Dear Parishioners,

For this week’s bulletin, I just have a couple of practical and scheduling issues I would like to bring up to you all.

1. Thank you to everyone for cooperating to wear masks and to keep social distance. I have had to correct some people at some of the Masses. But, every- one has been really cooperative after that. I keep seeing videos on the internet of people blowing up when told they have to leave a grocery store because they are not wearing masks and I am really glad we are avoiding incidents like that.

2. Please do not walk away with the Blessed Sacrament when receiving Holy Communion. As the minister of the sacrament, I have a duty to make sure that everyone who approaches for Holy Communion actually receives (meaning eat) Our Lord. So, if someone does not receive immediately, I have to keep an eye on them until they do and it often requires me to follow them. So, please receive Holy Communion as soon as I put it in your hand.

3. In September, Saturday morning Mass at 9 am will return. We have worked out the cleaning schedule to allow for it.

4. For the next five first Saturdays, we will have a sung Latin Mass in celebration of the First Five Saturday devotions at 9 am. I have a lot of reasons why I want to do this and why I think it will be of great benefit for our parish. However, for the sake of space I will need to go into all of this in a future bulletin letter.

5. Sunday, September 20th, we will have a sung Latin Mass at 3 pm. As you all know, I have a great devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass. I think many others have a devotion to this form of the Mass as well because at my Wednesday night Latin Masses, we often had over a hundred people in attendance and people have asked me when I was going to have one on a Sunday. Our current weekend schedule is very fully right now, so my first instinct was the replace one of the other Sunday Masses with a Latin Mass. But, I knew this may upset many people. So, I am trying out this time slot instead and seeing if it works for us clergy, and the people of the parish. After I have this first one, I will decide then whether or not I will continue it once a month with the intention of some day making it weekly.

6. Reminder: August 19th at 6 pm we will have a sung Traditional Latin Mass dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I am not planning on having another one in September because we will have two other Latin Masses on the schedule.

7. Reminder: Next Saturday August 22nd, confessions will be from 3 pm to 4 pm instead of the normal time.

God bless!

Fr. Carter