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Updates
Fr. John: March 20, 2020
Dear Parishioners,
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus to all of you. You have been in my daily prayers. I hope that the Lord is providing you the strength you need to weather these challenging times.
I want to inform you of a couple of things in light of Bishop Boyea’s decision to cancel all public Masses through April 8, 2020.
First of all, we will be live streaming Mass at St. Gerard this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. We intend to do so every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. until we are able to have public Masses again. Though these Masses will take place in St. Gerard Church, they are not open for parishioners to attend in consideration of Bishop Boyea’s request. The Mass will post live to our website: www.stgerard.org. It will be on the homepage if you scroll down about a third of the way.
The 9:00 a.m. Mass will also post live to Facebook. The Facebook page is St. Gerard Catholic Church. It should also be available as a recording for you to watch later in the day. This is our first attempt at this so be patient with us as we do our best to bring a St. Gerard Mass to you.
I encourage all St. Gerard Parishioners and friends to make an effort to gather with us online this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. It would be a comforting thought to know that we were all together at the same time praying with and for one another.
St. Gerard Church will be open for private prayer at the following times during the week:Monday – Friday: 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.Eucharistic Adoration on Tuesday evenings will be cancelled until public Masses are again allowed.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) will be by appointment only until further notice.
The Parish Office will be closed to the public beginning Monday, March 23. The office will be staffed between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. so that phone calls and emails can be answered. The drop box outside the Parish Office will be accessible for parishioners to drop off paperwork and Sunday envelopes. It will be checked daily. We will only accept mail and deliveries in the office.
Pastoral Staff members willcontinue to answer their phones and emails. When the parish office is closed, the emergency line will be available and monitored.
Baptisms and wedding will take place as scheduled; however, only immediate family members will be allowed to participate.
Funerals will be scheduled as needed; however, only immediate family members will be allowed to participate. There will be no funeral luncheons at our site.
The Parish bulletin will be available for pick-up in the Gathering Area of church and outside the Parish Office.
On Palm Sunday weekend, blessed palm branches will be available at all church entrances.
Hospital/Nursing Home visits are suspended until further notice. At critical times, priests are still available to come to these places to administer the Sacrament of the Sick.
Access to the Tabernacle will be restricted to avoid contamination. We ask that no one come to take the Eucharist as all homebound ministry has been put on hold for the time being.
I will continue to offer updates as needed. When in doubt, do not hesitate to call the Parish Office.
Please join me in prayer for our parish, local community, nation and world. Many are suffering because of the death of loved ones, illness due to the coronavirus, and loss of employment due to the current crisis. May Christ, our Good Shepherd, lead us safely through these difficult times.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. John P. Klein
Pastor -
Bishop Boyea March 17, 2020
After consultation with the priests of the diocese, who were of mixed minds on this matter, and out of deep concern for the health of all our folks especially our elders, and with due deference to medical and government authorities, it has been decided that all public Masses, events, and gatherings will be cancelled throughout the Diocese of Lansing beginning tomorrow morning (March 18, 2020) lasting, for now, through Wednesday of Holy Week (April 8, 2020).
We will see at that time whether these plans will have to change. Private Baptisms, Marriages, and Funerals may continue but only with immediate family present. As a reminder, all Catholics in the diocese are dispensed from the obligation of Sunday Mass participation through Easter Sunday. I ask our pastors to keep Churches open for private prayer.
The Holy Mass is our way to render back to God our worship and thanks for his many blessings to and for us, his beloved sons and daughters. We are blessed that all our priests will continue to offer daily private Masses in order to fulfill our blessed duty to God and to lift up our needs in prayerful petition to our Heavenly Father. Many of these daily Masses have intentions applied to them and those will be honored; in addition, feel free to submit other needs to your pastors to include at the altar.
The loss of the regular reception of Holy Communion is a great cross for many; during this fast from receiving our Lord in the Eucharist please pray that Jesus will enter your hearts in an act of Spiritual Communion. Sundays have always been a day of worship for us. Please, let these coming Sundays be times of family prayer.
We have three Confirmation Ceremonies scheduled in the next three weeks. These are also cancelled. I authorize the pastors of these confirmandi to confirm them in small groups, gathering no more than 10 people at a time, should they wish. Otherwise, plans can be made to reschedule the Confirmation later in Spring through Julie Fech OR the confirmandi may join other scheduled groups in the later Spring.
Assuring of my prayers, I am sincerely yours in Christ,
+ Earl Boyea
Fr. John March 13, 2020Per Bishop Boyea, parishioners are hereby dispensed from the obligation of attending Mass for the next four weekends, March 14-15, March 21-22, March 28-29, and April 4-5. In particular, we urge those who are sick, experiencing symptoms of illness, at risk of illness, seniors whose age places them in a higher risk category, and those concerned regarding the virus, not to attend Mass. Those faithful who do not attend Mass on these weekends should devote some time to prayer on the Lord’s Day, either alone or as a family. These faithful are, likewise, encouraged to watch/listen to a broadcast of Sunday Mass via television or radio.
In order to allow those faithful who wish to gather for Mass and offer worship, regularly scheduled weekend and weekday Masses will continue.
We do not anticipate that any of our gatherings will exceed 250.
Other liturgical events that will be held as scheduled are as follows:
Eucharistic Adoration (Tuesday evenings)
Sacrament of Reconciliation (exception: March 22 Communal Service is cancelled)
Baptisms
Funerals
In addition to the temporary measures listed on the front of this sheet, I include the following:- The songbooks will be temporarily removed from the pews. We will project the songs on the screen at the front of the church until we are able to return the books to the pews
Fr. John March 12, 2020
In light of recent developments with regard to the coronavirus, we are implementing the following temporary measures to safeguard the health of all who attend Mass at St. Gerard Parish.
- We will not distribute the Precious Blood at Mass.
- The Diocesan Office of Worship encourages those who prefer to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, for the time being, to receive communion in the hand. We fully support this recommendation.
- Eucharistic Ministers are asked to thoroughly wash their hands with warm water and soap when they arrive at church. Additionally, they are asked to wipe their hands with a sani-wipe just before approaching the altar to distribute communion. We will reemphasize this practice to insure all are following the stated procedures.
- At the sign of peace we will suspend handshakes, hugs and any form of physical contact. Participants will be invited to verbally extend a greeting and prayer for peace and reconciliation to those around them in keeping with the intent of the gesture.
- During the Lord’s Prayer participants are asked not to hold hands.
- When entering and leaving the church greeters, ushers, priests and other ministers will still be present to greet and welcome participants, but we ask all to refrain from handshakes, hugs and other forms of greetings that include physical contact.
- The holy water containers at the side entrances of the church will be emptied of holy water. The holy water in the font is circulating and filtered and is therefore of less risk. However, if anyone chooses not to bless themselves from the font as they enter church, we fully respect their decision.
- It has long been our practice, once a week, to disinfect all classrooms in the school. Weekly, we will now do the same in the church, the parish hall, and in all the meeting rooms and offices in the Parish Center.
- We emphasize again that those who are ill or demonstrating any symptoms associated with the flu, a cold or other illnesses should remain at home. Our concern is both for your personal health and well-being but also for the welfare of others who are at Mass. There is no obligation to attend Mass when you are sick.
- All who attend Mass are asked to practice good hygiene. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before coming to church and when you return home. Keep a container of hand sanitizer in your car or possession and use it liberally to protect yourself and others.
We will continue to monitor the situation and take other measures, if necessary, to ensure the health and welfare of all who worship at St. Gerard or who otherwise use our facilities.
Fr. John P. Klein, Pastor
Thursday, March 12, 2020