Dear Parishioners,

Even though we suspected that schools would be closed for the remainder of the year and now that it is a final decision, we are sad that our students cannot be together. It is so different, and I continue to wonder what is all this and why is our world in this situation? Although I receive no comforting answer, I keep saying – Do the best that you can, considering the situation and keep your head up as you keep repeating the Blessed Mother’s motto: “LET IT BE DONE TO ME AS YOU SAY”!

Kathy Friess and I are working with technology to somehow uplift and thank our graduating eighth graders so that they and all the school community can experience a MAY CROWNING ceremony, something that has been so special. I will try to do the same for our PSR community as well. I’ll keep you posted as to those particulars when we have them down pat.

As a reminder, technology will be used to live stream our Sunday Masses this weekend April 26th, and the following weekend of May 3rd, 2020 at 10:00 am. If the Governor keeps us AT HOME through the month of May, I will continue to live stream a weekend Mass for us, sometimes using our traditional music with Jeff Mills and sometimes using our LIFE TEEN music with the LIFE TEEN band.

I will have a private wedding service of 10 people this Saturday in the church for a lovely couple and later in the mid-summer bring them back for a vow renewal with all their family! Again, we all are learning to keep life going, but in new ways!

Julie Bowling has been working on using a new tool to communicate with parishioners. In the next week or so she will be using FLOCK NOTE to communicate with parishioners. This program will be a more technology friendly way to reach out with news from me and the parish. Now more than ever it is really important to use technology to reach out and share information. Remember if you don’t have an email address on file with the parish please send an email to Julie at jbowling@ihmcfo.org. We do understand that some of our parishioners do not use email or social media. We are also working on a way to reach out to those parishioners to make sure they are up-to-date.

So, make the best of your time, petition God to help find a vaccine sooner than later and to be a comfort to those who are sick or those family and friends of those who have died from this coronavirus.

Many blessings,
Father Jim