May 5, 2020
Dear Friends,
Greetings Holy People!
Every day I seem to get several emails all asking similar questions: When can we get back to Church? Can we start Eucharistic adoration? What will be different when we do get back to Church? Can I get my child baptized? When is First Communion going to be? And as much as I would like to give clear answers to those questions, it is impossible for me to do so at this time. This is what I do know and can say at this time:
· I have a video conference call tomorrow (Wednesday) with representatives of the Archdiocese. I believe there will be some guidance from Archbishop Thompson at that time.
·
According to the
Back on Track
Indiana Plan, Churches are exempt from the number of people allowed to gather in groups (currently at 25 persons). However, we are still required to practice social distancing. I believe that just because
we can
get back together sooner
does not
mean
we should
get back together sooner. We are gathering as much information as we can to know how and when to open as quickly as possible -- and as safely as possible.
·
At this time, Governor Holcomb is advising that while he is authorizing worship to take place in Churches May 8, he is still advising that
“Places of worship should continue using livestream, virtual services, and drive through services…
” (Revised Guidance for Places of Worship, Page 1).
·
We have three members of our pastoral team currently working on a plan for our parish and how we will move gradually away from the full shutdown state we are in right now. Their plan, coupled with the plan of the Archdiocese, will help us make the decisions we need to make here at JPII Parish.
·
Please be patient with us as we do the best we can in getting us back as safely and as quickly as possible.
In the meantime:
·
Use this time for spiritual growth.
Please check the parish homepage for a dozen things you can do to grow in your faith.
·
ALPHA
starts tomorrow (Wednesday). Come join us as we delve deeper into life’s big questions. Register online on the parish website.
·
WE STILL WANT TO SEE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
. We would like to include pictures of our parish families in future weekend Mass videos. To do so we need pictures. This can be a picture from last week or last year. It can be a new picture of your family on your front porch or an older picture of your family on vacation. We just want pictures. We will scroll through these pictures at some point in the video of the liturgy. Send them to
stewardship@stjohnpaulparish.org
. We are attempting to put around 30 pictures in each weekend video Mass.
·
Now that I believe I have figured out Facebook Live again,
Live Facebook Videos
(masses, etc) can be accessed by anyone, even if you do not have a Facebook account. Just go to:
www.facebook.com/stjohnpaulparish.org
to watch them live or afterwards. Our Facebook page is public and can be viewed by anyone with or without an account. Daily masses will continue to be posted on the Daily Worship page after the live mass and will be kept up until the next mass is available.
That’s it. Hope to see you soon!
Love,
Fr. Tom
