November 20, 2020
Dear Friends,
New Information:
Coronavirus Surge: With the current surge in Covid-19 cases in Clark County, in Indiana and throughout the country, Archbishop Thompson has asked us to eliminate in person meetings as much as possible in our parishes until at least the first of the year. The following measures will take place her at JPII:
· Our school has moved to E-learning until at least January. (Because of this our Wednesday morning Mass is once again open to all parishioners.)
· Our Faith Family nights are doing the same.
· All athletic programs are cancelled until further notice.
· All parish meetings (including Bible Studies and Discipleship Groups) will be virtual
via Zoom or some other platform.
· ALPHA (in person) will be rescheduled when it is safe to do so.
· Masks are required if you are visiting the parish office.
Mass Protocols: In person Masses will continue under the current protocols. As I have done from the time of the CDC recommendation, I am asking all people to wear a mask during all of our Masses. Masks are required throughout the entire Mass at both 5 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. At the other Masses, I encourage everyone to wear their masks especially while singing and responding. If this current surge continues to worsen, we may move to a requirement that all people wear masks throughout all of the Mass at all Masses.
Hopefully, this goes without saying. If you are experiencing any symptoms of covid-19 or have been diagnosed with Covid-19, please refrain from coming to Mass. According to Mayoclinic.org, common signs and symptoms can include: Fever, Cough, Tiredness...Early symptoms of COVID-19 may include a loss of taste or smell. Other symptoms can include: Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, Muscle aches, Chills, Sore throat, Runny nose, Headache, Chest pain, and Pink eye (conjunctivitis). This list is not all inclusive. Other less common symptoms have been reported, such as rash, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have mild illness. If you are unsure, please error on the side of caution, stay home and join us for Mass online.
We will continue to use the Mass Reservation System for our weekend Masses. We will not use it for our Thanksgiving Day Mass or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We will use them for our Christmas Masses and are currently working out the details of how to safely have Masses at Christmas time.
There will be no adoration on Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. There will be no noon Mass on Friday, November 27, 2020.
JPII Parish will not have a Communal Penance Service for Advent. However, I will be adding the additional times for confessions. These are in addition to our regular Friday (11:00 a.m.-11:40 a.m.) and Saturday (3:00 p.m.-3:40 p.m.) The additional times are:
Tuesdays, 12/1; 12/8; 12/15 and 12/22 at 5:30-6:15 p.m.
Wednesdays, 12/2; 12/9; 12/16 and 12/23 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Just a Reminder…
United Catholic Appeal: The Archdiocese has kicked off the United Catholic Appeal. There are many ministries in the Church that individual parishes do not have the staff to support. So what do we do? We team together with all the other parishes in the Archdiocese and we work together. Things like seminarian education, St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities, taking care of our retired clergy, etc. This week in the mail you received information and a pledge card. You can return that to the parish via the collection baskets or simply mail it back to the Archdiocese in the envelope provided.
Eucharistic Adoration is held every week at the St. Joe Hill Chapel beginning on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and continuing until the noon Mass on Friday. Everyone is invited to stop by St. Joe Hill Chapel during that time and spend time with the Lord.
Faith Direct and Collection Envelopes As a result of the Coronavirus, many of our parishioners have moved to online giving through Faith Direct. This has been tremendously helpful for us and I thank you for considering it. As a result of this some have asked if we would take them off the envelope distribution list. We only do that if you request us to do so. It does not happen automatically. If you would like to discontinue your envelopes, please contact Barbara Smith in the parish office (812) 246-2512 or at bsmith@stjohnpaulparish.org.
I’ll Be Glad When All this is behind Us In fact; I want to celebrate with a 7-day Hawaiian Cruise. I have set a cruise date of January 8-15 of 2022. Everyone is invited. We have added an additional 10 cabins (at a slightly higher price). Contact Fr. Tom or Jamie Zimmer at Bliss Travel for more information.
Be safe,
Fr. Tom
