May 27, 2020

Dear Friends and Parishioners: 
     Greetings! It feels so good to be writing a letter to the community again. Yes, it is time to come back! In the last ten weeks, our Masses, services, holy hours, coffee hours, Stations of the Cross, and Signs and Symbols all moved online. The building has not been open but the life of the Church and parish has continued. Thank you for keeping up with us on Facebook and our website. 
    Yes, it is time to reconnect with our parish buildings and sacraments. Much planning has gone into this and here I will outline how this will look. We are not just flipping a switch and going back to March 19 (the last day we had public Mass). Rather, this will be a gradual reopening with some new policies to guide us through this historic moment. In light of that, this is what we’ll do:

• Public daily Mass will resume Monday, June 1. For the week of June 1, the only Mass offered each day will be at Christ the King at 9 AM. This will give us time to sort through some of the policies below and clean the church before we get to the weekend. It is our hope the week of June 8 to return to the normal weekday schedule, but that is TBA.
• On the weekend of June 6 and 7, we will resume our weekend Mass schedule in all three churches. We are allowed 25% capacity per Mass. Not everyone will be able to attend Mass every weekend.
•  Plan ahead. You will need to sign up for a Mass. Please call the rectory Monday through Friday 9 AM to 4 PM and William or Beth will sign you up for the following weekend only. When we reach capacity, you’ll need to move to another Mass. You can also send an email to the parish email account, rwcatholic@gmail.com, and someone will reply. Email will be checked for the last time Friday afternoon at 4 PM for that weekend’s Masses.
• The church will be cleaned between Masses.
• You will be socially distanced in the church, six feet or more apart. Family units may sit together, but each person in the family counts toward the final number of allowed participants. Sections of the church will be roped off. 

     What are you being asked to do for your part in this reopening?

• The bishop has extended his dispensation from Sunday Mass throughout this pandemic. If you’re sick and most especially if you have symptoms of Covid-19, stay home. If your health is such that you’re considered vulnerable, stay home. Please don’t risk it for yourselves or anyone else.
• Please bring disinfectant wipes with you to Mass and wipe down the area in which you sat during Mass.
• Masks are to be worn throughout Mass by anyone over 2 years old.
• Communion will only be distributed on the hand.
• All worship aids will be removed from the church. If you have some kind of personal worship aid, feel free to bring it with you and take it home.
• There will be no sign of peace and the collection baskets will be placed at the doors in which you can place your donation as you leave.
• There will be no coffee hours or any other kind of gathering in the near future.
• The parish office will reopen Monday morning, June 1, with our normal hours of 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. Ring the doorbell; you are required to wear a mask to come into the rectory. Over the next few weeks, our office staff will be rescheduling Mass intentions that were missed since the beginning of this shutdown (March 20 - May 31).

     I am sure more will come up as we begin this process. Please be aware that any of these protocols can change at any moment, without notice, depending on circumstances, government and diocesan guidance, and our cooperation. 

     What is most needed from you, my dear friends and parishioners, is a spirit of patience and charity. Some might not agree with these directives, but right now they’re the best we have. They’re being followed by all parishes at the directive of the bishop. We all need to be patient, with ourselves, the Church and one another. And we need a spirit of charity. All of these directives come from a place of not wanting anyone, including your neighbor, your priest, or you to be infected or sick. They’re not perfect, for sure. Let’s all continue to pray for an end to this pandemic so that we can move forward with our lives in joy. Looking forward to seeing you next week! 

Peace,
Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois, Pastor 
revbwb@gmail.com