Greetings!
May the Lord give you His peace.
Well, I have some great news! We have been given the green light to open our doors for Masses beginning this weekend! I will include some general information for now and will be sending you another email later today with some important guidelines and directions. Not everyone in our community makes use of email or has access to the internet. I intend to send out a parish-wide mailing concerning all of this but there hasn't been enough lead time. If you could get the word out to others that would be most helpful! Here is what is going on:
1. 10 am Saturday morning I will offer Mass for the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua.
2. 5:00 pm Mass will be offered by Fr. George for Sunday's Feast of Corpus Christi.
3. 8 am Mass will be offered by Fr. George on Sunday.
4. Please note on Sundays for now, Mass will be at 10 am. I will be offering Mass at that time. This change in time gives us an hour in between Masses to sanitize everything.
5. Fr. Reuben will offer the 12 pm Mass and I will offer Mass at 6 pm.
6. Beginning on Monday June 15th, weekday Masses will be at 8 am and 7:30 pm (a Holy Hour with Exposition will follow the 7:30 pm Mass). We can maintain the evening Mass throughout the Summer. We can revisit continuing this throughout the rest of the year.
7. Masses will continue to be live-stream indefinitely. The 7:30 pm Mass during the week and the 10:30 am Mass on Sundays will most likely be the live-streamed Masses.
8. Please note, the obligation to go to Mass is still suspended. You are not obligated to go to Mass even though the doors are open. Those who are over 65 and/or may have preexisting medical conditions are cautioned to consider remaining at remaining at home and to participate in Mass through live-streaming until this virus is completely gone. You may call the rectory to arrange for Holy Communion to be brought to your home at a later date.
9. Please note as well that seating is limited to 25% of occupancy which is about 125 people once social distancing is factored into seating arrangements. A system will be in place to make a reservation for Mass.
Another email will follow tomorrow with more detailed information. I just wanted to be sure that you received this update sooner than later. Let us offer a prayer for a smooth transition and a permanent end to this virus!
In prayer,
Your local shepherd,
Fr. Tom