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FINALLY….!
Having successfully completed the required small gathering prayer times last weekend, we’re now able to open for weekend masses on June 27 and 28: Saturday at 5:15 and Sunday at 8:00 & 10:30. After reading the fine print in the latest directives, I realized that we don’t have to begin with a maximum attendance of 50 but can go directly to the larger maximum number of 15% to 20% of church capacity which, given our pew configuration, needs to remain at 15% to maintain social distancing; that means that we can accommodate 135 parishioners at each of those masses. Unfortunately, that allows for only about 65% of our average weekend attendance. But given the likelihood that many of those in the “vulnerable” groups will choose to delay returning to church, we should be OK. As for daily mass, those will not resume until the first full week of July, and then only Tuesday thru Friday at 8:30 since we don’t have enough volunteers to sanitize the church after the second Sunday mass and so that process will have to take place on Monday mornings. The 6:30 communion service will likely not resume until the laborious sanitization requirements are lifted. And confessions are still on hold because we’re not permitted to use the Reconciliation Rooms and the recommended Archdiocesan system is impractical. If you wish to go to confession, just call the rectory and it can be arranged, but only by appointment in the rectory office.But please note: you must sign up online in order to attend mass this weekend, and for the foreseeable future, because your contact information must be kept on file for 14 days in the event you become ill and those who were at mass with you need to be informed of that. You’ll find that sign-up link at the end of this article. And as I’ve said many times: please be aware of friends or neighbors who aren’t computer-savvy or who don’t have access to a computer and sign up for them—but you must register their name and contact information in addition to your own. The Archdiocese also asks that you read the TIPS FOR ALL WORSHIPPERS that can be accessed below.I suppose the bottom line is this: our experience of worship will be quite different when we gather again. There will be music, but no congregational singing because all paper materials had to be removed from the church. So no hymnals or bulletins, and no spare contribution envelopes if you forgot your own. There will be no collection but simply a basket at the rear of church in which you can place your offering. You must enter through the center doors on Dixie Hwy. and you will be shown to a designated seat by an usher after your name has been checked off on the sign-up sheet and you have used hand sanitizer. Very specific instructions will be given before communion; they’re fairly complicated, so just do your best to follow them. You may not leave the church until your row has been dismissed by an usher and you’re asked to not congregate outside—but seriously, after not seeing each other for so long, I leave that to your discretion.Finally, I’m required to remind you that the dispensation from attending mass in church remains in force in the Archdiocese at least through August. That means that you don’t need to feel guilty if you don’t feel comfortable returning to church and wish to continue attending mass online or on TV. In fact, the Archdiocese continues to discourage those over 65 from coming to church—which means that Fr. Dan and I shouldn’t be there! But again, you know yourself better than anyone, so use your own good judgment. However, if you don’t feel well, common sense also dictates that you do indeed stay home both for your own protection and for that of your fellow parishioners. You’ll see most of this on that TIPS FOR ALL WORSHIPPERS page as well as other information the Archdiocese wishes you to know.
I’ve been urging patience all along the way as we’ve proceeded through these very odd weeks and months of isolation. If you’ve managed that so far, pray for an extra dose if you come this weekend. Yes, we all want to be safe, but safety is hardly the most important thing in life. We never want to be the cause of injury or harm to anyone else, but at the same time we’re social beings who wither in isolation and need to connect with one another—not just virtually, but personally. That’s what we’ll begin to do once again this weekend—reconnecting with one another and, just as importantly, with the One whose life we all share as the Church, the Body of Christ in the world.
Fr. Bob
TIPS FOR ALL WORSHIPPERS >