January 24: A Note from Father Mark

Dear Parishioners, I have often said that as a priest, one thinks about things and looks at the world differently. As soon as the New Year celebrations wrap up, most priests, especially those who are Pastors, start to think about Lent. Now don’t get too concerned. Lent doesn’t start for another three weeks. But one of the reasons that I am starting to write to you about these aspects is that some things about Lent will be a little different this year. It’s something that we have come to expect in this past year: Things will be different. The Bishop has just put out an updated set of guidelines for the parishes to use in the upcoming season of Lent and also for the celebration of the Sacraments for those who are becoming Catholic at Easter. As the Bishop referred to it, this is Plan A. Of course, we all know what happened last year during the season of Lent: Our plans changed overnight when we were shut down and had to stay home. We are hoping and praying that this doesn’t happen again to us this Lent! As far as the safety and cleaning things we do at St. Catherine’s, as well as capacity, none of these things will change. This will continue to be with us for a while. For the most part, we will only see some changes to how we do a few things during the Lenten season. I will meet with my staff and our priests to finalize our own schedules and the virtual Lenten talks we plan to offer. We will be publishing the Ash Wednesday Mass schedule and the schedule for the Stations of the Cross soon. My columns over the next few weeks and other parish media outlets will explain these things in greater detail. Stay tuned for all these updates. Thanks for reading! Fr. Mark