St James’s SVDP Conference during Covid-19
Dear parishioners
It’s an honour to be the President of the Saint Vincent De Paul (SVDP) Conference here in St James.
During these worrying and unprecedented times of Covid-19 I hope and pray that this letter finds you, your family and friends safe and well. To those who have suffered or lost loved ones this year our thoughts and prayers are with you.
The frequency and times we can attend Holy Mass have been severely restricted, the way we enter and leave the Church have been altered even the numbers who can attend Funerals are restricted to family members only and no more than twenty can be in the Church at the same time. These measures are here to protect us all and stop the spread of this deadly virus. If we adhere to these restrictions and with the signs of a vaccine about to be delivered hopefully some kind of “new” normality may be just around the corner.
Unfortunately, we at the SVDP, have had to cut back in a lot of our good work, we are unable to visit the sick, attend funerals and our weekly meetings have had to be postponed until further notice. Currently with your very kind and thoughtful donations we are still able to help feed the poor and serve the needy members in our parish, unfortunately these donations are running very low. We are not allowed to stand with our collection boxes as we have to maintain our social distance measures. Therefore, we will in future have a box at the side door (exit) and we will empty it after Mass. Please look out for our box as all donations received are used in our community. All donations are very much appreciated but please do not feel that you have to give as we understand these are hard times for everyone, people are losing their jobs and income has dropped and Christmas is going to be a hard time for many families this year.
Finally, you may know of someone who may need or benefit from the help of the SVDP or if you would like to join our conference then either speak to Father John, leave a note with details in our collection box or contact myself at the email address below.
More importantly we at the SVDP pray that you stay safe and stay well and would like to wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.
Gerard Higgins
SVDP President