Fr. Daniel's Letter to his Parishioners

 

Dear Parishioners,

February 11 is the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.  It is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sick.  This becomes a great time to remind everyone about the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.  Included in this bulletin is information on the celebration of this Sacrament, the conditions for receiving the Sacrament and the reminder that it is not good to wait until the last minute to call the priest for someone who is dying.  With the fewer number of priests available in Lewiston, we cannot promise to be able to anoint someone at a specific time.  Therefore, it is important to remember that it is best to request a priest for the anointing before someone is “actively dying” or the morning of a surgery.  Celebrating the World Day of Prayer for the Sick reminds us of the call to care for those who are ill and to ask God to be present and close to those who are suffering.  Due to COVID-19 protocols, we will not have the celebration of the Anointing of the Sick at the weekend Mass, but it does not mean that we as a community are not praying continuously for the sick.  It is also not a bad time to remind everyone in the parish that you can submit a prayer request on the website or on our parish app and each night I include these intentions online at 9:00 PM when we do Night Prayer with our parishioners.  If you have not joined us yet, please consider praying online with us each night at 9:00 PM.

It is nice to see people who have not yet felt comfortable coming to Church to take advantage of the times when the priests distribute Holy Communion outside of Mass.  Please refer to the bulletin for the times when and places where you can come to the Church, receive Holy Communion and say your prayers.  It allows people who are compromised to receive our Lord during this long and arduous pandemic.

I want to make sure our parishioners are prepared for how we will celebrate Ash Wednesday this year and the beginning of Lent.  For a few weeks, I have published in the bulletin the Vatican’s directives for distributing ashes during a pandemic.  The priest will say the words once to everyone as a group and then parishioners will receive the ashes by the priest sprinkling them on top of the head.  I have already received some pushback for this method and directed them to the letter from the Vatican.  Please help me explain this to others who question why we are doing something different this year.  Also, if you cannot get into a Church for Ash Wednesday, you may receive it outside at Holy Families during the scheduled times on that Wednesday.  We will make it the best Lent we can given COVID-19.  

-  - - Fr. Daniel

 


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