We have a lot of people coming to Mass now; this is a good thing since the requirement to attend sunday mass has been reinstated by the Los Angeles archdiocese. However, we are still filled with care and concern for your safety. It is to be mentioned that since we have celebrated during the pandemic in the pavilion and now we are back inside the church.
In the archdiocese, our churches have been abiding by the state and local health dept protocols with pastors also able to implement guidance according to their prudent judgment. This is why some parishes have different procedures at this time, e.g. still hosting outdoor mass services, not hosting certain sacraments, or attendance restrictions. Some of these differences can be explained by the size and layout of a Church, size of parish family, pastoral vision, and general assessments regarding the nature of the parish’s role in nourishing faith needs.
Here are the updated major COVID protocols we have in place:
1. dispensation from the obligation to attend sunday mass the dispensation from the obligation to attend sunday mass and holy days of obligation has been lifted as of 6/19/2021 per the letter from archbishop jose gomez. "those who have serious and legitimate reasons (e.g. illness, underlying health conditions that render them susceptible to illness, significant fears of becoming ill, etc.) are dispensed from the obligation to attend sunday mass and holy days of obligation." We will continue to offer Livestream on our youtube channel Saturday 8:00 am Mass and Sunday 10:00 am Mass
2. SOCIAL DISTANCING we are asking folks to be considerate of others' space. social distancing is no longer required by the health and human services of long beach but kindness at mass is always appreciated. of course, people in the same household have no need to distance.
3. MASKS wearing a mask is no longer required but is recommended
4. Eucharistic Ministers will wear masks during distribution of holy communion
5. RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION we strongly recommend everyone to receive the eucharist in hand. thank you for your consideration of our church family.
6. eucharist to the homebound if You are at high-risk or homebound and want to receive the body of christ, please phone the parish office to make an appointment for one of our deacons or an eucharistic minister to give communion at your residence.
7. confessions schedule update We have scheduled confessions on Fridays after 5.00 pm mass and on Saturdays after the 8.00 am mass and at 4.00pm. Also if anyone wishes to ask the celebrant after any weekend mass they will be happy to hear their confessions. For the moment confessions will be done in the altar area or the Holy Family room.
8. offertory collection baskets will not be passed For the offertory collection we will continue to have baskets at the the front of the church during the offortory.
WE'RE SO HAPPY SO MANY PEOPLE ARE COMING BACK TO MASS. Let’s keep praying for an end to this pandemic so we can be all back together again soon as a parish family.
