Parish Update

The following changes will occur on March 1st. 

• Mask exemptions for medical reasons will be permitted for those attending Mass however masks for everyone else will still be required.
• Physical distancing will be lifted for Mass.  All pews will be open.
• Registration to attend Mass will no longer be required.
• No more contact tracing.
• Congregational singing will be permitted.
• To receive communion parishioners will go to the front of the church.  
• We are now permitted to receive communion on the tongue. (this is an amendment to the video where Fr. Tim talks about not being able to receive on the tongue)
• We will have full processions on weekends. 

Will we be taking up collections again during the Offertory?

• We are trying to encourage parishioners to give electronically and to move away from giving with cash and envelopes however we are grateful to anybody to give in whatever way they can.   We will therefore have baskets at the entrances to the church for those that wish to give with cash or envelopes.  During the offertory song, ushers will consolidate the baskets into one basket and bring it  up to the front of the church and then put this into the safe.  
• The bread and wine will once again be brought up to the front of the church during offertory. 

Will our church be doing anything special for Lent?

• We will not have a Lenten mission this year.
• On March 19th the Companions of the Cross Seminarians will be putting on a free School of Evangelisation retreat and mission.  We would like to encourage our parishioners to attend.  You can register from the Companions of the Cross website https://companionscross.org.
• During Lent we will have Stations of the Cross on Friday’s following the 9am Mass.
• We will film the 1st Stations of the Cross and post it on our website during Lent for those that would like to pray it from home.
• We’ll have Mass on Saturday, March 19 at 9am to celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph.
• Friday, March 25 is the Solemnity of the Annunciation.  Only once every 7 years do we get to eat meat on a Friday during Lent.  
• Thursday, March 24 we will have all night adoration. 

Will the Atrium reopen?  

• We are hoping to eventually open the Atrium, the kitchen, and to figure out the logistics of food since the mask mandate is still on.  We’ll take time to figure that out during Lent.
• We may be able to have the odd meeting without food with a smaller amount of people in the Atrium.  Deacon Kevin will work that out with the different ministry leaders.
• We will have children’s liturgy (children 4-7) in the Atrium every 2 weeks during the 9am Mass.
• We will fully open the Atrium but not all at once. 

Will the Office reopen? 

• A lot of the staff have been working off site during the pandemic.  We will let staff get used to working in the office again, maybe start with onsite staff meetings.
• We are looking at having the office gradually reopen as we work with staff to figure out the logistics of all that is required.
• For now, the office will remain open virtually. 

Last year around Pentecost Parish Council launched a 5-year plan with a        
mission, vision, and values statement, do we have an update on that? 

• Parish Council and Finance Council have been working very hard · Started up CCO Faith Study groups and on-line Alpha.
• For more details on what has been happening please check out the website this weekend.
• The Parish Council have an update on their work, plans for moving forward, and the Finance Council have their annual report available on the website.
• Our goal to learn how to become better missionary disciples, requires us to think about the journey and the steps we will take on our path for example, faith studies, Alpha, smaller communities.
• Break down our pathway into bite sized fellowship to keep accountable, faithful, and encouraged.  
• All in support of our 5-year plan as a parish. 

Are there any other updates you’d like to share with the Parish? 

• There’s a lot going on in people’s lives right now, things don’t seem to be easy, there’s a lot of division.
• People are experiencing struggles with difference of opinions or health issues, different stresses.
• As we enter into the season of Lent, I encourage people to pray for each other, avail ourselves of confession and Eucharistic adoration as it’s offered throughout Lent, find the time to do extra spiritual things, use this time in Lent to pray a lot.
• As a Parish we want to advance things with our vision and mission, so keep praying for each other and be merciful to one another
• Together we will put our best foot forward and God will use us to be what he needs us to be in this time.