Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me.” Ps 23

Dear parishioners,

As we venture into the darkness of autumn and its inevitable rains, by the grace of God, may we all know him to be present to us, to comfort us.

First the good news: we have surpassed our Project Advance parish goal! This means that every contribution made from now until the end of December comes straight back, in full,  to the parish. Go to our parish Project Advance website to see how we’re making out and to make a pledge or donation. The address: www.projectadvance.ca/stmarysvan . Our parish Project Advance website, by the way, is the most visited parish PA website in the archdiocese!

This Sunday is the day chosen for the special collection for Development and Peace, which was cancelled in March because we were shut down. It has a new name: “Recovering Together”. This new title reflects the fact that this year, all funds gathered will be devoted to helping the partners of D&P in the global south to help people needing to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. A noble cause if ever there was one. If you are able to, I hope you will contribute however modestly to this beautiful cause. You can use the envelope for the Share Lent collection that was in your box of envelopes for this year. You can also pick up an envelope on the table at the back of the centre aisle if you come to church this weekend. And you can donate online by going to www.devp.org Let’s help D&P help people far more disadvantaged than we are to recover from this pandemic.

As I mentioned last Sunday, St. Mary’s School is opening up its flu shot clinic for the benefit of all parishioners. It will take place in the church basement on Thursday October 22nd, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. You must pre-register to receive a flu shot. Please go to the parish website, the bulletin, our Facebook page or our Instagram page for information on how to pre-register. The more of us receive the flu shot this year, the better armed we will be as a society to confront both the flu season and Covid-19. 

Please note that Lorna has switched desks, so she has a new extension number. To speak to Lorna about “All Were Filled” or for any other matter, dial extension 6.

If you come to church, you will notice a box at the entrance to the church, containing the Sunday edition of Living with Christ for the current liturgical year. It is still useful until the end of November. Please take a copy for yourself, and especially, for someone you know who is prevented from ever attending mass either because they are compromised or they live with someone who is. This would be a really nice gesture.

In principle, we are available to hear confessions and distribute communion in the homes of people who are prevented from coming to church. However, the public health authorities are asking us to not venture into people’s homes, so this service will have to be on hold for a while. We also take appointments for confessions here at the parish office. 

If you register as a parishioner on our parish website, you will automatically be included in a cluster of email addresses and receive parish news directly in your email inbox. The registration page asks for all kinds of information but the only fields you have to fill in are your name and email address.

I said a word last Sunday about the problem we are experiencing at the 11:15 and 3:00 masses on Sunday. Wanting to be as accommodating as possible, we opted from the outset to distribute communion to the people gathered outside. But now too many people are gathering just outside the church. This means that social distancing becomes impossible, especially with fall rains inciting people to huddle under the sheltered part of the plaza. The second problem is that this gathering is very visible from the street. We risk being reported by passersby, and visited by the public health authorities, with potentially grave consequences. Obviously, this cannot go on. So regrettably, but, I believe, necessarily, we can no longer distribute communion at the end of these two masses on Sundays. This Sunday will be the last time we do so. We are asking that effective next Sunday, October 18, you please not attend the Sunday 11:15 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. masses if you are not pre-registered to attend. We’re terribly sorry about this. We have to be accommodating, but we also have to be safe. Let me point out that there are alternatives. We fill most of our Sunday except one. We never have more than 25 people present at the Sunday 7:00 p.m. mass. That might be an option for some of the people who have been attending outdoors at 11:15 and 3:00 p.m.

Finally, I am hesitant to do this, but I think our situation warrants it. All the public health officers across Canada have made this plea, so I am so bold as to echo it. We are asked, during this Thanksgiving weekend, to please not venture into a house or apartment that we don’t live in. I know this is a big sacrifice, but think of the immense difference it would make if we all heeded this plea. It’s a matter of protecting ourselves, our loved ones, and the health care system.

God keep us all safe and well. Fr. Guy