“New Normal”: Freedom For…

by Father Joe

Temporary Policy Requiring Masks for All Attending Mass

As we continue to love one another through this pandemic, we continue to provide options for all who join us, whether they need minimal precautions or maximum precautions while with us. For those seeking maximum precautions: There is a designated seating area where masks and social distancing are required, so we ask you to respect the most vulnerable among us and follow all protocols while sitting in that section. At St. Martha, this is the first few rows of the pulpit/lector side; at St. Mary, it is one part of the right wing (near the sacristy).

Minimum precautions for All: In the light of spiking numbers of new COVID cases and the likely increase in those numbers in the upcoming holiday season, Cardinal Seán is mandating that throughout the archdiocese all people attending public Masses, including weddings and funerals, wear masks. This mandate takes effect the weekend of December 18/19, 2021, and expires on January 17, 2022. (Mask Mandate extended In light of the ongoing spike in COVID numbers, Cardinal Sean has extended until March 3 the mandate that throughout the Archdiocese all people attending public Masses should wear masks.) Mass celebrants, deacons, readers, servers, choir members, and instrumentalists, should all wear masks except when they are speaking. Children under the age of five are not required to wear masks. Children under the age of two should not wear masks.
We look forward to returning to masks being optional for those who are vaccinated, and thank you for your patience and respect of these temporary precautions. Let’s focus on the blessing of being together this Christmas!

“New Normal”: Freedom For…

We made it! There will not be a single day when we can say everything is “back to normal” – no “V-Corona” day like the definitive victory days at the end of World War II. Pandemics don’t end that way, and besides, we have been through a transformative experience that has changed us. But we can – and will – make these celebratory moments along the way as part of the year-long “Welcome Back Initiative” in our Plainville-Wrentham Collaborative. Due to lack of interest in the “precaution seating” sections, we are returning our church seating to “normal” without roped-off pews (people can choose the distance each feels safe). We have also returned the sacrament of Confession & Reconciliation from our conference rooms to our churches: the Confessional at the back of St. Martha church, and the Reconciliation Room at St. Mary by the right-side entrance (as well as by appointment, as always).
Last weekend I began the column by talking about the freedoms we are appreciating anew this summer – old freedoms we took for granted but feel new again. In light of this, it struck me when one day this week we heard the gospel passage of Jesus saying, “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” We often think of freedom as a negation of something else: being free from some imposition. Jesus our Savior came to give us a positive freedom for experiencing the blessings of life to the fullest! The real purpose of the gift of freedom is to be able to live in Christ’s love and share in God’s plan for our lives.

In the short term, we are now blessed to have freedom for participating in community events: the next Fresh Air Concert this Sunday with Tom Abbott, and a new St. Joseph Family Day each month (hopefully starting next week – see separate article for details). In the long term, Jesus calls us personally and as communities of faith to be free for following him and being fishers of all people – sharing the joy of our faith and our parish & collaborative communities – so others can know they are welcome in God’s family and God’s house. As they say, “Love isn’t put in our hearts to stay; love isn’t love ‘till you give it away!”
- Fr. Joe