Dear Friends
Here we go again, thankfully the doors of our church can remain open through this lockdown, which I know for many will be a blessing. An apology for those who were hoping to see mass online this morning, for some reason the computer would not detect the camera and microphone, we, Eileen and I, had to abandon that idea, thankfully we had just said Morning Prayer together. Of course as soon as I brought the camera and computer home it worked perfectly, as I said on my little broadcast, it’s all a mystery, more complicated than the mystery of God himself, or herself, or ground of our being – take your pick!
So for the next four weeks, if not for a bit longer we will – hopefully-stream our 9.30am Parish Mass on Sunday live. We will this Sunday stream an 11am Remembrance service from the Middlesex Memorial in church, again live. Thursday mass will be live online at 9.30am and I will be online a couple of times a week for a chat. I’m also hoping to set up a short prayer service each week day, except Thursday from church at 12 noon. I’ll begin this on Monday and it will last till Friday December 4th. If there is anything you want me to pray about please send me an email.
I thought you might find the cartoon below of Beatitudes for a global pandemic amusing. It’s been sent to me by my local landlord in Shropshire, somebody, as you can imagine, I know quite well. The sad bit is Norman (the landlord) is selling up, so if any of you want to buy a country pub in rural Corvedale with a brewery and restaurant attached, it’s on the market, and if you do, you’d make this Vicar a very happy bunny!
Take care, stay safe.
Simon
Dear Friends
As we enter this week into another lockdown, albeit in a somewhat different format from the previous one, there has been a wide range of reactions. It is clearly going to be a very stressful, anxious and lonely time for many people. There are fears of further job losses, delayed medical procedures and uncertainty as to when we can meet up with loved ones in future. This week Fr Simon explains how we at St Nick’s plan to offer support to our parish during this time.
Unlike earlier this year, when the official response of the Church was very muted, this time the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written an open letter urging ‘calm, courage and compassion’. You can follow the link below to read their letter in full:
With every blessing
Mother Eileen