Thank you for your prayers for Fr. Jeremiah Hahn and for welcoming him here during the time of his formation. He is planning to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving at the 8:35 a.m. Mass this week on Thursday, May 27th. All are welcome! And he is planning to be in Cambridge again on Sunday, June 6th, to con-celebrate the 8:00 a.m. Mass and to preside and preach at the 10:30 a.m. One tradition connected with Masses of Thanksgiving is for him to be available for “First Blessings” after the Mass, which I know he is looking forward to offering to individuals and families.
As we move little by little away from the COVID-19 restrictions of this past year, we will need to begin scheduling various liturgical ministers. As noted elsewhere in this bulletin, we will plan to draw upon volunteers for the weekend of June 5th & 6th, when we are able to return to close to normal. If you would like to be removed from our lists of liturgical ministers, please contact our parish office. Likewise, if you would like to begin serving as an altar server, Eucharistic minister (at this point only assisting with distributing Hosts), usher or lector, please contact the parish office as we plan to have training soon for new liturgical ministers.
If we get closer to capacity (which at this point is ~50% of our pre-coronavirus church building capacity – in order to maintain the 6-ft. distance between households) before the complete removal of the ropes/tape within our church buildings on June 2nd, we might designate some sections of the church (likely the middle rows) where those who are not as concerned about the 6-ft. distancing could be. We will maintain distancing in the pews where people with ambulatory difficulties are seated and in most of the churches, in order to provide a more worry-free experience for those with remaining concerns.
Praise God, that the number of cases and hospitalizations throughout the state and locally continue to decline. Please continue to keep in prayer those who are still getting infected and affected by the virus. We want to be free of the debilitating fear so much a part of this past year, on the one hand, and still wise about the spread of the virus. We still encounter people locally who suffer from the virus and as one parishioner who recovered from it after a strong bout with it said, “I don’t recommend this thing to anyone.” Often those who have had more than mild symptoms have described never feeling worse than they did while their body was fighting the virus.
Nevertheless…! Praise God, too, for the effective treatment approaches that have developed and for those who have been willing to go the extra mile for their development.
May the Lord help us to experience the transforming power of God’s love and mercy! May we all experience continued Easter Season blessings!