Alleluia! He Is Risen!
By Fr. Isaiah Schick
He is risen! Happy Easter, and a blessed Divine Mercy Sunday to you all! There have been so many things happening in “church world” in the past few weeks with Lent and Holy Week and the Octave of Easter that it has been hard to even keep track of it all – there are so many things to celebrate! But today, I wanted to take a moment to point out a few things that have changed around the parishes and explain what is behind them. The first thing is happening at all four of our parishes and throughout the whole Diocese of Superior. A couple of weeks ago, Bishop Powers issued new guidance to the priests of the diocese on what should happen when people who are not receiving communion come up in the communion line. Many people were used to receiving a blessing with the Sign of the Cross from the priest or deacon. However, when Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is present on the altar (in a monstrance or in the patens or ciboria for communion), no blessing from the priest or deacon is to be given because Jesus gives us his blessing directly (like in Benediction at the end of a time of adoration). When Mass ends with adoration and Jesus in the Eucharist left on the altar or exposed somewhere else in the church, like on Holy Thursday, even the normal final blessing is omitted. Therefore, Bishop Powers has asked us that when people come forward who are not receiving communion, “there should be no formal blessing with the Sign of the Cross.” Instead, we are simply extending our hands towards the individual with a very short prayer. Anyone not receiving communion is either invited to come forward in the same way as before to be prayed with in this way, or they can remain in their pews and make an act of spiritual communion with Jesus.
The other change recently has happened at St. Joseph’s, where Bishop Powers has given permission for the tabernacle to be moved to the center of the sanctuary space to make room for a restoration of the old confessional, and for the adoration chapel to be moved to the room where the tabernacle was after it has been sealed in with a wall and two doors. The presider’s chair has been moved for this change. These projects will be happening soon, and they are happening based on the feedback of the parish community from a few years ago as well as the work of the St. Joseph Enhancement community since 2018. There is still ongoing discussion as to how further enhancement of our worship space can be made, but the most pressing issue was increasing our dedicated confessional space – and this move at this point allows that to be possible. The pastoral team and the Enhancement Committee is always open to any feedback or suggestions – we thank you for your patience as these projects have taken a long time to come to this point from when the discussion first began. May God bless you and your families this Easter season!