My Dear Parish Family,
I know this letter to you all is long over due. However, for now I believe I am getting up to speed with all the new ways this pandemic has stretched me and is stretching all of us. I am reaching out specifically to all of you that I have not been able to reach via Livestream of Mass, e-mail, Flocknote, our website, or Facebook. The silver lining so far is that it has enabled us to get some of our media resources up and going much sooner in order to stay more connected.
Although, if you are like me this has been nothing short of an emotional roller coaster. Many have said including the Holy Father, Pope Francis, that they see it as no coincidence that the heart of this pandemic has fallen during Lent. In a way the whole world has fallen into a Lenten practice whether they wanted to or not. Recently I was watch a bit of recorded livestream event from formed.com and Dr. Tim Gray and another contributor. They were focusing on the origin of the word we have all become so familiar with of quarantine which means 40, because of the 40 day period merchant sailors in Europe were required to stay onboard ship if they came from a known origin with infection, disease, or plague. In more ancient times Lent was observed more stringently than now, and more communally as culture and society was more widely Christian and Catholic. During Lent there would be no festivities, sporting events, or group celebrations or gatherings, hence the Carnival or Mardi Gras celebrations on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
So in a time when there are nearly no sporting events world wide, no celebrations, and wide spread limitations to gatherings of 10 people or less even for Church. This pandemic of COVID-19 Coronavirus has imposed a Lent on all of us more stringent than we could have even imagined. Many are truly suffering either through the illness, or because someone they know and love is or has the illness themselves. In the worst circumstances some are even suffering the loss of loved ones. We as a people who are created for communion with one another have had to fast from our normal social routines. We have even in the unfortunate and extenuating circumstance had a fast from the reception of the Eucharist imposed upon us as we cannot be together physically for Mass. I long for the day and time when we can be together again for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It brings tears to my eyes at this moment and every moment I think of that day, in how much sadness I experience now without you all, but tears filled with hope for the rejoicing we will have at being together again.
However, Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that nothing can separate us from Jesus,
“No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Rom 8:37-39
In this time when our homes have become possible prisons, let us turn them into cloisters. Let this be an opportunity to grow in our understanding of faith through study and prayer. Let us become like monks and nuns who live in cloisters. Study whether it be of scripture, to spiritual reading from the writings of the saints and doctors of the church, or more recent spiritual authors, to study of church history or Church teaching through the Catechism or other resources helps us grow in our intellectual knowledge of God. Prayer then helps us to internalize that understanding where God then can illumine our hearts to a greater understanding of Him who loves us infusing us with a deeper more ardent love of Him who created us in love, to love, and to be loved by Him.
Prayer then unites us in Him through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, which is the very bond of love between the Father and the Son. Therefore this same Spirit in and through prayer even unites us now where ever we may be. Prayer can enable us to support one another even though we are not with each other physically, it is God who strengthens us in all things. We can and should pray for all those who are ill and dying that God may sustain them in their greatest moments of weakness. That even in these moments if they have never known God or Jesus before in their lives, they may have the extraordinary moment of grace to know Him in their hour of agony and be consoled by only Him who can.
On the Third Sunday of Lent as much of the coronavirus restrictions began to be imposed we encountered the Samaritan woman at the well in John’s Gospel where Jesus was thirsting for her faith calling her into the faith he had given her. Lent will end on Good Friday with Jesus crying out in John 19:28 “I thirst.” Jesus revealed this “I thirst” to Mother Theresa of Calcutta as a thirst for souls calling her to minister to the suffering and dying. Jesus is still thirsting for souls and those suffering and dying in our own time and we are called like Saint Mother Theresa to respond in faith through our prayer. This can transform a very difficult time into a very graced time. The dryness of the desert and the dark of the tomb can and will become the new light of faith and the joy of the resurrection. Jesus has shown us he will heal our blindness, and raise us from the dead, as he told us, “this illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
This Palm Sunday and Holy Week will be one like that none of us have ever experienced and it will be one none of us will surely ever forget. Many enter in with caution, anxiety, and fear, but these are many of the same human emotions that our Lord would have experienced as his very passion and death grew nearer and he was going to have to leave his friends for a time. The joy of the resurrection as the letter to the Hebrews 12:2 tells us impelled Jesus beyond its darkness and pain of his passion and death. What joy, the joy of being reunited in him for all eternity in his resurrection. May this be the source of our hope now more than ever and not only now, but always. May the hope of the promised resurrection grow in all of our hearts this Holy Week and may it impel us through these difficult times into the newness of life with Jesus.
Sincerely in the Love of Christ Jesus through Mary,
Fr. Casey Coleman, Pastor
Nota Bene: I am attaching a bit of a schedule and news letter to aid folks in this time. Included will be prayer resources for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.
“Stay at Home” Order and what it means for us:
The current stay at home order limits all gatherings to 10 or fewer people. Travel is allowed for people going to gather groceries, medicine, essential work, etc. Included in this is the provision both in the state and county declarations provisions for Churches to remain open for faithful to gather and pray with the provision the gatherings do not exceed 10 people. Unfortunately this has been greatly limiting on the ability to admit parishioners to Mass and under the encouragement of the Bishop to do so for this reason I have cancelled public attendance of all Masses.
However, in order to facilitate parishioners connection to the Mass and St. Mary Mother of God, we have been live-streaming all of our Daily Masses and our Saturday 7pm Mass in Spanish and our Sunday 11:30am in English.
The Church is and will remain open Daily M-F 7am-8pm, Sat 7am-7pm, and Sunday 9am-7pm with the exception of the need to livestream record Masses or other events such as Stations of the Cross on Fridays.
If anyone become seriously ill please contact the church at 828-586-9496 ext.102 or 828-631-0576 preferably before going to the hospital that I may come and administer the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, but if someone does go to the Hospital definitely call to let me know.
Our Holy Week Schedule for Liturgies will be as follows:
Daily Mass
- Monday and Wednesday at 12pm (live stream via Facebook)
Easter Triduum:
- Holy Thursday 7pm Mass of the Lords Supper (Live-stream bilingual)
- Good Friday 12pm Stations of the Cross (Live-stream Bilingual)
- Good Friday 1pm-3pm Confessions St. Mary’s Patio
- Good Friday 7pm Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday- The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord (Live-stream Bilingual)
- Holy Saturday 8pm Easter Vigil Mass (Live-stream Bilingual)
- Easter Sunday 11:30am Easter Sunday Mass (Live-stream English)
Attached to this Document will be a number of resources for everyone to use for Palm Sunday and Holy Week
- Palm Sunday Private Procession with Palms
- Enshrinement of Palms in the Home
- Holy Week Liturgy Flyer with all the accompanying texts with Prayers to follow along with Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil Liturgies at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Charlotte with His Excellency Bishop Jugis
- Easter Sunday Blessing of Easter Foods and Meal and House Blessing
Ways to engage the liturgies with daily readings and prayers
- Liturgy of the Word resources in English
- Celebración de la Palabra de Dios en Español
- http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings (readings available in English and Spanish)
A brief Instruction on how one may go about using these resources.
Palm Sunday:
- Participate in the Live Stream format of the Mass either via St. Mary’s Live-stream or St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Bishop Jugis.
- Following the livestream Mass come to St. Mary’s and pick up your blessed palms and bottle of Holy Water for Easter Sunday
- Once returning home Celebrate the Private procession with the blessed palms
- Optional celebration of the Liturgy of the Word for Palm Sunday from Magnificat each person in the home can take a part.
- Celebration of the Enshrinement of Blessed Palms in the Home
Holy Thursday:
- Participate in the Live stream of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper through the Cathedral and their virtual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until midnight following along with the materials provided.
- Participate in the bilingual celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7pm at Saint Mary’s using the resources put out for the Cathedral liturgy, and either adore our Lord from our Live Stream of Adoration until Midnight, or sign up for an hour of adoration of Jesus in person at St. Mary’s in the Church until Midnight (limit 8people/hour) sign-ups to follow this week.
Good Friday:
- Participate in the Live-stream of Stations of the Cross at noon.
- Make time to come to confession from 1-3pm.
- Participate in the 3pm live stream of the Solemn Liturgy at the Cathedral using the provided prayers and readings
- Participate in 7pm bilingual Solemn liturgy at St. Mary’s using the provided prayers and readings
Easter Vigil Mass:
- Participate in the Live stream of the Vigil Mass at 8pm either at the Cathedral or St. Mary’s
- At the renewal of Baptismal Promises use the Holy Water provided from Palm Sunday sprinkle yourself and your family members with the Holy Water
Easter Sunday:
- Participate in the 11:30am Live Stream of Mass at St. Mary’s
- At the renewal of Baptismal promises and sprinkling of holy water after the homily sprinkle your self and your family with the holy water you may already have or picked up on Palm Sunday with the blessed palms
- Following Easter Sunday Mass celebrate the Easter Home blessing provided using the holy water to sprinkle the house.
- At the time to sit down for the main Easter Meal with your family use the prayers provided to bless your family and your meal together.
As always stay tuned for any changes or further updates to your e-mail, www.stmarymotherofgod.com, our Facebook Page, and our new YouTube Channel.