Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are living in a dark time, living through a worldwide crisis causing shocks to health, family, economy, and all aspects of our lives. Even our ability to gather and worship has been sacrificed as we come together as a community, as a nation and as a world to help slow the spread of this new threat.
Although there is darkness around us, there is incredible hope, and incredible light available to us. We are reminded during this time that our hope, and our healing does not come from the world but from above. Jesus is our only hope! We have cause for joy, even at this moment, because Jesus continues to reign over the universe, and over the world; and if we allow him to reign in our hearts then we do not need to be afraid.
For some time now, our parish has been working to shift our parish culture from maintenance to mission. This effort culminated in our coming together to host a mission called “hope and healing.” Our team now recognizes the prophetic nature of this effort. Our “parish mission” – a three-day event which was cancelled after one night – is actually now our “parish mission” – to bring hope and healing to our community, to look after the poor, the lonely, the elderly, and to give to our friends and neighbours what they need most: Jesus.
This is our time. Holy Family Parish has an amazing parish team, experienced staff, and exceptionally generous and faithful parishioners, and we are well poised to make a difference. We intend to do whatever we can – while carefully following recommendations from civil authority – to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community. We also intend to leverage the technology available to us as much as possible. It is fortunate that we were ramping up efforts in this regard in the last few weeks – truly, we feel strongly that in some way we were being prepared for this moment by God.
Here are the measures in place at the parish with regard to parish functions:
- Public Weekend and Weekday Masses are cancelled.
- All gatherings of groups in the Parish are cancelled. This includes all small groups and meetings.
- The Adoration Chapel is closed
, however, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the church from 9am to 9pm for personal prayer.The Church will remain closed (March 18, 2020) - The Parish office be closed. Anne and other staff are still available by phone or email.
- Father Gary will offer reconciliation and anointing of the sick as needed, by appointment.
- You can still call the office if you need food assistance. (519) 364-1973 x7.
In order to support your spiritual health during this time, we are offering the following:
- Sunday morning Mass will be streamed on our YouTube channel. Please share this with all your contacts! (LINK) Please be sure to hit the subscribe button, and the notification bell to receive updates!
- We are looking into streaming and uploading content on a more frequent basis in the near future.
- If you have time, resources, or ideas to enhance life in the community, please share it with us.
We want to emphasize that our Parish team and staff are here for you. If you need something, are feeling lonely or afraid, and need a friendly face and a kind word, you can reach out to all of us. We are ready to do whatever we can to help you.
Call during office hours at 519-364-1973.
| Anne | anne@holyfamily.ca |
| Sam | sam@holyfamily.ca or chat directly |
| Cheryl | cheryl@holyfamily.ca |
| Fr. Gary | gschlack@hamiltondiocese.com |
Below you will find the official letter from our Bishop regarding Diocesan measures.
We all are praying for a quick resolution to this, and for all of you to remain joyful and healthy.
With you in Christ,
Fr. Gary Schlack
The Parish Team and Staff
