Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

The Link To Sign Up to attend Mass in Person is HERE

The Link to Stream Mass online is HERE

 

Dear Folks,

The Feast of Pentecost is one that should give us great hope and enthusiasm for the living of the faith in the face of difficulty. One of the titles for the Holy Spirit is the Consoler. What an inspiration to know that God has this nickname which describes He Himself granting us His consolation! This is why it is a work of mercy to console the grieving. This week I received a lovely note from the Frasher family expressing gratitude for how our parish family consoled them when they lost their son recently. It is included in the bulletin today, and how fitting that we console one another in the Holy Spirit.

Additionally this week, we are announcing a hire that has been in the work since before the Corona upended our lives: our new assistant youth minister, Ian Heisler! He is a recent graduate of Christendom College and we are overjoyed to bring him onto staff beginning next weekend. As youth ministry slowly starts to get up to speed, he will have a few more of those “as assigned by pastor” tasks, but we are excited to have him coming on board!

And bummer, next weekend was to have been our parish picnic…. God willing we will find creative ways to celebrate together once we are able to circulate more freely.

Finally, we have been waiting with bated breath (or masked faces) for instructions from the Gov/CDC on what Phase Two will entail. Please be aware that we are doing our best to communicate what changes will result as soon as we know what the parameters are for our being able to gather safely. I do expect that we will have more information before next weekend…. so be aware that it could cause us to pivot as pertains to Mass times and/or locations.

Pax et bonum,

Fr. John Mosimann

The sign up for the next week’s masses can be found at the bottom of this post.  Please read the following rules before signing up:

1. SIGN UP IS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY FROM NOW ON–NO SIGN UP NEEDED FOR DAILY MASS ANYMORE. For the 12pm Daily Mass on Monday through Friday, we will no longer require a sign-up.  Instead we will be doing first come, first serve, until the building is full.  We have enough spots for 42 ‘households’.  We encourage you to arrive for daily Mass early.  If all the spots are filled, we will be turning people away for that day.
2. PUBLIC MASSES ARE AT HOLY CROSS ACADEMY: 250 Stafford Lakes Parkway.  This is to maximize possible attendance, allow for greatest health safety, and ensure we are able to abide by the directives from the bishop and governor for re-opening.
3. MASS TIMES ARE MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 12PM, 5PM SATURDAY, 8AM, 10, 12PM , AND 2PM BI-LINGUAL ON SUNDAY.
4. DO NOT COME TO MASS IF YOU FEEL UNWELL, OR HAVE FELT UNWELL IN THE PAST 14 DAYS. Even if you think it is only allergies, you could potentially put the health of your fellow parishioners, volunteer staff, and priests at risk if you come to Mass and don’t abide by this regulation.
5. EVERYONE MUST BRING A MASK AND WEAR IT AT ALL TIMES EXCEPT WHILE RECEIVING COMMUNION.
6. IF YOU ARE FROM A REGION IN PHASE 0 (NO PUBLIC MASSES PERMITTED YET), PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP AND COME TO PARISHES IN PHASE 1.  This would put everyone at risk.  Traveling to different region to attend Mass defeats the whole purpose of the quarantine.
7. YOU WILL BE SIGNING UP FOR a ‘BOX of SEATS’. To keep with the social distancing instructions, and in order to accommodate the largest number of people, we have divided the school gym into taped-off sections.  One Box = One Spot = ‘One Monastic Cell’ = seating for One Houshold (2, 4, or 6 chairs).  You are not required to keep social distance from the people you live with, so the boxes allow us to seat households together.  If you are coming as an individual, please don’t hesitate to sign up for one ‘box/spot’, and have your very own space.  Likewise a family of seven would need to sign up for 2 ‘boxes/spots’ (of 4 chairs each) to have sufficient chairs and safely social distance.
8. DON’T SIGN UP AND BRING FRIENDS INTO YOUR BOX.  That would violate the CDC’s social distancing guidelines.  If you don’t live in the same abode as the person, don’t bring them into your box.
9. PLEASE RESPECT THE USHERS.  If the ushers give you an instruction, it is because of the governor and bishop’s guidelines that we are responsible for enforcing in order to open up.  Everyone who comes to Mass has the right to their good health and to ensure this as best we can, we enforce the best practices and rules that we sent to us by the relevant authorities.  If you cannot or choose not to abide by these rules, then please watch Mass on Facebook at home.  The dispensation from attending Mass is still in effect for all people in the Diocese of Arlington, whether your parish has re-opened or not.  The link to the FACEBOOK LIVE STREAMS IS HERE.

The Link To Sign Up to attend Mass in Person is HERE

Dear Folks,

This Sunday is Ascension Sunday! Yes, He ascended on a Thursday (40 days after Easter), but the Church celebrates it today. I have often contemplated what it means that Christ gave the “power of the keys” to the Church. That the Church can really bind our conscience under pain of sin! This is because, it means that to obey the Church, is to obey Jesus Christ. So yes, if the Church cuts you slack by moving a Holy Day of Obligation to Sunday, then it is Jesus, who has granted you that dispensation. Just as it is now, Jesus (in the person of the bishop) who has granted you the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day!

Once this pandemic passes, the bishop will be obliged to restore the Sunday obligation. I know that will be a tough habit for some to resume, but essential nonetheless.

But back to the Ascension. I was contemplating this today, and an image that came to mind was ski boots. Ski boots? No, Jesus didn’t ski.

I first went skiing in seventh grade at Ski Liberty. Over the next years, even through college, I would go once a year. It always involved renting skis/boots/poles. Let me tell you, rented ski boots are the most uncomfortable footwear ever. (Ladies, please no arguments about high-heels, I will concede you that, possibility, as I could never know). The single greatest moment of relief when skiing: taking off the ill-fitting, chafing, unclean boots at the end of the day.

What does that have to do with the Ascension? How do you think that it felt for the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Lord of the Universe to put on our flesh? Our flesh is way too small for His omnipresence, way too limited in brain for His omniscience, and way to weak for His omnipotence. I wouldn’t ‘blame’ Him, if on resurrecting He took off our humanity like an ill-fitting pair of ski boots. But He didn’t, doesn’t, and won’t.

He took our feeble, finite, flimsy flesh and took it with Him to the right hand of the throne of God the Father! Having become one with us, He does not shake us off but has given our human nature an otherwise inconceivable dignity: union with God.I think we usually fail to grasp the significance of God becoming man. A happy and blessed Ascension Sunday to you.

Pax et bonum,

Fr. John Mosimann