“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant, Jesus.” Ac 3,13

Dear parishioners,

This Sunday’s readings are full of the inspiration of the Songs of the Suffering Servant, but more about that in this Sunday’s homily.

The main thing I want to share with you is what we decided upon for resuming our distribution of communion to as many people as possible. We had announced in-vehicle attendance at certain masses, with distribution of communion after mass to people in parked vehicles. But we ran into problems. It turns out that people have to use a lot of data to access the live-streamed mass in their vehicles. The alternative, accessing it on their car radios, is taking a lot of time to set up. In the meantime, we’ve come up with what we think is a much better idea.

Effective this coming Wednesday, April 21, we will invite you to simply watch the live streamed mass from the comfort of your own home, and immediately after mass, to come to the church to receive communion in drive-through fashion. A priest or a eucharistic minister will be available, standing just outside the door that leads from the sanctuary to the parking lot, to distribute communion, for 30 minutes from the time mass ends. This service will be offered at the two Sunday masses at 11:15 and 3:00 p.m., as well as at three evenings masses, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, at 7:00 p.m. Note that on these three days of the week, there will be no morning mass. Pre-registration remains necessary, to control numbers and to ensure the possibility of contact-tracing, should there be exposure to the virus. We ask again that you please not combine people from different households in the same vehicle. And please don’t park, just join the line and drive through. Today, Sunday April 18th, will be the last day for in-vehicle attendance. The schedule, going forward, will be Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. live streamed mass. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 7:00 p.m. live streamed mass with drive-through communion for 30 minutes after the mass. And Sunday, 11:15 and 3:00 p.m. live streamed masses with drive-through communion for 30 minutes after mass.

We believe that most people will prefer this by far to in-vehicle attendance in any way, shape or form. At least we hope so.

We considered the idea of opening this up to “walk-through” communion, that is, those who live near the church would simply walk to church after mass to receive communion. We struggled with this a long time, and finally decided against it. In the present time of variants that are highly infectious and that cause grave illness, we simply cannot create situations with a potential for people who don’t live together to get too close to one another. Again, it breaks my heart that we are effectively barring people who don’t own a vehicle from receiving communion until our situation improves. But I believe that it will improve, and that while this precautionary measure is necessary, given the reality that is ours at the present time, it is also temporary. Remember that God is able to communicate to you all the graces He knows you need at this present time in countless ways other than communion. And at the risk of being swamped with requests, we will take appointments for communion here at the rectory, just as we do for confessions.

Our fundraising committee has come up with a new fundraiser that fits our pandemic times – an online 50/50 raffle! It was posted on April 12th, and you can buy tickets on that site until June 23rd, with a draw on June 25th at 1:00 p.m. The tickets are two for $15, six for $30, or fifteen for $60. The winner gets half the jackpot. The other half goes to our building fund. The link to the website is posted on all our sites. Look for a yellow ticket with “50/50” written on it. You can also access it directly from the following: https://stmarysschool.rafflenexus.com/s/te_5wJHJRB15D

For more information, contact Teresa Lung at [email protected]  

Finally, here is something that I’ve promoted before but that bears repetition, especially as we know that marriage relationships can be challenged in this pandemic time. It is called the “Wild Goose Marriage Academy”. It is a ministry entirely run by a couple, Paul and Carol Quist, who live in Edmonton. Their goal is to help Christian couples restore and/or enhance their relationship. I visited their website and it’s extremely appealing. All kinds of things are on offer. They chose the name “Wild Goose Marriage Academy” because wild geese mate for life, they are good parents, and because “Wild Goose” is a Celtic name for the Holy Spirit, and finally, because they are based in Canada! They are competent, having received a formation in marriage and family at the John-Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Please check out their website: www.wgmacademy.com I will try to have a link to their website posted on all our sites. As it happens, beginning this Wednesday April 21 at 6:00 p.m. our time, they are launching a series of 45-minute live streams, providing free, valuable and practical help for Christian couples.

Please, please, play it safe in this critical time. May God bless and keep us all safe.

Fr. Guy