My Dear Parish Family,
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Greetings of love and prayerful wishes to you from Fr. Jegin Puthenpurackal. I hope and pray that this letter finds you and your family safe, in good health, and enduring these unsettling days of quarantine with faith and hope. At the very outset of this letter I would like to thank you again personally for being faithful to our Church family’s daily needs through your faithful weekly contribution, and also for being responsible individuals, by taking care of yourself and others in our family and community without being affected by Corona Virus. Let us continue to be faithful and responsible, and thank the Lord for His special care for us all. This historic COVID-19 pandemic has required us all to make great sacrifices to protect the health of our community. I hope and pray that you and your family are adjusting to these new circumstances and experiencing the comfort of God’s faithful presence every day. Among the many ways this crisis has had an impact on all of us, the suspension of public Masses is most difficult. I know how much you miss the opportunity to gather as a parish family for worship, and especially to receive the Holy Eucharist. I am sure, everyone is anxious to return to normalcy.
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I am happy to announce to you that the public celebration of the Mass in the Diocese of Owensboro may resume on May 20, 2020. But the threat of the coronavirus is still very much with us. Physical distancing, the wearing of face masks, and increased personal cleaning and cleaning of the building procedures will be with us for a very long time. This will certainly impact the celebration of Sacraments and other rituals in our Church. I am sure, some of you might get upset with the new changes that we are expected to follow in our Church for the good of everyone around us. I request you humbly, in Christian Charity please be patient and co-operate with the guidelines from our diocese for the public worship.
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Even though, our diocese has given permission to start the Mass from the 20th of this month, at our Churches (St. Sebastian Church, Calhoun & St. Charles Church, Livermore), we will be starting our Masses on the weekend of May 30th, so that we will have the sufficient cleaning supplies to protect you. Masses are beginning in a limited manner and with the exercise of great caution to protect one another. In order to maintain physical distancing, it is necessary to limit the number of people who attend each Mass. Occupancy is limited to 33% of each Church’s capacity. Consequently, St. Sebastian Church will be able to accommodate only 40 people and St. Charles Church will be able to accommodate only 33 people for each Mass. Our Bishop has announced that all the faithful continue to be dispensed from their Sunday obligation until further notice. So, I request everyone planning to join for the Mass to call the Church office (270-273-3185) from Monday through Thursday between 9.00am to 1.30pm, to accommodate yourself in one of the Masses given below by following the guidelines with an open mind and heart. Please consider yourself in accepting any help the Church Secretary might ask you for the Celebration of Liturgy and for the safety of everyone.
St. Sebastian Church- Saturday at 5.30 PM, Sunday at 8.30 AM, & Tuesday at 8.30 AM
St. Charles Church- Sunday at 10.30 AM & Thursday at 6.00 PM
You are welcome to join for any given masses through reservation by calling the office. If we fail to accommodate all of our parishioners with these 5 masses, we will consider more masses. Since all our masses will be without music, wish to conclude the Mass in 30-35 minutes. When you are planning to attend the liturgy, please everyone is expected wear the face mask all the time for everyone’s safety. Please make sure that you are not touching the face mask often. Everyone over the age of 3 should wear a mask. If you have a mask at home, please bring those for your use, those who do not have a face mask will be given at the church. No socializing is encouraged, please keep the 6 feet distance, people from the same household does not need to follow the distance. Please try not to use the restroom. To fulfill any of your pastoral needs please contact me-270-880-8239. Due to safety reasons, we are not able to give out the printed bulletins, so may I request each of you, if you are not in the list of receiving bulletins by email, please consider sending your email address to our Church office and request for bulletin by email. Our Church email is stsebch@bellsouth.net Or you should be able to see the bulletin by checking our website please-www.stsebastianandstcharles.com
Thank you in advance for understanding the situation and following the guidelines as a responsible parishioner. Thank you once again sincerely for supporting your parish family in many generous ways especially financially. Let pray for each other, love each other and support each other. May God Bless you and your family.
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With love and prayer,
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Fr. Jegin Puthenpurackal
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