Dear Families,
I hope you are all well. These times have been very trying for all of us and we need our faith to get us through.If you have not yet heard, we are now able to attend religious services with 100% church capacity. The dispensation for not attending mass in person has been lifted by the Bishop as well. Therefore, I would like to announce the weekend Masses. We have already begun weekday Masses in the church at 9am Mondays through Saturdays and 6:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Additionally, Confessions have returned to the church and are no longer in the Parish Hall. The schedule for the weekends is Confessions at 4pm, and during Lent will be on Wednesdays from 7-8pm. Mass on Saturday will be at 5pm. Sunday Masses will be celebrated at 8am, 10am and Noon. We are adding an additional Mass at 7pm on Sundays as well to help us with decreased capacity in the church. I will also stream a Mass every Sunday at 2pm for those of you who do not yet feel comfortable attending Mass in person.
Contact-less Holy Water Dispensers are available at each eentrance of Church
There are regulations we will have to abide by as we still continue to deal with the epidemic:
- The church can only be filled to 35% capacity.
- Please enter the church through the side doors and exit through the main doors.
- Please sit in the pews that are marked for seating.
- A mask is required for anyone over 2 years of age.
- Hand sanitizer is available at the church entrances.
- Bathrooms are for emergencies only.
- The center aisle will be used for communion only.
- Families can approach for communion together. Others should stay six feet apart.
- There will be further instructions for receiving Communion. Only the body of Christ will be offered
- Please note that Spiritual Communion is still an alternative at this moment.
- The hymnals have been removed from the church.
- Music will be simplified with no singing.
- There will be no collection taken up. Please drop your collection envelope in the baskets provided at the entrances of the church before Mass or you can mail it in if you choose.
I hope the requirement to follow these rules will end relatively soon. Providing a prayerful environment is important to celebrate Mass. Things are going to be strange for a while but hopefully not for too long.
Even if you decide not to come to Mass immediately please consider continuing to support the parish financially. Bills and payroll still need to be taken care of.
Christ's Peace,
Fr. Jim Kirkpatrick