"EASTER 2021"
EASTER-2021 The Lord is Risen, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Dear parishioners of St. Vincent De Paul/Blessed Sacrament:
As your pastor, I would like to join all your parish staff to convey our joyful greetings to you as we wind down forty days of the season of Lent and enter into the celebration of the Easter season when the Church celebrates the suffering, death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I invite each one of you to recognize and embrace the powerful gift that Jesus has given to each one of us, the gift of our redemption from the captivity of sin. Christ shed his own blood on the cross for our salvation. Amen!
From the beginning of last year, we have suffered a great deal because of the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of us have lost our loved ones from the virus. Most of us have suffered illness from the virus. All of us have been impacted negatively in so many ways when our schools, places of worship, and businesses had to shut down. Covid-19 has just changed our lives. I am taking this time to convey my condolences to all the families who have lost their loved ones and I empathize with anyone who received any negative impact from this pandemic. I thank God for the discovery of vaccines and the improvement of their availability among the general population.
I thank God the reopening of schools, places of worship, and other businesses which have started to take place gradually. With God’s own mercy and power, the time will soon come when the pandemic will be a history in our memories. Dear parishioners, this is a letter of invitation to you and your families to return to church and join your fellow parishioners to worship together. Since the reopening of our parish churches in June 2020 we have taken SAFETY of all those who enter our churches as a priority. We have implemented all the safety guidelines directed by the Center of Disease Control (CDC), New York State and Onondaga County Health authorities in our church buildings to make sure anyone who comes to worship is SAFE. While in church we have enforced wearing of the facemasks all the time, maintaining social distance and using of hand sanitizers which are easily available all over the church. All our pews are thoroughly sanitized after every service and make them available for another service.
With this letter, I would like to let you know that both of our churches buildings are open for the public worship and assure you that we take your safety from the virus as our priority. Our weekend Masses are 4:00PM and 9:30AM (and daily Masses Mondays – Wednesday at noon) at St. Vincent De Paul and at Blessed Sacrament weekend Masses at 5:00PM, 7:30AM, 9:30AM, 11:30AM while weekdays Masses are at 8:00AM Mondays - Fridays. We would love to see you at one of our weekend Masses. Our Holy Week Mass/Service schedule in our linked parishes is found in this mail.
I would like to THANK from the bottom of my heart all of you who have remained faithful to financially support the mission of our parishes. Your generosity has made it possible to pay our bills and maintain our facilities. Your generosity has made the Hope Appeal 2020 a success as well as supporting other diocesan and national missions. Still we need your spiritual and financial support to continue the mission of our parishes. May the blessings of the Risen Lord of glory be with you and all your loved ones. The Lord is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!
SAFETY IN CHURCHES A PRIORITY: SOCIAL DISTANCE, FACEMASK AND SANITIZING
Fr. Severine P. Yagaza