July 5th, 2020: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners:

It was so good seeing so many of you as we slowly re-open the church.  It has been a while.  It is incredible how much so many of the children have grown in the past few months!

I have to admit that I was very impressed with how everyone who came to Mass followed the guidelines so well: you wore your masks, distanced from each other and followed the arrows on the floor.  It was tough because we had all these new “rules” that we had to follow, but you all did so well and I am sure it will continue.  Thank you.  And a special “thank you,” also, to our ushers and extraordinary ushers who guided everyone to their places and cleaned up the church and got it ready for the next Mass in a matter of minutes!  Well done, everyone!

While the reopening has gone well so far, I am very concerned about Mass attendance going forward.  My fear is that people will not return to the church the way we all hope.  We have been out of the practice of going now for a few months and the Cardinal has dispensed everyone from the obligation of Mass attendance for everyone’s safety, but my fear is that because many have been away, when we are all obligated to go again, people won’t. Some people have gotten very accustomed (and comfortable) watching the Mass online or on the television as a substitute to attending that they might not prioritize attendance again.

While livestreams and television Masses served a great purpose in keeping people safe and healthy, and will continue to for a while, they are severely lacking from a spiritual and sacramental point of view.  Hearing the Word of God is important as we are able to via livestream, but being present for the consecration of the Eucharist and receiving Holy Communion and being in the Real Presence of Jesus is irreplaceable. 

We are Eucharistic persons; we need the grace of the Eucharist and the gathering together of people in community to celebrate the sacred mysteries in person and there is no replacing it.  We need the Eucharist and it is important for us to remember that; the Eucharist is the central mystery of our faith and we cannot experience that in a livestream.  I probably should have done a better job of reminding everyone that the livestream is just to keep everyone connected, but that we need to physically return to Mass when we are allowed and comfortable.  As a parish, I need everyone to come back as soon as you are able and comfortable; it is important for the parish and for you.  But we all need you back.

I want to take a moment to again congratulate all of our students who have graduated from grammar school, high school or college in these last few weeks.  Congrats and while it was not the way everyone planned, all of you proved how determined and resilient you are during these tough times.  I pray that all our graduates and students, for that matter, have an enjoyable summer.

We have a new parish website that is very, very well done.  I would encourage everyone to check it out and to go on it frequently during the summer months, especially as the church re-opens and there are new updates and announcements periodically.

Lastly, in all of this craziness, we haven’t talked much about the fact that September 13^th is the 125^th Anniversary of the founding of our Parish.  We were very much in the process of planning a full calendar of events until the virus hit and now we are not sure what events we will even have.  As of right now, we are still scheduled for Cardinal Joseph Tobin to celebrate the 11:30 am Mass on our Anniversary, so hopefully, we will be fully back by then and the Cardinal will be here.

Enjoy these nice summer days and the July 4^th weekend and I look forward to seeing all of you soon, in the church, celebrating the Eucharist together.

Blessings,
Rev. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor

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