By Fr. Paul Shovelain
“Behold I am the servant of the Lord.”
These words from our blessed Mother give us reason to celebrate on this great solemnity! Mary said yes to Gabriel’s invitation to be the Mother of God. Her “yes” brought about the salvation of the world. Mary, a human being, played a HUGE role in bringing about the salvation of the world. This gives us joy. When we say yes to the Lord, we bring about our own conversion and assist others on the path to holiness as well. I invite you to say “behold I am the servant of the Lord” and let God shine through you as we enter into Holy Week!
Mass Protocols Adjustments
This past weekend we had a full church at every Mass. We also used the social hall for overflow at the 10:30am Mass. We are continuing to adapt our protocols as we want people to feel comfortable here so that they can enter into the Eucharistic liturgy. We will continue to distribute Holy Communion in the pew through Easter. Due to our large attendance, we encourage friends and family to plan to come together and sit together to conserve space and allow for more people to fit in the church and be together before the Lord. This is especially important for the Triduum as we anticipate a full church at each Mass. Any future changes or adjustments we make will be communicated in future emails as well as the bulletin. Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we navigate through this time.
Outreach to the High Risk
We continue to live stream Mass as well for those who are high risk or not comfortable attending Mass in person. In fact, Palm Sunday Mass last year was our first live-streamed Mass from the church. Also, March 27 is the Park Procession anniversary. This year on Saturday, March 27, we will once again be in the church west parking lot distributing Blessed Palms and Holy Communion from 10-11:30am for those at high risk and those not comfortable with attending Mass in person yet. We want to serve you spiritually and make sure that you know we are United in the Holy Spirit as one body!
Come and Receive Mercy
Join us for the beautiful Sacrament of Confession this Sunday, March 28 at 3:30pm in the church. We will have 11 priests present to hear your confession. We will have individual confession beginning right away at 3:30pm and you can leave after your confession is heard. We encourage you to come anytime between 3:30 – 4:30pm for the Sacrament. Please remember to social distance, including while waiting to go to confession. Thank you.
Please note that confessions begin this Saturday, March 27th at 3pm and we will have one additional priest, Fr. Jaspers, in the library to hear confessions.
Divine Mercy Sunday
Next week we begin the Divine Mercy Novena on Good Friday and will continue through Divine Mercy Sunday. As part of the novena, on April 11 we will honor our Lord by having an hour of Adoration along with the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Litany in Time of Need will be sung. Fr. Magner and I will be hearing confessions from 3-4pm in our confessionals. Please join us! For information about the power and grace of the Divine Mercy Novena, I encourage you to click here.
I look forward to celebrating Mass with you this weekend! Remember to wear red as we reflect on our Lord’s Passion!