Parish Letter 13th January 2021

Greetings to you all

We were quite surprised and troubled last week when the new lockdown did not include places of worship.  The decision to be open or closed has been left with each parish.  Having taken some time to review the present situation and feedback we have received from parishioners about their concerns regarding the Church being open, we have decided in Hayes to close our Church from after Mass Friday this week. Considerations that lie behind this decision include but are not limited to the difficulty of maintaining a safe environment for parishioners and stewards and ensuring that everyone is adhering to the latest guidelines. For example, it is impossible to stop people from engaging with people who are not from their bubble as the present guidelines expect. In coming to Church, people want to engage with others. I am also aware of people helping others to get to Mass which also goes against the guidelines.

Because of our Church’s size, we are also aware of people coming from a much wider area than just our parish.  This increases the possibility of the virus being spread. Given that most of the people attending are in high-risk groups or are living in households which a ‘large number of residents, we prefer to err on the side of caution.

While we have endeavoured to do all that we can do to ensure our Church has been open as much as possible since the first lockdown ended, the present circumstances cause concern. We will close until the numbers in Hillingdon drop to a more acceptable number to allow non-essential activity to activity resume. We hope that this action will instil in people how serious the present situation really is and not lull people into a false sense of security about being safe with people from Church.

In the meantime, we will continue to stream services and officiate at funerals looking for other ways of supporting people’s spiritual lives.

We will stream Mass each day at 9:00am. Any funerals will be celebrated at 10am while they can still be celebrated in churches.  We will look for other opportunities to offer support while this lockdown continues

Please be assured of our desire to support you and your families during this difficult time.

Keep safe,

Yours in Christ,

 Fr. Paul

Message from Fr Paul, the Parish Priest

At ‘Botwell’, we try to be a welcoming Catholic community.

Situated in Hayes close to Heathrow Airport, the Parish has been in the care of the Claretian Missionaries since it was established in September 1912, shortly after the Claretians arrived in the United Kingdom and had purchased the property known as Botwell House, which now houses the Parish and the Primary School.

Whatever your age, background or personal situation we hope you are made to feel welcome.

We hope this web page gives you a sense of what we are usually trying to do as we live our faith in today’s world. At present because of the coronavirus all our public activities are suspended though we are attempting to use the gift of technology to create opportunities for continued support and prayer.

Please feel free to approach the priests or members of the pastoral team to see how we can help you feel part of ‘Our Community’ as quickly as possible no-one should have to serve an apprenticeship here to feel part of our family!!!

THE HOLY MASS – will be LIVE soon