“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply… They shall fear no longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.” Jer 23,4

Dear parishioners,

We can take this promise from today’s first reading as being addressed to us. Some day, we will be brought back, we will be gathered again, in our Church, in safety. But the day of our full return has not yet come.

I address myself today to all those who belong to prayer groups, or to ministries, in the parish. You must be wondering when your day will come to gather again. I haven’t forgotten you. I just feel that “there is a time for all things under the sun”, but that the time of any activity that involves a social gathering hasn’t yet come.

Let’s remember our situation. The delta variant of the Covid 19 virus is now pre-dominant, basically everywhere in the world. We all know how infectious it is, and that it causes very severe illness. Right now, all but two American states are reporting an increase in daily new cases, as is the Uk, where fully tweo thirds of the adult population have received two shots of vaccine. It’s only a question of time before our border opens up. When it does, it’s a virtual certainty that infected people will come to us from the U.S. or from elsewhere. Thanks be to God, many of us are fully vaccinated, but many are not. Less than half of Canadians are fully vaccinated. We don’t yet have the degree of community immunity that we need in order to prevent the delta variant from infecting those of us who are not fully immunized. The more time goes by, the more of us will be fully vaccinated, and for that reason, the lesser the odds that the unvaccinated will catch this deadly variant. I refer you to an excellent article in the National Post in the Saturday, July 17th edition of the Vancouver Sun, which outlines just how dire the Delta variant situation really is.

Let’s also remember that this is summer, after all. A time to relax. So it seems obvious to me that for the sake of the common good, we should hold off on gatherings, except for masses, baptisms, weddings, funerals, and very small choir rehearsals, until fall at the earliest. In September, hopefully, a very high majority of us will have received two doses, and we will all feel much safer gathering together. So let’s just hold off until we can gather together, feeling safe.

A reminder: as September approaches and God willing, the public health situation is better than it is now, and you begin to plan to resume your gatherings, be sure to book them with Lorna before your gatherings resume. Come September, we will also have new guidelines from Dr. Bonnie Henry with respect to the safety precautions that will apply to church gatherings in the fourth stage of our opening up, assuming it’s not postponed.

Until then, get vaccinated, keep safe, and God bless!

Fr. Guy