Hello everybody!
Great news from the Center for Disease Control yesterday! Our Operations Team was already scheduled to meet and discuss changes based on the latest guidance from Archbishop Kurtz and we met this morning with the additional news from the CDC and Governor Beshear for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
As a parish community, we continue to be concerned for your health and safety. You are our family. We are grateful for your cooperation and dedication to our procedures for safe and reverent worship and for our parish meetings. It has not always been easy, but I commend our parish community for the efforts we have made together. Thank you! The new policies shift some of the focus to your personal responsibility for your own health and making wise decisions that protect you and others. We trust you to continue to be conscientious in your actions and behaviors. As we make changes, we hope that we can also extend grace to all, whatever their personal decisions will be, and not let the changes be a source of division.
With the new guidance, we will open seating in three of our sections to every row and no longer require a certain number of seats between households. The section to the right as you enter the church will continue to be seating in every other row and we ask you to maintain three seats between households in that section. For social distancing, this allows you to determine your own comfort level and choose to sit where you feel most safe.
For those who are vaccinated and have passed the two week time after your last shot, masks are no longer required. If you have not been vaccinated, we ask that you continue to wear your mask at all liturgical and parish events. Of course, we welcome you to continue to wear a mask based on your own decision for your safety. Besides Mass, meetings and other parish activities will accommodate those who should wear masks and social distance, but there are no longer requirements for those who have been vaccinated. The operations of the school and youth events have their own sets of guidelines that will be followed and we ask that you continue to follow the specific guidance for those events and activities. Whether you are fully vaccinated or not, if you are experiencing any Covid-19 symptoms, including fever, please stay home and avoid contact with others. While we are obliged to honor your privacy for vaccinations and other health issues, it is incumbent upon you to act responsibly. We continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated for the common good of our society. There are sincere moral questions about the vaccines and we encourage you to ask one of our priests or reference the guidance from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/us-bishop-chairmen-doctrine-and-pro-life-address-use-johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine).
It has been a long journey, but we are filled with hope for a new beginning! May God continue to bless you and our parish community. The grace of God has been evident during this pandemic and God’s love has shone forth through you.
Peace,
Fr. Jeff
