Welcome back everyone. Its great to be able to have public mass again. It has been a difficult time for many people and I want to express my sympathy to those who have lost a loved one to the virus during the lockdown. It was particularly difficult to have to limit numbers in the church at such a difficult time in a family’s life.

The lockdown has put everbody’s life on hold some affected more than others. Many weddings had to be postponed but I expect that things will gradually get back to normal.

Unfortunately confirmations and first Holy Communions have been put on hold this summer but things may suddenly change we will just to wait and see.  The postponement of the sacraments is of course imposed by by the government and not by the Bishops as some seem to think, but things do change rapidly in this pandemic and hopefully there will be more encouraging news in the near future.

It has been an advantage to have the webcam and the radio so we have been able to keep in touch with people and on a worldwide scale too. I have had contact from people from far flung places who have been watching our mass on the webcam. I think it has been a comfort to people abroad who have roots here to able to see and hear mass from their homeplace.

Baptisms will continue but with limited numbers allowed to attend but again that may change.

Of  course virtual mass is just not the same as being able to be there in reality and there is a real sense of joy from people who are returning to mass.

One of the great things for me as a priest is to be able to hear the responses from the people at mass. We never meant to say mass alone. Eucharist is all about community and it is wonderful to have a congregation again.

Again welcome back, it will be great to see everybody gathering again to celebrate Eucharist together.

Fr. Terence