use the QR code to sign in on your smartphone or sign in using the slips or the register.
We will keep social distancing in the church until September (large hall still available for 11.00am Mass on Sunday).
The main touch points in church will be cleaned once a day, although we no longer need the stewards for entry or cleaning after every Mass.
The following remain suspended here for now: Communion from the chalice, the offertory procession, the physical sign of peace, bidding prayers and holy water in the stoups. However we will return to the two line system when coming forward for Commuion.
The collection will continue to be taken on the way out.
Singing is now allowed so please sing along (with your masks) alongside the videos. Hopefully we will have live music in September.