A limited Mass schedule will return to St Mary this weekend. No sign-up will be required, but there will be social distancing and masks required to attend Mass. We will have a 5pm Vigil Mass on Saturday, then a 7am, 8:30am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, and a 2:30pm Spanish Mass on Sunday at St Mary. We will also offer a 8:30am and 10:30am Sunday Mass at Holy Cross Academy using the boxes as we have the past month. FOR MASSES AT HOLY CROSS GOING FORWARD, FOR THOSE AT RISK, WE WILL BE CONTINUING TO VERY STRICTLY ENFORCE MASKS AND AT HOLY CROSS COMMUNION WILL ONLY BE OFFERED IN THE HAND, SO IF YOU WANT TO COME TO MASS BUT WANT TO BE EXTRA CAUTIOUS, PLEASE CONSIDER HOLY CROSS. There will be no sign-up required at Holy Cross starting this weekend.
In addition, our weekday Mass schedule will be resuming as normal on Monday June 15. This means we will have a 6:30am, 9am, and 12pm Mass on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and a 6:30am and 9am Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Daily Mass on Saturday will be at 9am starting Saturday June 20. Social distancing and masks will be required for all Masses in the church.
The church will be sanitized after every Sunday Mass, as we have had at Holy Cross the past month. This means when Mass is over, please leave promptly so the cleaners can wipe down all the surfaces. Ushers will still be giving directions and seating people, please continue to give them respect and comply with their requests. Please remember to leave 6 feet between people coming in and leaving Mass. Because of the continued need for social distancing, the seating capacity will be greatly reduced. No standing room will be provided. Please arrive to Mass early.
Our streaming Masses will continue at 9am in English every weekday and Saturday for the foreseeable future, and at 8:30am on Sunday. As always, they will stream on our Facebook page. Click the link here to see the Mass Streaming Page. A dispensation from your obligation to attend Mass remains in effect. If you feel even a little unwell, or are in the high risk group, are the caretaker or live with someone in the high risk group, or feel apprehension about going out in public until the pandemic has passed, then please take advantage of watching the Mass on our live stream.
This week has been unlike any other in my lifetime.
All people of good will looked in horror, shock and anger at the video of George Floyd pleading for his life with his last breaths. Msgr. Charles Pope wrote that this “moment of shared outrage and unified demands for action has so quickly devolved into partisan hatred, venomous blame-game accusations, racial strife and bitter division.” Ouch.
I am your called by God to be your pastor, shepherd, and father. I condemn racism, violence, rioting, and theft. I applaud working, demonstrating and speaking for justice. I applaud those who live lives of public service protecting society.
To borrow from G.K. Chesterton, when asked “what is wrong with the world?” the answer is “I am.”
We will not have substantial change unless we can change hearts. Satan prowls throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls and he does so through deadly sins: pride, anger, envy, greed, gluttony, lust, and sloth. I condemn all sin. And I condemn it first while looking in the mirror.
But none of us can change our hearts on our own. The battle is too ferocious, the wounds too deep, and the weapons of the enemy are too strong. Jesus Christ has given us the only thing that can change hearts: Himself.
I exhort you to root out resentment and bitterness from your own soul. These are the feeding ground of sin and the playground of the devil. The group with whom I served as a missionary in Mexico prayed every morning as a part of their morning prayers, “I renounce Satan and all his works and I bind myself to you Jesus Christ forever.” The world needs you and me to live what we profess.
You likely know the songs from the 70’s “The Lord Hears The Cry of the Poor,” and “Taste and See.” Did you know that they both come from Psalm 34? In this time of pandemic we have a greater hunger than ever for social justice and for the Bread of Life.
This poor one cried out and the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he saves them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him.
