“As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.” Ps 123

Dear parishioners,

These words from this Sunday’s psalm are fitting for these troubled times. We are experiencing here in the Church in Vancouver the ripple effect of the residential school crisis. The heat wave and the destruction of the village of Lytton make us acutely aware of just how vulnerable and helpless we are as human beings. And the pandemic, while it appears to be under control in our province, rages on elsewhere in the world. As we open up our churches with few restrictions, let us indeed turn our eyes to the Lord our God, that he might show us some kind of mercy.

As you all know by now, we have been opened up for full attendance, effective immediately. I had hoped that this coming Sunday would be, for St. Mary’s, a transitional Sunday, but the archbishop has said no to that. So you are all welcome at all masses this Sunday, with the exception of the 9:30 a.m., which we will re-introduce next Sunday, July 11. No pre-registration required anymore.  Please ignore the special pastor’s corner that I put out yesterday or the day before.

The obligation to attend Sunday mass on a regular basis will be re-instated effective next Sunday, July 11th. This being said, if your reason for not attending mass is that you’re not fully vaccinated, such that you’re afraid of catching and spreading the virus, or that your children aren’t vaccinated, and you’re afraid of their catching and spreading the virus, then you’re on solid ground. Do what you feel is right.

Masks are recommended for all people 12 and older who are not fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated means you are 14 days beyond the day of your second dose. I would recommend that everyone, fully vaccinated or not, wear masks while inside the church, if only for the reassurance of those who feel unsafe.

Since all are welcome and there is no requirement that we gather contact information, pre-registration is a thing of the past. The ushers will greet you upon arrival, invite you to sanitize your hands, and ask you to distance yourself as much as possible from people not of your own household. Technically, social distancing is no longer required, but it strikes me as being prudent to continue to practice it to the extent possible.

The bathrooms have been re-opened, both in the church and in the church basement.

Disinfecting the area you have occupied in the pew is no longer required. However, for everyone’s reassurance, we have had the pews, bathrooms, and all frequently touched surfaces treated with an anti-microbial substance that kills all bacteria and all viruses, including all Covid-19 variants, on contact. We will repeat this procedure every three months, until such time as we all feel safe. Also, for your reassurance, we will keep a bottle of disinfectant and a roll of paper towel in every pew for those who will feel safer if they can disinfect the area of the pew, not that they have occupied, but that they will occupy.

Again, for the reassurance of all who are skittish about this complete re-opening, ushers, eucharistic ministers, priest (when he is not predsiding), and lectors (when they are not reading), singers (when they are not singing) sacristans, anyone who is in a ministering position, will continue to wear masks.

It will become awkward to ask that you all leave by the side exits, so we ask that you disperse as much as possible by leaving from all three available exits so as to minimize as much as possible the number of people clustered in any one place as we exit the church.

Finally, I want to say a word to those who are worried or nervous about this re-opening, as I am. First of all, you have every reason to be worried, if you are not fully vaccinated, or can’t be vaccinated, if you live with someone in the same situation, for instance, your children under the age of 12. I want to say, do what you have to do to be safe and feel safe, and don’t feel guilty about it. Don’t feel guilty about socially distancing yourself from others, about refusing to engage in physical contact, about wearing a mask when others around you are not. We will try to make our gatherings as safe as possible, for your safety and for your peace of mind. 

And to the rest of us, I would to say, let’s be tolerant of, and embrace (without physical contact!) those who are more prudent than we are. Let’s remember that they have their reasons.

“Our eyes are turned to the Lord our God”, that he might keep us all safe in this ongoing saga.

Fr. Guy