May 1 update from Fr. Sean

Parish Update – Friday, May 1 from Fr. Sean

Happy feast day of  St. Joseph, the Worker! We had a beautiful celebration this morning at Mass to honor St. Joseph and also to reconsecrate our parish and our country under the patronage of his spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary. We topped it off with a Marian crowning, too, so if you missed it, we invite you to watch the Mass and ceremony archived on our Facebook page.

I know there are a lot of questions following my announcement on Wednesday that we will soon resume public masses. I’ll get to many of the details in just a moment, but first a quick reminder that we celebrate the  4th Sunday of Easter this weekend. It’s Good Shepherd Sunday, too, as we hear the Gospel from St. John that Jesus is the “gate” through which all must enter. Let us resolve to pass through Him so as to move into his marvelous light and so be saved.

A few other items for your attention before we get to the procedures for Mass:

• Join us for the livestream Mass this Sunday, May 3 at 9 a.m. on our Facebook and YouTube pages or at  www.ctrcc.com/live-stream. You'll find the worship aid for Mass on that page as well.  Remember that our Mass is still closed to the public this Sunday. We do not resume public Masses until Monday, May 4, and our first Sunday mass open to the public is not until the following weekend.

• Registration for Religious Education for the fall is open as of today, May 1. Please visit  www.ctrcc.com/re for information and to register your children in grades Pre-K 3 – 6th. I know it seems far off in that we don’t start until September, but I still encourage parents to take care of this now. You’ll get the best selection of days and time if you register online now.

• We are hosting a Blood Drive next Wednesday, May 6 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Parish Hall. CtR has always been a big supporter of the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and they are in dire need of blood at this time. You must register in advance for this special drive. No walk-ins will be accepted. The Blood Center team that will be here working will follow all social distancing measures. To register in advance, visit  www.ctrcc.com/events/blooddrive

• I had an excellent virtual online meeting with our Parish Pastoral Council last night to get their input on our procedures and they were a great help to me. My sincere thanks for the wise counsel of the Council! I’m also grateful to our parish Pastoral staff who has worked extra hard to help us get ready for this new reality. They are wonderfully generous with their time and talent to serve our community.

O.K, here is the scoop about Phase I of resuming public masses at CtR. Remember, this will be a phased-in return to Mass. We’re starting by only opening up to the 25 percent capacity at Mass (for us, that equates to about 300 people) with a revised schedule of the number of masses. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will monitor the progress at all parishes, and Cardinal DiNardo will make a determination when we move to Phase II and open up to more people and more masses.

• First and foremost, it’s important to remember that at this time  the faithful are still dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. No one is required to come, either to daily or Sunday Mass. It is not sinful to miss Mass at this time.

•  Our revised weekend Mass schedule beginning next weekend (until further notice) will be as follows: Saturday, 5 p.m.*; Sunday, 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. only. There will be no 7 or 11 a.m. Mass at this time.

•  Please note the * for the Saturday vigil Mass. We are going to reserve that Mass exclusively for those age 60 and older. While no one is required to come, and those who are older are advised by the authorities to take extra precautions, we’re going to designate that the Saturday Mass be reserved just for our older parishioners who nonetheless want to come to get out and come to church. I ask all younger parishioners and families to please be considerate of this schedule. While we won’t check IDs at the door, let’s allow our older folks to have this Mass for themselves, not unlike what is happening at several of the grocery stores.

• Daily Mass will continue to be Monday – Friday at 9 a.m. Daily Mass will move to the main church beginning on Monday until further notice.

•  The daily 9 a.m. Mass during the week and on Sunday morning will continue to be livestreamed via Facebook and YouTube. Nothing is changing in that regard.

• Because of the social distancing requirements, our church will only be able to hold up to 300 attendees per Mass. Once that quota is filled, we’ll have some (but not much) overflowing seating in the Parish Hall for viewing via the livestream.

We’re not going to take “reservations” for Mass or limit by alphabet, at least at this time. Let’s see how it goes at first. We may very well make adjustments as we go forward, but for now, we’re going to take it day-by-day. We may get to the point where so many want to attend that we’ll need to stagger people by days, so please be patient and understanding.  If you can’t get in on Sunday, you might consider coming to one of the weekday masses if your schedule permits.

• Here are some of the liturgical adaptations that will be in place beginning on Monday, May 4. We may make adjustments to these guidelines after a few days once we see how it is working (or not working), so please be patient:

•  All those attending Mass are required to wear face coverings.

• We’ll use only the side double doors nearest the Parish Hall for entrance into the church. All other doors will be available for exiting, but we’re going to line up under the walkway by the Parish Hall so we can keep an accurate count of how many enter. Doors will open 30 minutes before each Mass.

• The Baptismal font will remain empty at this time. There is no holy water for you to dip your fingers in, but we encourage you to make the sign of the cross nonetheless as you enter into the church.

• You’ll be directed to an available pew by an usher, and, at the conclusion of Mass, dismissed section by section.  You’re not going to be able to pick “your pew” and you may be seated in area other than where you “always sit.” We will leave an empty pew between every occupied pew.

• Again, we ask for your patience and understanding as we work through this. To aid you, we’ve left in place the pictures you sent in on the pews that will be restricted. So if you see someone’s picture in a pew, don’t sit on top of them! That will be a good rule of thumb to follow to help us maintain proper distance. If there are other people seated in your pew (as some of our pews are quite long), keep six feet of distance from those who are not in your same household. Of course, you may sit together as a family.

• There are to be no gatherings in the Narthex or outside before or after Mass.

• The nursery will not be available during Masses until further notice and the Quieting Room will not be open.

• Collection baskets will not be passed during the offertory. We ask you to place your weekly tithe in the basket in the narthex as you enter or exit the church, but of course,  we strongly encourage you to give electronically through Faith Direct or PayPal. Envelopes may also be dropped off or mailed to the parish office. Thank you for your continued support of CtR in these days.

• Unless it is with your immediate family, we ask you not to hold hands during the praying of the Our Father, and the Sign of Peace will be a simple nod or wave with no hand-shaking.

• Communion will only be distributed by the priests, not the deacons or lay ministers. We’re planning on two main aisles, but the flow will likely be different than we usually use at CtR. The presiding priest will explain at Mass.

•  We encourage you to bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer and use it before coming forward for communion.

• As you come forward for Holy Communion, you should be wearing a mask. Keep your mask on all the time up to and including when the priest places the Body of Christ in your open palm. (There is no reception on the tongue at this time, per Cardinal DiNardo’s directive.) After you receive communion, step to the side, remove your mask, consume the host, and then replace your mask and return to your pew. There will be no distribution of the Blood of Christ (the cup).

• After Mass, we’ll dismiss you by section and pew. The clergy will not shake hands in the narthex, but we’ll be there to give you a big wave and smile from behind our masks! We ask you not to stay or linger in the narthex to visit with friends, as much we long to do so, but rather head directly to your vehicle. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to congregate after Mass, but for now, let’s play it safe.

• We will continue to implement cleanliness and sanitizing practices, including disinfecting pews to the extent we are able between every Mass. That's the reason we've changed the Mass schedule to allow enough time for us to clean properly. Disinfecting bathrooms, door handles, and other frequently touched surfaces will take place multiple times throughout the day.

• Beginning Monday, May 4, the chapel (old church) will be open daily for private prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (on Sundays, until 4 p.m.), but space there too will be limited by social distancing guidelines. The Blessed Sacrament will not be exposed.

• The Sacrament of Reconciliation is always available by appointment by emailing  priests@ctrcc.com. We’re happy to accommodate your schedule. Beginning next Saturday, May 9, we will resume our regular time for confessions of 9- 10 a.m. on Saturdays in the church. We will not use the confessionals, however. We’ll have more to come in that regard.

• Any weddings and funerals that are scheduled will follow these same procedures in terms of attendance and social distancing requirements.

• Additional information will be forthcoming regarding our plans for the celebration of the other Sacraments of Initiation (Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmation). Please note that the Mass of Confirmation that was scheduled for Tuesday, May 5 has been postponed indefinitely pending further information from Cardinal DiNardo’s office. Likewise, the First Communion Mass scheduled for Saturday, May 9 is canceled. We will work with our First Communion families to celebrate masses for the children just as soon as we can.
 
• Out of love and charity to our neighbors, please do not come to Mass if you are showing any symptoms of sickness.  Those at high-risk or with pre-existing conditions are highly encouraged to stay at home during this Phase I of re-opening. Remember, no one is required to come. The dispensation from Mass is still in effect. Let us all continue to pray for those who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through illness, economic hardship, or fear and anxiety.

We are grateful for your continued support, patience, understanding, and prayers during this most challenging time. May God bless us all.

St. Joseph, the Worker, pray for us!

Peace, Fr. Sean
#weareCtR