The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities, news, developments, and whatever else in the midst of a world-wide pandemic and social distancing. While it looks like we are beginning to emerge from some of this, there seems to be much yet undone. Let me discuss, briefly, some church developments.
We opened last week for private prayer and devotion. It has gone well. The chapel has not been close to capacity at any time, while there is still a steady stream of visitors. Everyone has followed the directives and overall it has been good. Thank you!
We are still (as of this writing, but things do change rapidly) closed for sacramental celebrations. So, still no decision on Confirmation. Baptisms and weddings remain on hiatus. We are still conducting funeral services in Funeral Homes and/or graveside only. When it changes, we will advise and adapt accordingly.
We are permitted out door Masses but we have decided against this for the following reasons.
Allow me to quote from Father JM’s email to me in response to the Bishop’s letter. “If we do say Mass outside, it has to be by the baseball field becauseof how the parking spots are set up. With that, we need to move a lot of things including musical instruments and sound system and we do not know what the weather would be like (even just a windy day can totally affect the whole celebration). Second, after two rows of cars, the 3rd row would not be able to see it anyway especially if the car in frontis an SUV or a truck. Third, the ability to broadcast sound in the whole parking lot will be challenging. Again, if we get a windy day, it will affect the flow of sound waves. And ifyou can't see what's happening already and can't hear clearly, it's not worth it. Fourth, I think we still need to livestream it anyway for those who may not still want to go to Church. Doing it outside will be challenging (set up location, cables connecting it to the sound system, wireless connection, etc.).” I think that is succinct. And, I must say that as I write this, 40 mile winds are blowing outside the window. I watched one outdoor Mass live-streamed and the celebration, because of some of the above factors was more distracting than reverent.And this brings me to the real point.
While I thought about outdoor Mass previously and seemed favorable to it, I am concerned about the lack of genuine reverence for the Mass itself. We are called to “active participation” which is difficult sitting in your car. We are called to a sense of awe and reverence, which is hard. The idea of distributing Holy Communion to people in their cars as they pull out of the parking lot just seems like pick-up at McDonald’s. There is no time for prayer or reflection afterwards. Honestly, I believe we will be back in church soon enough. We don’t want a liturgical circus in the parking lot.From a purely environmental perspective, I was turned-off at the thought of two hundred cars idling in the parking lot for an hour.
We have done well with the live-streaming and I think we can keep that going instead of attempting to move this outside.
Thanks for your patience and for understanding,
Father Garry