Special Newsletter from the Diocesan Safeguarding team

A special newsletter from the Diocese Safeguarding team, giving advice and guidance whilst we adhere to the current lockdown situation.  www.cliftondiocese.com/departments/safeguarding

A Prayer in Times of Isolation - I'm staying at home, Lord!

This beautiful prayer was written by an Italian priest who is self-isolating at the moment and very sadly lost his own brother a few days ago to Covid-19…

I’m staying at home, Lord! And today, I realize,
you taught me that, remaining obedient to the Father, for thirty years in the house of Nazareth,
awaiting the great mission.

I’m staying at home, Lord, and in Joseph’s workshop, your guardian and mine,
I learn to work, to obey, to round the corners of my life
and prepare a work of art for you.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I know that I’m not alone because Mary, like any mother,
is in the next room, doing chores and preparing lunch
for all of us, God’s family.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I do it responsibly for my own good,
for the health of my city, of my loved ones, and for the good of my brother, whom you put beside me,
asking me to take care of in the garden of life.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the silence of Nazareth, I commit myself to pray, read, study, meditate,
be useful for small jobs, in order to make our house more beautiful and more welcoming.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the morning, I thank you for the new day that you give me,
trying not to spoil it and to welcome it with wonder, as a gift and a surprise from Easter.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And at noon, I will receive the greeting from the angel, I will make myself useful for love,
in communion with you who made yourself flesh to live among us;
and, tired by the journey, thirsty, I will meet you at Jacob’s well, and thirsty for love on the Cross.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And if the evening takes me melancholy, I will invoke you like the disciples of Emmaus:
stay with us, the evening has arrived and the sun is setting.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And in the night, in prayer communion with the many sick people, the people alone and all the caregivers, I will wait for dawn to sing your mercy again and tell everyone that in the storms you were my refuge.

I’m staying at home, Lord! And I don’t feel lonely and abandoned, because you told me:
I am with you every day. yes, and especially in these days of confusion, O Lord, in which,
if my presence is not necessary, I will reach everyone, only with the wings of prayer.

Amen

Letter from the Resound Foodbank

Dear foodbank friends and supporters

First please let us say thank you so much for all your support over the past few weeks. It has been simply amazing to see how the community has responded and pulled together at a time when, to be quite frank, we could all be hiding ourselves under the duvet! We have had almost everything we need - whenever some stocks start to run a bit low someone turns up with a big box of whatever we were short of!

We moved over, temporarily, to home deliveries last week. We are just getting ourselves familiar with that new way of working which has been an interesting new challenge, coupled with being much busier than usual.  (2 - 3 time busier and growing.) We seem to be feeding around 60 - 70 people each week; this isn't the number of vouchers but the number we feed. We're seeing up to 20 vouchers weekly but that figure is rising.

So our appeal this week is for your continued donations of long life items: tinned meats (hot and cold), tinned fruit, UHT meat, rice - or anything that will sensibly make a nice meal. 

We are also appealing for disposable gloves and hand sanitiser. We don't have any gloves for the volunteers and no individual sanitiser for our drivers. If you could help even with a single bottle or pack that would be so appreciated. Drop offs can be made to Resound Monday - Thursday 10am - 12pm  (call 0117 3050969 first) and Fridays 9am - 1pm.

Finally, we have all the boxes and tape we need for the moment - thank you to everyone who has brought that. If we don't use all the boxes up we will invite you all to the best ever junk modelling session once lock-down is over! 

Bless you all for your kindness and care for your neighbours.

Foodbank Update

Having the embrace constant change at the moment, the foodbank will be moving over temporarily to a HOME DELIVERY ONLY service.

As well as still requiring our usual items on our shopping list, they are also asking for donations of sturdy cardboard boxes which we can use for our home deliveries.  An ideal size would be around 400mm x 300mm and 300 - 400mm deep but a little bigger or smaller would also be great. Very large boxes aren't suitable as they become too heavy to safely carry. Please don't drop boxes at supermarkets - only at the Resound Centre.  If anyone had a roll or two of parcel tape that would also be amazing!

Resound will be open most mornings between 10am - 12pm and always on Friday mornings 9am - 1pm.

Fr John Murphy O.M.I. RIP

Father John Murphy OMI, our Parish Priest from 1985-1989, died in the early hours of the morning on 8th April 2020 at the House of Retreat, Inichore, Dublin.

Please remember him in your prayers, as well as his family and friends.

May he rest in peace.

Fr John Murphy OMI - A Biography

Holy Week & Easter 2020 (Live streaming from Clifton Cathedral)

Pope Francis' Easter Triduum Celebrations

All All of Pope Francis' Easter Triduum liturgical celebrations will be broadcast life on the on the Vatican Youtube channel #PrayTogether ow,ly/ldz750z8Yso 

Easter Message

As we approach Easter, we are aware of our churches being closed because of the coronavirus.  For Catholics and Christians in general, Easter is the greatest feast of the year and it may seem strange that we cannot use our church buildings at present.  Buildings are important, but it’s people who are the Body of Christ.  Please unite with the people of God by devoting some time to prayer and scripture reading during the Easter season.  Rest assured, that we are both remembering you in our prayers.  

God bless you all and keep safe.

Fr Frank and Fr Jim

Domestic Violence

You may have heard on the news  concerns about an increase in Domestic Violence due to the current  situation, with particular regards to people being  indoors with each other far longer than  normal.  People living in enforced close proximity will lead to increased  tensions in some cases. 

If you are worried and need help or are concerned about someone who may need help, please contact one of the many charities for advice. There are many places to seek help and many charities who are offering advice over the internet or phone, if safe to do so.
A few useful contacts are shown below:

National  Domestic Violence Helpline 0808 2000 247

 

Advice for the under 25yrs  0808 808 4994

For a vast variety of children's concerns, 
including Domestic Violence  0800 1111

Also please click on this link for guidance on supporting people who are experience domestic violence and abuse from the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS)

Stations of the Cross - Then and Now

A resource provided by Redemptorist Publications for free for a limited time.

Presented by Denis McBride, the voice and visuals open up new ways of thinking about Jesus’ journey. The Gospel best comes alive when the story of Jesus resonates deeply within our heart and our personal experience. 

The way of the cross is not confined to a lonely road in Jerusalem two thousand years ago:it is a busy highway winding through every village, town and city in our modern world.  Whether we walk in solitude or with others, this book translates the passion of Jesus into our own life and times.

Click here for the hour-long video