Parish Schedule Next Two Weeks

• This is a fluid situation, so please check this blog page each day for updates. As previously communicated, this weekend the Mass schedule will be as normal, and starting Monday, March 16th, all public masses are cancelled until further notice.

• Tonight, the Fish Fry is cancelled. Encounter will take place, but there will be no close contact praying over people. We will have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and singing and confessions. Families can sit together, but people should arrange their seating so as to make sure there is at least six feet between families.

• Baptisms, weddings, and funerals will take place as scheduled, as these rarely exceed the gathering limit imposed by the county.

• Starting Monday, March 16th, the church will be open from 8am to 9pm for people to pray. The office will be open the usual hours (M-F, 8:30am to 6pm, closed for lunch from 12:30-2pm).

• The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar for the rest of March, Monday through Friday and Sunday from 12 noon to 6pm. Exceptions are March 19th, adoration will be from 12-3pm and March 23rd, adoration will be from 12:30pm to 6pm.

• From March 16th to the end of the month, assume that all other planned parish gatherings have been cancelled. Some exceptions will be made for small gatherings. Your ministry head will contact you specifically to let you know that a gathering will take place.

• We will add significant hours for individual confessions, the days and times to be announced shortly.

• Plans are being made for the parish to enhance its online presence as a way for us to connect, pray together, and learn together.

• Starting next week, members of the parish staff will call each registered family to see how they are doing and ask if they have any prayer intentions or otherwise need help.

• This may sound strange, but I think that God is presenting us with an opportunity to grow spiritually through all of this. I will elaborate on this more in future posts.

Bishop Robert McElroy re Coronovirus Impacts

Below is a message from the Bishop to priests regarding the coronavirus-related impact to parish life. The salient practical information is this: (1) the obligation to attend Mass is dispensed, which means, no one has to go to Mass, effective immediately; (2) we will offer Masses this weekend according to our normal schedule; (3) starting on Monday, March 16, all public daily and weekend Masses are cancelled and all religious education classes are cancelled.

I will post additional information in the coming days regarding how we can stay connected to Jesus and one another in light of these restrictions.

My dear brother Priest:

I have no need to tell you of the dislocations, legitimate concerns and misplaced fear that are burdening our parishioners and families in these days concerning COVID19. Being on the ground, you know these realities far more deeply and personally than I do.

The public health response in our society is changing daily, and it is essential that the Church move in tandem with prudent efforts to stop the spread of this pandemic.

Both the governor and San Diego County have issued declarations prohibiting meetings of more than two hundred fifty people, and calling for social distancing even within smaller gatherings.

In light of these government actions, and the public health challenge which underlies them, I consulted with the Presbyteral Council yesterday and again today. As a result, I have concluded that the following actions must be implemented in all of the parishes and schools of the Diocese of San Diego:

1.    Effective Monday morning March 16th, no public daily or weekend Masses will be held. Parishes are encouraged to keep churches open longer hours for personal visitation, intermittent recitations of the Rosary, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

2.    All Catholics in the Diocese of San Diego are dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass during the coming weeks.

3.    All parish and diocesan schools and religious education programs will be suspended effective this Monday. The Diocesan School Office is notifying the schools of this suspension; the Office has in prior days sent to the schools substantive materials for long distance learning for use during the suspension.

4.    We will be providing video streamed Sunday Masses celebrated by priests and bishops of our diocese in English, Spanish and Vietnamese every week. Your parishioners can access these celebrations be linking to the diocesan website at sdcatholic.org starting this Sunday.

Attached to this memo is a letter that I have written to be read at all of the Masses this Sunday which speaks to the spiritual dimensions of the challenges confronting us in these days. I would also ask you to email this letter to your parishioners if you have the capacity to do so.

It is vital that we proceed with a blend of prudent concern for public health and the spiritual mission that lies at the heart of the Church and is especially vital in these days. I give thanks once again for all of the service which you render to the Church, especially in moments like this.

                                                          Sincerely yours in Christ,                                                  

                                                        Most Reverend Robert W. McElroy
Bishop of San Diego

Bishop’s Letter to the Catholics of San Diego can be found in English here and in Spanish here.