Dear Parishioners,
 
We were all very excited yesterday to hear the good news from Premier Ford that places of worship will be re-opening soon at a 30% capacity. The ability to re-open has been made possible by much hard work, dialogue and initiative on behalf of the Ontario Bishops, other religious leaders, and openness from the Provincial Government to respond to our needs. We are all very grateful.
 
But along with every gift comes great responsibility. We need to ensure that our churches are safe, sanitized and organized for a 30% seating capacity. As you can imagine this kind of work doesn’t happen overnight. Bishop Fabbro and a diocesan committee are currently in dialogue with the local health units to prepare directives that will ensure safety for all and to avoid any spread of the virus. We do not want to have to close our churches again, so we want to take our time and prepare well for the re-opening. Public Mass will not resume this coming weekend, we will keep you posted as to when our official date for re-opening will be, and what steps need to be taken for all of us to prepare well.
 
Four things to consider as we enter this phase of re-opening:
 

• Collaboration is key: The health and safety of our parishioners is a priority. Sanitization instructions that will be given later need to be adhered to by all to make this work; your 100% cooperation with our future directives will be important. We need to work together as God’s family even during the re-opening phase.

 

• Patience is an act of charity: Not everyone is going to be able to attend the Mass they would like, nor be able to attend as often as they might like to, since only 30% of our churches can be filled. Please be patient with us, your parish team, and with one another in order to allow other people/families to participate in the Eucharist, who may not have had the opportunity to do so.

 

• Unity is an essential service: Let us as a parish family commit to not judging other people who may stay at home longer due to their health conditions, or other reasons, at this time. We are all still dispensed from our Sunday obligation to attend Mass in person for the duration of this pandemic. Let us commit to supporting our Bishop and diocesan committee who are preparing the directives, and to supporting our parish team as they implement these directives for us. For us to be united, ‘to be one’, as the body of Christ the Church, was the greatest desire in Jesus’ prayer to His Father the night of the Last Supper. It should be our desire as well.

 

• Online ministry is here to stay: our online ministry has been one of the tremendous blessings of our time of closure. It is here to stay, even though it is not the same as being together in person. Even if you cannot attend the Masses as part of the 30%, we will continue to live-stream regularly and offer online faith experiences consistently. The content of the online ministry may change as we go, but our online presence is here to stay – and this is good news, many conversions have happened and people have encountered the living Jesus with our online ministry during the pandemic.

 
Finally, be assured that I will remain completely devoted, along with the parish teams at Ste. Anne’s and Good Shepherd, to updating you regularly in regard to the re-opening and to continue to allow your faith to be nourished in these times. With my prayers,
Fr. Patrick Bénéteau