Dear Friends,
As I write these words, it is the Saturday morning of the week when the churches were reopened. A review of the week leaves me impressed with the spirit of cooperation on the part of all those who came back to Mass and to confession. The numbers have been well within the limits established by Governor Lamont. Those who come to Mass wear masks and practice safe social distancing well, using hand sanitizer as an additional layer of caution. We even had two funeral Masses, one at St. Agnes and the other at St. Mary, as well as a wedding. As I not-ed in my homily on Tuesday morning at St. Agnes, it is good to see the church with people in the pews. These past several months have been surreal, and I hope none of us ever has to go through something like that again. All of us can do our part to insure, as best we can, that such does not take place by following the guidelines from the CDC.
Throughout the period of the shutdown, I was gratified to see that so many dropped off or mailed in their parish support envelopes. As a result of your continued generosity, as well as our securing of a Paycheck Protection Program loan, we were able to keep all parish employees on the payroll with their benefits as well. The people who work for our parish and our school are very special people, dedicated to their work, an asset to us all. I want to thank them for their work and their dedication. I would encourage those who have not been sending or dropping off their parish support envelopes to consider doing so, in keeping with your financial situation of course. Our bills, while they have been diminished due to less activity, still come in each month.
I remind everyone that the regular confession schedule has resumed, with confessions being heard on Monday evenings at St. Mary and Saturday after-noon at St. Agnes. Please be sure to wear a face mask and use hand sanitizer on entering and leaving the reconciliation area. You are also asked to fulfill any required penances in your car so as to limit the number of people in church. The churches remain open, as they have all along, but effective immediately, we will close the churches at 4:00 PM each day, with the exception of Monday, when St. Mary will be open until 7:00 PM and Saturday, when St. Agnes will be open until 4:30 PM, both for the purpose of hearing confessions.
On this Father’s Day, I wish all the men of the parish who are fathers of any kind the happiest of days, good health, and much love from those you love and support. May your presence and example in the lives of your families be a model for the generations after you to emulate.
Have a good week!