Post No. 11 - Tuesday 7th April

Posts here every Tuesday and Thursday by 12 noon and by 10.30am on Sundays  (Please note that Internet service disruption can cause delay.) This week there will be an extra worship post here on Good Friday by 12 noon. For the diocesan website, visit www.downanddromore.org.

From the Rector

DEVOTIONAL

Verses for today: John 12: 20-21 “Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus’.”

Thought: Wanting to see Jesus is a good thing. What better person could one want to see? And yet, seeing Jesus is only the beginning of the story because, having seen him, and heard him, we are called to follow him. That means a whole new way of life. Holy Week teaches us many things, but among those things is the lesson that at the heart of being a disciple must lie the readiness to make our sacrifices.

Prayer - The Collect of the Tuesday in Holy Week: O God, who by the passion of your blessed Son made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer pain and loss for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Pause for reflection

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NEWS

The Church of Ireland Gazette is being made available free of charge this month. The following statement has been published by the Church of Ireland:

“In a gesture of support for everyone during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Board of the Church of Ireland Gazette has decided to make the April issue available FREE online. A PDF can be downloaded from the Gazette website. The printed magazine and the e–paper are out as normal, but distribution of the printed copies may be difficult and the Board does not want any readers or parish distributors to feel they have to leave their homes at this time.

“The April issue includes reports on the impacts of Covid–19 on church life, an interview with Archbishop–elect of Armagh, the Rt Rev John McDowell; the Rev Colin Darling’s visit to Sierra Leone; a re–enactment of an historic day in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork; the Rev Canon David Humphries on his love of the Holy Land; stories from our young people and Mothers’ Union, music, environment, comment and much more. The April Gazette is free to view and/or download at bit.ly/2yyNx1r “.

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National church leaders from around Britain and Ireland have issued a joint Holy Week statement in which they refer to the world today as being “in the midst of an unprecedented crisis”.

They continue: “In the nations that make up Britain and Ireland the Covid-19 virus continues to affect people at an alarming rate. Health services along with many of our institutions and organisations, both local and national, are under extreme pressure and people are getting used to living in a very different way, many in extreme isolation. As with all such crises, there is a danger that the most vulnerable in society will be most badly affected.”

The senior clergy say that although people are separated from each other physically, when we pray in our homes we join in with the ancient tradition of our home as a place of prayer, adding: “Wherever we are, whenever we pray, when we speak and think of Christ, there he is in the midst of us.”

They called for prayer “for those who suffer, those who face untimely death and all those who care for them”. They also call for a celebration of our common faith at a difficult time, and for everyone to help and support their neighbours in need and to observe all the safeguards in place to slow the spread of disease.

They conclud with the following prayer: Loving God, in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our salvation, cast out the darkness of our anxiety, fear and mourning, enfold us in your love and give us joy and hope this Easter. Amen.

(Full statement at https://ctbi.org.uk/church-leaders-united-in-response-to-covid-19-pandemic)