The Ascension of The Lord

Dear Parishioners,

    The bishops of the State of Illinois have developed a Phased approach to reopening our parish.  We are presently in what they call Phase 1.  This means that we can have religious gatherings for only ten people.  We can celebrate Baptisms.  We can have funeral Masses.  We can also have confessions, but only ten people can gather.  We will be trying to implement the celebrations of these sacraments.  Please keep up with my pastors comment each day for further information.

In the next Phase of reopening there will be an opportunity for 50 people to gather.  The bishops have not given us specifics on how we are to proceed with Phase II.  There will probably be more information this week.  What I would suspect is that the Sunday Mass obligation will not be in force any time soon.  This mean that we will have to have small numbers of people at Mass spread out throughout the week.  This will probably mean an adjustment of Mass schedules. We also will probably be asked to register people at Mass for the purpose of contact tracing if someone in attendance is found to have COVID 19. 

Things change from day to day which makes things very challenging.  Please be patient with all of this.  We are trying to do our best.

May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints protect all of you today.

Fr. Mark

P.S. We received the joyful news that a new Coadjutor Bishop has been appointed for the Diocese of Peoria.  His name is Fr. Louis Tylka and he is a parish priest in Tinley Park, Illinois.  I sent him greetings from our parish this week and assured him that we will be praying for him. This is a challenging time to begin a ministry as bishop.  Please include the Bishop elect in your prayers each day.