Greetings in Christ!!
It’s Pentecost! This is the day when we as a Church celebrate our birthday: the day when Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit on His disciples, giving them all they needed to head out into the world, share the faith of Jesus, teach and even die for him. This Spirit is present within us, giving us all we need to be His light to the world!
I need to run through some practical matters now, mostly about the what is called “the dispensation.”
When you and I were baptized, we entered into a covenant with God. This covenant is a commitment on our part to do what God says and live in union with Him. A big part of this is that we promise to attend Mass weekly. To miss Mass is a big deal for us.
When the Quarantine started, our Bishop lifted that dispensation. We remember that Jesus doesn’t call us to do what we can’t and frankly, getting together in big groups was something that wouldn’t be good for us or the world around us, so the Bishop “dispensed us” from our obligation to go to Mass. As of today that dispensation is past and we need to get back into the habit of attending Mass regularly. I want to wish everyone a huge welcome with all our love and joy.
It’s not just Holy Family welcoming you. Our Bishop wants to welcome you as well. To that end, Bishop Boyea is offering each family here a blessed candle and prayer card. The prayer card that you will receive contains eight prayer intentions which can be used as an octave of prayer along with the candle which, as it happens, burns for eight hours. The prayer card also includes a personal message from the Bishop, encouraging everyone who can to return to the practice of Sunday Mass attendance.
Please be sure to stop by the gathering area after Mass to receive your special gift from the Bishop.
Special note about masks: We highly recommend everyone who has not been vaccinated to please continue to wear a mask during Mass. For the remainder of the school year, whenever we celebrate the 8am Mass on Thursday, it will be with our School kids. We must insist everyone who prays this Mass wear a mask in order to comply with the Genesee County Health Department rules regarding schools.
Thank you all so much for your patience and communal thinking during these crazy days. All we can do is our best for God and each other and you all do that so well.
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