Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Loughborough

28th June 2020  –  Saint Peter and Paul, Apostles

Public statues have suddenly become controversial.

Rome has more than her fair share of statues, as one would expect, given her extraordinary history and, although I haven’t counted them all, I am willing to bet that two men far outnumber all others in terms of Roman statuary.

I mean, of course Saints Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate today (moved from Monday 29th). You see representations of them everywhere in Rome.

Nobody has left their mark on the city or the world quite like these two, “the princes of the Apostles.”

When we recite the Creed at Mass we proclaim our faith in “…one holy, catholic and Apostolic church.”

What this means is that everything we believe about Jesus Christ is based on the testimony of the Apostles, handed down from generation to generation. The Gospels were known to the early Church as the “memoirs of the Apostles.” Their witness to the life, teachings and Paschal Mystery of Christ gives us the content of our Faith. Without them we wouldn’t be Christians.

So bearing witness, or giving testimony is the way in which the Faith is transmitted. It has been said that “Faith is caught, not taught.” In other words the person and the message become intertwined; we accept the message because of the worth of the person who passes it on. This was so in Peter and Paul’s day and it remains so today. During the lockdown many of us have found new, hi tec. ways of communicating with others. This is fine, we need to use every modern method to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ but people will believe what we say only if our way of life supports and bears out the message. We are not merely called to give Good News but to be Good News for others!

Most of us won’t have statues erected in our honour, like Peter and Paul but we are involved in the same business as they were; to bear witness to the risen Christ, to spread the Gospel and to bring others into communion with Christ through the way we live and the things we say.

God Bless

Fr Paul

Masses this week will continue without a congregation. Prayer intentions for the week ahead are as follows

Sundays 28th June        St Peter and Paul	People of the Parish
Monday  29th June Feria	Harry Albans – for good health
Tuesday 30th June. Feria	Bishop Robert William Willson R.I.P.
Wednesday 1st July Feria	For vocations
Thursday 2nd July Feria	Victims of the Pandemic.
Friday 3rd July. Saint Thomas, Apostle	Bishop Patrick’s intentions – 5th anniversary of his ordination as Bishop of Nottingham
Saturday 4th July  Saint Elizabeth of Portugal	Fr. Joseph Finneran R.I.P.

Weekly News

Church reopening following the latest Government update 23.06.2020

A small number of churches in our diocese are able to reopen for private prayer from Saturday 4th July.

Please read the information from Bishop Patrick, which can be found using the following Link: https://sacredheartloughboro.org/interaction-nottingham-diocese/

Sacred Heart and St Mary’s

Unfortunately for the time being, our Sacred Heart church will not be open, due to ensuring all aspects are covered from the guidance issued by the Government, along side the risk assessment. We will keep you up to date when we can open our Sacred Heart church doors once again. In the meantime:

Fr Paul (SH) has spoken with St Marys Fr Paul, in regards to sharing the information which has been sent from St Mary’s parish, in regards to private prayer. Please see the information below.

Dear All,

We have now received permission from the diocese to open the church for private prayer at the following times: Mondays 10.30am -12.30pm, Wednesdays 4pm – 6pm, Saturdays 10.30am – 12.30pm, Sundays 3pm – 5pm. Seven people will be allowed in the church at any one time and social distancing of 2 metres must still be observed. Hand sanitiser must be used on entry and exit and there is a single directional walkway which is indicated. So the first opening for private prayer will be this Saturday 27th June from 10.30am – 12.30pm. 

The Prime Minister has said churches will be able to open again from 4^th July, for public worship. I do  not know at this stage how this will work. Bishop Patrick has sent out an email to the clergy about this. Here is an extract:

“Before I can send out to you clear guidance on how we shall open our churches again for public worship, after 4^th July, I must wait to receive all the appropriate guidelines to be followed from the Bishop’s Conference Secretariat, who have been working with the various government agencies on how best this can be done. The Secretariat are now just waiting for final approval of this document. I hope that in the next few days I shall be able to share all the appropriate information with you.

What is certain though as we look towards reopening our churches after 4^th July, is that every church that may wish to open for public worship will need to be able to fulfil all the various government requirements with regard to stewarding, hygiene and social distancing. Permission will only be granted for public worship to resume in a church that has put in place all these government requirements, and completed a full Risk Assessment, in order that we may keep our congregations safe, and to help to avoid the spread of the corona virus.”

I thank you all for your patience. 

Fr Paul.

To share from our school

First Holy Communion.
Please keep our children who would have been making their first Holy Communion this summer, in your prayers. We will contact families when things return to normal.

Please find additional notices to refer to by following the links

Nottingham Diocese Interaction News:- https://sacredheartloughboro.org/interaction-nottingham-diocese/