Dear Parishioners:
As the spring weather continues to get better and more people receiving their vaccinations, some normality resumes in our lives. More people are coming to Mass, more businesses open, and regulations are easing up. While we continue to remain vigilant about health and safety measures here at OLM, we are hopeful we can resume some of our ministries and outreach efforts soon.
Recently, Father Al Ranallo, who serves as the Coordinator of Pastoral Care for Healthcare Facilities, wrote us. He has been working with Deacon Tim Flanigan, MD, an infectious disease expert, to resume ministry in our healthcare and nursing home facilities. They have sought guidance from the Center for Health Facilities Regulation of the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) regarding resuming activities in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities.
Facilities are now allowed to resume activities provided they adhere to space requirements, mask-wearing, and proper handwashing. It remains the decision of the facility as to what activities they plan to resume. Currently, they are allowing visitations by family and friends. Fr. Barrow and I will be working with the nursing home facilities we serve here at OLM to see if we can soon resume monthly Masses and perhaps the weekly distribution of Holy Communion to residents. These facilities include St. Elizabeth, Anchor Bay, Atria Harborhill, and the Seasons. We hope to resume Masses and bringing Holy Communion to these places in May.
In the meantime, if you know of anyone or have a family member at one of these facilities, Fr. Barrow and I are happy to visit them. As always, we are on call for emergencies. Anointings of the Sick. Please let us know. Also, hospitals are now allowing visitors to visit with patients. We are always happy to visit with sick parishioners in the hospital. Please let us know. Hospitals do not inform us who is in the hospital due to privacy laws. Fr. Barrow and I and the priests of the area regularly cover Kent Hospital for emergency Anointings of the Sick.
We will also be reaching out to our homebound about possible visitations and Communion Calls soon and will only visit if they are comfortable with visitations. Their physical health, safety, and well-being are concerns whenever we visit nursing homes, hospitals, or homes. However, the spiritual health and well-being of the faithful are equally important. Many civil authorities have neglected this vital facet of our faith lives over the last year. Tragically many were denied the final Sacraments before death even though priests were readily available and willing to offer them. Healthcare bureaucrats and civil authorities prohibited them in many places.
On Good Friday, in London, England, the police raided services at a Catholic Church, citing a violation of safety rules. Police shut down the Good Friday service at the church and threatened worshippers with a £200 fine each. The Pastor has said the police grossly exceeded their authority. Ironically the English Prime Minister announced with great joy the very next day that England's pubs were reopening!
In Ireland, any public worship continues to be prohibited, so Easter Masses were not possible. However, one young Irish Priest, Fr Gerard Quirke, of the parish on Achill Island called for Churches to reopen for Mass. The isolation caused by the current Covid-19 restrictions affects the mental health of people living alone in rural areas he said.
Fr. Quirke offered Public Mass for his parishioners outside on Easter Sunday on a Mass rock overlooking picturesque Keem Bay. Such "Mass Rocks" are scattered across the Irish countryside and are enormous rocks used to celebrate Mass during the Penal Laws in Ireland, when it was illegal to be Catholic in public. Mass Rocks are a powerful symbol as they kept the faith alive throughout the persecution of the penal era.
All this reminds me of the words of the Catholic author, Hilaire Belloc, who said: "The Church is a perpetually defeated thing that always outlives her conquerors." Let us pray for those deprived of the Sacraments and those persecuted for the faith.
Stay well. Be safe. Do good. God Bless. A Blessed Easter Season!
Father Healey