I’m writing to update you on recent developments. There is some good news. I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to celebrating the Mass together. Yesterday the Bishop zoomed with pastors in the diocese to discuss procedures for responsibly celebrating the Mass. Each parish is going to prepare a detailed plan and these will be presented to government officials. While certain details are yet to be worked out, I am fairly certain that our first Masses back will involve parishioners separated by six feet and wearing masks. This means only about 175 people can be in our church (with a seating capacity of nearly 1,000) at a time. We will develop a fair way to ensure that everyone who wants to can attend, including adding weekday evening Masses for those who cannot get into a Sunday Mass.

The April just past, offertory donations for parish operations were $141,292.78, about the same level as April 2019. That is AMAZING! Thanks to your generosity, the parish is on firm financial footing and has been able to help people who are struggling.

Here are some of the ways we have stayed connected to Jesus and others:

• Food For Families drive-by distribution,

• the parish-wide phone calls,

• keeping the church open for adoration and hearing confessions,

• the live-streamed Masses and other videos,

• distribution of blessed palms,

• the continuation of faith formation for all ages,

• Jesus in the Streets of PQ,

• and the beginning of 12 Discipleship Groups for adults (currently limited to attendees of past Good Life retreats due to the limited number of trained mentors).

We also launched the OLMC Mighty Network, a social network just for our parish, which now has 200 members. Please make sure to join. We will be offering exclusive content and events only through the network, including a town hall meeting with me.

Let us each resolve again to live in God’s will, to make good use of our time, to embrace with faith and love the crosses that come our way, and to have our eyes open for how we can be God’s blessing for others.