We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of

COLIN DONNELLY, RIP who died on Tuesday 4th May. His funeral will be held on Friday 4th June at 10.40am.

DOREEN PENNIFOLD RIP who died on Friday 23rd April.

MICHAEL O’BRIEN, RIP who died on Maundy Thursday afternoon. His Requiem Mass will be held on Friday 28th May at 2pm.

Please pray for Joseph and Francesca Quinn on the sad death of their baby—Luna Quinn—last Friday

Music at 11.30 Mass on Sunday

Variations on Veni, Creator Spiritus - Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Comm, Gott Schopfer BWV 631 - J S Bach (1685-1750)

Covid Guidelines from 17 May 2021

Certain of the Covid restrictions that have been in place for some months now are being relaxed.

Congregation

• We still use online booking for services, or the QR code track and trace

• Please sanitise your hands whenever entering or leaving the church. We continue to wear face coverings (remember to remove this before receiving Holy Communion). This will continue even if the legal requirement is lifted.

• For Holy Communion we remove the barrier and the priest will pronounce The Body of Christ with the usual response of Amen

• Holy Communion is now permitted on the tongue. Those wishing Communion on the tongue: please come to Communion last (the priest then sanitises his hands at the end).

• Communion continues to be under one kind

• The sign of peace is still suspended

• The congregation may not sing

• At least one door into the church will remain open throughout the weekday services for ventilation

• The church will open as formerly: that is, from early morning until 1pm. After this time, you can access the church by using the code on the door on the courtyard side of church

Stewards

• We no longer need Stewards at weekday Masses—but we do need still need cleaners!

• Maintain a good general standard of routine cleaning using cleaning detergents:

  • Clean most surfaces people touch once a day

  • Clean very frequent touch points more often—for example: door handles

• We continue to require Stewards for Sunday Masses

Administration

• We increase the capacity of the building whilst keeping a one metre rule and being sensitive to the comfort and safety of others: from the current 48 to 80 booking slots—16 booking slots for each wing and 24 for each centre aisle

• Sunday Mass: Bidding Prayers will resume

• Singing may by done by a small group

Thank you

Thanks to all of you who have cooperated with the protocols over these months and especially to those who have given so much time to stewarding and cleaning.

Up coming Events for Serving the Homeless

Flower Festival 2021

We will be holding a Flower Festival in OLL church again this year on 11th September. The Theme will be “I AM” (as in I Am the Good Shepherd; the Light of the World; The Way, Truth, & Life etc.) This was the theme that we had chosen for last year, but due to the pandemic it did not take place. The Festival will again coincide with the Leigh Art Trail.  We would like to expand the displays to include Art, Photography, Needlework, Woodwork etc., to illustrate the theme. Any donations will go towards ‘Serving the Homeless’ projects.

So we are calling all parishioners to help us to create a beautiful and prayerful event to be shared with our community.

For those interested a list of all the quotations will be available. You can email me at:  mcronan@btinternet.com

 You have four months to get creative!

We are also holding a Summer Raffle to raise funds so that we can continue to contribute to HARP and YMCA projects. Tickets for our ‘Hamper Bonanza’ are now on sale, with the draw taking place at the beginning of September. Tickets can be purchased from any of our Committee members.

Jo Ronan

School Vacancy

St. Helen’s Catholic Primary School are looking for an Assistant Cook to join our friendly kitchen team. 24 hours per week, term time only. See our school website or contact Mrs Sears for details 01702 343823.

Covid Guidelines from 17 May 2021

Certain of the Covid restrictions that have been in place for some months now are being relaxed.

Congregation

• We still use online booking for services, or the QR code track and trace

• Please sanitise your hands whenever entering or leaving the churchWe continue to wear face coverings (remember to remove this before receiving Holy Communion). This will continue even if the legal requirement is lifted.

• For Holy Communion we remove the barrier and the priest will pronounce The Body of Christ with the usual response of Amen

• Holy Communion is now permitted on the tongue. Those wishing Communion on the tongue: please come to Communion last (the priest then sanitises his hands at the end).

• Communion continues to be under one kind

• The sign of peace is still suspended

• The congregation may not sing

• At least one door into the church will remain open throughout the weekday services for ventilation

• The church will open as formerly: that is, from early morning until 1pm. After this time, you can access the church by using the code on the door on the courtyard side of church

Stewards

• We no longer need Stewards at weekday Masses—but we do need still need cleaners!

• Maintain a good general standard of routine cleaning using cleaning detergents:

  • Clean most surfaces people touch once a day

  • Clean very frequent touch points more often—for example: door handles

• We continue to require Stewards for Sunday Masses

Administration

• We increase the capacity of the building whilst keeping a one metre rule and being sensitive to the comfort and safety of others: from the current 48 to 80 booking slots—16 booking slots for each wing and 24 for each centre aisle

• Sunday Mass: Bidding Prayers will resume

• Singing may by done by a small group

Thank you

Thanks to all of you who have cooperated with the protocols over these months and especially to those who have given so much time to stewarding and cleaning.

Learn more

If you would like to read the full text of the updated guidance you may do so by going to the website of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales:

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Dear friends in Christ

We have rejoiced—last Thursday—in the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. In these days we pray, as did the Apostles, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In these closing days of Easter season, it is a good idea to remind ourselves of the significance of the liturgical season—the unique calendar of the Church—through which we celebrate and live our Catholic Faith. St Augustine in his commentary on the Psalms has this to say:

There are these two periods of time—the one that now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy—we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the ‘Alleluia' we sing.

As we gradually emerge from the imposed isolation and uncertainty of the last year, like the Apostles at Pentecost, we do so joyfully and with confidence in the time ahead. I hope you may have had the opportunity to read the reflection from our Bishops which we published in the Newsletter last week on The Day of the Lord. I found their words on our emerging from lockdown, the importance of Sunday, the Holy Mass and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament hugely positive and helpful. Do go back and read it if you have not already done so.

As we approach Pentecost we should be offering each day some prayer or invocation to God the Holy Spirit: Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium…Come, Holy Spirit, renew the face of the earth…the face of the Church and the face of our lives!

With my prayers and blessing!

Msgr Kevin Hale

Seventh Sunday of Easter

5.30pm Vigil Roy Newman, RIP (CS)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel

Sunday 16 May
8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Cliff Falkus, RIP (EH)
11.30am Mass Allan & Evelyn Thompson, RIP (RK)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

Monday 17
Feria
9am Mass Jim & Lilian Fegan, RIP (M&JC)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Tuesday 18
Pope St John I, M
9am Mass Margaret Kennedy, RIP (CS)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Wednesday 19
St Dunstan, Bp
9am Mass Vivien Clancy, RIP (Anniversary) (JL)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Thursday 20
St Bernardine of Siena, Pr
9am Mass Intentions of Norah Egodawela (NE)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Friday 21
St Christopher Magallanes, Pr & Comps, Mm
12Noon Mass Clive Richards, RIP (UO’K)
11.30-1pm Private Prayer

Saturday 22
St Rita of Cascia, Rel
10am Mass Flora Ignatius, RIP (RP)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel

Pentecost Sunday

5.30pm Vigil Mass Michael Doe, RIP (Anniversary) (JD)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel

Sunday 23 May
8am Mass Studita de Souza, RIP (FDS)
9.30am Mass Intentions of Lucrecia Conlu (JC)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

We Pray for the Dead on our Anniversaries

Fr James (Jim) McCormack, Fr John William Hayes, Fr Paul Dynan, Canon Thomas Clarke, Canon Michael Fitzpatrick, Fr Brendan Sheppard, Mgr Canon William O’Grady, Pauline Cousins, Jacqueline Rogers, Florence West, Ellen O’Leary, Agnes Theresa Brady, Edward Petronis, Michael Jones, Charles Cutter, William Ross, Eric Jeffries, Lily Mead, Michael McNamara, John Kelly, Richard William Walker, Vivien Clancy, Anne Perkins, Robert Gammon, Zoe Conroy, Joseph Dray, Brian Webb, Henry James Herbert, Christopher Buckingham, Eileen Hart & Murray Grant-Browning.

We Pray for our Sick

Pat Poulton, Leonora Maguire, Brian Mountier, Renata Butler, Norbert Widera, Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Gilberte Cook, Garry Pearman, Anne Owen, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, Maureen Gooding, Ben Wilson, Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Nan Carrit, Eileen Wilson, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Anthony McEvoy, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Chas Taylor, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Eddie McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Doreen Troughton, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff, Bradley & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.

We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of

COLIN DONNELLY, RIP who died on Tuesday 4th May. His funeral will be held on Friday 4th June at 10.40am.

DOREEN PENNIFOLD RIP who died on Friday 23rd April.

MICHAEL O’BRIEN, RIP who died on Maundy Thursday afternoon. His Requiem Mass will be held on Friday 28th May at 2pm.

Music at 11.30am Mass on Sunday

Chant donné en hommage à Jean Gallon - Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Prelude in B minor BWV 544 - J S Bach (1685-1750)

200 Club

The 200 Club continues to provide funds to support the running of the Parish. During the last financial year, thanks to the parishioners who subscribe to the 200 Club, donations from the 200 Club funds were made to the restoration of the reredos and the repair of the bells.

However, during the last 18 months, the number of parishioners supporting the 200 Club has fallen to 162, a shortfall of 38.

We are currently looking for new members. The subscription is £5 per month, either by cash, cheque or direct debit. If you would like to join, please fill in a form which can be found at the back of the church or ring Linda Wall on
01702 558217.

Recently, there have been several occasions where a monthly prize has been won but where a change of address has not been notified to Linda, resulting in cheques going missing. It is very important that changes of address should be notified both to the office and to Linda.

Upcoming Events for Serving the Homeless

Flower Festival 2021

We will be holding a Flower Festival in OLL church again this year on 11th September. The Theme will be “I AM” (as in I Am the Good Shepherd; the Light of the World; The Way, Truth, & Life etc.) This was the theme that we had chosen for last year, but due to the pandemic it did not take place. The Festival will again coincide with the Leigh Art Trail.  We would like to expand the displays to include Art, Photography, Needlework, Woodwork etc., to illustrate the theme. Any donations will go towards ‘Serving the Homeless’ projects.

So we are calling all parishioners to help us to create a beautiful and prayerful event to be shared with our community.

For those interested a list of all the quotations will be available. You can email me at:  mcronan@btinternet.com

 You have four months to get creative!

We are also holding a Summer Raffle to raise funds so that we can continue to contribute to HARP and YMCA projects. Tickets for our ‘Hamper Bonanza’ are now on sale, with the draw taking place at the beginning of September. Tickets can be purchased from any of our Committee members.

Jo Ronan

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Dear friends in Christ

Forty days after the Resurrection comes the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. This Thursday marks the end of that time which the Apostles enjoyed with Jesus following Easter. It was a time of joy and reassurance. A time of fellowship and affection. A time when Jesus could go-over His teachings with them so that they had it clearly in their minds what He had done. Ascension Thursday is normally a Holyday of Obligation; although the obligation is still suspended (it will be restored in the near future) we still desire to celebrate this mystery of our Faith by participating at Holy Mass. The Ascension of Jesus is one of the mysteries of His life that is recalled and made present again at each offering of the Mass: ...as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed Passion, the Resurrection from the dead, and the glorious Ascension into Heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord...

Jesus has returned to the Father so that he can intercede and prepare a place for us. From the Ascension onwards, we can keep our eyes fixed on Heaven. The Easter hymn reminds us: When the forty days were o’er, shall our hearts forget His promise: 'I am with you evermore?' and it continues on to remind us, that He within the veil has entered, robed in flesh, our great high priest; here on earth both priest and victim, in the Eucharistic feast. The sadness felt by the physical departure of Jesus is more-than compensated for by His presence with us at Mass—the Eucharistic Sacrifice—and his abiding presence in the Tabernacle.

Please keep in your prayers the children who are preparing for their First Holy Communion next month. Next weekend they will begin their immediate preparation for this Sacrament by making their first Confessions.

For the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis published the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, with the aim ‘to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal’. To mark this special Year, the Pope has approved the inclusion of seven new titles to be used in the Litany of St Joseph. These new invocations are drawn from the interventions of the Popes who have reflected on aspects of the figure of the Patron of the Universal Church. The new invocations, originally in Latin, are as follows and could be translated as: Guardian of the Redeemer, Servant of Christ, Minister of salvation, Support in difficulties, Patron of exiles, Patron of the afflicted and Patron of the poor. I hope that for our part in this Year, we shall be able to make a more fitting shrine to St Joseph in our church which is also dedicated to his patronage. I will share more details of this when some designs emerge.

May the celebration of the glorious Ascension of Jesus into Heaven this week, fill our minds and hearts with an increased desire for Heaven and, as the restrictions on public worship are gradually lifted, bring us with full hearts and mind to celebrate afresh the Paschal Mysteries.

God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale

Sixth Sunday of Easter

5.30pm Vigil The People of the Parish
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel

Sunday 9 May
8am Mass Michael O’Brien, RIP (MI)
9.30am Mass Intentions of the Craig & Poole Families (AC)
11.30am Mass Mary McDermott - 90th Birthday (SG)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

Monday 10
Feria
9am Mass Intentions of Sister Mary Juliana (RM)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Tuesday 11
Blessed John Rochester, Pr, M
9am Mass Jim McEvoy, RIP (Anniversary) (FM)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Wednesday 12
St John Houghton, Pr, M
9am Mass Nancy Hicks, RIP (UO’K)
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Thursday 13
The Ascension of the Lord—Holyday
9am Mass Daniel Carr, RIP (AH)
12Noon Holy Souls
8pm The People of the Parish
8.30-10am Private Prayer

Friday 14
St Matthias, Ap
12Noon Mass Special Intention of Rory Andrew Neal-McKenzie (CJD)
11.30-1pm Private Prayer

Saturday 15
Feria
10am Mass Rose Comey, RIP (Anniversary) (MC)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel

Seventh Sunday of Easter

5.30pm Vigil Mass Roy Newman, RIP (CS)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel

Sunday 16 May
8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Cliff Falkus, RIP (EH)
11.30am Mass Allan & Evelyn Thomson, RIP (RK)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries

Canon Brian Grady, Canon John Duckett, Fr Augustine Davidson, Mgr Canon John Howell, Fr John Boyle, Fr Stanley Joynes, Patrick Shanahan, Peggy Choppin, Mary Donovan, Michael McDermott, Cestan Szymczak, Margaret Park, May Downey, Mary Jones, Wally Hurst, Philip Wilson, Vera Sarah Fogarty, Frederick Leslie Freeman, James (Jim) McEvoy, Charlotte Anderson, Robert King, Patrick O’Sullivan, Joyce Wilkinson, Iris Amner, John Lyons, Mrs Constance Newton, Dorothy Kyrke-Smith, Margaret Philp, Joseph Edwards, John Smith, Eileen Rosina Hood, Mrs Winifred Craic, Francis Thomas, Roma Morgan, John Rivens, Arthur Mills, Emma Jane Hobbs, Alfred Warner, Philip Everett, Amy Ehn & Bridget Hamblion.

We Pray for our Sick

Pat Poulton, Leonora Maguire, Brian Mountier, Renata Butler, Norbert Widera, Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Gilberte Cook, Garry Pearman, Anne Owen, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, Maureen Gooding, Ben Wilson, Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Nan Carrit, Eileen Wilson, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Anthony McEvoy, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Chas Taylor, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Eddie McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Doreen Troughton, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff, Bradley & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.

We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of

COLIN DONNELLY, RIP who died on Tuesday 4th May.

BARBARA JEAN BERNADETTE FORGE who died on Thursday 15th April.

DOREEN PENNIFOLD RIP who died on Friday 23rd April.

MICHAEL O’BRIEN, RIP who died on Maundy Thursday afternoon. His Requiem Mass will be held on Friday 28th May at 2pm.

The Day of the Lord

CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF ENGLAND AND WALES

Reflection by the Bishops of England and Wales

Gathering as Bishops in Conference this week, we wish to pay tribute to all in the Catholic community who have shown such courage, generosity and understanding in the face of adversity this past year. Across England and Wales, families and parish communities have risen to the challenge of sustaining one another through times of great isolation, loneliness and grief in an impressive variety of ways, spiritual, emotional and practical. We thank all who have worked tirelessly in prisons, in hospitals, care-homes and across the medical profession for giving of themselves so generously. We thank all who have worked valiantly in our schools, facing unforeseen demands and meeting them with characteristic professionalism and dedication.

We wish also to pay tribute to those who have given of their time and energy to keep open our churches as havens of peace and prayer. Churches up and down the land have realised the vision of Pope Francis that they be like village-wells where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey; and centres of “constant missionary outreach.” We thank all who have developed diverse new patterns of outreach - of prayer, catechesis, study and spiritual solidarity; all who have made participation in the Mass possible through the internet.

Also prominent in this tribute should be thanks to all who have contributed to the immense effort of providing food for those most in need. The generosity shown in the distribution of so very many meals has given eloquent expression to the mercy, love and compassion which are at the very heart of God. Many have been touched by the joy of meeting Christ in the poor; and many of the poor by the joy of meeting Christ in selfless parishioners. The provision of food is often the first step into a deeper relationship of help and accompaniment, including the sharing of the gift of faith in our Blessed Lord.

‘Vibrant’ is a word which seems to have characterised so many of our parishes throughout the pandemic. We wish to salute our priests in particular for the leadership they have shown in this time of crisis. We thank them for their deep devotion to both the liturgy and to their parishioners. We commend every priest who made of his parish "a 'sanctuary' open to all” and with a particular care for the poor; and the many Deacons who have exercised with such generosity their mission of charity.

What will be the pace of our emerging from this pandemic remains as yet unclear. What is clear is the challenge we face of bringing our communities and the practice of the faith to a still greater expression and strength. As your bishops, we are aware of a threefold pattern to this challenge.

a) There are the fearful and weary, anxious about coming into the enclosed spaces of our churches; those who have simply lost the habit of coming to church. Personal contact, clear reassurance, and sensitive invitations will all be needed.

b)  There are those who will have reassessed their pattern of life and priorities. The practice of faith within the community of the Catholic Church may not be among those priorities. A gap may have opened up, or widened, between the spiritual dimension of their lives and any communal expression of that spiritual quest. They represent a particular focus and concern for our outreach.

c)  There are those whom we might describe as the ‘Covid curious', those who have come into contact with the Catholic Church through our presence on the internet – a contact we may be able to develop through our continuing presence across diverse media platforms.

In facing these challenges, we are endowed with veritable treasures which serve to resource and enrich us. Among them are our schools, in which so many are regaining confidence to come together with others. We believe our schools can indeed be bridges back to church. There is also the remarkable work of social outreach which has grown exponentially during these long months of pandemic. On this, too, we must build. But the greatest treasure is, of course, the sacramental life of the Church, and, pre-eminently, the Eucharist.

It is the Eucharist, the celebration of the Mass, that makes the Church; and it is the Church, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, which makes the Eucharist. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the lifeblood of the Church. It requires our active participation and, to be fully celebrated, our physical presence.

At this moment, then, we need to have in our sights the need to restore to its rightful centrality in our lives the Sunday Mass, encouraging each to take his or her place once again in the assembly of our brothers and sisters. We face the task of seeking to nurture the sense of Sunday as “a weekly gift from God to his people” , and something we cannot do without; to see Sunday as the soul of the week, as giving light and meaning to all the responsibilities we live out each day; to see the Sunday Eucharist as food for the unique mission with which we have been endowed.

In the time to come we can do no better than to rekindle in our hearts, foster and encourage, a yearning for the Real Presence of the Lord and the practice of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, a gift so deeply appreciated in these times of lockdown. We need to begin by fostering this in ourselves. For the Eucharist should be the cause of our deepest joy, our highest manner of offering thanks to God and for seeking his mercy and love. We need to make it the foundation stone of our lives.

The invitation to Sunday Mass resonates all the more deeply when we consider, as Pope St John Paul II reminds us in the Encyclical Letter Dies Domini, that the Sabbath rest is nothing if not a call to remember the gift of God’s Creation. The Eucharist is indeed a celebration of the created world, called into life by the Eternal Word, for the bread and wine of the earth becomes the Body and Blood of Christ who is that same Lord of all life. The Christ to whom we come so close in the Eucharist must be the foundation of our strivings, not least in the urgent task we face of caring for creation and our environment.

Pope St John Paul II spoke of our amazement at the gift of the Mass and the abiding Presence of our Blessed Lord in the Sacrament of the Altar. Herein lies our treasure, enriching our relationship with Jesus and bringing together every aspect of our life and mission. This is such an important focus for our task in the coming months.

22nd April 2021