Weekday Mass and Confession

05-11-2020Pastor's LetterFr. John Ehrich

Dear Parishioners,

Daily Mass will resume on Monday May 18. The daily Mass schedule will be as follows:

Monday 8:30am – confessions following Mass
Wednesday 8:30am – confessions following Mass
Friday 8:30am – confessions following Mass

Why This Schedule?

1. It allows us to clean the church afterwards and also allows germs to die in between Masses.
2. It is a slightly reduced schedule because I want to be very cautious as we open back up.
3. The schedule may be amended at a later date.
4. Remember, everything right now is provisional and somewhat experimental.

Some Rules We Need to Follow for Mass

Almost all of these are at the direction of the bishop.

• Anyone who is sick or has any kind of flu like symptoms are not permitted to attend.
• People are not to sit next to each other. They should be spread out at least 6 feet apart on every side, including front and back.
• I am requesting everyone wear a mask to protect each other. I will be wearing a mask when I distribute communion, as will any extraordinary minister who distributes.
• There is to be no gathering after Mass. (Obviously, people can spend some time in conversation with social distancing, but we cannot gather for groups.)
• People should receive in the hand. Remember the virus is spread through saliva and droplets.
• We will not sing as singing sends out droplets even further than breathing.
• When you receive in the hand allow the minister to drop the host from a very small distance. Do not grab the host at all. Remember from when we were kids, "make a throne for Jesus." One hand on top of the other. (I know this seems a bit cumbersome, but according to the bishop's guidelines if a minister touches the hand of a communicant, they then must put the ciborium down and re-sanitize their hands before continuing.)
• There will be no sign of peace or holding of hands.
• There will be no distribution of the Precious Blood.

For those of you who are older or at risk, consider attending daily Mass as opposed to Sunday Mass to receive Communion. There are fewer people at daily Mass, and it will allow you to social distance much easier. Remember there is no obligation to attend Sunday Mass right now.

Some Guidelines About Confession

• Remember that the priest has a right to not contract a deadly virus, so we are putting some precautions in place.
• The plan is to have two confession stations in the church. One at the Holy Family shrine and the other at the St. John XXIII shrine.
• There will be a barrier placed in between the priest and the penitent to ensure about 8 feet of distance.
• At this time only face to face confessions will be offered. This is mainly because of logistics. We will look to have a solution to have a screen in place to allow non face to face confession.
• Pleased wear a mask for confession. Fr. Frank and I need you to protect us. By opening for Mass and confessions, he and I will come into contact with more people than probably anyone else. The frequency of that contact concerns both of us, so please take care of us.
• The line for confession needs to be far enough away so that privacy is protected. I'm thinking somewhere around the font, but we may need to modify that if we can still hear people confessing. Please assist us with this process. As you stand in line you should be distancing from each other as well.

What About Sunday Mass?

We are aiming for Sunday, May 31. It is going to be something different until we can get everyone back in the Church. I am hoping to send out our final plan on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

These times are strange, and we will be temporarily doing some things differently. Let us all try to hang in there and support one another until we are back to normal.

Fr. John