Dawn of a New Day
 
 
My dearest parishioners,
 Happy 5 ^th Sunday of Easter and Happy Mother’s Day! As much as I would like to write on the “spirituality” of Easter or on the glories of Motherhood, I need to inform you of an important update regarding the public celebration of Mass in our parish.
 On May 1 ^st, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the priests of this diocese received an email from Archbishop Hebda. It informed us that on May 18 ^th (the day on which the Minnesota Stay-At-Home executive order is to be lifted) some degree of public celebration of the Holy Mass in the church will be permitted. This for sure is wonderful news and an answer to prayer for so many of us! The Archbishop’s letter can be found on our parish website or our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/maryschurches).
 While this is exciting news for us, we must proceed with prudent caution. The Archbishop wrote that this gradual return back into having public masses will be a “phased approach.” The gradual nature of this “phasing” back into the public celebration of the Mass is meant to help meet the spiritual needs of the faithful as well as help protect the health of all parishioners and society at large. Here are a few key points from the Archbishop’s letter regarding some strict guidelines that will need to be in place throughout this whole process:

• Come May 18^th, public celebrations of the Mass in church will be allowed in smaller groups limited to no more that 1/3 of the seating capacity of the church.
• Those over age 65 will be strongly encouraged not to attend, and anyone showing any symptoms of sickness, or anyone who has a household member who is sick or showing symptoms of sickness should not come to church.
• The church space will be thoroughly sanitized before and after each service, including all entryways and doors. Holy water fonts will be empty and hymnals removed.
• Signs will be posted concerning social distancing and sanitation requirements and reminders to follow these requirements will be offered.
• Hand sanitizers will be available at all entryways.
• All local safety orders specifically relating to proper face coverings will be followed.
• People will be instructed not to engage in any physical touch, such as by greeting each other.
• Signs and other instructions will encourage normal safe practices necessary to avoid the spread (e.g. cough or sneeze into a shirtsleeve, handkerchief, or tissue; avoid touching the eyes, nose, and mouth).
• Ventilation will be increased as much as possible by opening windows and doors, as weather permits.

I am unprepared at the moment to give you a detailed explanation of how this gradual reintroduction of the public celebration of the Mass in our church will practically play out, but I assure you that we are working on a plan to help make all of this possible. I thank you all for your patience and understanding during these difficult weeks in which we have not been publicly celebrating the Mass together. Your patience and understanding going forward will be needed and most appreciated. A more detailed plan on how this will work in our parish will be provided to you next weekend.
 Until then, in this month of the May which is dedicated to our Blessed Mother Mary, let us thank our heavenly Mother for her intercession and ask her for her continued guidance and protection in these coming weeks. Indeed, Happy Mother’s Day!