Message from Canon Kristian

Dear Parishioners

With the steep rise in COVID infection, the mandatory “Rule of 6” comes into force from Monday, limiting the number of people who can meet together socially either indoors or outdoors.  Whilst this will have present a challenging limitation to many of our families, the rule does not apply to gatherings in church, where we will continue to observe carefully the requirements of social-distancing that we are by now used to.  Obviously, if there is any change to this situation, I will inform you all as soon as I know.

One of the biggest challenges for parish life under the present restrictions is that of providing catechetical formation to our children and young people in preparation for receiving the Sacraments.  As you know, the celebrations for First Confession and First Communion this year had to be postponed due to the “lockdown” and so we have nearly 30 children waiting to receive these Sacraments for the first time, not including those who should be preparing for them this year.  Likewise, in the usual rhythm of parish life, there should also be  a cohort of our young people starting their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  I will be meeting with Deacon Michael and some of our parish catechists this week to try to come to a vision of how our children and young people can receive the catechetical formation they need.  Given the on-going restrictions to protect ourselves from spread of COVID, it will not be possible to “carry on as before” and so we will need to find new and effective ways of forming and supporting the faith commitment of our younger parish members.  As the place where they gain the lived experience of the faith, there will be a greater emphasis on the role of the family in this faith formation and the support that we can give to parents and other family members to enable them to fulfil this essential role.  I have no doubt that this will be challenging for us all, but it is vital that we find new ways to foster the development of faith in the younger generations, who are both the present and future of our parish community, and enable them to receive the grace of the Sacraments fruitfully.  If any parishioner has any ideas about this or suggestions to make, I will willingly feed them into the meeting this week.

As you know from last week, until the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on 4^th October, we are in the Season of Creation and asked to have a heightened awareness of the wonderful gift of God’s creation and our often damaging impact on it as human beings by excessive and wasteful consumption and by other decisions and actions which are destructive of our environment.  I hope that you are accessing the many resources available on line – not least by having an attentive read of Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Care for our Common Home, Laudato Si’ – and taking some concrete action to repair and enhance the creation around us, of which we are an integral part.  In October, we will also be observing the World Day of the Poor.  Caritas Plymouth would normally be holding a gathering at St Rita’s, Honiton, to explore a theme related to that Day.  However, again due to the impact of COVID-19, a free online event will take the place of the gathering this year, which will hopefully have the positive effect that more people will be able to join in as a result.  Details of the two-hour event, which has as its focus the question “How are we reaching out to the poor and the marginalised?”, are included with the newsletter to give ample time to plan and enrol .

In our parish we are blessed to have the presence and impressive work of CHAT, which supports and advocates for those who are the most vulnerable in our local community due homelessness and poverty.  CHAT is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year, though sadly the planned celebrations have had to be postponed.  However, the financial impact of the virus on individuals, families and the local economy will mean that there will be an even greater need for the services which CHAT provides.  Around this time, there would normally be in our churches a celebration of the Harvest, which would usually include the collection of funds and food for CHAT.  Whilst we will not be able to hold the usual Harvest Festivals, CHAT still needs our on-going support and there is a reminder in the newsletter of the most needed items for the Food Bank, which can be left in the designated box at the entrance to St James or in the boxes at the checkouts in the major supermarkets.  Financial donations can also be made to CHAT.  For now, please put them in an envelope clearly marked “CHAT” and leave them in one of the baskets at church, or hand them in at the parish office or post them through the presbytery letterbox.

Some of you will have already heard that, in order to spend more time with her family, Caroline James, the headteacher of St John’s, our parish Primary School and Nursery, will be leaving at the end of this term.  Caroline, who has spent the whole of her teaching career at St John’s, has worked tirelessly during her time as headteacher to provide the best experience of Catholic education possible for our children, often in very challenging circumstances and we owe her a massive debt of gratitude for her dedication to the well-being of the staff and children under her care.  We wish her every blessing for the next stage of life with her family.  As a result of this situation, our school, its staff and its children, will need all the support we can give as a parish.  To have a school as part of a parish community is a tremendous gift, which many the parishes in our diocese do not have.  I would urge all our families to support the school by ensuring that their children go to our parish school to  receive their education within a Catholic context, something which we should value extremely highly.

Along with the newsletter, we have Monika Manser’s weekly prayerful contemplation of this Sunday’s Gospel (available to download under the Resources>Reflections part of the parish website here), as well as a poster for the World Day of the Poor event (available to view here) and a reminder of the vacancies in the diocese for Parish Property Mentors.

Please stay safe everyone and be assured of my prayers for you all.

With every blessing

Fr Kristian