Fr Ed Homily 10-17-20

Updates and Information

We have been blessed at the school with no COVID cases. We continue to practice social distancing and sanitizing. And I think a great amount of common sense of being very careful. So we thank all of the parents for the care and preventive practices you have implemented.

We will be having our Memorial Services on Saturday, October 31st, at Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Joseph following the afternoon Masses. We invite you to come and join us for a time of prayer for our deceased loved ones and those of the cluster who have died in the last year. There will be candles available for you to take and write the name of your deceased loved one. We will be practicing social distancing and following sanitation guidelines in conjunction with the Memorial candles.

The Memorial Service is after the 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM masses, respectively. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed at the end of mass. At this time, you will be directed to proceed to the back of the church. There you will be able to take a candle in a protective sleeve. You will be able to write the name of the deceased person on the candle sleeve. Bring the candle forward to the front of the church. We will have someone available to light your candle. Then you can announce the name of the deceased loved one. You will place the candle on a specially prepared table. When everyone that wants to bring a candle forward has done so, all will receive a blessing. The Blessed Sacrament will be quietly reposed. When you are ready to leave you may take your candle with you. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they all rest in peace. All Saints Day is on a Sunday this year, meaning All Souls Day is on a Monday. All Souls Day is not a holy day of obligation. I will have two services for those who wish to attend. They will be at 7:00 AM and at 5:30 PM. Again, Monday is not a holy day of obligation.

It has been our tradition to put out the Book of the Dead in each of the Churches beginning at this time and throughout the month of November. In the past we have allowed people to enter names, but now, because of COVID, we ask that if you would like to have someone’s name added to the Book for your parish, contact the cluster office by phone, email, or drop a note in the collection. Please be sure to let us know the name and the Church that you wish to have it added to. We will be displaying the Books by the Altar in each of the Churches. We cannot sanitize these books, so it would be best for you to give us the names you want entered and we will minimize the number of people handling the book.

On November 21, St John the Evangelist is inviting you to their annual Hunter’s Day Mass at 6:00 PM.

We are planning a takeout/curbside pickup Thanksgiving Dinner. We cannot have a sit-down meal, but we still want to make sure that we help anyone who needs a Thanksgiving Dinner has one. Although still in the planning stages, we realize that we will need volunteers to help package the meals. To help we will need to make sure we take your temperature, have you wear a mask and gloves at all times. We will be using all prepared food for this, no home cooking. We will also have to limit the number of meals and that number is still under determination. Some of the cold food portion of the meal will be prepackaged the day before. We are not asking for donations this year because of COVID. The work will be portioning food in Styrofoam trays. We may need a couple of volunteers .to heat the food, but every effort will be taken to minimize the number of people in the kitchen. Food will be prepared in the school kitchen. Curbside delivery will be on Wilson, we will need volunteers asking people in their cars how many meals they need. Additional volunteers placing meals in plastic bags to place in the cars without drivers exiting their vehicles. If you are interested in volunteering please call Shannon at the Cluster Office. We will have mass on Thanksgiving Day. You have two options. St John the Evangelist and St Joseph will have a Thanksgiving Day mass at 9:00 AM. Do not bring food to these masses. We will offer a blessing for your Thanksgiving Day meal, but kind of long distance.

We have not planned too much for Christmas at this time. We are hoping that some of the restrictions will be safely lifted. If not, we will have to work with it as we do any other weekend mass. More will come out about this later.

I realize many people will questions, so do we. Our churches have done well following the restrictions and I do believe this has helped in preventing the spread of COVID. We all need to be diligent.

May the Lord bless you and grant you His peace. Amen