My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The last two weekends at our two communion services, about 200 of the members of our parish family came to receive the Body of the Lord. It was so good to see those who came, even if it was behind a mask. The good news is that this weekend we will begin celebrating Mass again, and what a fitting time to do it. For this weekend we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, the feast of The Body and Blood of the Lord. On this feast we rejoice in a special way in the great gift that Christ makes of Himself to us in the Eucharist. In that gift, He shares his very life with us. He shares his victory over sin and death with us. He shares with us the pledge of eternal life with Him and with those who have gone before us in faith. He gives us this astounding gift in every Mass, and on this day, we reflect on and rejoice in that gift in a special way. I look forward to celebrating this reality with those of you who can come this weekend.
As we begin weekend Masses, we will start with two Masses: at 4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday. The 8 a.m. Sunday Mass will be re-instituted in the near future. Included with this letter and on the other parish communication sources, are the guidelines for assisting at Mass that will be in effect until COVID-19 is significantly diminished among us. Please study them and abide by them for your safety and the safety of others.
I pray to God for your continued well-being and ask your prayers in return. I also ask you to pray that the sad divisions that are rocking our nation may be healed. While lawlessness and violence must be rejected and punished, we must not lose sight of the underlying social problems that have given rise to this turmoil. In particular, we must face the continuing racism that infects our civil structures and still hides in the hearts of many people. Until that issue is faced and begins to be resolved, we can never move as a nation into the peace that the Lord wants for us and calls us to establish.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
+Bishop Christian