Dear Brother and Sisters in Christ,
As we prepare for our Christmas Masses at St. Joan of Arc Parish, I wanted to address a few questions that have surfaced, and I wanted to share some insights on what to expect if you attend one of our Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Masses.
1) Our Christmas Mass schedule is as follows:
Christmas Eve: 4 PM, 6 PM, and 10 PM
Christmas Day: 8 AM, 10 AM, and 12 PM
3) For those who, for a variety of reasons, wish to watch Mass from their car and still receive Holy Communion, one of our priests or deacons will be outside the Sr. Carol Center (under the overhang) after Mass to distribute Holy Communion. If you are in one of the handicapped parking places, simply wave to one of us (or honk your horn) when you see us outside and we will make sure Holy Communion is brought to you.
4) For those who attend daily mass, we will still have our regular 7 AM morning mass on Christmas Eve for the mass for December 24 (this morning Mass does not fulfill your obligation for Christmas).
5) While the general dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass expired earlier in the year, there are specific instances where the dispensation continues, as well as those circumstances where there is no obligation in the first place. One does not have an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or Holy Days (and thus Christmas) in the following circumstances: 1) You are ill or your health condition would be significantly compromised if you were to contract a communicable illness (i.e., you have underlying conditions or are in a high-risk category). Please use the dispensation and do not attend Mass. 2) You exhibit flu-like symptoms. Please use the dispensation and do not attend Mass. 3) You have good reason to think you might be asymptomatic of a contagious illness (e.g., you were in recent contact with someone who tested positive for a contagious illness such as COVID or influenza). Please use the dispensation and do not attend Mass. 4) You care for the sick, homebound, or infirmed. 5) You are pregnant. 6) Those 65 years of age or older (per the CDC’s recommendation of high-risk individuals). 7) You cannot attend Mass through no fault of your own (e.g., no Mass is offered, you are infirmed, or, while wanting to go, you are prevented for some reason you cannot control (e.g., your ride did not show up, the church was at capacity). 8) If you have significant fear or anxiety of becoming ill by being at Mass.
6) The pew sections closest to the Gathering Place require masks to be worn. These sections will also utilize our color-coded pew designation to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Signs are posted in the Gathering Place and in the Church showing which color pew will be used for that mass.
7) Given the rise in COVID cases of late, you are highly encouraged (not obligated unless you sit in the first section of pews closest to the Gathering Place) to wear masks when you attend masses at SJA this weekend.
8) You can only enter the Church through the Sr. Carol Center doors. All of the other doors are for exiting only.
9) When you enter the Sr. Carol Center, we will have donation boxes in the Gathering Place to place your Christmas Offering as well as a place to sanitize your hands. Should you wish to make a Christmas donation electronically, visit give.stjoan.church.
10) Tables will be located at the Sr. Carol Center Entrance and around the Holy Family statue in the middle of the Gathering Place where you will find the bulletin for Christmas and Holy Family Weekend, the 2022 wall calendars courtesy of A.H. Peters Funeral Home, Bibles courtesy of the PM Foundation, as well as our Christmas gift to you, a copy of Matthew Kelly's book, Life is Messy.
Here is a description of the book: "Life is messy. It isn’t a color-within-the-lines exercise. It’s a wild and outrageous invitation full of uncertain outcomes. The mess of life is both inevitable and unexpected. It is filled with delightful mysteries and frustrating predicaments. In our disposable culture, we throw broken things away. So, what will we do with broken people, broken relationships, broken institutions, broken families, and of course, our very own broken selves? We are all broken and wounded. This book is about putting our lives back together, and allowing ourselves to be put back together, when life doesn’t turn out as we expected it to. Based on his own heart-wrenching personal journals, Matthew Kelly shares how the worst three years of his life affected him, by exploring this question: Can someone who has been broken be healed and become more beautiful and more lovable than ever before? The answer will fill you with hope. There has never been a more urgent need for us to attend to what is happening within us. This is quite simply the right book at the right time."
We encourage you to take a copy of the bulletin, a Bible, a wall calendar, or the Life is Messy book BEFORE the start of Mass.
And, as we listen to all of our favorite Christmas songs, I thought I would pass along the video below from Spirit Juice Studios about the 12 Days of Christmas. I was looking for a video to spruce up this email and so I went to one of my favorite places, Spirit Juice Studios, and found the one below.
Even with all the challenges this Christmas will bring as we face yet another Christmas in the midst of the COVID pandemic, may we keep our eyes totally fixed on Christ, the very LIGHT who come into our world to dispel all darkness. Allow Christ and the beautiful story of his birth to illuminate your heart, soul, and mind. HIS light can dispel ANY darkness. Let HIS light into your life. And then, live as people of that LIGHT!
Know of my prayers!
Merry Christmas!
In Christ,
