PASTORAL LETTER of BISHOP ALAN HOPES

for the FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER 2020

This Letter is to be read at all Masses that are live streamed in the Diocese during the weekend May 2/3. Please assure that the Letter is also made available on the parish website.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday because in today’s Gospel, Jesus claims to be the Good Shepherd who looks after his sheep.

How important it is for us to remember this truth! Our God is not the clockmaker god of the post-Enlightenment philosophers who winds up the world and then leaves it to its own devices. Nor is he the capricious despot of the ancient Greek and Roman gods. Nor is he some impersonal force of nature that directs this universe to no apparent end. No, he is a shepherd - someone who sees us and cares personally about us, someone who guides us with an unfailing hand, if we are willing to follow Him.

Today we pray particularly for vocations to the priesthood – for those who will become images of the Good Shepherd for us in our parishes. We pray for men who will be willing to look after the flock of God, not for their own gain, nor for their own convenience, but selflessly, with the love of the Master himself.

That is a tall order! That is why we need to pray for our priests, for those in formation for the priesthood, for those who are discerning a call to be a priest, those who are afraid to follow the call, those who have not yet heard the call which is already in their heart. Our prayer is essential!

It is also important for us to actively encourage anyone who is showing the signs and the gifts that are needed for today’s priests.

John Vianney, a saintly French Parish Priest who lived two hundred years ago, preached these words:

A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s own heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy.

The priest is a precious gift for the People of God. It is the priest who is the Lord’s instrument, in bringing about His Presence in the Eucharist. It is the priest who brings the Lord’s loving mercy and forgiveness into the messes we make of our lives. It is the priest who helps us find purpose and meaning and direction in our lives as they guide us in God’s teachings. It is the priest who cares for us as at all the special moments of our lives and who shares in all our joys and sorrows.

As your Bishop I am concerned about the future of our Diocese of East Anglia. Those priests who now serve in our parishes have given up their whole lives in faithful service of God’s people, many of them above and beyond the years expected of them. Pray for them at this challenging time. Know that every day in this lockdown they offer the Holy Mass and the Prayer of the Church for each one of the Parish community and for all whose lives have been affected by the pandemic, and for all those who have died. And as we pray for them, we pray today that future generations of Catholics may also be served and loved and guided by true shepherds.

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we also remind ourselves of the women and men who serve the Church through their Religious Orders and Congregations. We are blessed in our Diocese. We have a contemplative community who offers its life in prayer and worship on behalf of the whole world. We also have active communities who lovingly serve God through a variety of gifts. Pray for them in thanksgiving and pray that they may continue to be blessed with vocations.

Finally, as St John Henry Newman reminds us, each of us has been called into being by God to carry out a specific service. Through our Baptism we are all members of the Body of Christ, whatever our state in life – and we are called to serve God and one another. That is our Baptismal vocation. We must pray for the ability to abandon our own plans, our own safe calculations and to learn to ask the Lord:

What are your plans, and calculations for me, what do you desire for me and my life?

We should be ready with a generous and open heart to respond to whatever God replies.

May the Lord grant us more vocations both for the priesthood and the religious life. May he help us all to discover how we might strengthen the witness and the service of the Church in the world.

May the Risen Christ continue to fill you with hope and peace in these uncertain days. And may the Holy Spirit of Pentecost renew and strengthen us all in the Lord’s service and in the service of one another.

With all good wishes and prayers for you to stay safe and well,

Yours devotedly in Christ,

The Right Revd Alan S Hopes

Bishop of East Anglia

How to Celebrate Mass from your own home:

Daily liturgical resources for those at home, including those for making a “Spiritual Communion” with the priest, will be available on the CBCEW website. Information about the live-streaming of the celebration of Mass will be made widely available in our dioceses so that the faithful can participate in the prayers of the priest at Mass at home. A fine example of this is from The National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham will continue its full liturgical programme and this will be available to all via the Internet (www.walsingham.org.uk)

The Church

Wherever possible, during this period, churches will remain open, especially on Sundays, for individual private prayer, without any organised services, and offering prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Baptisms

Baptisms should be deferred until such time that the public health advice is that congregations can gather safely. In case of necessity, baptisms should be celebrated with all the hygiene precautions that have been laid down by the Church in its COVID-19 advice.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Confession may be offered on request as long as hygiene and social distancing requirements are observed (eg a physical barrier between the penitent and the priest such as a grille and cloth). The use of Rite II and Rite III of the Rite of Penance is not permitted as this, by necessity, requires the gathering of people in our churches.

First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion

These celebrations should be postponed until a time that allows for families and friends to gather safely within our churches.

Confirmation

The celebrations of Confirmation should be deferred until such time that the public health advice is that congregations can resume public worship.

Matrimony

If possible, the celebration of the sacrament of Matrimony should be deferred until such time that people can gather in numbers safely. However, if this is not possible and only in the most pressing of circumstances, then those present for the marriage should be restricted to the celebrant, bride and groom and immediate family, and if necessary, the legal Registrar.

Anointing of the Sick

No pastoral visits should be made to people who are self-isolating until the isolation period ends. However, do offer phone support. When anointing the sick, the Oil of the Sick can be applied using a cotton bud which can be burned afterwards (one end for the head and the other for the hands) and the priest extend his hands over the sick person for laying on of hands, without physical contact. This has been confirmed as a valid mode of celebrating the sacraments which involve “laying on of hands.” Visits to people in care homes or hospitals should follow advice from the staff on infection control.

Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil

This will be dependent on the forthcoming decisions of the Bishops for the Holy Week ceremonies.

Funerals

There must be great pastoral sensitivity to this issue. The funeral service should take place at the graveside or at a crematorium, subject to the conditions laid down by the cemetery or crematorium authorities. Arrangements should be made for a Mass to be celebrated in memoriam when congregations are allowed to gather.