The feast of Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. It is the moment when the Holy Spirit comes down in wind ad flame on the disciples to equip them to be Christ’s witnesses to the world. Every time we baptize, every time we confirm, every time we ordain, we pray the Holy Spirit to come on us in our generation with the same power to equip us to be Christ’s witnesses in our generation.
But this year it is – as it has been for so many ordinary people with ordinary birthdays over the past weeks – a birthday without a party. Our brothers and sisters in France will rejoice with great joy as they come together to celebrate the Mass for the first time since their Lockdown ended. We remain separate, apart, isolated. We need to be patient for a little longer. There are definite plans for reopening Churches for private individual prayer. Soon we will once more be able to come and adore Our Lord present to us in the Tabernacle. Soon we will be able again to come to the saints to ask their prayers and light our candles as a sign of our devotion. To do this, we will need to behave in Church as we do in any public place. We need to sanitize our hands before we come into the building. You will need to carry your own sanitizer and use it before you come in. We will leave the doors open so you do not need to touch the handles. All the books will be put away. If you need a book, you must bring your own and take it home again with you. If you take one of the prayer sheets, take it with you. Do not leave it in Church. Most difficult of all, we must still observe social distancing. So do not touch the statues. Do not go near the Tabernacle. Keep your distance from anyone else in Church with you. The public celebration of Mass is still some time off. That comes in stage 3 of the government’s plans, possibly in July. We will again have to think carefully about how to do that safely, especially on Sundays when the number of places in Church will be limited. I will let you know my thinking when I’ve had more time to work out what we should do.
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It was a huge joy to hear from Cardinal Vincent that discussions are taking place about reopening places of worship. The Government naturally thinks it can deal with all religious groups under one heading. This seriously misses the role that Churches play in Catholic practice and religious life. The Cardinal has clearly tried to get this across to the Government, but has not yet been heard.
So why is an open Church so important to Catholics? Many Catholics pop into church in the course of the day to say a quick prayer and to light a candle as a sign of their continuing prayer with Blessed Mary and all the saints. It is one of the most powerful ways in which Catholics link their daily lives and concerns with their faith. One slightly older lady once told me, ‘I’m popping into church so that if I die on the way home God doesn’t look at me, and say, “Who are you? I haven’t seen you for ages.”’ Why then do Catholics do this? Basically because the Christian faith is rooted in worship both of mind and of body. When we pray we pray much better if our bodies are in the best posture, our knees bent, our eyes closed, our hands at rest. Then focusing our mind and our heart on God becomes much easier. At the same time, all this is easier if we have a particular place where we pray. At home this may be a corner of our own room. In a church we have a place where generations of Christians have prayed and hallowed it. All Catholic churches are solemnly consecrated by a Bishop using the Oil of Chrism to dedicate the space both for public worship, the celebration of Mass and the other Sacraments – and for personal, private prayer when somebody unites themselves consciously with the whole Christian community through time and space. This is what St Paul calls the Body of Christ. By baptism all Christians are united in Jesus Christ. They become his Body. He is their head. This is not just a spiritual truth, but also a physical one. When we kneel in prayer we remind ourselves of this truth. When we kneel in church we feel that much more intensely and powerfully. Most wonderfully a Catholic who prays in church prays in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle. There in front of the tabernacle, I, a member of Christ’s Body, meet my Head so close to me that I am filled with adoration and joy. But isn’t religion actually about the spiritual inner me? Isn’t this all too physical? Christianity begins with God the Son becoming a human being through the Blessed Virgin Mary in his birth at Bethlehem. Christians are taught by a human voice telling us about God’s will and love. We are saved by an all-too physical death on the cross. Our hope is a risen transformed body that appears to his disciples to reveal the marvellous new stage in our knowledge of God. Christianity without the physical is only half a faith. That’s why Catholics need Churches open for prayer. Fr Patrick What do I feel after weeks of lockdown and the loss of public celebrations of the Mass?
First a great sense of privilege that – unlike Anglican clergy – I am required by the bishops to go into Church to celebrate Mass every day. Celebrating Mass is always a privilege and a joy. Celebrating Mass now, when lay people are deprived of being there physically, is an extraordinary combination of joy and grief. I can receive Jesus in the Eucharist every day and renew his sacrificial presence. At the same time, I look round an empty Church and visualise those who in normal times would unfailingly and faithfully be present. Second a sense of keeping things going as much as we can. We have candles burning permanently in front of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary altars. They focus and support parishioners’ prayers while they are themselves away. On the one Sunday when public celebration of Mass was suspended, but the Church open for private individual prayer, an immense number of candles were lit by faithful Christians coming to the Lord. Third a great thankfulness for the Internet and the telephone. We cannot livestream, but so many Churches can and provide my people with a possibility of sharing in the Mass, in Adoration and in the Rosary. The Cardinal and the Bishops’ Conference weekly update me on how things are going and what is happening. The Vatican website allowed me to put Pope Francis earnest exhortation to say the Rosary during Mary’s month of May, and his new prayers, on our own website. And my telephone is my primary tool for pastoral contact and support. Fourth – and most importantly – a renewed realisation at my life and the life of every human being comes from God, depends on God, is loved by God, and is in his hands. All our life is rooted in faith, filled with love, and made great by hope. Best wishes, Fr Patrick |
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