Dear Friends of St. Mary’s:
These last nine months have been an extraordinarily challenging time for our world, our country, and our parish. With God’s help we have tried to keep our eyes focused on Christ, the Light of the World, our true hope in times of uncertainty and distress.
The bishop’s dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation remains in place into the new year 2021. If you are unable to attend in person, I encourage you to participate in Mass online and make a spiritual communion until you are able to return.
Due to the increase in coronavirus numbers, I encourage parishioners to wear masks at mass, especially during these next couple of winter months. My personal hope is that by this Easter we will all begin to return to normal. In any case, let us pray that this ordeal will soon be behind us and that we can all return to the full experience of our community of faith, which is so life-giving.
Two of our Christmas masses, the 5 pm Vigil and the 11 pm Midnight Mass, are full based on advance registrations. The 12:10 Mass on Christmas Day still has plenty of space available. Please register here.
The 12:10 Mass on January 1, 2021, for the solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, is also full. We have added a second mass that same morning at 10 am. Register here.
I would like to encourage all the men of the parish to consider participating in an Exodus 90 prayer group. Exodus 90 is a ninety-day spiritual exercise for men (18 and older) based on three pillars: prayer, asceticism, and fraternity. The 2021 Exodus 90 starts on January 4, 2021. Learn more here. Travis Speier is helping to organize the Exodus 90 prayer groups here at St. Mary’s. You may contact him at speiertravis@gmail.com.
Finally, I wanted to provide you the guidance from the USCCB about the moral permissibility of the covid-19 vaccines, which are currently or soon-to-be in distribution. While the document as a whole provides very helpful reflections, the two full paragraphs on page 5 contain the practical conclusions. I hope this document will provide you with some helpful resources for answering questions that may arise as you seek to protect your health with a clear conscience. (Should this be a link to the USCCB website, or the attached document?)
Thank you and may God bless you this Christmas!
--Fr. Jayd Neely, Pastor
