A Catholic Church, serving Delhi Township Ohio
A heads up for everyone, someone is again using my name attempting to get people to buy gift cards for eBay or other online stores.
This time they are texting in addition to emailing.
As a reminder, I would never and will never ask for anything of this sort. I have reported this to the police. Be on the lookout for scam artists. I was tipped by a friend who was approached by someone using my name. Please be vigilant !!
Fr. Bryan
As a re-opening day for public Masses approaches, it is going to be very important that everyone understands that there are going to be some things that are different than they used to be. Social distancing will be observed, meaning we will be abiding by the 6 ft rule in the church. There will be a max capacity inside the church which we will not exceed, and we will only be using the front doors of the church so that we can monitor the number attending. We will have a max capacity of 60 at St. Al’s, and 120 at St. Simon. For those who can go to Mass during the week, you are highly encouraged to do so, rather than on Sunday, so that those who can only go on Sunday can more likely get in. Again, there is a cap on attendance which we will need to enforce. Remember, the Sunday Obligation is dispensed until further notice, so one can attend and receive communion any day of the week, not just Sunday. We are going to ask people to attend Mass to wear a face-covering or mask. We are very highly encouraging masks because this can help curtail the spread of COVID19 or any pathogen, which is still a threat. Also, please respect that we are asking that no physical contact be made with others. Our inclination will be to shake hands or hug those we haven’t seen in a while. Please refrain from that, to mitigate the spread of the virus. We are requiring no physical contact during Mass, the Lord’s Prayer, etc. There will be no holding of hands during the Our Father, no sign of peace, no communion from the chalice, and we ask that in the communion line, remain 6 feet from the person in front of you. There will be no hymnals in the pews, and I am leaning toward only having musicians sing because singing can put more exhaled air, potentially carrying the virus, into the atmosphere. Pews will be roped off in order to space people out for the purpose of social distancing. I am asking, please respect the social distancing guidelines and what we are trying to do to mitigate the spread of the virus. Those who are elderly, have underlying conditions, are fearful, or who are at higher risk should continue to stay home. Those who are sick, or experiencing symptoms of illness should stay home. Again, the Obligation to attend on Sunday continues to be dispensed until further notice. We are looking forward to seeing many of you in church again very soon, but we also need to be very careful since the virus is still out there, and we don’t want to have to suspend public Masses again because of a spike in cases.May God continue to bless all of us and carry us through this pandemic. More guidelines are likely to come.Fr. Bryan
Musings of Fr. Bryan T. Reif
Late last week, the Archbishop sent an email to the pastors informing us that public celebration of Masses will resume beginning on Monday, May 25th. While we will be resuming Masses where the faithful may attend, the Archbishop also reminded all of us that this is not a return to normal. There is an expectation that we will follow the social distancing guidelines that have been set forth by the CDC, the governor’s office, and by the Archdiocese. There will be a cap on the number of people who can be in the church at any one Mass. The number of entrances will be curtailed. Pews and chairs will be roped off to keep people spread out. There will be no physical contact at the Our Father, no sign of peace, no Communion from the chalice, and no greeting after Mass at the door. Holy water fonts will be empty. Hymnals and Missalettes will be removed from the pews and chairs. Communion in the hand is strongly encouraged, and Communion on the tongue is very strongly discouraged. The use of facial coverings or masks by the faithful is highly encouraged, even though the use of a mask by the priest is discouraged. Ministers in the sanctuary will be spaced out for the purpose of social distancing. The Sunday obligation is still dispensed for all Catholics for the time being, and the elderly and at-risk groups are highly encouraged to continue to stay home. If you are sick or have symptoms of any illness, stay home! People who are sick who show up for Mass will be asked to leave for the protection of everyone else in the church. Please, if you are sick, do not come and potentially expose others. If you are fearful of contracting the virus, or are uncomfortable coming to Mass, you are encouraged to stay home. If you want to attend and receive Communion, but are not comfortable with a larger crowd on the weekend, you may come any day of the week. We will have daily Mass according to the normal schedule as well. Also, we hope to continue the live stream for those who are not comfortable or unable to come to Mass on Facebook Live (please understand that the live stream is not perfect but it is the best we can do with what we have available to us). Fr. John and I have discussed this, and I have also spoken with other priest friends about this, and we are going to carry forward with our normal Mass schedule for now, and see how it goes, and evaluate how it’s going week by week. If circumstances change, the weekend schedule may have to change. We also can expect there might be fewer lay ministers available during this time as well, which could affect things. We do intend to enforce the guidelines we have been given for the safety of all of us, and we ask your cooperation and understanding. I look forward to seeing many of you at Mass in church again very soon. The Mass schedule, starting Monday, May 25th is as follows:
Monday 8 AM St. Simon, 7-7:30 PM Confessions St. Simon
Tuesday 8 AM St. Al’s
Wednesday – No Mass
Thursday 8 AM St. Al’s
Friday 8 AM St. Simon
Saturday 3:30-4:30 Confessions St. Al’s
5 PM Mass St. Al’s
7:30 PM Mass St. Simon
Sunday 8:30 AM St. Al’s
9 AM St, Simon
10:30 AM St. Al’s
11 AM St. Simon
Take Good Care,
Fr. Bryan T. Reif
Musings of Fr. Bryan T. Reif
Last week, the Ohio Bishops extended the suspension of public Masses and liturgies, and by extension parish events and activities through and inclusive of May 29th. I don’t know about you, but I have experienced a bit of cabin fever in the midst of all of this, and I am looking forward to being able to celebrate Mass again publicly in our two parish churches. In the meantime, I continue to celebrate Mass privately every day, and I stream those Masses live on Facebook every day except Wednesday. The technology we have allows me to do this, though it certainly isn’t perfect, nor is it professional production quality. The stream is simply using my laptop webcam, or my phone on Sundays, using WIFI in the rectory, or my personal cell data on Sundays to try and make the celebration of the Mass accessible to our parishioners. You do not even have to have a Facebook account to view the live stream (I just found this out last Sunday). I hope that for those who have been watching either live, or a replay, find something beneficial in it for their souls.
I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have continued to support and give to the parishes financially during this time of unprecedented isolation, and suspension of public worship. There have been many who have clicked the links on the livestream, or on our webpages to give electronically, as well as many others who have mailed in, or dropped off in the mailbox their envelops and Sunday donations. This has been extremely helpful for us to continue to remain current on our bills and operating expenses, and for this I am very grateful. We continue to publish weekly giving in the bulletin, which anyone can see online through the parish websites.
Given the extension of the “Stay at home order” and the suspension of public Masses, I was compelled to cancel the Regional Festival this June. I hope to enter into discussion with our Pastoral Councils once we are able to meet again, about alternatives or possibly rescheduling it, or doing something else in the fall. Will have to see what Council has to say and recommend in that regard, as well as see where we are with the pandemic, and how this will continue to unfold. Needless to say, we will certainly feel a pinch with the loss of that revenue.
Finally, I want to assure you all of my prayers for you, and to encourage you all to hang in there. We will get through this, and we will once again gather together as a faith community for worship in our pastoral region. God’s blessing, and His grace is still flowing to us, may we trust in Him!
Take Good Care,
Fr. Bryan