As we enter into this period of Ordinary Time, as Fr. Clyde & I announced back in December, are preparing to enter into an anything but ordinary time in the life of both parish communities. This weekend, I wanted to start to share with you some of the vision & the plan for both of our parishes going forward. My plan is not, at this moment, to share specific changes, primarily because I am in the beginning stages of figuring out what the exact changes will be. But rather I wanted to start by sharing a general vision for where we are headed & then over time we will begin to discuss what the more specific changes & adjustments will look like.

  I know that change is not an easy experience to endure. For many, our hope would be that nothing would change & that we would continue to enjoy parish life as we have known it. Believe me, I would rather not change anything either. But, the reality that we are facing is that changes need to be made so that both of our parish communities can continue to be places of encounter with God. As I contemplate what the changes will look like exactly, please know that I love both parish communities & I am blessed to be here with you as your Pastor. In my mind it is not about one parish or the other but about doing my best to serve both parish communities to the best of my ability.

  Looking to the future, the majority of the changes that we will be experiencing are with the Mass schedule. I know that you love the Mass & I love celebrating the Mass. The Mass is the central prayer of our faith & any changes to the Mass schedule are not made lightly. The primary changes that we will see will be to the weekday Mass schedule & the Saturday Mass schedule. I know that Fr. Clyde will not be being replaced & so on weekdays we will have 1 Mass between both parishes on every weekday but Thursday’s. Since there is already only 1 Mass on Monday & Tuesday, those days will remain the same, but we will need to go to only 1 Mass on Wednesday’s & Friday’s, rather than having 1 Mass at each parish like we do now. We will also need to have only 1 Saturday evening Vigil Mass between both parishes as well. The Sunday Mass schedule will NOT be being changed as it was set up so that 1 person could do both Masses. We will also be looking at adjusting the schedule for Holy Days of Obligation, the Triduum, & Christmas Eve. Again, what the exact changes will be are not finalized yet, but I wanted to keep you informed on what we were looking at.