Church Building Reopening
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Just in case you haven’t heard, the date has been set for our homecoming. Our first public mass can be Friday, May 29th. Because of all that is involved, our first public masses here at St. Alphonsus will be Saturday, May 30th, at 4:15pm and the Sunday masses. We will of course be celebrating the Feast of Pentecost, known as the birthday of The Church which seems fitting. Since we will have a lot to do to get ready for the mass, and we are still unable to use the confessionals, we will NOT have The Sacrament of Reconciliation prior to mass. For the foreseeable future, we ask that you continue to call and make appointments with one of us for this Sacrament.
You will be receiving a mailing from us. In it is a letter from the bishop along with some of the main guidelines for returning to mass. We also ask that you please check our Web Page, Facebook, or MyParish App for the latest information. We have been asking for your emails because that is the most efficient way to send you the latest updates and changes. This is all new to everyone and I am sure we will need to make adjustments to our plans as we go. For instance, in some areas some parishes have had small numbers, while other parishes have had to turn people away. We are limited to 120 people, but we have no idea how many people will want to attend these first liturgies.
While I know how faithful the members of this parish and community are, I want to urge those of you who fall into any of the higher risk categories to please remain at home and join us online. Besides age, I am now hearing that diabetics are some of the highest at risk. Anyone with a compromised immune system should remain at home. We will continue to livestream our liturgies, and will probably do so even after the pandemic. But it all comes down to the fact that no matter how many precautions we take, there will always be risk when people gather in groups. We would hate for our worship community to be the source of someone catching Covid-19, especially after months of isolation and sacrifice. Better to wait a little while longer.
Likewise, if you have been around someone who has tested positive, or that you suspect has the virus, please stay at home. If you have any symptoms, and this is true of any illness, please stay at home. I am sure you would not want to be the person responsible for someone else getting the virus. Our Houston parish had returned to public masses and at least one of the community members was rather careless in taking precautions and now one of them has died, the rest have tested positive, and they have had to cancel all masses and all other forms of contact with anyone outside the rectory. No one wants to go backwards.
Finally, if you just aren’t ready, if you are nervous about gathering with others, then by all means stay at home. The suspension of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is still in effect until at least the end of June.
We are looking for volunteers for a number of projects, including teams to sanitize the church after each mass. If you would like to volunteer for something here at the parish, or something you can do from home, please send an email to office@stalphonsusGR.org
Here are a few guidelines:
All in attendance over 2 years of age must wear a mask.
We ask that you please bring a mask for each member of your family.
If you have a homemade mask you can perform a simple test to see how well it will work. Just hold it up to the light. The more light you can see the less effective it will be.
Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer.
Social distancing will be in effect, so you may not get to sit in your traditional place.
While we will have a cantor and musicians, we will not have choirs, so we are encouraging everyone to sing.
There will not be any hymnals or missalettes, so you may want to bring your own missal (you can purchase online, even from Amazon) and/or a bible, preferably The New American version.
You may be asked to register for which mass you plan on attending.
There are many more, so please watch for emails, and visit our Web Page for specifics. God bless, and let us all pray for a safe and healthy return for all faith communities.
In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick