Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Lent in Lockdown
Lent is usually seen as a penitential season and with the continued restrictions on movement and assembly this is particularly so this year. However, just as the churches have adapted their worship patterns in the face of the pandemic, so too there are innovative Lenten observances.
Scores of people from different parishes have signed up to take part in a virtual pilgrimage in the Diocese of Derry & Raphoe. ‘Let’s Journey to the Cross’ is a joint initiative by the diocese’s Children’s Ministry, SEEDS, and its ministry for young people, Derry & Raphoe Youth.
Would–be pilgrims were asked to sign up for the Lenten initiative so that between them they would ‘complete’ the 3,500 virtual miles from Derry & Raphoe to the Holy Land. Among those taking part are the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe and pupils from the RE department of a local secondary school.
The initiative is being coordinated by the Diocesan Children’s Officer for Derry & Raphoe, Kirsty McCartney, who invited people to walk in their own communities – and within their own ‘bubbles’ – so that their journeys would comply with Covid guidelines.
Kirsty says the virtual pilgrimage has proved so popular, they’re on course to walk the whole distance to Jerusalem and back again, and then some. “The response has been brilliant. Participants have already pledged to complete a total of almost than 9,000 miles. This means that by the time we get to Easter Sunday, we will have covered the distance to the cross and back again. And we’re now making our way ‘virtually’ to Iona, as well, which is brilliant because of our diocese’s connection to St Columba.”
On Ash Wednesday, Dublin & Glendalough diocese began a journey through Lent with a short reflection which will continue every day until Holy Week. ‘Walking in the Wilderness with Jesus’ is provided in the main by Lay Readers. The Archbishop of Dublin began the series and will provide weekly reflections on Sundays throughout Lent. The Diocesan Readers will take over from Mondays to Saturdays providing a thought for the day and prayers for our times based on the readings for each day until Maundy Thursday. The reflections will be posted daily on the Dublin and Glendalough YouTube channel and will also be available on the Diocesan website, Facebook page and Twitter.
Among other Lenten initiatives the Bishop of Down & Dromore’s reflections on the Book of Nehemiah are available on the Down & Dromore website and on social media from 6am each day until 28 March while the Bishop of Connor is giving a series of six online talks on the theme: ‘Faith in the tough times’. The talks will be premiered on the diocesan Facebook page on Wednesdays at 7pm and then available for download.
The Dioceses of Tuam, Killala & Achonry hope to raise €11,500 for a new project in the Diocese of Kajiado in Kenya. They will be partnering with Water Drops to fund a pump house to provide fresh, clean water for the village of Imaroro and surrounding communities. They’re reading the entire Bible and are hoping for sponsorship of €10 for each of the 1,189 chapters. The parishes are rostered to take a week of reading each on Zoom, daily throughout Lent. More information is available at tuam.anglican.org and you can contribute at idonate.ie/tka/water
Tomorrow (Sunday) at 2.15pm RTÉ News Channel will broadcast a celebration of the Eucharist at which the preacher will be the Dean of Limerick, the Very Revd Niall Sloane.
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times