Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

I know many of you have been following us on social media, and even “attending” daily and weekend Masses on-line. I must say that at least for me this is a strange experience. While Masses without an Assembly have long been part of the tradition of the church, it is still unusual to not have the People of God present with us. It is especially strange preaching to an empty church. It reminds us of our preaching classes in the seminary, except that there is no critique at the end!

We have been doing our best to maintain some sense of “normal” around here, realizing that this is a totally new and strange normal. Different pastors are reacting differently, and the bishop has sent out some very specific and then also some very generic guidelines.

We are learning something new each day, and doing our best to adapt to changing situations. For practical reasons and social distancing concerns, the parish office is closed for daily business operations. We can still be reached by telephone, and we are monitoring messages. Likewise, we remain available for emergency situations, and for consolation in times of stress and grief.

I am certain that we are all learning something new each day. Spending time at home, alone or with our families provides new opportunities and challenges. Hopefully families are discovering new ways to relate to each other, to be sensitive to each other, and to love each other.

Sadly, many of us are also separated from family. Fear of transmitting the virus to elderly relatives keeps us away from them. Likewise, those who are residents of long-term health care facilities, who often rely emotionally on the regular visits of family, are also cut off from those encounters. A woman I know was denied the opportunity to be with her Mother this past week in her final hours due to visiting restrictions. That is very painful for her, and certainly will impact her mourning and ability to gain closure. There are countless others like her.

The “unintended consequences” of this shut down have also caused us to make some difficult decisions here. The loss of income from our weekly plate collection is going to have a negative impact on us going forward. If you are able, I ask that you please donate through WeShare, following the directions on the website. If you are not comfortable with that option, envelopes can be mailed in or dropped off at the office mailbox.

We are reducing expenses as much as we can. We have cancelled our spring planting, changed the cycle of lawn mowing, scaled back the cleaning services, and furloughed most of the hourly workers on the school side. We need to do what we need to do to be proactive. Personnel decisions were made through a directive from the diocese.

None of this is easy. It all involves real people and their livelihoods. I am also aware that many of you are on the negative side of this: losing a job, being furloughed, or seeing your hours reduced.

As an employer I know how terrible I felt having to make this decision, and I know how gut-wrenching it was for Mr. Donahue to have to communicate that to some members of the school staff. Together we will get through this. But we know it won’t be easy for us.

Let us continue to pray for one another.
Father Garry