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April 2020 COVID-19 Letters and Announcements

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4/27/20

We are in the portion of the Easter season in which the gospel readings for daily Mass are taken fromnwhat is known as the “Bread of Life” discourse from the gospel according to John. This discourse leads to a reflection on the Eucharist—Jesus’ Body is real food, and his Blood is real drink, he taught us in this discourse. We are grateful for this gift of Jesus’ life given to us, and saddened that in these days we arenot able to receive the Eucharist, and look forward to the day when we will gather again. In the meantime, as we continue to be “closed down” from public celebration of the Sacraments until further notice, may we continue fervently our prayer, charity, faith formation, patience, “check-ins” with fellow parishioners, and social-distancing.

This temporary closure of parish life has resulted in the postponement of some upcoming major events. As on-site school is closed for the year (we continue with on-line education), the Mass for 8th grade graduation has been postponed; July 31st is set as a tentative date for that Mass (if we are open by then). The Mass for Confirmation/1 st Communion, scheduled for May 9th , is postponed; a new date will be set in conjunction with the bishop’s calendar when we are back up and running. Summer Faith Camp has been tentatively moved to the week of August 10th -14th . The church is open on a limited basis for those who might want to stop by, while out for an “essential task,” for prayer before the tabernacle; the chapel is not open. The open hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-1 pm. This is not an invitation for group prayer; please do not organize a group to gather—that is
still not allowed. Also, please be cautious about proper hygiene. If you come to the church, use your elbow to activate the automatic handicap-accessible door going both in and out, and please sit in the designated areas to facilitate disinfecting occupied areas (please avoid touching anything if you can).
Thanks again to all of you who have continued offering your financial donations to the parish during these financially-tenuous times. Many of you have moved to the on-line giving option
(thomasmorespokane.org/give), which allows for the use of a credit card or a bank account to schedule regular stewardship donations to the parish; I thank you for that, and hope it is a “user-friendly” feature for you. By the way, if you have switched to that option, and used to use envelopes but no longer will, if you would notify Jen of that (click on her name on the parish website to send an email) so we can discontinue the sending of envelopes to you, it would be appreciated. This will save our parish some money that is spent on envelopes.
Sunday Mass from STM will air at 8:30 am; Mass is livestreamed from the Cathedral at 9 am on Sundaysand 12 noon on weekdays.
May God’s Easter blessing of peace and joy fill your hearts and your home. As we hear on the TV ads these days, we will get through this; what we add as Church is “… by the grace of God.”
4/20/20

Having passed the 1-month mark of having parish liturgies and activities suspended, I think a lot of people are getting super anxious for this to be over, which is understandable. It tests our patience, and may tempt us promote reactions (e.g. “getting back to business as usual” before the state and bishops give the OK) which may lose sight of our call to care for one another and be sensible and responsible. We do this sadly accepting that the way we have to “be and do Church” at this time is not what we are or do normally. But these are not normal times, so we do the best we can given the circumstances, trusting in God. Let us let God take care of us; let us cherish the ways God graces us outside the public celebration of the Mass and the other Sacraments, like prayer—the Rosary, meditation on Scripture, petitionary prayers, the Perfect Act of Contrition, Spiritual Communion, etc. Let us deepen our hunger for the Eucharist, longing for that day when we can gather again for Mass and other parish prayer and activities.

I also want to let you know that the church will be open on a limited basis for those who might want to stop by for prayer before the tabernacle; the chapel is not open The open hours are Monday-Friday, 9 am-1 pm. This is not an invitation for group prayer; please do not organize a group to gather—that is still not allowed. Also, please be cautious about proper hygiene. If you come to the church, use your elbow to activate the automatic handicap-accessible door going both in and out, and please sit in the designated areas to facilitate disinfecting occupied areas (please avoid touching anything if you can).

I want to thank all of you who have continued offering your financial donations to the parish during these financially-tenuoustimes. Many of you have moved to the on-line giving option (thomasmorespokane.org/give), which allows for the use of a credit card or a bank account to schedule regular stewardship donations to the parish; I thank you for that, and hope it is a “user-friendly” feature for you. By the way, if you have switched to that option, and used to use envelopes but no longer will, if you would notify Jen of that (click on her name on the parish website to send an email) so we can discontinue the sending of envelopes to you, it would be appreciated. This will save our parish some money that is spent on envelopes.

Sunday Mass from STM will air at 8:30 am; Mass is livestreamed from the Cathedral at 9 am on Sundays and 12 noon on weekdays.

May God’s Easter blessing of peace and joy fill your hearts and your home. As we hear on the TV ads these days, we will get through this; what we add as Church is “… by the grace of God.”
4/14/20
Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen! We are in the midst of the Octave, i.e. “8 days” of Easter. A single day doesn’t capture the mystery; 8 days don’t capture the mystery; the 50 days of the Easter season don’t capture the mystery. We live in the mystery all the days of our life! It is our hope- He is our hope! Christ is risen!

All activities and public liturgies in the parish continue to be suspended until further notice, with a few exceptions: for instance, our school continues to form and educate children through on-line and remote means, St. Vincent de Paul continues its ministry to those in need, etc.

As we continue in this time of not being able to gather as Church nor to celebrate our Sacraments, we are invited to experience the risen Christ in our lives in exciting ways in our homes. This sad time has enabled us to mine the riches of the Catholic Tradition that are not often before us when we are “Church as normal.” Practices like the Spiritual Communion, which reminds us that God’s grace, though not received sacramentally, is always available to us and active in our lives, and the Perfect Act of Contrition, which reminds us that God’s forgiveness, though not received sacramentally, flows upon us in many other ways, are special gifts to us in these days. Let us be grateful to God!

Who knows when we will come through this “Stay Home” time as Church, local community, and world? We do our part to hasten that day by obeying as we are able the “Stay Home” directive, which is an act of care for others a holy act. As we look to that day, we can envision what we will look like. What about these?
- A deeper appreciation for the gift of the Eucharist, our gatherings as people of faith, the other Sacraments.
- Deeper bonds of caring and friendship within families, and of care of neighbors.
- More acute awareness of the need to care for others through staying out of contact with others when we have an illness that is contagious, or if we are in contact with someone with such an illness.
- Understanding that illness, especially when contagious or keeps one homebound, always carries with it the automatic dispensation from the obligation to participate in Sunday Mass: “If we’re sick with a contagious illness, stay home.” N.B. This doesn’t apply always to priests—we are necessary for Mass to happen. But know when priests are ill, we take extra precautions at Mass not to contact people, share a common chalice, etc.
- A re-evaluated prioritization of the aspects of our life, with our relationship with God on top, and relationship with family and other people next. What’s really important?
What would you add to this list?

Blessed Easter to all!

4/9/20

In the history of salvation, captured prominently in God’s word, the Sacred Scriptures, there are major themes woven throughout: Creation, the Fall, the Exodus from slavery through the desert to the Promised Land, the Covenant, Exile, Return from Exile. There were 2 major exiles in Old Testament Times: the Assyrian and the Babylonian. In these, the people of God in the Promised Land were conquered, and most of the people were forcefully relocated to other lands. This was to strip them of their power, their threat to the conquering people. For God’s people, this meant separation from the Temple in Jerusalem, and from one another. They were times of great sadness, loss, despair; they longed to return to their land and their Temple. Without the support of their common worship of God and one another in community, they sometimes lost their way—took on the pagan ways of the people among whom they were forced to live. But God didn’t forget them; He sent prophets, like Ezekiel, to call them to repentance, to encourage them to keep their faith active in their lives through their worship of God in their homes, and to hold fast to the truths that God had revealed to them, remembering and passing on the Scriptures and the teachings of their religious leaders.

Eventually, God brought them back from Exile, to the Promised Land and the Temple: new life out of the “death experience” of Exile. God would definitively bring His people back from the Exile of sin and death through the Paschal Mystery, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son, that we commemorate this coming weekend in the Easter Triduum.

These times of our temporarily-closed parishes and suspension of our public worship of God can be seen as a “desert” experience, a “long Holy Saturday,” etc. It can also be compared to an Exile. The threat of the coronavirus is like the Assyrians or the Babylonians; because of it, we are separated from our “Temple,” the parish, and from one another in the parish. Without our communal prayer and support, we may find ourselves becoming lax in keeping up our prayer life, maintaining moral purity, living the commands of love, etc. But God doesn’t abandon us. He calls us to prayer at home; he sends of “prophets” to call us to repentance for sin (c.f. Perfect Act of Contrition) and remind us of God’s ways. These “prophets” may come to us in our reading of Scripture and other spiritual works, a friend who gives us a call to check in on us, and what we access on TV or the internet: televised Masses and other prayers, resources on formed.org, messages from the diocese and parish on Flocknote.
As we long for the return to our parish home and “Temple,” the bishop invites us to remain connected to one another and the Church by viewing the Masses and other Services at which he presides at our Cathedral Churchand offering the prayer for Spiritual Communion at home. For the Triduum, these will be livestreamed (go to dioceseofspokane.org or spokanecathedral.com for the link):
Holy Thursday, 5 pm;
Good Friday, 12 noon;
Holy Saturday, 8 pm;
Easter Sunday, 9 am.
You may also tune in to Easter Mass from STM, airing at 10:30 am on Easter Sunday, to maintain some connection with our parish; the link is on the parish website, thomasmorespokane.org, and will be sent as a Flocknote.
May God, who will bring us back from this Exile, fill you with faith, hope and love this Holy Week!

4/3/20

This weekend we enter into the week we call “Holy,” as we spiritually walk with Jesus through the final days of his life on earth—his entrance into the holy city, Jerusalem; his last supper, agony in the garden, arrest, crucifixion, death, rest in the tomb, and the resurrection from the dead- the mystery of salvation. In these troubled times, we are not able to walk with him in these days liturgically, as out of care for each other and commitment to work with the local and world community to bring a quick end to the spread of the coronavirus, we observe the “Stay Home” order and do not gather as Church. This is an opportunity to walk these holy days as domestic Church in the home.
Bishop Daly is inviting all parishioners in the Diocese of Spokane to express our communion with one another by tuning in to the Masses/Services at the Cathedral, at which he will preside, and offering the “Spiritual Communion” prayer from home:
Prayer for Spiritual Communion

My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You.
Amen.

The easiest way to access these “livestreams” is by going to the diocesan website: dioceseofspokane.org. Then click on “Watch the Mass at Home.” It is best to do this a few minutes before the Mass is to begin. The first of these Holy Week Masses will be on Sunday, April 5, at 9:00 am, the Mass for Passion (Palm) Sunday. Times for the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday Easter Vigil will be sent out next week. Easter Sunday Mass from the Cathedral with the bishop will be at 9:00 am.
An Easter Sunday Mass from St. Thomas More will air at 10:30 am, accessible through the parish website: thomasmorespokane.org.
May you have a blessed Holy Week in your domestic Church!
Donate to the parish on-line: https://parish.thomasmorespokane.org/give

Saint Thomas More Parish

Spokane, WA

April 2020 COVID-19 Letters and Announcements

4/27/20

4/20/20

4/14/20

4/9/20

4/3/20