Dear Parishioners,
First, I miss seeing you and I cannot
wait until the "quarantine" is over! I
assure you I remember you in my daily prayers and at the altar when I offer
Mass each day.
I hope you attempt to watch Mass
on TV (such as EWTN), or by livestream each Sunday. Here at the parish, we began a livestream
broadcast on our Facebook page (Holy Angels Parish) on Easter Sunday.
We intend to continue each Sunday at 10
AM while restrictions on public gatherings still exist. Please realize that this is a make-shift
broadcast occurring via a cell phone, not a professional broadcast from a TV
studio or using state-of-the-art equipment. Sound quality is not perfect and we only have
a steady picture when the phone is mounted on a tripod. In other words, we are currently limited with
what we can do.
I have had plenty of time to think
and to try to make some sense out of our situation. Something that I have thought about, time and
again, is that any kind of attempt at “remote” or livestream worship is not
the manner in which Mass or the sacraments are supposed to take place. Yes, these means may be beneficial to the
sick or homebound. However, sacraments
are meant to be experienced in person.
You cannot receive the Holy Eucharist from the TV or computer. You can make a Spiritual Communion,
but it is not the same. Confessions
cannot be heard over the phone. A person
can only be anointed when the priest is physically present.
We need to get people back to
church, back to Mass. When I see people still
buying liquor from the liquor store, I question if the worship of Almighty
God is not more essential than that?
While the death of every innocent human being is tragic, how can abortion clinics be seen as essential in some states? Do not those lives matter as well? Websites still contend: Abortion is
essential health care. People go to
the grocery stores to get food to eat and sustain themselves and even to hoard toilet
paper and cleaning supplies. How
urgent do we feel the necessity of receiving the Bread of Life for our
spiritual nourishment? Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
(Jn. 6:53)
There is more than a bit of
hypocrisy involved in the decisions of what can and cannot remain open during
this pandemic. Time will tell us whether
our current actions/reactions were appropriate or not. One thing that still concerns me is that
people are being deprived of the primary means of grace for Catholics—the sacraments. I am currently considering ways we can
supply the sacraments to the people safely if our situation is unduly
prolonged or if it occurs again in the future.
The sacraments are most essential!
Thank you to all who continue to
remember the parish financially during these difficult times. People have been mailing us their weekly
envelopes or dropping them off at the rectory.
While our income is down considerably, we still have the regular bills
to pay (utilities, maintenance/repairs, some salaries, etc.). We have furloughed a number of employees
since we cannot afford to keep everyone on staff at this time.
Let us continue to
pray—especially seeking the intercession of our Blessed Mother—for help now
and in the uncertain days ahead.
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor