By Kari Bergmann
Currently, Holy Family has been able to open up the church to twenty people at a time for Mass and Adoration, each day of the week. At the moment, Masses are taking place at 8am and Adoration is available at 10:30am, 5pm, or 8pm, depending on the day. You are able to sign up to attend Mass or Adoration on the Holy Family website or by calling the parish office between 9:30am-12:30pm Monday-Sunday. You can register for Mass or Holy Hour here.
Despite these new allowances we realize that the vast majority of us are still unable to attend Mass on Sunday and this may remain the case for a while. Later this month the size of religious gatherings will likely increase again but it looks like it will be a long time until we can celebrate Mass on Sunday the way we used to at Holy Family. While we have been granted a dispensation if we are unable to attend Mass on Sundays this is not an excuse to become complacent about honouring the Lord’s Day nor in our need to grow in faith.
Despite the strange times we are living in and the fact that we may not be able to attend Mass or receive the sacraments on a regular basis we cannot neglect our faith. Each of us must make an honest appraisal of how we have been prioritising our relationship with Christ. There is no doubt that there are challenges to practicing our faith now, our regular practices and habits of worship have been restricted, we’ve been physically distanced from our faith community, and many of us are facing new hardships in terms of employment, finances, and mental health. However, now is the time for each of us to take on greater responsibility for our faith. No one else is going to do this for us, especially now. We can grow closer to God during this challenging time. Our prayer lives can deepen and become richer. We can learn more about the Bible and the Catholic faith. We can find ways to minister to those around us and to bring Christ to the world. We can be inspired by the lives of holy men and women who have gone before us. Throughout history, persecuted Christians and martyrs lived out their faith boldly and loyally in far more challenging conditions than we currently face. Some of them went for decades without being able to attend Mass or receive the Eucharist. Furthermore, they lived and proclaimed their faith under punishment of death. What’s our excuse?