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Just so you know…

The regulations regarding the wearing of face coverings in church are being revised, in line with new Government regulations. These come into legal force next Saturday.

From next Saturday the wearing of face coverings in church is mandatory (unless someone is aged under 5, or has an exemption for health reasons).

As previously, anyone who cannot wear a face covering and wishes to participate in Mass at St Nicholas should contact the parish office in advance so that a place can be reserved for them which is 2m or more from other members of the congregation.

In addition, from Saturday the priest is required to wear a face covering when distributing Holy Communion. (I promise not to wear the colourful jigsaw mask that has been attracting such comment!)

Praying the Rosary with the parish

Every Monday at 7pm — at least until the lockdown ends.

The joining details (same each week!)
https://zoom.us/j/92780004050
Meeting ID: 927 8000 4050

To join in it is best to have a smart phone, or a tablet or a PC.

Once you are set up it really is just a matter of pressing a button. But if you would like help setting up please ring Fr Allen and help can be provided.

You can also simply phone in from any phone — again more details available from Fr Allen.

Saint of the Week

Praying with scripture

Our parish gatherings for lectio divina continue this Sunday afternoon.

Some may well ask, ‘what is lectio divina?’ It is simply a quiet prayerful engagement with the Lord through holy scripture.

• We begin by listening -to the reading read to us, and then listening to it in the quiet of our hearts.
• We then – if moved to do so – share a word or sentence that has particularly struck us – but not discussing it, just noting it.
• We then listen to the scripture a second time, once more read aloud and then, again, pondered in the quiet of our hearts.
• The final stage is for those taking part – if they wish – sharing something more about what they have heard the Lord say to them in the scriptures.

The reading we will use is taken from the Liturgy of the Word for this Sunday.

The sessions will begin at 4pm, and after 15 minutes for sharing virtual coffee and cake and chat, we will begin the lectio at 4.15, and continue until 5pm.

To join you will need the Zoom App on a smart phone /Tablet / or PC, and then simply click on the link below.

https://zoom.us/j/94107228901
Meeting ID: 941 0722 8901

If you would like help getting Zoom set up please ring Fr Allen. All are welcome!

Photograph: Pavement bricks, Hull. (c) 2019, Allen Morris

A tweak to arrangements for attending Mass.

We are encouraged now to take the names and a contact telephone number for all those who attend Mass.

This practice is in line with the arrangement at pubs and restaurants.

It mean that if NHS Track and Trace contacts the parish to report that a member of the congregation falls ill with the Corona-virus after attending Mass we are able to pass on to NHS Track and Trace details of those others who attended the relevant Mass.

Only a name and phone number is needed.

If a family or group come together, only one contact number is needed.

Anyone is free to decline to provide details and still attend Mass.

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Your information will be kept secure for 21 days, and only passed to NHS Track and Trace should they request it.

21 days after the information is provided it will be securely disposed of.

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So for the forseeable future, please come to Mass with a piece of paper with their name and phone number.

Stewards will ask you to drop your details into a container, and they will be stored safely labelled with the date and time of Mass you have attended

• If someone wishes to attend Mass and has not written down their details but is happy to provide them, a steward will (while observing social distancing) write those details down and put them in the container.

The Gospel for today

Living Eucharist

There is a marked contrast in today’s Gospel between how the Lord and the disciples respond to the needs for the crowd.

He has gone away for quiet time with the disciples, but when the corwd appears he sends the disciples to a place apart, and he tends to the crowd.

Then, perhaps irritated that their away day with Jesus has been disrupted the disciples reappear and say ‘send them away’. Maybe they are concerned that the group is hungry and want them to receive the best that the situation allows. Maybe they just want rid of them.

But the situation allows more than they have imagined. And it starts with what (relatively) little they have brought along for themselves. Maybe they have been holding on to this all day, going hungry so they could have the meal when they and Jesus were together once more. Maybe.

But in love…

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This week’s newsletter

Click here for access to the full newsletter…

Episcopal Ordinations: Friday October 20th

It has been confirmed that that Canon David Evans and Canon Stephen Wright will be ordained as Bishops at 12 noon on Friday 9 October in St Chad’s Cathedral.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus restrictions, admission to this ceremony must be by ticket only, although the ceremony will be live-streamed.

Please keep the two Bishops-elect in your prayers over the coming weeks.

The second reading for this coming Sunday

Living Eucharist

It is a pity that the editors of the Lectionary omit v36 of Chapter 8 of the Letter to the Romans from the second reading set for next Sunday.

Paul speaks from his experience of suffering for the Lord’s sake: v36 gives particular emphasis to that.

Sometimes we ourselves need to cry out naming our pains and the cost of discipleship. The missing verse might give us the courage to lament, not only to trust in the Lord, but to lament the pain and need that mars our life . Lament is not the end of it – in the tradition it leads us to praise. But to praise before we’ve had a good and honest lament can short circuit things, might even make our praise less authentic.

That said, the most important truth of which Paul speaks here is that none of these horrible and painful things can or…

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