With the news of the Delta variant of the covid virus being as threatening sounding as it is. It is best for us to be safe and prudent in our decision making regarding the further opening of the parish and activities. Confident that we can maintain safe social distance, and with the air ionizing system that we have installed throughout the complex seeming to be effective, we do still feel safe with the current and projected capacities in school and the church. While there is no current mandate on wearing masks to attend Mass, certainly I do want to encourage you to do so to the extent that you are comfortable with them. Obviously the school will have to follow the state and diocesan mandates on this regard. Hopefully round-four of the pandemic will be easier to deal with than the previous ones. For the most part all we can do is be careful and make wise decisions. We are all tired of the restrictions, but dropping our guard may just cause more problems than it will solve.
This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother, and as a diocese we not only observe our Patroness but are also celebrating the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Trenton by Pope Pius IX on August 2, 1881. Bishop Michael Joseph O’Farrell, born in Limerick, Ireland and ordained as a priest in New York, was named first bishop of the diocese.
This week we have the Anointing of the Sick Mass on Tuesday, August 17th at 7:00 p.m. We invite the chronically ill, the elderly, and those undergoing treatment for serious illness or awaiting surgery, to attend to be anointed. Father AL and I will be making visits to the Willows and the Bay Shore Health Care Center to anoint the Catholic residents over the next few weeks. Given the eventuality that they will be closed again we want to be able to make sure that all of the residents have been anointed.
It’s hard to believe that the opening of school is just three weeks hence, but the summer has indeed sped by. We have done some internal work in the building this summer. We switched out carpeting in some of the classrooms and the offices. We moved the nurse’s office into the third wing, and moved the faculty room to a larger space. The vice-principal’s office has been moved to the main office complex. The small math classroom in the first wing has been expanded to include what was formerly the vice-principal’s office. What we are all anticipating now is the delivery and installation of the mobile classrooms that will house two sections of PreK-3. There are still some spaces available in the school if you are interested. Make contact with the school office for information.
Due to the increased daily Mass attendance, and the limited number of viewers for the daily live-streamed Mass, we have phased out the broadcasting of daily Masses. We will continue with Sunday’s, holy days, special events, including weddings and funerals (as per request) but there is no need for us to broadcast every day. I want to thank Lori Ulrich, and her team of volunteers, for their dedication to the live-stream of the daily Masses since March of 2020. It was a great benefit to our parishioners, especially during the lockdown. If the situation changes dramatically we will return to the broadcast, but for now there is no need to do so.
The Saturday 9:00 a.m. Mass was also discontinued when the pandemic started. We are revisiting the implementation of this Mass and will make a final decision shortly. Always less attended than the other weekday Masses, we were the only one in the area at the time we stopped. We will definitely celebrate a Mass at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 11th in memory of those who lost their lives that day, and for those who continue to grieve and suffer from that fateful day.
I hope everyone is enjoying these closing days of the summer vacation,
Fr. Garry