Mae'r Esgob yn cyhoeddi llythyrau rheolaidd am ein hymateb i'r coronafirws.
Llythyr yr Esgob i'r esgobaeth
Dydd Sadwrn y Pasg | 18 Ebrill 2020
Annwyl gyfeillion
Pob gras a thangnefedd i chi.
Atgyfododd Crist
Y gerdd olaf yn ein cydymaith Grawys, ar gyfer Wythnos y Pasg, yw “Hyn sy’n fawl” gan un o feirdd goruchaf yr Eglwys yng Nghymru, Euros Bowen:
Clywais droeau yn fy nydd ar fore a nawn
alwad y ceiliog bronfraith
ar frigyn ucha’r pren,
trebl y nant yn unigedd
ceulannau’r waun a’r wern,
baban yn chwerthin parod
wrth gael ei draed ar y sarn
a thrwst digrifwch plant hyd weirgloddiau’r llan:
A chyda chilio’r wennol
draw i ddeau wlad,
ar ôl y nythu dyfal,
gwelais ddadfail haf
fel mesen yn treiglo’n euraid
i gysgod derw’r tir,
neu wên yr ymadawedig
cyn ei roi i’r pridd. –
Bywyd nid ydyw’n marw. Hyn sy’n fawl.
Wrth ein tywys drwy'r tymhorau, mae Bowen yn ein harwain at y gwirionedd – daw'r gwanwyn wastad drachefn, daw eto fywyd â’i egni a’i symud a’i sŵn.
A ninnau'n bobl y Pasg, fe wyddom ni pa beth yw grym bywyd a gras y bedd gwag.
Ac fe adnabyddwn ni'r grym a'r gras hwnnw hyd yn oed ar adegau fel hyn, pan all pryder a phryder fygwth ein llethu; yn wir, efallai bod y grym a'r gras hynny ar eu mwyaf tanbaid yn y dyddiau sydd ohoni. Nid yw bywyd yn marw, oherwydd cyfododd Crist.
Gobeithio eich bod wedi gallu gorffwys yn sicrwydd y grym a'r gras hynny yr wythnos hon. Yn ogystal â'm gweddïau o ymbil dros bawb sy'n dioddef ar yr adeg hon, bûm mi hefyd yn cynnig gweddïau llawn diolchgarwch am bawb sy'n gofalu am y sâl, pawb sy'n cynnal gwasanaethau hanfodol, a phawb sy'n dwyn gobaith, grym a gras y Pasg i eraill yn ystod y dyddiau heriol hyn.
A gaf i hefyd ddiolch i holl glerigion yr esgobaeth, a’r rhai sy’n gweinidogaethu gyda nhw, am yr holl waith sydd wedi’i wneud ac sy’n parhau i gael ei wneud i ddiwallu anghenion ysbrydol a bugeiliol pobl Dduw. Rwy'n cofio i Euros Bowen ddarganfod ei awen farddol o ddifri pan gafodd ei gaethiwo yn Rheithordy Llangywer gan eira mawr gaeaf 1947. Gall amseroedd heirol hefyd esgor ar greadigrwydd a dysg, ac rwyf wedi fy nghalonogi gan gymaint o straeon am ddyfeisgarwch a ffyddlondeb ledled yr esgobaeth y Pasg hwn. Hyn sy'n fawl.
Gweddi ac addoliad
- Ar y dudalen hon, fe welwch ddeunydd yr wyf yn ei ddarparu i gefnogi addoli ar yr aelwyd ar ddydd Sul, Ail Sul y Pasg. Mae trefn gwasanaeth ddwyieithog ar gyfer Litwrgi y Gair, ynghyd â thestun y darlleniadau, myfyrdod wedi'i recordio yn Gymraeg a Saesneg, a'i thestun dwyieithog.
- Mae ein deunydd Gyda'n gilydd wrth y bwrdd, i gefnogi addoli gartref i deuluoedd ifanc, hefyd ar gael ar gyfer Ail Sul y Pasg.
- Rhoddais anerchiad ar S4C ar ddydd Gwener y Groglith. Gellir ei wylio yma, ac mae'r testun ar gael yn ddwyieithog yma.
- Rwy'n falch iawn i Sunday Worship ar Ddydd y Pasg ddod o Eglwys Gadeiriol Bangor, gan ymgorffori deunydd a recordiwyd cyn Rheoliadau diweddaraf y Llywodraeth ynghylch aros gartref. Gellir ei wylio yma.
Goleuni gwastadol
Rwy'n cynnal yn fy ngweddïau ar hyn o bryd y rhai hynny yn ein cymunedau sy'n galaru yn sgil marwolaeth anwyliaid.
Caiff poen profedigaeth ei ddyfnhau yn ystod y dyddiau hyn gan yr anallu, men sawl achos, i ffarwelio wrth y gwely, yn yr eglwys, yn yr amlosgfa neu ar lan y bedd.
Mae'r cyfyngiadau a osodir arnom ar yr adeg hon yn ei gwneud hi'n hynod heriol i gynnig gofal bugeiliol a gweinidogaeth i'r galarus yn ein dulliau arferol.
Rwyf am wahodd grŵp bach o bobl i feddwl yn greadigol am yr adnoddau y gellid eu darparu i’n helpu i goffáu’r ymadawedig pan fyddwn yn gallu ymgynnull eto, gan gadw mewn côf draddodiad yr Eglwys o goffáu’r ymadawedig adeg Gŵyl yr Holl Eneidiau.
A gaf i annog y rhai sy'n gweinidogaethu i'r rhai wedi dioddef profedigaeth i gadw mewn cysylltiad â nhw fel sy'n briodol, a chadw men côf y posibiliadau ar gyfer coffáu anwyliaid ymadawedig unwaith y bydd y cyfyngiadau cyfredol yn dod i ben.
Arglwydd Dduw, yr wyt yn gwrando’n astud ar lef ein hymbiliau. Gad inni gael yn dy Fab gysur yn ein tristwch, sicrwydd yn ein hamheuaeth a dewrder i fyw. Cryfha ein ffydd trwy Grist ein Harglwydd. Amen.
Galwad Duw
Rwy'n falch iawn bod rhai o'n gweithgareddau esgobaethol canolog yn gallu parhau i ddigwydd, er mewn gwahanol fformatau.
Y mis nesaf, trwy alwad fideo Zoom, mae cyfle i'r rheini sy'n myfyrio ar alwedigaeth i wasanaethu'r Eglwys trwy weinidogaethau nodedig i ymchwilio mewn cwmni ag eraill.
Mae Duw yn galw bob un ohonom i wasanaethu. Rydym i gyd yn cael ein galw i addoli Duw, i dyfu’r Eglwys, ac i garu’r byd. Rydym i gyd yn cael ein galw i lewyrchu goleuni gobaith, i ymgnawdoli hygrededd ffydd, ac i orlifo â dyfroedd cariad dwyfol. Rydym i gyd yn cael ein galw i fyw bywyd cyflawn yn ei lawnder. Rydym i gyd yn cael ein galw i fyw bywyd ar batrwm Crist yng ngwasanaeth Duw. Mae Duw hefyd yn galw bob un ohonom i wasanaethu’r Eglwys. Gelwir rhai ohonom i wasanaethu’r Eglwys mewn ffyrdd penodol drwy weinidogaethau unigryw.
Ar 6 Mai 2020, byddwn yn cynnal trafodaeth lle bydd grŵp bach o bobl yn siarad am yr hyn wnaeth eu denu i'r weinidogaeth.
Bydd y grŵp yn cynnwys offeiriad arloesol, Arweinydd Ardal Weinidogaeth, gweithiwr ieuenctid eglwysig, a pherson ifanc sy'n aelod o Drydedd Urdd Sant Ffransis. Bydd Jon, Miriam, Debbie ac Andrew, yn adrodd rhywbeth o’u stori, a bydd cyfle i ofyn cwestiynau ac archwilio ymhellach.
Archddiacon Bangor, Mary Stallard, fydd yn arwain y sesiwn, gyda'r Cyfarwyddwr Galwedigaethau a Meithrin Digyblion, Dominic McClean.
Os hoffech wybod mwy, neu i gofrestru'ch hun neu eraill ar gyfer y digwyddiad, cysylltwch â Dominic trwy Katie Gill o Tîm Deiniol.
Gweddi
Cysgoda ni, O Arglwydd da, â’th drugaredd yn y cyfnod hwn o ansicrwydd a gofid. Atgyfnertha’r pryderus a’r ofnus, a chynnal y gwan a’r digalon; fel y byddo i ni ymhyfrydu yn dy gysur, gan wybod na all dim ein hynysu oddi wrth dy gariad. Trwy Iesu Grist ein Harglwydd. Amen.
O Prayers for use during the coronavirus outbreak gan Eglwys Loegr, mewn cyfieithiad i'r Gymraeg gan Meira Shakespear o Fro Celynnin. Ceir rhagor o'r gweddïau hyn, wedi'i cyfieithu, yma.
Y Gwir Barchg Andy John
Esgob Bangor
The Bishop is publishing regular letters about our response to coronavirus.
The Bishop's letter to the diocese
Easter Saturday | 18 April 2020
Dear colleagues and friends
All grace and peace to you.
Christ is risen
The final poem in our Lent companion, for Easter Week, is “This is praise” by one of the Church in Wales’s finest poets, Euros Bowen:
In my day I have often heard morning and evening
the thrush’s call
on the tree’s high branch,
the brook trembling in the solitude
of moor-bank and marsh,
an infant’s ready laughter
at his foot’s first venture on the ground,
and the children’s noisy fun
on the village meadow:
And when the swallow,
its diligent nesting done,
has left for the south,
I have seen summer decay
as an acorn rolls golden
into the shadow of the country’s oak,
like the smile of the departed
before burial in the earth. –
Life does not die. This is praise.
In taking us through the cycle of the year, Bowen leads us to the truth – that spring always comes again, that new life is always born again.
As Easter people, we know the power of life and the grace of the empty tomb.
We know this power and grace even at times like this, when worry and anxiety can overwhelm us; perhaps we know it most especially at times like this. Life does not die, for Christ is risen.
I hope that you have been able to rest in this knowledge, joy and praise this week. My prayers have been prayers of intercession for all who are suffering at this time, and prayers of thanksgiving for all those who are caring for the unwell, all who are sustaining essential services, and all who are bringing Easter hope to others during these challenging days.
May I also thank all the clergy of the diocese, and those who minister with them, for all the work that has been done and continues to be done to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of God’s people. I’m reminded that Euros Bowen discovered his calling as a priest-poet in earnest when he found himself snowbound in Llangywair Rectory during the winter of 1947. Times of confinement and challenge can also be times of creativity and learning, and it has been very encouraging to hear stories of so much resourcefulness and faithfulness across the diocese, and of myriad ways in which we have been able, this Eastertide, to say: "This is praise."
Worship and prayer
- On this page, you will find material that I am making available to support worship at home on Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter. There is a bilingual order of service for the Liturgy of the Word, along with the text of the readings, a recorded meditation in Welsh and English, and its bilingual text.
- Our Together at the table material, to support worship at home for young families, is also available for the Second Sunday of Easter.
- I gave an address on S4C on Good Friday. It can be viewed here, and the text is available bilingually here.
- I’m delighted that Sunday Worship on Easter Day was broadcast from Bangor Cathedral, consisting of material recorded before the most recent Government Regulations regarding staying at home. It can be viewed here.
Light perpetual
Those from our communities who are mourning the death of loved ones at this time are in my prayers.
The pain of bereavement will for many be deepened by the inability to say farewell at the bedside, and to commend their loved one to God’s keeping in church, in the crematorium or at the graveside.
The restrictions placed upon us at this time make it extremely challenging to offer pastoral care and a bereavement ministry is our customary manner.
I am inviting a small group of people to think creatively about the resources that could be made available to help us to commemorate the departed when we are again able to gather together, with an eye to the tradition of the Church of commemorating the departed at All Souls’ tide.
May I encourage those who are ministering to the bereaved to keep in touch with them as is appropriate, and to bear in mind the possibilities for commemorating and memorializing departed loved ones together once the current restrictions are lifted.
Lord God, you are attentive to the voice of our pleading. Let us find in your Son comfort in our sadness, certainty in our doubt and courage to live. Make our faith strong through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Called by God
I’m delighted that some of our central diocesan activities are able to continue to take place, albeit in different formats.
Next month, via a Zoom video call, there is an opportunity for those discerning a vocation to serve the Church in particular ways through distinctive ministries to reflect and investigate in company with others.
God calls all of us to serve. We are all called to worship God, to grow the Church, and to love the world. We are all called to be the light of hope, to be an example of faith, and to be a source of love. We are all called to be fully human and fully alive. We are all called to live Christ-like lives in God’s service. God also calls all of us to serve the Church. Some of us are called to serve the Church in particular ways through distinctive ministries.
On 6 May 2020, we will be hosting a discussion where a small group of people will talk about what draw them into ministry.
The group will include a pioneer priest, a Ministry Area Leader, a church youth worker, and a young person who is a as a member of the Franciscan Third Order. Jon, Miriam, Debbie and Andrew, will tell something of their story, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and explore further.
The session will be hosted by the Archdeacon of Bangor, Mary Stallard, with the Director of Vocations & Discipleship, Dominic McClean.
If you would like to know more, or to register yourself or others for the event, please contact Dominic via Katie Gill from Tîm Deiniol.
Prayer
Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy in this time of uncertainty and distress. Sustain and support the anxious and fearful, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may rejoice in your comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
From the Church of England's Prayers for use during the coronavirus outbreak, with a Welsh translation by Meira Shakespear from Bro Celynnin. More of the prayers, made available bilingually, are to be found here.
The Rt Revd Andy John
Bishop of Bangor