THE CATHOLIC PARISH OF ST. WILLIAM OF YORK 4 Brockley Park, Forest Hill, SE23 1PS Clergy;- Fr Habte Ukbay, Fr Gregory Griffiths, Deacon Amgad Gerges Telephone:- 020 8690 4549 email:- [email protected] THE FEAST OF SAINTs PETER AND PAUL (A) 28 JUNE 2020 Dear Parishioners Many thanks to all parishioners who have worked so hard this week in the prepara5on for the opening of the church and to all the volunteer stewards who made the re-opening possible. With effect from next week the church will be open for private prayer at the following 5mes:- Monday, Wednesday & Friday 10am - 12pm As you will be aware, the Government has announced that from 4 July 2020, it will be possible for churches to open again for Masses with a congrega5on. This is wonderful news and we know so many parishioners long to return to Mass. Please view these Guidance notes from the Bishops’ Conference regarding reopening our churches for Masses with a congrega5on which Archbishop John has adopted as mandatory in our Archdiocese. We are aware there will s5ll be many parishioners who cannot aJend Mass in person. We will con5nue to live-stream Mass everyday, both for those who remain shielding and vulnerable, and also for those unable to leave home due to advanced age or illness With effect from Saturday 4 July the following will apply at St William of York:- Saturday - Mass at 10.30am - live-streamed no congregaIon - Vigil Mass at 6pm - open to parishioners (not live-streamed) Sunday - - Mass at 10.30am - live-streamed and open to parishioners - Mass at 6pm - open to parishioners (not live-streamed) Monday, Wednesday & Friday - Mass at 9.15am - live-streamed and open to parishioners Tuesday & Thursday - Mass at 9.15am - live-streamed no congregaIon We ask all parishioners to reserve a place for the Saturday 6pm Vigil Mass and Sunday Masses at 10.30am and 6pm and these bookings may be completed via an on-line link (available shortly). Bookings may also be made by contacDng Mary by telephone 020 8690 4549 or via the parish email [email protected] by Thursday each week. Given there is no Sunday obliga5on, we ask you to consider the possibility of aJending Mass on a weekday. This will ease the pressure of numbers for Sunday celebra5ons and allow a gradual return to the Eucharist for more people. We will con5nue to maintain the 2 metre social distancing measures within the church which will enable a total of 112 parishioners to aJend Mass. !1 Please see the aJached church sea5ng plan. For the 5me being, there will be no congrega5onal singing and Mass will be shorter than usual. Thank you to all the parishioners who have volunteered so far to undertake stewarding ac5vi5es, in view of the new arrangements with effect from the 4th July, please contact Mary by email to advise your availability to assist. We require two stewards each 5me the Church is open, to arrive 15 minutes before Mass starts to prepare the church and to sani5se and secure the church at the end of Mass. I should be grateful for as many people as possible volunteer for stewarding ac5vi5es so we have a rota in place. Please use this link to register volunteer here indica5ng your availability. If we do not have the required number of volunteers, we may have to reduce the number of Masses celebrated. We ask everyone to respect and follow the guidance that will be issued and the instrucIons for our church. Fr Habte Scripture ReflecIon Jesus asks the disciples who people think he is. They suggest that he may be the reincarna5on of a previous prophet; some say Elijah, some say John the Bap5st. He pushes them, “But who do you say I am?” It is Simon Peter who is inspired to reply, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” And Jesus responds by calling him blessed, saying that this knowledge and convic5on has been given to him by God alone. Instead of Simon, son of Jonah, he names him Peter, which means rock, saying that Peter is the rock on which he will build his Church and that Peter will hold the keys to the kingdom of heaven and his rulings will apply both on earth and in heaven and evil will not be able to stand against him. In spite of Peter’s human failings, his love of God allows Jesus to work through him in establishing his Church in this world. We, led by Peter’s spiritual descendent, Pope Francis, and all with similar human weakness, we are that Church, which was built by Jesus on the faith of St Peter, and, similarly, we are sustained by being open to the love of God in all our thoughts and ac5ons. PB “Let us ask the Lord that our own lives may be that “good soil” in which the divine sower plants the word, so that it may bear within us fruits of holiness” Verbum Domini !2 Protect, O God, your people who trust in the patronage of your Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul. May their faithfulness to your Son inspire us to preach, teach, and live the Gospel. In daily life, help us to witness to the power of conversion and the new life of the resurrecon. Give our shepherds and pastors hearts of faith like the Apostles. Make us disciples who are firm in faith, constant in prayer, and joyful in hope. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. O holy Apostles, St Peter and Paul, intercede for us. HOLY FATHER’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JULY 2020 Our Families We pray that today’s families may be accompanied with love, respect and guidance. Archbishops' Leaer on ResumpIon of Collecve Worship A Message from the Metropolitan Archbishops of the Catholic Church in England regarding the resump5on of collec5ve worship in England: Click here for more informaIon Cardinal prays for fathers "full of gentle strength and tenderness" on Father's day In a message that looks back on the first week in which Catholic Churches, if they were safely able to do so, re-opened for private, individual prayer, the Cardinal acknowledges that there has been light in the darkness of lockdown. Click here for more informaIon !3 MSC Cabrini Sisters Our MSC Cabrini Sisters are not in Honor Oak at present but you can keep track of their work on the updated Cabrini website, hps://www.cabriniworld.org/ The region, which includes the UK, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Uganda and South Sudan now has a newsleJer. If you would like to be on the mailing list please send your email or postal address to [email protected] Windrush Day: Learn lessons from history to bring about racial jusIce, says Bishop Bishop Paul McAleenan has encouraged the Catholic community to unite in prayer and reflec5on on Windrush Day. He heralds the importance and value of the Windrush Genera5on as well as that of the UK's migrant and ethnic minority communi5es Click here for more informaIon A priest's perspecIve on re-opening Catholic Churches for private prayer In this 'Catholic News' podcast, we discuss the challenges of re-opening for private prayer: respec5ng the necessary social distancing requirements - the need to keep people a safe minimum of two metres from each other - as well as rigorous cleaning rou5nes and marshalling. Click here to listen 4! GALLERY: CHURCHES REOPEN FOR INdIVIdUAL PRAYER Click here to view Churches re-opened for individual prayer across England Click here to view Southwark's St George's Cathedral re-opens for Private Prayer Click here to view Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury pray at Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey !5 Mgr Gerald Ewing has been appointed the new Rector of St John's Seminary, Wonersh with immediate effect. Mgr Ewing has served as Vice-Rector since 2017 and has been Ac5ng-Rector since Easter this year. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Southwark, ordained in 1981, and has extensive pastoral experience. In a statement, The Most Reverend John Wilson, Archbishop of Southwark - Chair of Trustees and The Right Reverend Richard Moth, Bishop of Arundel & Brighton - Vice Chair of Trustees say: "The Bishops and Trustees of St John's Seminary are "extremely grateful to Mgr Ewing for accep5ng this new and important responsibility. "We assure him and the staff at St John's of our full support moving forward. We also wish to affirm the seminarians in their con5nuing forma5on for priestly ministry. Given the present size of the community at St John's, a new Vice-Rector will not be appointed. We offer our sincere congratula5ons to Mgr Ewing and we look forward to working with him in service of the Church across our Dioceses. Mgr Ewing said: "It is a great honour to be appointed as Rector of St John's Seminary, Wonersh - which has been forming priests for service in the Church since 1889 - originally at Henfield, Sussex - and at Wonersh itself since 1891. 6! New Directory for Catechesis The Va5can today have published a New Directory for Catechesis. "Today, what we are presen5ng is essen5ally the third cateche5cal Directory since the Second Va5can Council." Click here for more informaIon Statement on the new Directory for Catechesis I warmly welcome the new Directory for Catechesis. This outstanding text has been long awaited and much an5cipated. It is a document filled with the joy of the Gospel and looks at Catechesis very much through the lens of Evangelisa5on. +Mark O'Toole Bishop of Plymouth Chair of the Department for Evangelisa?on and Discipleship Click here for more informaIon We are preparing to re-open St.