With the re-opening of church this weekend, I thought I would address a few changes that are being implemented in accordance with the Archbishop’s directives.
- The Archbishop has maintained the dispensation from attending Mass until further notice. This means that you are not sinning by not attending or watching Sunday Mass. The commandment to keep Sunday holy remains in place. You can fulfill this commandment by simply praying over the scriptures. We will continue to use Facebook Live to stream Mass at 9AM on Sundays. Afterwards, you can view this Mass at 10:30AM on our YouTube channel and participate later in the day. Keep Sunday Holy!
- Mass times have changed to Saturdays at 4PM and 6PM; Sundays at 7AM, 9AM, 11AM and 4PM — this will allow for more people to attend, and to allow for disinfecting between Masses. We obviously cannot guarantee that every single surface area is germ-free but we will be doing our best. I would encourage you NOT to touch any surface that you absolutely don’t need to. Don’t run your hand along the pew back as you’re going into or out of the pew; don’t use your hand to lower the kneeler, but use your foot instead. As we all learned in kindergarten, keep your hands to yourself. Just use some basic common sense and think about things before you do them!
- There is to be no congregational singing, but we can have a cantor and keyboard player. Hymnals have been removed from the church. Liturgy guides are not allowed. To implement these new guidelines, we will be singing short refrains that hopefully you will know if you choose to sing quietly or in your head. The responsorial psalm and Alleluia will be sung.
- Mass should only last 45 minutes. This will be a challenge for us, but we’re doing our best to anticipate how long various parts will be taking. This may be a work in progress! Some parts of the mass will be excluded such as the Gloria and possi-bly the creed. We will only speak other responses that we may normally chant. Homilies, if given at all, will be very short. I can hear the cheering from some of you for this!
- Masks are required. You will need to have your own mask to enter the building. Plain and simple — don’t come to Mass if you don’t want to wear a mask. No arguing. The priests will be wearing masks while distributing Communion. We have to look out for the health and safety for all. There is a link on our website to a CDC webpage that has instructions on how to make your own mask without sewing.
- We must maintain 6’ of social distancing at all times between people who are not in your family, throughout the Church and the Gathering Area. Every third pew is available for seating. Other pews will be roped off. Everyone will be seat-ed by an usher. You will not get to choose where to sit. There will only be one line for each person distributing Communion. Communion lines will go in different directions. All this to help maintain social distancing protocols.
- The first weekend or two will be by invitation only for Mass. We will be allowing our 2nd graders to receive their 1st Holy Communion, the adults in RCIA to enter into the church through baptism, 1st Communion and Confirmation, and we’re looking into ways to get our 8th graders confirmed. Please be patient. After that, or as Masses allow, we will be using a sign up method to attend. You will be able to sign up through our website or by calling the Parish Office. We are limited to about 250 people at each Mass (25% of our occupan-cy according to Archdiocesan policy).
- The Archdiocese consulted a team of physicians, mainly from KU Med (and Catholics), in drawing up their guidelines.
Check our website for updates throughout the week as plans and details evolve. Above all, remember patience as we work through this together. We’re all trying our best and in good faith to get eve-ryone to mass as soon as possible.