Good morning! This is my Pastor's Column for this upcoming weekend. I wanted to update you on some of the continuing changes/adjustments that we'll be making to Mass starting the first weekend in August. These are certainly not the last changes, we will see how things go before deciding upon anymore. Have a great day!
With the onset of the current coronavirus pandemic, we found our Liturgy drastically changed. For a time, we were unable to hold public liturgy & so I found myself celebrating Mass in a Church with no one in the pews & just a videographer, sometimes a Deacon, & a Music Minister in the Church. It was nice to at least have someone there to make the responses so that I didn’t feel like I was talking to myself!
As we returned to the public celebration of Mass on Pentecost Sunday at the end of May, we were able to fill the pews (albeit 6 feet apart from each other), but even though we were able to be back in Church our Mass was not the same as it had been before. Yes, the Mass is always the Mass, but now we found ourselves going without congregational singing, we don’t have any ministers outside of the Priest & Deacon for the time, ushers aren’t walking through the pews taking up the collection, just to name a few. Most of those changes will continue on for the time being, but I did want to draw your attention to 2 changes that we will begin NEXT WEEKEND, AUGUST 1ST/2ND.
The first is that we will begin to sing the Responsorial Psalm, rather than having the Priest or Deacon recite it. We won’t be using the normal format of refrain/verse/refrain because of the precautions on congregational singing, but what we will do is have Bob/Mike sing the refrain, all the verses, & then the refrain again at the end. Hopefully we will be able to add still more signing in as time goes on.
The second is that we will once again do the Sign of Peace, but without the handshakes. To share peace with those around you, we are invited to nod our head or wave. Please continue to maintain the necessary social distancing as we do this, so though we might want to, we can’t for the time being, walk around or up & down the pews sharing peace with everyone.
Again, we will begin those changes to our Liturgy next weekend, August 1st & 2nd. Have a blessed week!