Dear Parishioners,

As a Catholic priest and pastor, my primary concern is to get people into heaven. I want people to live out their Catholic faith and grow in holiness. Part of growing in holiness is being charitable to those around us and doing what is good for them even if it inconveniences us. It is in that spirit that I am recommending that we do everything we can to prevent others from catching Covid-19.

While one can never guarantee absolute safety in any aspect of life, we can do our best to minimize risk for the sake of others. This includes:

• Vaccinations: Both the USCCB and Pope Francis and our own bishop have all pointed out the morality of using vaccinations and I have already written this in a previous article. Some people do have legitimate medical reasons to not be vaccinated. But this means that those of us who can be vaccinated ought to be since it is the best weapon we have against this disease. Currently, out of all the hospitalizations in NJ for Cvoid-19, only 3% of those people are not fully vaccinated. (According to a recent nj.com article.)
• Masks: No one likes wearing masks. But since this disease is spread through droplets in people’s breath, this is a common-sense-precaution, and why the Governor has recommended them for all large gatherings. I have noticed that many stores are even asking people to wear masks again.
• Social distance: Try to do your best to stay away from people, if possible. In order to help in this, I am going to bring back weekly streaming of Mass on our Facebook page. (https:// www.facebook.com/HolyInnocentsNeptune)

Overall, while none of this is mandated, I hope that you all take to heart these recommendations. As the virus infects more people it has more chances to mutate. This makes the current vaccine less effective in the future. There are people who have medical issues that put them in great risk of dying if they catch it. So, those that can get the vaccine and have no reason not to get it, should get it for the sake of others. There is also a chance that if infection rates get out of hand, the government could impose another lockdown. That is something I think we all want to avoid.

God bless!

Fr. Carter

P.S. I also maintain a parish email list. If you would like to receive updates from me, please sign up at https://holyinnocentschurch.net/ and click on the link at the top of the page.