Dear St. Catherine Parish Family,
As we continue to suffer the impact of the Coronavirus, I wanted to update you on some additional measures I have decided to take to ensure that we are responding appropriately.
Parish Offices
I have decided to close our parish offices until further notice, effective today. However, our parish staff will be checking voicemail and email regularly to respond to requests for assistance as they come. Fr. Valery and I will still be taking individual appointments for Confession or other matters; however, we will try to meet with individuals outdoors if at all possible. Contact information for our staff can be found on our website at www.stcatherinercc.org/contact-us.
Church Facilities
In order to reduce the risk of spreading germs and limit the amount of space our facilities staff will need to disinfect regularly, I will be closing down the main church. St. Joseph’s chapel (the smaller chapel located to the left as you enter the main doors to the narthex) will remain open, however, during the previously posted hours (8:00am-4:00pm each day – and until 8:00pm on Wednesdays) for those who wish to come to pray privately before the Blessed Sacrament. We will leave the doors of the chapel open, and we will also add additional chairs outside the chapel in the narthex to ensure that individuals can maintain proper social distancing while coming to pray.
Live Stream Masses, Stations of the Cross, and Rosary
We will be live streaming Masses in English Monday-Friday at 11:30 each day and 10:15am on Sundays. (Daily live stream Mass times in Spanish will vary. On Sundays, Mass will be at 1:30pm in Spanish.) We will also be live streaming Stations of the Cross each of the remaining Fridays in lent at 6:00pm in Spanish and 7:00pm in English. Additionally, Fr. Valery and I will live stream the praying of the rosary each week at varying times.
Confessions
We will continue to hold our regularly scheduled Confession times (Wednesdays 6:00-7:00pm and Saturdays 9:00-10:00am and 3:00-4:00pm); however, Confessions will be held in the garden area, and the chairs will be positioned so as to maintain proper social distancing (please also maintain the proper social distancing while in line).
Offertory
This past week, our offertory collection was approximately $24,000 (about $18,000 of that total came from online giving). I want to thank all of you who have continued to give so generously online and those of you who made the effort to mail in or drop off your offering this week. Our typical offertory would be about $37,000, which is what we have budgeted for in order to sustain our operations. Please consider signing up for our online giving service which allows you to give regularly, if you are able to. This is the easiest and most effective way to support the needs of the parish, especially during these difficult times. Or you can also continue to mail in your offering to the parish or drop off your offering in the drop box near the reception area at the parish office. If you would like to signup for online giving, you can do so at www.osvonlinegiving.com/1114. If you need assistance, please contact Charissa Saenz at 678-206-7664.
Adult and Children’s Faith Formation
Our preschool director, Karen Pickens, and our grade school principal, Sr. Mary Cecilia, along with their staff, are continuing to offer daily instruction using digital media and online resources while the facilities are shut down, and we are also continuing to offer several opportunities for ongoing faith formation in the parish despite the suspension of weekly classes. Our Director of Religious Education, Joan Hennes, and her staff have been offering several digital resources for our children and their parent to take advantage of in order to continue with religious education, and our Teen and Young Adult Ministry coordinator, Lisa Fiamingo, has been hosting regular online group video conferences with our various teen and young adult groups to provide social, spiritual, and catechetical formation. Additionally, our Director of Adult Faith Formation, Dr. Paul Thigpen, has been continuing to meet via group video conference with our RCIA candidates, and he will also continue with his Faith Ablaze! Sunday morning class via livestream (all are welcome to join in on our Facebook page from 9:00-10:00am Sunday morning for study of the Scriptures).
St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul is continuing to provide much-needed assistance to those in our community who are struggling. If you are able to help support them with food or financial donations, please drop off your food in the bins in the narthex, or mail in financial donations to the church c/o St. Vincent de Paul, or you can also use our online giving to donate to them.
As I mentioned in a previous email, please know of my prayers for you all during this difficult time. Let’s all continue to make sure we are praying for all those suffering with the Coronavirus, for all those who are caring for them, and for a swift end to this pandemic. If there is anything I can do for you during this time, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Live Stream Link
(You can view the live stream even if you do not have a Facebook account. If the link opens up the Facebook app on your phone or tablet, make sure to click on the 'Videos' tab. If you do have a Facebook account, make sure to like and follow our parish page, so you will receive notifications when we are live streaming.)