Dear members and friends,
As the government begins to consider ways of lifting the lockdown, we want to ensure that the opening of churches is a top priority. Please write to the First Minister using the link below. We have suggested a possible draft message to save our members time (see the bottom of this post). Please feel free to use and adapt this message.
Many thanks to Holy Family Apostolate for making the First Minister’s contact link available to us: https://firstminister.gov.scot/join/first-minister-postbag/
Please share a link to this page on WhatsApp or social media: https://unavocescotland.org/2020/04/lifting-lockdown-please-write-first-minister/
In Domino,
Fraser Pearce
Draft message begins here:
Dear Ms Sturgeon,
Thank you for your efforts to promote the common good of the people of Scotland during this troubling time.
I write to ask you to consider that in addition to the physical well-being of our nation it is necessary to consider the spiritual health of our people.
While in some faith traditions places of worship are more of a meeting place for the community, for Catholics, our churches are home to to Our Lord Jesus Christ who is truly present in the consecrated in the consecrated communion hosts, resting in the tabernacle. For this reason, being present with Him has no substitute. This is not recreation but is essential, not just to Catholics but to the people of Scotland who are in need of much intercessory prayer.
We are all aware of the requirements and necessity of social distancing: if we can achieve this in busy supermarkets, we can ensure that it is practiced in church as well.
Being aware of the importance of spiritual wellbeing, alongside physical and mental wellbeing for a holistic understanding of good health (‘Man does not live by bread alone’), we can commit to practising safe distancing from one another while we spend a short while in private prayer.
Please make the reopening of churches a priority when considering the lightening of lockdown restrictions so that we can be close to Our Lord and continue to offer prayers on behalf of all the people of Scotland, for our temporal and spiritual healing.
Yours faithfully,
