It was a happy event: St. Anthony's congregation gathered once more to celebrate Mass on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24, 2020 - the Feast of Christ's Ascension.

How many?

Saturday at 5:00 p.m. = 59
Sunday at 7:00 a.m. = 88
Sunday at 9:00 a.m. = 89
Sunday at 11:00 a.m. = 32

IN TOTO = 268

Perhaps not the huge numbers from "the before times", but a good start.

On May 23/24, we will return to congregational Mass, but it will be with lots of restrictions (see article below). The question arises -- Is it a real Mass if there is absolutely no singing? Is it Catholic tradition to nod to people six feet away while wearing a mask? Is this the Mass I knew and loved?

I am convinced that the predominant feeling, when we gather for Mass again, will be JOY! Overwhelming joy! It is a happy, happy moment. Underneath the happiness, though, will be a feeling of "weirdness". So many things will seem odd, maybe just plain wrong. We might even wonder if the whole thing seems sacrilegious.

It is not. 

Two centuries ago, the Benedictine monk Anselm Schott OSB, the inventor of the missalette, used to say, "The most important part of every Mass is the part that GOD does. Every Mass is God's Mass, not ours."

This is a central Catholic teaching. The real Mass is the one sung in heaven by the angels before the throne of God (see Rev. above). The Bible makes clear - when we celebrate Mass on earth, we are participating, "indistinctly, as in a mirror dimly" (1 Cor 13:12), in the Eucharistic Feast of Heaven. Mass on earth is a valid Mass only if it participates in the heavenly liturgy. That is why there must be a validly ordained priest, real bread and real wine, and so on. As the 1st Eucharistic Prayer says,

The classic expression of this truth is the hymn Holy Holy Holy, verse 2:

Holy, Holy, Holy!
Lord God Almighty!
All the saints adore Thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea!
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.
  

The angels know what they're doing. We'll be fine.

Friar Bob
15 May 2020

For the Feast of Christ's Ascension, our parish - together with the entire diocese - will resume public Masses. There will be restrictions. I will update this blog post regularly as things change and develop.

NEW MASS SCHEDULE:

Saturday at 5:00 p.m., Sunday at 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 a.m.
Weekday Masses resume on Monday, June 1, in the main church.
Spanish Mass resumes on Sunday, June 21.
Mass at Manapogo Campground still to be determined.

The new Sunday schedule allows proper time for cleaning and disinfecting between Masses. The schedule will be reevaluted after August 16.

Here is a short summary of the mandatory safety measures.

• There will be a maximum of 200 people per Mass.
• EVERYONE must wear a mask.
• Every other pew will be blocked off.
• In the pews that are open, maintain 6 feet between families.
• Handshaking and hand holding are suspended.
• Communion will be the host only, and only in the hand.
• There will be no choir.
• There will be no offertory.
• The collection will be taken up by different means.
• The church will be disinfected after every Mass, and fumigated weekly.

That sounds like a lot! This will definitely be a different experience of Mass. Who knows? Maybe we will learn something and grow from this!

Those who are particularly vulnerable - the elderly, those with underlying conditions, infants and small children - should consider not attending Sunday Mass just yet. Remember - the bishop continues to dispense you from any obligation to attend Mass. You might even consider attending a weekday Mass as your weekly Mass.

May the Lord continue to guide us.
friar Bob, pastor

Short answer: I don't know.

As Archbishop Lori has stated (see article below), the bishops will decide. In our case, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, our Ordinary, will decide. As of this writing - Monday, May 4, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. - we still await news from the diocesan administration.

Let it be said clearly: the Governor did not "open up the churches" again. He did not close them, he cannot open them, he claims no power to open or close them. The Indiana state government has consistently acted within the law.

On May 1, Gov. Holcomb announced a new policy called Back On Track Indiana. This plan foresees a gradual reduction of restrictions on public life during May, June and July of 2020. There are five phases. Today we begin Phase 2. That phase recommends - not orders - that religious institutions may consider, maybe, possibly, holding some liturgies again such as weddings and funerals, but only if there are fewer than 25 people present, no one over the age of 65 is present, no one is present who is sick in any way, everyone stays 6 feet apart in the pews, every other pew be left empty, there is no touching and no consumption of, for example, communion, and everyone wears masks. That's not much of a Mass!

So I am guessing that Bishop Rhoades will not start up public Masses again just yet. I remind you that Bishop Rhoades suspended all public Masses BEFORE the secular government issued a Stay at Home order, because it was the morally correct thing to do. As a Church community with a properly installed hierarchy, we will decide how and when to celebrate our liturgies for the good of the people.

So watch this space! As soon as the diocesan administration gives guidance, we will pass it on!

Thank you for your prayers and understanding, your wisdom and your patience. Patience is truly a virtue - and now is a time for virtue, not impetuousness. God bless us all.

__________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, Bishop Kevin Rhoades released new directives which foresee public Masses returning for the Solemnity of the Pentecost on May 31st. There may also be some (perhaps limited) form of Mass on the weekend of May 23rd and 24th. There is a lot of information to process. The parish staff will keep the parishioners informed as soon as we can.

by friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.

This article originally appeared in the pariosh's eBulletin for April 24, 2020

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore has a clear message for people who think that the suspension of religious services is a violation of our religious liberty or is some sort of political plot: it is not. Even suggesting that it is puts life in danger and is therefore a sin.
 
Archbp. Lori used to be the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference Committee on Religious Freedom. He is still the leading member of the board of theological consultants for that committee. On Easter Sunday, Archbp. Lori made a statement with several points:
 
1. The bishops will decide
 
The archbishop reminds Catholics that it was the Catholic bishops who suspended public liturgies, not the civil governments. In many places, Masses were suspended before there were any stay at home orders. It is the bishops who will decide when public Masses will begin again. [For example, in our diocese, Bishop Rhoades suspended public Masses as of March 18, Gov. Holcomb’s stay at home order was not issued until March 23.]
 
The U.S. bishops make this statement not to show their power, but because they want to make clear that no earthly power is forcing us to suspend public events, rather Catholic morality compels us. “One of the overriding responsibilities of government is to keep people safe. This is a health and public safety issue. And this is not only a concern that the government has, it’s also a concern of the church,” the archbishop said. “The Church has to take steps to ensure that we are kept safe and healthy and those steps have to be reasonable, rational. We do not feel as though we have been forced into doing this by the government. We feel like we’re doing the right thing.”
 
This means that it is possible that, even after some local governments lift the stay at home orders, the Roman Catholic Church might decide to wait a little longer.

2. We are a Church of faith and reason
 
“We are a people of faith and reason”, Archbp. Lori said, and the suspension of public liturgies is “eminently reasonable”. Following government orders and guidelines to stem the epidemic “does not in any way attack or undermine our faith or our religious liberty”. The suspension of public Masses and other sacraments is happening “out of pastoral love for our laity, our priests and the people of our society”.
 
3. Good will come of this
 
Even amidst suffering, we believe that God can draw goodness out of any situation. Indeed, there is opportunity here to develop aspects of our Church life and tradition that otherwise are somewhat neglected. “In extraordinary circumstances, God’s grace nonetheless reaches us. And we can certainly draw upon this tremendous treasury of holiness and merit unto which the Church has access during this time as part of our faith always has been and always will be.” As Pope Francis says, “The Church has many resources in our rich tradition.” Now is the time to explore that tradition and make use of our spiritual richness!