From: Bryanston Catholic Church communication@bryanstoncatholic.co.zaSubject: Bryanston Catholic Church Pentecost Newsletter

Date: 29 May 2020 at 21:43To: leightonks@gmail.com

Bryanston Catholic Church of the Resurrection 29 May 2020

CHURCH NEWS

Pentecost Greetings from Father Keith Joys and troubles, successes and failures, are woveninto daily life, animating or weighing us down. Often weare hardly aware of what’s deepest in ourselves.

I pray that on the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday, wemight perceive: the living presence of God’s Spiritworking within our own spirit. This can easily besmothered by the many phenomena that occupy ourtime and attention while we live through theCoronavirus pandemic and the challenges of lockdown.The spirit can be drowned out by other impressions andworries that take hold of our heart.

Often we seem to think that what is wonderful must be

very rare. But God’s grace is not like that. There’s awidespread tendency to consider the living presence ofthe Spirit as reserved to chosen and select people. Thefeast of Pentecost reminds us that God’s Spirit lives inthe human heart, since the Spirit is God’s way ofsustaining our existence. The Spirit of God is presenteven where apparently nothing is happening. The Spiritis there, wherever life is lived and our daily duties arecarried out. God’s Spirit works silently in the heart ofregular and simple people, in contrast to the pretensionof those who think themselves the sole possessors ofthe Spirit.

Pentecost invites us to seek that Spirit in our ownselves, not to imagine it as a trophy granted only to theelite. We need to welcome the Spirit of God who is thefont of all life. This Spirit is for everyone, because theimmense Love of God is present to all the efforts andyearnings that spring from the heart of all God’schildren.

This is why I am looking forward to listening to all whohave had the courage to share their experiences of theHoly Spirit. There is still an opportunity to submittedyour video via WhatsApp on 082-713-7046 or email. Weare going to compile some videos and post them on ourYouTube channel every day next week. In these sharedexperiences, we can come closer together as acommunity despite the social distancing and isolation oflockdown.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful andkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth yourSpirit, and they shall be created. And You shall renewthe face of the earth.

Let us pray. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by thesame Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy

same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoyHis consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Directives for Parishes during Level 3lockdown

My dear Sisters and Brothers in ChristIt was so exciting to hear that places of worship may re-open when Level 3 comes into effect on the 1st June2020. The reality soon sank in that there are stringentrequirements which need to be put into place before ourparish can open its doors. Sadly, evidence from Europehas indicated that when churches have opened theirdoor too quickly and without adequate precautions, theyhave become sources of infection. That is the last thingwe want to see happen here. We need to make surethat we all stay safe. Our Parish Pastoral Council ismeeting via Zoom in order to work out the best wayforward. Please check our parish websitewww.bryanstoncatholic.co.za and our Parish App forupdates.The important thing to remember is that we need to dowhat is necessary to prevent our church from becominga hotspot of infection. Let us all continue to pray for theend of the pandemic and take practical precautions tostay safe.God bless, Fr Keith

The Archbishop of Johannesburg has issued directivesfor the easing of lockdown in parishes. Please read thefull document here on our website. Below is a summary of important points:“Easing of the restrictions does not mean that thechurch doors will be opened immediately. The ParishPriest, together with the leadership (PPC & PFC) of theparish must meet to prepare for the re-opening of thechurch. "

All our churches and buildings must be 'safe places'. BEFORE RE-OPENING THE CHURCH NEEDS TO:Deep cleaning inside entire church buildingHand sanitizer & thermometers at entrance points Toilets to be kept hygienic

PERSONAL SAFETYWearing a mask throughout Mass, sitting at allocateddesignated seats and maintaining social distancingfrom each other.Individuals with comorbidities and people who are athigh risk from COVID-19, and those who are not feelingwell should not attend services.

MASS ON SUNDAYMaximum three of Masses may be celebrated. Time (atleast one hour) must be allowed for cleaning betweenservices. Mass duration limited to one hour.WEEKDAY MASSESTwo weekday Masses per day, can be arranged onselected days with a maximum of 50 people.

HOLY COMMUNIONThe reception of Holy Communion in ONE kind, with nokneeling, standing with social distance provision. TheCelebrant would administer the Sacrament at a safedistance, and only place it on the hand of the recipientand NOT the tongue. The recipient receives from thePriest/Minister, move away, remove their mask andconsume and replace their mask.

FUNERALS, BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, and FIRSTHOLY COMMUNION can be performed, followingpersonal safety guidelines and other restrictions.

RECORD KEEPINGA register of attendees needs to be maintained forcontact tracing.

contact tracing.

CATECHISM, FORMATION AND MEETINGSCatechism, RCIA, and other faith formation programs atthe parish, remain suspended until further notice.

DISPENSATIONThe dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass onSundays or Holy Days of Obligation is given andremains in effect for those who feel uncomfortable orunable to return to public worship right away due tofears or concerns about COVID-19.

Working for God...Duncan Keil has walked a long and winding road to get to wherehe is today. Some of his testimony will make your hair stand onend. What we can all learn from him is through hard work (andhours of confession) we witness God's Grace.

What is most important is that we focus on who he is today, hislove of Jesus is seen in his eyes, heard in his laugh and felt in hishugs. His vision for the church is beyond what many of us cancomprehend and his boundless energy as he works for Jesus is aninspiration to so many.

Tell us a bit about your work at the church beforelockdown?I own a plumbing business and prior to lockdown had beenworking at the parish to sort out some maintenance issues. I amalso on the Divine Renovation Team, the Alpha Senior LeadershipTeam, Welcome Team, Alpha Prayer Ministry Team and the DigitalCommunications Team.

Working @BCC prior to lockdown was busy with many challenges,but equally rewarding. My experience has been that as I growcloser to God, my challenges become greater, but my faithincreases proportionally. By letting the Holy Spirit take control ofmy life has been a life journey of mine, from the first time I cameto know God back in 2004.

Attending an Alpha in 2004 drew me into a close relationship withGod, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I love Him more and more eachday. God often asks me the question, “Duncan, who are you doingthis for?” My answer has always been, “For You Lord”. But attimes, the flesh is weak ….

For me, letting go and letting God in through the power of theHoly Spirit, is always about opening the door a little bit moreevery day. So being a part of and helping on various teams, andministries has been an eye opener for me. It’s made me realisethe power of love that we have in our parish.

How have you managed to continue God’s work duringlockdown? One of the miraculous ways that God inspired me last year was toapproach Father to form a Digital Communications Team. It wasmiraculous because I know nothing about the digital platform. But

miraculous because I know nothing about the digital platform. Butthat’s how He works. He appoints the least likely person to forgea new path to show us His power.

Because of what God started last year, and the amazing Commsteam he then raised up, we had a digital Parish App, the websiteis constantly improving, and we were able to immediately raise tothe challenge and take Mass online when lockdown wasimplemented. God knew what was coming long before any of ushad an inkling.

At the moment, my days include driving almost daily to thechurch to collect the recordings of the Mass, and I help record theSunday Mass. I also worked on getting a fibre line installed at thechurch to ensure that communications continued, I am part of theplanning team that enabled us to take Alpha Online, I assistFather Tshepo with getting the Online Bible Study going, andhelped coordinate the meeting of RCIA to help them plan theironline RCIA. Hopefully this will take off soon. What are thenext steps for our Church...

What we are doing now is church on line not online church. Theysay once online - stay online and that’s what we will do, keep ourchurch community connected with more and more invitationaloptions to choose from. Create an invitational church online.

I pray we can create an environment for more and more familiesto come into a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. We atthe Digital Ministry have a vision for our church. Creatingplatforms for people to invite family, friends, neighbours and workmates to a place we call home.

For the Holy Spirit to ignite a fire in all of us to be a part of HisGreat Commission. To lead our church from Maintenance toMission. To have Divine Renovation in everyone’s hearts and allowthe Holy Spirit to guide me to much greater and bigger things(Hub Church for JHB dioceses and for Africa).

Prayer

Beloved Father God

We honour You and we praise you as we come before You today.

Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in themthe fire of Your love. Invoke in the people of the Church of theResurrection the spirit of Your unending peace and joy. As weapproach Pentecost we ask you to rejuvenate us. Give us energy,foresight and will power to continue with the tasks that lay aheadof us.

We ask your blessing on all the people who appear on the GoodShepherd and other Parish prayer lists but especially for thosewho have suffered as a direct result of the Coronavirus Pandemic.We also pray for Patrick & Claire Mulenga and their daughter,Patrick Lamusse, Gail Solomon, Bernett McArthur, Pam Sebastian,Mrs Mookho Rakharebe, Michael & Rangasamy, Yvette & Iain andBrenda Roberts-Burgos.

Breath Your ruach into the people of South Africa and our parish -

Breath Your ruach into the people of South Africa and our parish -warm their souls and give them the desire to serve You every daythrough everything that they do.

We ask You to put out the fires of anxiety, despair, fear anddarkness and enkindle Your people with the fire of Your spirit ofgladness, hospitality, love and energy. As we approach these coldmonths we ask You to envelop the people of our country in yourwarmth. Lay Your hands on our government as we start to openup our economy and our schools, protect our people from thisvirus. We ask that the Holy Spirit would fill the minds of ourscientists with divine wisdom, that they might come up with avaccine for this disease.

Come Holy Spirit be with us. Show us Your way. Give us thewords to speak to others who don’t know You. ‘Where there isconflict let us sow love, where there is discord let us sowharmony.. and in forgetting ourselves that we shall find unendingpeace with others’ Prayer of St Francis.

We ask this in Your blessed name.Amen

Alpha Online The next Alpha Online begins on Tuesday 9 June @ 20h00

How you can help! Are you wondering how you can help others encounter Jesus? Ifyou have completed an Alpha in the past 2 years and would lovefor others to encounter Jesus or grow their faith, then join thenext Online Alpha Team.

Please Click Here to complete the team registration form.

Invite a family member or friendMany of us have a family member or friend who no longer goes tochurch or does not know Jesus. This is a great opportunity toinvite them to explore Life and Faith in a relaxed environment.Why not invite them and register together?

Request Prayer

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GivingIf you're not signed up for dedicated giving but would like tocontinue to support the parish, you can make donations via snapscan or follow the link online.

As always, your generosity is appreciated, and we are especiallygrateful during this time.

Apologies -The editor is still learning.....RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

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