Holy Week Celebrations
All celebrations will be held online
See the detailed schedule below
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Penitential Service
The Sacrament of Reconciliation (commonly known as Confession) is an extremely important ‘instrument’ for battling against our sins and weaknesses as well as in spiritual growth. Unfortunately, this Lent it's virtually impossible to make individual confessions due to the restrictions introduced to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
This situation is very unusual, but (some might be surprised) the Church has special ‘spiritual tools’ in its ‘emergency toolbox’ to deal with unusual situations and to provide some forms of pastoral care regardless.
We’d like to invite you to take part in our Online Penitential Service this Tuesday, starting live at 7pm. Hopefully, it will help you to prepare spiritually for the coming mysteries of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter - as best as it’s possible in the current situation!
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Sermon for 5th Sunday of Lent
I had some great ideas for this sermon. Then on Friday Pope Francis used up all my ideas in his powerful sermon in the Vatican and I was back to the drawing board. By Saturday lunchtime I scraped some other ideas, planning to turn them into a sermon, but then Bishop Hugh recorded and published on social media his powerful message, accidentally depriving me of my scraps. Usually, I wouldn’t bother too much about the Pope or the Bishop ‘stealing’ my homiletic ideas; I would simply carry on regardless. But nothing is usual here and now. It seems that massive chunks of our lives have moved to the internet; it’s not a great exaggeration to say that effectively we live in it now: children have classes, people work from home, hold working and social meetings. Even religious services are streamed online! In such circumstances, virtually everyone interested has heard or read the Pope’s sermon and heard Bishop Hugh’s message. So,...
CANCELLED – Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions
In wake of the newest restrictions introduced by the British government, the planned daily Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Family Church is now cancelled with immediate effect. We will continue to offer Masses and services online for as long as we can.
From Monday 23rd March the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed at Holy Family Church in Mastrick every weekday between 7pm and 8pm. During the Exposition, there will be an opportunity to make individual Confessions. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Confessions possible in Polish....
Mass Online: Practical Advice
Usually, we go to church to attend Mass. With the temporary suspension of Masses celebrated publicly due to the coronavirus crisis, Mass online remains one of very few, if not the sole way of attending. I’d like to offer a few practical suggestions to make ‘watching’ Mass more participatory.
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Mass Online
Our tests have been successful and I am quietly confident that now we can stream Mass live from St Joseph's Church.
Usually, we go to church to attend Mass. With the temporary suspension of Masses celebrated publicly due to the coronavirus crisis, Mass online remains one of very few, if not the sole way of attending. I’d like to offer a few practical suggestions to make ‘watching’ Mass more participatory.
Dress up a bit for the occasion - your outfit impacts your spiritual attitude.
Turn off or silence those devices that can interrupt or distract you - make your environment as quiet as possible; not only sound-like but in a wider sense.
I suggest sitting in a chair rather than an armchair. Sit, stand and kneel as usual if your health permits.
Get ready 5 minutes before Mass; let your mind quieten; say your prayers.
Use a personal missal to follow Mass; if you don’t have one, you can use an...
Updates
If all tests go well, daily Mass will be streamed online from St Joseph's Church, starting this Friday evening. A detailed schedule will be published soon.
Starting next Monday (23rd March) Holy Family Church will be open for 1 hour daily for private prayers in front of the Blessed Sacrament; one priest will be available to hear individual confessions. A detailed schedule will be published soon.
The parish clergy will be ready to offer pastoral help and support whenever needed; it's not time-off for us.
More updated soon. Keep checking this website....
New (temporary) reality
The most recent decision made by the Bishops of Scotland sets some challenges; as the parish community, we are going to rise to them.
Thursday 19th March will be the last day when Mass will be publicly celebrated in our churches.
We plan to stream Mass online daily, starting on Friday 20th March (fingers crossed!). More details about that and other pastoral arrangements will be published later on. Tonight, 18th March, the parish clergy will hold an emergency meeting. We will sit well apart for ‘social distancing’; it will also give us an excuse to shout at each other :-)
This is not the end of the world - it’s just a new chapter and we will fill it with a beautiful story of resilience, charitable love and communal spirit made in the name of Jesus....
Pastoral Letter and Statement of the Scottish Bishops re. Covid-19 Virus
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In this time of trial we, the Bishops of Scotland, wish to send you a word of reassurance and encouragement. We are all facing much uncertainty, anxiety and an unpredictable future. This situation touches on every aspect of our lives, individually and collectively.
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