Details of the Bishops' Spring Plenary held, virtually, from 19–22 April 2021.
Also in Bishops’ Plenary Meetings
Spring Plenary 2024 > Autumn Plenary 2023 > Autumn Plenary 2022 > Spring Plenary 2022 > Autumn Plenary 2021 > Autumn Plenary 2020 > Spring Plenary 2020 > Autumn Plenary 2019 > Spring Plenary 2018 > Autumn Plenary 2017 > Autumn Plenary 2016 > Spring Plenary 2016 > Autumn Plenary 2015 > Spring Plenary 2015 > More... >Bishops encourage Catholics to place Sunday Mass at the heart of their post-pandemic lives
In a reflection titled The Day of the Lord, the Bishops also praise families, parish communities and those who have worked tirelessly in hospitals, care homes, schools and prisons during these challenging times of ill-health, grief and isolation.
The Bishops salute the leadership of our priests and also express gratitude for the ‘immense efforts’ of those who have provided food for those most in need:
“The generosity shown in the distribution of so very many meals has given eloquent expression to the mercy, love and compassion which are at the very heart of God. Many have been touched by the joy of meeting Christ in the poor; and many of the poor by the joy of meeting Christ in selfless parishioners.”
Whilst acknowleding the creative and diverse methods of outreach during the pandemic – not least the live streaming of Mass – attention then turns to the post-pandemic world.
The Bishops recognise that it is impossible to predict the pace at which we will emerge from the pandemic but state “what is clear is the challenge we face of bringing our communities and the practice of the faith to a still greater expression and strength.”
They identify the groups of people they are seeking to reach:
The Bishops highlight the strengths, the “veritable treasures” of the Catholic Church as being the tools at their disposal to rise to these challenges. The greatest treasure is, of course, the sacramental life of the Church and at its heart, the Eucharist.
“It is the Eucharist, the celebration of the Mass, that makes the Church; and it is the Church, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, which makes the Eucharist. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the lifeblood of the Church. It requires our active participation and, to be fully celebrated, our physical presence.
“At this moment, then, we need to have in our sights the need to restore to its rightful centrality in our lives the Sunday Mass, encouraging each to take his or her place once again in the assembly of our brothers and sisters.
“We face the task of seeking to nurture the sense of Sunday as ‘a weekly gift from God to his people’, and something we cannot do without; to see Sunday as the soul of the week, as giving light and meaning to all the responsibilities we live out each day; to see the Sunday Eucharist as food for the unique mission with which we have been endowed.”