Parish COVID-19 Precautions

To fight the spread of COVID19, Bishop Boyea has asked for all public Masses,
events and celebrations to be cancelled through the end of April,
so stay tuned via social-media for more daily liturgies and content. 
Let’s pray together!

Our physical Church Offices are closed until further notice; however, you can still contact us at ​517-351-7215 or email Denise Zakerski at dzakerski@elcatholics.org

Fr. Gordon’s Weekly Update – 4/3 (Palm Sunday Parish Letter / E-News)                                                                             
After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there.  And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.  Matthew 27:35-37

This Sunday, in preparation for Easter, we retell the story of Jesus’ saving passion and death.  We are reminded that Jesus died for us though we are sinners.  In our sinfulness, we play the role of the crowd, calling for Jesus’ death, and yet Jesus begs the Father to forgive us.  Jesus even extends mercy to the criminal who simply asks Jesus to remember him.  As we give thanks for so great a salvation, we are reminded to extend forgiveness and mercy to everyone around us.  Therefore, let us ask ourselves these questions:  Do others see me as merciful and forgiving?  Am I quick to forgive or do I hold grudges?  Would others describe me as a peacemaker?  If we don’t like the answers to the questions above, then we should ask God for the grace to be more forgiving and merciful. 

To tighten up our branding and make us easier for people to find, we have created a new Facebook page, East Lansing Catholics.  All of our LIVE events for Holy Week can be found there.  About 30 minutes after they end, you can then find them on our website, elcatholics.org.  Please check out our new page, like us and follow us so that you get notifications when we go LIVE!

On Good Friday, we have the opportunity to join in the Divine Mercy Novena, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day until Divine Mercy Sunday (April 19).  I invite you (honestly, I beg you…) to join me in praying this novena as our parish community, nation, world and universal Church seriously need God’s Mercy.  Novena materials and more can be found on our parish website as well as the National Shrine of Divine Mercy site and via our parish subscription to Formed.org (just search for “Divine Mercy”). 

This has been a tough week!  COVID19 cases have continued to increase throughout Michigan.  Our governor has ordered schools to remain closed for the rest of the school year (Executive Order 2020-35).  The Ingham County Health Department has issued new rules for entering the workplace, and some of our employees don’t meet the requirements to come to work.  Plus, after a painful look at our offertory income and expected payroll expenses for the foreseeable future, a number of hourly employees were given short-term layoff notices.  With all of the stimulus options available, I hope they will earn more through unemployment benefits than by having their hours greatly reduced or eliminated.  Certainly we want to make payroll and rehire all of our employees ASAP, so I thank our parishioners and benefactors who has continued to give as they are able.  Every bit counts these days!  And thank you to all who have started making donations on line with our new e-giving platforms!

I pray each day for your safety and am grateful for all of the staff members and St John Food Cupboard volunteers who are keeping up our minimal operations.  God has been so good to us.  To my knowledge, I have not yet heard of any parishioners yet contracting COVID19, but the next few weeks will tell.  Please continue to stay safe, look after one another and join us via TV & live-streaming for Holy Week (see schedule below).  We look forward to joining you for this holiest week of our Church calendar as we celebrate Jesus’ saving passion, death and resurrection.  And—when this time of quarantine is done—may we rise on the 3^rd day and bring new life to our parish and community!

Let us storm Heaven with our prayers, and may God’s Mercy fall like rain upon our broken world.  Thank you for your cooperation! – Fr. Gordon
 
Holy Week Schedule                  
Given the need to fight the coronavirus by sheltering in place, the bishop has dispensed all Catholics in the Lansing Diocese from the grave obligation to attend Sunday Mass.  Instead, we are encouraged to pray Acts of Spiritual Communion and invite Jesus to pour graces upon us even when we are physically unable to receive Holy Communion or make our Easter obligations.  In addition, please participate in the Holy Week liturgies on-line LIVE on our new Facebook page, East Lansing Catholics, or taped on our website, elcatholics.org.  You can find more Holy Week activities through the diocesan website. 

To fight the spread of COVID19, the bishop has asked for all public Masses, events and celebrations to be cancelled through the end of April, so stay tuned via social-media for more daily liturgies and content.  Let’s pray together!

1. Friday, April 1, Diocesan Day of Prayer and Fasting – see the diocesan website for details and a schedule of events.
    
2. Fr. Matthew’s Holy Week Retreat – 6:45pm livestreamed reflections starting this Friday as well as Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week.  Fr. Matthew has preached Redemptorist missions all over the US.  Tune in as he prepares our hearts for Easter!
    
3. Palm Sunday Mass with Bishop Boyea – The Sunday Outreach Mass will air at 6 & 10am (WLAJ TV53).  Palms will be blessed and distributed when church re-opens.
    
4. Palm Sunday Adoration – Adoration and Benediction will be livestreamed at 10am from the Cana Chapel.
    
5. Super Tuesday Contrition – Ordinarily confessions are offered all day today to help the parishioners prepare for Easter.  Given the shelter-in-place order, let us pray an Act of Contrition out of love for God and prepare our hearts to receive Divine Mercy.  Mass will be offered this day for the forgiveness of our sins.
    
6. Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper – Livestream at 7pm from St. John.
    
7. Good Friday Service – Livestream at 12:15pm from St. John.
    
8. Good Friday Stations / Divine Mercy Novena – Livestream at 3pm from the Cana Chapel.  Stations of the Cross at 3pm and the Divine Mercy Novena – Day 1 at 3:30pm.
    
9. Saturday morning – It is a tradition to prepare and bless our Easter foods on Holy Saturday.  Here is a prayer of blessing which we can use with our families:

10. Easter Vigil – The Sunday Outreach Mass will air at 6 & 10am (WLAJ TV53). 
     
11. Easter Sunday – 9am Mass will be livestreamed from the Cana Chapel at St. Thomas.

As we adjust day-to-day, the latest executive order is to shelter-in-place and avoid all unnecessary gatherings, which requires us to close our churches to the public and send home any staff and volunteers beyond what is necessary to our minimum operations.  This latest order will take us past Easter!  In the meantime, here’s the plan:

Hours of Operation: The parish offices will continue to answer phones, Monday – Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm,
but the doors at each site will remain closed to the public for the next 3 weeks (until April 13).  We will continue to record a daily Mass and televise a Sunday Outreach Mass, so stay tuned and keep us in your prayers!  However, we will need to postpone our Adoration / confession schedule until the shelter-in-place order is lifted.

• Daily Mass
• Outreach Mass
• Living our Faith at Home

What About Confession?  We are encouraged to make a heartfelt Act of Contrition whenever we find ourselves struggling with our sins.  A recent document from Rome (below) reminds us of this important prayer.  And we hope to catch up on our sacraments as soon as the shelter-in-place order is lifted—just in time for Divine Mercy Sunday!
 

Where the individual faithful find themselves in
the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request
for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at
present able to express) and accompanied by 
votum confessionis, that is, by the firm resolution
to have recourse, as soon as possible, to
sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of
sins, even mortal ones (cf. CCC, no. 1452).

 
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement as well as for all of the donations and weekly offerings!  I am most grateful!  Please stay tuned as we adjust to this ever-changing situation.  And thank you for projecting HOPE in these times. 
 
May God bless and keep you!
 


Tuesday, March 24

• Spiritual Communion: As we continue to adjust and map out our journey through the coming weeks, prayer and fasting are more important than ever.  While our hearts ache that our parishioners will be unable to receive the Eucharist, we will continue to offer our private daily Masses up for our scheduled Mass intentions and the good of our community.  Plus we are starting to record and post a daily video Mass.  A list of when each Mass intention was offered and by whom will be available soon.  As your hearts yearn for Jesus, consider making a Spiritual Communion throughout your day:
   

• Communion for the Sick? With the churches closed for public Masses and large gatherings, there have been several requests to get Communion for the sick and homebound.  Unfortunately, we are not able to do so safely at this time.  Given the precautions at our hospitals and senior homes, the priests are only being allowed in for last rites.  And if we bring Communion in that situation--which is unlikely given the COVID19 precautions--it will come from our rectory tabernacle so as not to disturb/infect either of the church tabernacles.  The problem with COVID19 is that we don't really know who has the virus (given that many carriers show no symptoms) and who is safe to open the tabernacle and touch the hosts.  For this reason, we will not be distributing Holy Communion, even to the sick and homebound--again, unless someone is actively dying and the risk of contamination couldn't possibly make anything worse.  If the priests pray a daily Mass, we will consecrate fresh hosts and consume them without reserving any.  Until we find a safer way to distribute Communion without risk of spreading the virus, we will need to invite Jesus to come to us by making a Spiritual Communion (as shown above).

• Staying Informed: Please check out our parish website to see daily Mass on-line!  Also, the Outreach Mass will continue.  For broadcast times or to view on-line, click the Outreach Mass link here.  And our parish bulletins will continue on-line for now to keep you informed!
   
• On March 19, Pope Francis invited Catholics around the world to pray a Rosary together at 9pm Vatican time (or 4pm our time).  Thank you to all who prayed for an end to the Coronavirus.  Here is the special Rosary prayer guide that was used.  Feel free to make use of it as you pray for protection.
   
• Also, I would like to encourage the praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3:30pm each day to call down God’s Mercy on all who are afflicted and in danger of death.  We cannot gather in church to pray until the shelter-in-place order is lifted, but please continue to pray at home.

• Reaching out:  While we are continuing what ministries we can, new opportunities are arising to help dispel the fear and loneliness that social distancing can bring.  If you or someone you know would like to reach out via phone, skype, or other digital mean to those who are isolated, check out our the link from our website here.  If you or someone you know could benefit from a call from time to time, follow this link from our homepage.  And please continue to reach out in a safe manner, to those in your own lives who may be cut off from social activities at this time.  A call or an errand for someone in need is a beautiful work of mercy in God’s sight.
   

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement as well as for all of the donations and weekly offerings!  I am most grateful!  Please stay tuned as we adjust to this ever-changing situation.  And thank you for projecting HOPE in these times.  May God bless and keep you! – Fr. Gordon