Musings of Fr. Bryan T. Reif
The article this week is a difficult one to write, and it needs to cover two things: the State of Ohio’s Stay at Home Order, and Parish Finances.
Finances first. Since the suspension of the public celebration of Mass means that that no-one will be gathering in Church at least through Easter, and therefore, no Sunday Collections at church will be taken up, I need to implore you to please continue your giving to your parish, even though Mass is suspended. Our bills and expenses are not suspended. We are still expected to pay our bills on time every week/month. I do not see any kind of governmental relief for churches given the separation of church and state in the midst of this pandemic and economic slowdown. We need you to please continue to give your Sunday donations to the parishes, and while at the moment it is not possible to drop your envelope into the basket on Sunday, our electronic giving is still functioning. On the parish websites, there is a link to donate online: https://stsimonparish.weshareonline.org/, https://st-aloysius-on-the-ohio.weshareonline.org/. These links for the two parishes will take you to where you can give online to help us keep our bills paid. We cannot go too long in either parish without donations, so please continue your giving online with WeShare on our parish websites.
The Stay at Home Order. Governor DeWine issued a mandatory stay at home order through at least April 6th, and we will comply with that order. As a consequence, the church buildings which had been open 9 AM to noon for private prayer, will now be closed. Please stay at home to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, so that our health care workers and hospitals do not get overwhelmed. We place our trust in the Lord God, and we will get through this together.
I am streaming Mass daily, except Wednesdays, on Facebook Live. The page name is “St Simon the Apostle St. Aloysius in tne Ohio” (link), and yes, the typos are on purpose (I didn’t catch them before I published the page and now I can’t fix it. If you’re on Facebook, go search for the page is you would like to see my private Masses, all of which are offered for both parishes, streamed live. I will do this for as long as I am able, barring technical difficulties, etc.
Let us pray and place before Our Lord our prayer that this pandemic ends soon and that things not only for our parishes, but each of our individual and family’s lives get back to some sense of normal. In the meantime, let us take to heart one lesson from this situation, a renewed awareness of our need for God in our daily living.
Take Good Care,
Fr. Bryan T. Reif
Pastor