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WHAT WE’LL BE DOING & HOW WE’LL BE DOING IT
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In keeping with the Archbishop’s recommendations and the CDC guidelines, this is what Mass will look like at Our Savior, beginning Pentecost weekend:
What will remain the same will be masks, social distance seating, and hand sanitizing. Masks and hand sanitizing will be absolutely required for all ministers of Holy Communion at Mass. The greeting of peace will still be a “wave,” unless it’s family members, or unless you and your friends are vaccinated (which you’ll know, even if you don’t want to tell me!). Social distancing in pews will remain fully in force precisely to avoid “calling out” those who are not vaccinated—no shaming here! And for those who are still nervous about large gatherings indoors and are afraid to return to church, I’m still doing “Communion on the porch” on Friday mornings 9:30—10:00 and Sundays after 11:00 Mass. But the numbers are dwindling very seriously; we may be coming to the end of a need for this extra ministry. Still, I have continued it as a part of marking the “Year of the Eucharist and the Parish.”
What will be different will be the elimination of the need to disinfect after all services. We will also be able to open up the baptismal font for holy water. We will bring hymnals and worship aids back into the pews (thereby allowing us to sing more fully at Mass). Restrooms will be fully opened. We will be able to “pass the basket” for offertory collections and have a procession of the gifts once again. This will also mean that the Book of Prayer Intentions will be back on its stand, ready for folks to add names to be remembered. This will allow usher-greeters (or the gift-bearing family) to whisper the “magic words” into my ear again—telling me the count of people at Mass. Now I won’t have to guess, based on the numbers from the beginning of Mass and trying to guess how many folks came in after! Also, memorial candles will now be able to be lit at the Holy Family corner of the church.
Since we will still not be able to offer Holy Communion from the chalice, we will still need only one additional Special Minister of Holy Communion, but he/she will now be the one to go to the tabernacle to bring the ciborium to the altar.
We will want to bring altar servers back in greater force, especially if they are siblings. Beyond processing in and out with the cross and ringing the bells, they will be able to hold the smaller Roman Missal for me at the chair, bring the larger one to the altar, and do the hand-washing. And of course they’ll be able to light/extinguish the altar candles. Pentecost, by the way, is the last Mass when the Paschal Candle is in the front of the sanctuary and lit; it will be moved to the baptismal font (its traditional place).
Other things will be beginning again that make me very happy. We’re hoping to have the sister-parish garage sale in August. Other organizations are beginning to meet again, as for example Ladies’ All Fun & Fellowship, Tai Chi, line dancing, Scouts, and so on.
Best of all from my point of view (other than the liturgy itself), we will have a parish meal again for Pentecost! Yes, reservations are required because of the limitations of social distancing, but we’ll be breaking bread together again. This is joyful, and there’s an additional “bonus,” though it comes at a sad price. No longer having our Hispanic community’s Sunday evening Mass, I can once again organize ecumenical prayer services to precede the meals. But it’s a sad loss that we won’t be doing bi- (or even tri-, or quatri-) lingual Masses.
All this will begin next weekend; I hope we can continue this forward motion with no setbacks.
