Bishop David Ricken has removed the dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation. The obligation will begin again on the weekend of August 14-15, All Catholics, except those to whom he refers in the italicized section below, are to be present and to participate at a Sunday Mass or a Saturday Vigil Mass each weekend. The obligation also includes Holy Days. The exceptions are as follows as defined by the bishop in his letter:

“Additionally, if individuals are frail due to illness or age and in their well-formed consciences believe that going into public places — including Sunday worship at Mass — would place their health in “serious jeopardy,” they, too, are not bound by this obligation. Anyone in those types of situations should adhere to the third commandment “To Keep Holy the Lord’s Day” by spending time in prayer, reading the Scriptures and taking part in acts of charity from home.

I strongly encourage you to read the Bishop’s letter which was printed in the July 16 issue of The Compass, the Diocesan newspaper, or can be found on the diocesan website at www.gbdioc.org/general/back-to-mass.

Sharing in communion and desiring communion with one another is a central purpose of celebrating the Eucharist together as a community. The Eucharist is the great sacrament of unity. From the moment we begin preparing to leave our homes to go to our local parish, to the departure from church and return to our homes, we are seeking communion. In the high point of the Mass we remember Jesus’s gift of himself for the reconciliation of all, i.e. communion. As we receive the Body and/or the Blood of Christ, in communion, we are invited into unity with Christ and one another.

We have been missing the best expression of our communion during the COVID pandemic, that is, when the full community worships God together and celebrates our communion together. It is a great gift to once again receive the Body of Christ (and the Blood of Christ when it is possible) as members of the family of faith of St. Willebrord Parish, as parts of the one Body of Christ, the Church.

Beyond the invitation to renew our obligations as members of the Body of Christ at the Eucharist, let us also express our faith by helping to remedy the lack of unity in the world, and in our local communities. May we be ministers of communion and reconciliation. Let us be Eucharistic people in our daily lives!

Peace, Fr. Andy