Church ministry ‘frayed at the edges’ before pandemic, says bishop

The way the Church ministers was “already fraying at the edges” before the pandemic, said Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin in his Chrism Mass Homily (March 29).

He also warned that “returning to public worship will not be as simple as switching on the lights and opening the church doors”.

The bishop of Kildare and Leighlin said that “we are re-visioning the post-pandemic parish as we speak. And this is only the start

“Maybe we had too many Masses for a Mass going population that was instinctively already socially distancing in churches,” Bishop Nulty reflected.

“Maybe we need to collaborate closer with neighbouring parishes coordinating schedules and times? Maybe we have to reflect on how we celebrate, asking ourselves are we allowing all the elements to speak?

Meanwhile, the archbishops of Armagh said in their joint Easter Message that “the hidden service” of essential workers is a sign of the “life of Heaven”.

Hope

Catholic Archbishop Eamon Martin and Church of Ireland Archbishop John McDowell said that “many people, Christians and others, have found ways of making the best of a bad job by helping one another”.

The archbishops reflected on our new “appreciation and admiration for people who we don’t usually think about”, such as nurses, delivery drivers, workers in warehouses and food factories.

“People who serve the fundamental needs of God’s world,” they said. “And, in its own way their hidden service is a shadow of the resurrection life; the life of heaven, God’s place. Our sure and certain hope.”

Meanwhile Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan said in his Easter message, quoting Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, that “when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”.

“The person one first meets in silence and in prayer is one’s self,” Bishop Cullinan said. “And I may find in myself things I would rather not face.”

Bishop Cullinan said he hopes lockdown can “help us face ourselves and set things aright with God’s grace”.