From Our Pastor

Some Thoughts from Fr. Brad

May 24, 2020

Praise God! We are finally able to gather in our church for Mass again. Granted, we still must observe safe distancing practices and wear face masks, but we are able to celebrate Mass and receive the Holy Eucharist.

Things will be different for a while. At our St. Stephen site we can allow no more than 250 people to attend Mass at one time. At our St. Joseph site we can accommodate no more than 100. These limits are because we must cordon-off every other pew and allow for six feet distancing between people in a pew.

We will see how things go for the first few weeks. We may adjust the Mass schedule, if necessary.

Have patience.

The coronavirus is still very active, and we must take precautions to ensure that we are not spreading it. We must be cautious. We must make some personal sacrifices to keep one another safe. But we do these things not out of fear but because it is the right thing to do. Jesus, in the Gospel of John says, “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust.”

We trust that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is guiding us through this time. Let us model Jesus by each of us doing our part to protect the precious gift of life.