ST. ANDREW THE APOSTLE

ON YOUR MARK! GET SET! PRAY!

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Yesterday we had a joint staff meeting with fellow colleagues from Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton to discuss re-opening the churches for public worship. The different topics discussed all had a common thread...your safety! Our video conference lasted one hour and much was resolved. New procedures and how we gather will be coming to you soon in the mail, through email blasts and, of course, on our websites. But before the mail arrives, or the email blast is sent out, here's three simple things to keep in mind before we gather for Mass.

On Your Mark! Get Set! Pray!

On Your Mark!

When arriving for Mass you will be greeted with someone holding the door open for you. Obviously this is to ensure a minimal amount of touching doors and door handles. Stepping inside the church, you will notice some pews that are roped off. All for your safety. Help us keep everyone safe by staying on your mark, or in other words, maintain social distance. Gathering for Mass is not a time to be upset that your pew has been roped off and it certainly is not the time to show anger or disgust for being inconvenienced. We're all asked to maintain social distance, or in others words, stay on your mark. So let’s do so with a smile!

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Get Set!

Before leaving your house to come to Mass, get set or ready yourself and your family to enter into a new world of a new normal. Gathering for public worship in this new normal means wearing a mask, and bringing along some hand sanitizer. Our joint staffs here at Saint Andrew and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton are working hard to ensure that every aspect of our churches are sanitized. But please know we count on everyone to help keep yourself and others protected. So before leaving your house, get set in the effort to keeping yourself and others safe.

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Pray!

With the new normal of living in this pandemic, all of the new rules and social distancing procedures can overshadow something that is most meaningful when we gather. Prayer! We have to be responsible to one another, meaning looking out for each other! ‘We are in this together,' reads yard signs and news articles. And as Catholics, the most powerful way we stand together as a baptized people is in prayer. Liturgical prayer. Mass! As the baptize gather for Mass, we rightfully stand in the name of Jesus Christ lifting our prayers to the heavenly throne of God. We are in this together when we listen to the Word of God and become doing of His Word. We are in this together when we celebrate the Sacramental presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Our prayerful togetherness is right and just for the baptized community. So when we hear the priest say at the beginning of Mass, ‘Let us pray,’ hopefully under this new normal this invitation will have a much deeper meaning for each of us.

Your Brother in Christ,
Deacon Tim