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Message from Father Hammond
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May 16, 2020Dear Parish Family,
Happy Easter! Alleluia, Christ is risen!Thanks be to God, Bishop Spalding has announced the parishes may resume public Mass this week. Therefore, we will be resuming our regular Mass and confession schedule effective Monday, May 18. Our first weekend Masses will be May 23-24. Please note that, although Mass will resume, the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass remains in effect through June 30th. I encourage anyone over the age of 65, those who have or live with anyone with a health vulnerability, and anyone who is worried that attending Mass would add undue stress or jeopardize their health or the health of a person with whom they live, to remain at home at this time and refrain from attending Mass. In light of the Sunday Mass dispensation, you might consider the possibility of attending a weekday Mass instead of Sunday Mass: this will also help us maintain our 50% occupancy limit, which is in place for the time being.Please note also that it will take some time for our life to return to normal. Our Mass will look and feel different for a while, and we will not be able to resume many of our social and fellowship activities for some time. We will be as careful and health-conscious as possible, and all are encouraged to be cautious and not return to Mass more quickly than is prudent or comfortable for you. Stay tuned for further details and updates!As usual, I have also posted a video message for this Sunday, which includes a message about how we will begin restarting some of our regular liturgical life: please watch at https://youtu.be/O68LAqI39BM or on the parish website.In order to care for those who choose to remain at home, I will be continuing to join Bishop Spalding for our celebration of Sunday Mass, and I invite you to tune in at watchmass.com this Sunday morning and the next several Sunday mornings as well if you choose not to attend Sunday Mass in person.I thank you for your patience with the precautions and temporary changes in the way that we celebrate Mass that will be necessary for this particular phase in our journey back to our normal life. This is the first step in a gradual return to normal that will take some time. For now, the church will be deep-cleaned, precautions put in place, and temporary modifications made to some of our worship practices in order to ensure everyone’s safety. Thank you for your patience and understanding!I hope you have taken this opportunity to take advantage of our parish subscription to formed.org and all the resources available at watchmass.com, and will continue to do so even as we begin the slow return to normal.Stay safe, and God bless you!
Fr Hammond