2 September 2020
Dear St. Rita Catholic Community,
I wanted to update you on a change to our Sunday Masses. Beginning this weekend, September 5-6, we will no longer require registration to attend Mass. Our experience this past month gives us confidence that we can safely take this step. To be clear, our decision to implement registration was based on the Bishop’s “Phase Three” guidelines which “strongly encouraged” online registration. We have found this guidance very helpful in that it has allowed us to focus on safety procedures and to practice them. That said, given what attendance has been, and what we think attendance will be naturally, we feel that we can maintain our safety protocols without the burden of registration.
All doors to the church will be open, and there will be no need to check-in at the door. However, since we will no longer require registration, we will cap attendance at each Mass to 225 people. At this number, we remain confident we can keep everyone safely distanced and assisted. To help you plan which Sunday Mass to attend, please note that since we’ve re-opened, the Masses with the lowest attendance have been the 7:00am Mass, the 1:00pm bilingual Mass, and the 5:00pm Sunday Mass respectively. Masses with the highest attendance have been the 9:00am Mass, the 5:00pm Saturday Vigil Mass, and the 11:00am Mass respectively. Attendance at all Masses, though, have thus far been well within safe limits.
Please note, however, that all other safety measures remain in place:
- We still require those attending Mass to wear their masks the entire time they are in the church. We also ask you to wear your mask fully covering your nose and mouth. Also, we ask you not to wear masks with holes in them.
- We still ask you to keep physical distance at all times.
- Please continue to abide by the instructions of all Ushers and Clergy. Our Ushers will still coordinate the distribution of Communion and the Dismissal.
- We also continue to ask that you receive Communion in the hand.
- We will also continue to disinfect the church after every liturgy.
Thank you for your patience as we make our way through these uncharted waters! Your patience, kindness, and partnership have made this successful. It’s been beautiful; let’s keep it up! We anticipate more improvements as time goes on (e.g., normalizing Mass times, the return of Servers, etc.), but please know that we are intentionally being slow, cautious, and considered. Our concern is foremost for the vulnerable and for a safe return to normal; and so, with each decision we’re trying to weigh the spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being of all. Which is not something that can be done without earnest prayer, serious deliberation, and—frankly—slowness. Which is why I repeat: thank you so much for your patience!
Now, more important than all of this: of my pastoral care, I must say something about the spiritual aspect of all this. Because I’ve noticed the spiritual effects of these past several months in myself and in many others. For instance, I understand well, and feel it myself, how stressful all of this is. Going to Mass is for many of us is a source of comfort, and for it to be so regulated can be quite disconcerting—for priests and people! I feel it too. But let us remember that the Mass is primarily not for our comfort. Rather, to celebrate the Eucharist is first and foremost an act of worship due to Almighty God. It is primarily an act of justice and not of personal comfort; it is what we owe God and not what God owes us. And thus, whatever burden we bear to offer such worship—whether it be registration or masks or anything else—is but a small price to pay as we dare to approach the Altar of the Crucified, the Altar of Him who bore his sacrifice with pure charity. We must remember that when we go to Mass, we should go as Jesus went to Calvary—not for his own comfort but the sake of love and others.
Someone said to me recently, “Mass now feels like work. It shouldn’t feel like work.” I disagree: The Mass is certainly work; it is the first, most important work of redeemed people. The word “liturgy” literally means “work of the people.” Which is how the Church understands the Mass, as the “work of redemption.” The liturgy is not first comfort but work—grateful work. Because what God did for us in Christ should inspire within us gratitude and a desire to work as Christ works for us, inspiring us to stand at the ready to serve, whatever the burden or inconvenience, and to do whatever is necessary not for our honor but for the honor of Christ. Again, it’s helpful to think we should go to Mass as Christ went to Calvary. Yes, the Mass is truly a comfort; it is peace in this noisy, angry world; it is the habitual sweetness of many peoples’ lives. But, nonetheless, let’s be careful not to forget what the Mass essentially is, and that’s the sacrifice of the Cross for the sake of the world. This is the Christian’s privileged work, which to forget—that is, to think the Mass is merely something for our comfort and not our duty—is spiritually devastating. Which may be one of the strange gifts of this pandemic: that we have the chance to remember what the Mass really is for. At least, that’s been part of my spiritual struggle.
That said, please know I’m deeply grateful and honored to serve as your priest. To be honest, I am simply unworthy of it; I apologize for my many mistakes. But know how hopeful I am, and that I already see a much brighter future for the Church and our Parish. There is a surprising, unsuspected grace in all this. Every day is better. Every day is beautiful. The Sacrifice of the Mass remains ceaselessly present in the Church. Love and the Spirit remain. We are still God’s people, and we still do what God’s people do. We remain St. Rita. We trust in her intercession. The Catholic Church is rock; don’t forget that. This is the grace of it, this beautiful Catholic reality of it. And it’s why all of this we’ve experienced, actually, is simply resurrection. Because we are the body of Christ and ours is the fullness of the faith.
And so, prayers for you, friends. See you Sunday, in person or online. And remember, we are always together in Christ’s sacred heart. So, let’s keep each other in our hearts too.
pax,
Fr. Joshua