Pastor's Letter -- May 2, 2021

After Easter, the diocesan guidelines for Mass allowed for a few more things on Sundays. One of the most important for us all is that our singing does not need to be "quiet" or "soft" anymore. They only say to avoid "boisterous" or very loud/ hard singing. So sing away, just don't shout it out.

Also, you will find Holy Water in the fonts at the doors of our church, filled for the first time in a year! This is of course totally optional, but thanks to the CDC's corrected guidance that surface transfer is a low to minimal risk, we are free to offer it once again. Thirdly, we have reinstated the collection baskets at Mass during the preparation of the altar. If you want to use the box in the back of church, feel free to do so, but know that also ushers will be coming around as well and will bring our gifts forward to the sanctuary.

I'm sure that throughout the next few months we will do more and more of the things that were part of our practice in the past. But I do believe masks will still be a part of our experience for some time, especially as we are neighbors to the national hotspot for COVID-19, with Michigan having more new cases of infection than both California and Texas combined - yikes! If wearing masks allows us to continue to do more and more things with greater normalcy, then we are happy to make the small sacrifice. Thankfully outdoors looks to be more and more of a possibility for events in the upcoming months. God be praised for temperate weather!

As far as renovations go, things are moving fast these weeks. The large lights are here with installation taking about a week. The smaller ones over the chairs will come later. Flooring will be moving along quickly after the lights. Then the pews can come in, and about the same time, the wide marble altar of repose for our tabernacle. Outside, the bell tower bricks are repaired, and now we have a couple other things to work on up there before we are ringing again. I have been very impressed with our workers and am grateful for their precision, timeliness, and beautiful results.

Saint Thérèse, the little flower, pray for us!