By now, hopefully all of you have been able to read Bishop Rhoades’ letter to the diocese outlining his plan for resuming the public celebration of Mass.  Here are the highlights of how we will do this at Christ the King:

Our first public Mass at Christ the King will be the 5pm Vigil Mass on Saturday, May 23rd. Beginning then, we’ll resume our usual Mass schedule:
Sunday: 7am, 8:45am, 10:30am, 12:15pm
Monday – Friday: 8:30am
Saturday: 8am, 5pm (Vigil)
This means that Monday May 25th will be our first weekday Mass.
Bishop Rhoades has dispensed the Sunday obligation through August 15th. Anyone who is unable or reluctant to attend Mass is free to do so, and we’ll continue to make our Masses available on our YouTube channel.
People 65 and older are strongly encouraged not to attend Mass, as are people with a higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Of course, anyone with symptoms should refrain from attending Mass.
Strict social distancing will be enforced at all Masses.
Overflow Masses will be held in the gym for the 5pm Vigil, 8:45am and 10:30am Masses. Once the allotted spaces are filled in the church, all people will be directed to the gym.
All parishioners who are able to wear masks are expected to do so. This is not only for your own safety, but for the safety of everyone around you.
Children’s Liturgy of the Word will not resume until the Governor declares that children are allowed to gather for school.
We will resume the public safety measures we had in place before the closure:
The Precious Blood will not be distributed.
Only clergy will distribute Holy Communion. No EMHC’s, MC’s or altar servers will be […]

Updates:  Just a reminder to take a look at Bishop Rhoades’ letter about resuming public Masses, if you haven’t already:  https://todayscatholic.org/public-liturgies-to-resume-with-restrictions-for-safety/   Here are the highlights of our plans at Christ the King:

Sunday Masses will resume beginning with the 5pm Vigil on Saturday, May 23rd.
Weekday Masses will resume on Monday, May 25th.
Seating in the church will be limited.  Overflow Masses will be held in the gym at 5pm (Saturday), 8:45am, and 10:30am.
All parishioners will be asked to wear masks.
People 65 and older, as well as those with underlying health conditions, are encouraged to stay home.
More details to come next week!

Happy Easter!  We can still say that, because we’re still in our 8-day celebration of the Easter Octave!  I hope that this has been a joyous week in your homes.  I know that we’re still in a time when many people are worried about many things, not the least of which are their health and their security; but perhaps if Easter has provided some much-needed joy and consolation this past week, then we can really take to heart how our only true consolation comes from the Lord, and not from the things of this life.

This weekend is bittersweet here at the rectory, because Deacon Gil was supposed to celebrate his first Mass on Sunday.  His ordination, like many other things, has been postponed, so now he’ll be ordained on September 5th, and he will celebrate his first Mass on September 6th at the 12:15pm Mass.  While I know he’s more than ready to be ordained, I also know that he’ll continue to make an enormous contribution to the life of our parish as a deacon until that day finally arrives.  Please include Deacon Gil and his three classmates in your prayers during their longer-than-expected deacon year.

On a personal note, I can tell you that, as much as I can’t wait for us to be able to celebrate Mass together again, there are many things for which I’m very thankful in the wake of this quarantine.  I’m thankful for our schoolteachers, who have poured themselves into their eLearning classes.  We’ve always known that we have a committed, caring and professional faculty at our school, but over this past month I think we all have a new appreciation for just how dedicated they really are.  I’m grateful to […]

Suffice it to say, this just might be the strangest Holy Week most of us will ever experience.  I know that some of our parishioners know people who have been directly impacted by the coronavirus.  But even for those who haven’t, the experience of being under a stay-at-home order is a drastically different experience for most of us.

From a faith standpoint, it seems even more disheartening that this experience includes Holy Week.  Holy Week is a climax of the liturgical year.  Especially if we’ve been really committed to our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, Holy Week is a time when we Catholics have our game faces on!  We begin the week with Palm Sunday, recalling the Lord’s Passion and receiving blessed palms that we keep in our homes for the whole year.  And that all leads up to the true high point of the year, the Sacred Triduum, where we journey with the Lord from the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, through His Passion and death on Good Friday, all leading up to His triumphant Resurrection from the dead at the Easter Vigil and the other Easter Masses.  From the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, to the veneration of the cross on Good Friday, to the baptism of our elect at the Easter Vigil, there are so many things that we will miss out on.  We could certainly be excused for thinking that it doesn’t “feel” like Holy Week.

But (without trying to make too much lemonade, here…) perhaps this situation is an opportunity to enter into Holy Week in a new and different way.  Perhaps the feeling of being stuck in our homes can help us understand how the Apostles felt, […]

It is strange to write this bulletin column knowing that almost no one will read it in print.  We’re about a week-and-a-half into our parish closure, and I think most of us would say that this is unlike anything we’ve experienced before.  For many of our parishioners who work in health care, they are working overtime at a breakneck pace.  For others, they are largely confined to their homes.  Either way, I doubt there are any of us who haven’t been seriously affected; every one of us certainly has an extra cross to carry this Lent.

And yet, even with all of the distress that the Cross carries, I’ve been in a privileged position to see this ordeal bring out a lot of good in us.  So many people have let me know how painful it is to be deprived of the Mass, and as painful as that is, it’s also been inspiring to see the deep love that so many of you have for the Mass and the Eucharist.  It’s a powerful reminder to me that when I’m praying my Mass in private each day, that I’m praying it with and for each of you who can’t join me in person.

I’ve also witnessed an awful lot of good in different exchanges I’ve had with parishioners who have dealt with this crisis in some powerful ways.  We have parishioners who have set routines of daily prayer with their spouse or family, far beyond what they’d ever done before.  We have parishioners who are reaching out to others who might be alone or anxious.  We have parishioners who’ve searched for creative ways to help other people, even with the restrictions we have on our movement.  We have […]