Some people have been asking about the Sacrament of Reconciliation during this time of shut-down. Below is an excellent video by the Cardinal explaining what the Church teaches concerning extraordinary situations such as we are experiencing now.

Many appreciated the "Light a Candle of Hope" initiative last Sunday evening so we will continue this every week. This involves lighting a candle in your window at 7.00pm every Sunday. We will be praying  for all in leadership at this time, making decisions about the containment of the Covid-19 virus, for those working in health and social care, and especially for the most vulnerable, whether elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Some appreciated praying the Evening Prayer of the Church during this time using Universalis.

Many apologies for the delay of Mass this morning due to technical problems. Fortunately it still finished just in time for us all to join the Archbishop in Birmingham for the prayers of dedication to Our Lady. If you were not able to join the Archbishop, there is a video of the Cardinal leading the prayers below.

The Bishops' Conference are now providing some good material to help us all pray at home during these difficult times. These can be accessed on the website of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. You will also find there the prayers for the re-dedication of England to our Lady this Sunday. These prayers have also been placed on the Bulletin. Please remember to print off the bulletin and drop it into the letterbox of anyone you know who does not have access to the internet.

It has been great receiving feedback on our online Masses. You may not realise but the only technology we have is my mobile phone so we do not even have the ability to connect better microphones and we were limited with the very bad internet connection we have at Giffard House. For this reason, we have been recording the Masses and loading them up onto youtube afterwards. We have now upgraded the data package on my mobile phone so that we can bypass the house connection. This means that next week we will try live streaming the Masses. The quality might not be so good but it would mean that we are all praying the Mass together at exactly the same time. The Vatican has also directed that the Easter Triduum services may only be streamed live, so it will be good to practice doing this next week.

Please note therefore, that some of the Mass times have changed next week. Check the parish diary or the bulletin. 

God Bless,
Fr Mark

The Pope has announced that tommorrow,  Friday 27th March , he will preside over a moment of prayer outside St Peter’s Basilica. “I invite everyone to participate spiritually through the means of communication”, he said.

The ceremony will be broadcast live from the Vatican, beginning at 5pm UK time. It will consist of readings from the Scriptures, prayers of supplication, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

At the end Pope Francis will give the 'Urbi et Orbi' (to the City of Rome and the World) blessing, with the possibility of gaining a plenary indulgence for all those who listen to it live through the various forms of communication. The Urbi et Orbi blessing is normally only given on Christmas and Easter.

I'm sure that like me, you are beginning to realise the full impact of the social restrictions that have been implemented to curb the advance of the virus. Here in the parish office at SS Peter & Paul we have worked on providing a framework for communication through this website but obviously, it is only any use for someone who has access to the internet. As I said at Masses in the last two weeks before we had to close the churches, it is therefore essential that we use the telephone to check up on each other. If everyone is phoning a couple of people each, then it is like a tree growing out across the parish. I have already heard of great initiatives with people using whatsapp groups and a lovely story of someone holding their telephone to the computer during Mass online so that another parishioner could hear it. Through simple gestures like this, we can keep everyone connected to the parish family.

If anyone has other ideas of helping keep the lines of communication open, please let me know.

Keeping you all in my prayers, and especially at daily Mass,

Fr Mark

The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Dave Thompson, has asked us to share the following statement with our local communities:

"Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday introduced significant social restrictions, which touch on everyone’s lives across the West Midlands. These are unprecedented in peacetime and I know will be hard on you and your families.

I want to assure you that my officers and staff will continue to work every hour of every day to keep you safe. We will protect you. That is our duty and that is my promise to you.

But this is my ask of you. I urge the people of the West Midlands to follow the new instructions. They are essential and it will save lives. Nothing is more important.

Officers and PCSOs will be visible in our communities and I have asked them all to engage positively but safely with anyone we suspect is in breach of the new regulations. Officers will explain what the new restrictions are and what we expect of everyone.

If we have to talk to you we will:

• Make it clear we are dealing with a national health emergency
• Reinforce the importance of complying with these new measures
• Strongly encourage people to adhere to them at all times
• Reinforce that the measures are there to protect our country and in particular the vulnerable
• Ask that you do not buy more food than you need. We need to look after each other.

If people do not listen to our advice then we will move to enforcement.

We are already receiving many calls on potential breaches of these arrangements. People can advise us if there are large scale breaches with large numbers of people congregating via webchat or 101. We would ask you to trust that we will target the most problematic behaviour. 

This will only work if people make sensible choices and observe what they are being told.

You can keep in touch with West Midlands Police by following @WMPolice on Twitter, on Facebook as well as signing up for community messaging where you live via WMNow.

The country is facing a challenging period when helping each other and being good neighbours and friends has never been so vital. As Chief Constable I know our communities will rise to the challenge and we will all work together to prevent the spread of the virus."

Please pray for all those who work in the emergency services at this difficult time.

Yours,

Aaron Humphriss
Chaplain to West Midlands Police

In his Address to the Nation the Prime Minister outlined the necessary steps that we must now take to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. The Government has mandated the ‘closure of all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores, and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.’

This means that, until further notice, and with immediate effect, all of our churches must now close their doors to the public. This policy must be implemented without exception. This is an essential component of our contribution to fighting the Coronavirus and living out the Lord Jesus’ commandment to ‘love our neighbour.’ (Mk 12:31).

The Prime Minster also stated that all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals, must cease.

Given these extraordinary circumstances, the opportunities for us to pray together using technology becomes even more important. There are plenty of resources on our website to help us do this. One example is the daily Mass which is available online.  Another is praying at home at specified times of the week, knowing that many others are doing the same. For example:

• Pope Francis has asked Christians all over the world to pray the Our Father together tomorrow, Wednesday 25th, at 11.00am (12.00pm in Rome).
• Many appreciated the "Light a Candle of Hope" initiative last Sunday evening so we will continue this every week. This involves lighting a candle in your window at 7.00pm every Sunday. We will be praying  for all in leadership at this time, making decisions about the containment of the Covid-19 virus, for those working in health and social care, and especially for the most vulnerable, whether elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Some appreciated praying the Evening Prayer of the Church during this time using Universalis.

Keeping you all in my prayers,

Fr Mark

There is a great national initiative of prayer taking place this evening at 7pm. I will be praying Evening Prayer of the Church at this time. You can say the same prayers at home by going to the Universalis page. Please see the statement below for more details about the initiative:

This Mothering Sunday, 22 March, we are calling all churches to a National Day of Prayer and Action. At such a time as this, when so many are fearful and there is great uncertainty, we are reminded of our dependence on our loving Heavenly Father and the future that he holds.

At 7 p.m. this Sunday, light a candle in the windows of your homes as a visible symbol of the light of life, Jesus Christ, our source and hope in prayer.

Whether you are continuing to worship as congregations or not, we have the great privilege and freedom to be able to call upon God, wherever we are, individually and corporately, for healing in our nation. We would pray for all in leadership at this time, making decisions about the containment of the Covid-19 virus, for those working in health and social care, and especially for the most vulnerable, whether elderly or those with underlying health conditions.

There are already stories being told of wonderful acts of kindness across neighbourhoods. Alongside your prayers, take the opportunity to telephone or email someone who is isolated, buy some additional food for your local foodbank, or offer to deliver shopping for an elderly neighbour. We may not be able to touch physically, but we can make connections in so many other ways.

In the meantime, do please attend to all the government health advice that will be issued, and look out for resources from your specific church governing bodies. At least for those of us in the global North, we do seem to be in unusual times, and wisdom and flexibility about worship gatherings are a key part of our Christian discipleship during this period.

We note that this call to prayer and action comes on Mothering Sunday: a time of thankfulness, remembering especially mothers who have served us, often in very costly ways. It is also a very mixed day for many. For some the remembrance is painful, and for others Mothering Sunday is a reminder of disappointment or loss.

In many ways, this period under the shadow of the coronavirus will be prompting similarly diverse reactions and so it seems especially appropriate that the call to prayer is made this Sunday. At this time of uncertainty join in with the National Day of Prayer and Action, lighting a candle of hope.

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5.7

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Presidents of Churches Together in England:

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury

Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, The Free Churches Moderator

Archbishop Angaelos of London, CTE President for the Orthodox Churches

Pastor Agu Irukwu, CTE Pentecostal President

Due to the very poor internet connection at SS Peter and Paul, we are limited in what we do online at present. The problem is not with our internet provider but the actual cable under the ground to the street.

For this reason, at the moment we can only provide Mass once a day. It might be possible in a couple of weeks for us to be able to stream Vespers and Stations of the Cross. Please bear with us as we sort this out.

Today's Mass is now available on our website. This week's bulletin is also available online.

Let us continue to pray for each other.

God bless,
Fr Mark

Fr Mark will be celebrating Mass every day for your intentions. It is now possible to participate in these Masses by going to the "Online Parish Services" page of our website. The first online Mass will be available at 10.00am on Saturday 21st March (tomorrow). The full schedule of these Masses will be found on the next Sunday's bulletin and also the parish diary on the "Home" page.

We hope that you will also be able to join us online for Adoration and Vespers on Sunday evenings at 7.00pm. Stations of the Cross will also be on Fridays at 7.00pm.