church of St. John the Evangelist

** IMPORTANT NOTICE**

Per Cardinal Dolan's direction,
there will be no public celebration of Mass
until further notice.

This includes confessions, Stations of the Cross, etc.

If someone is in need of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick or Viaticum,
please call the parish; we will respond to requests as we are able.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020

This post contains a great deal of information, so I encourage you to read through to the end. That being said, things seem to be changing almost hourly, so it may well be this is obsolete by the time you read it. 

I’ve been using – and will continue to use - three principal means to stay connected with everyone:
- the “From the Pastor’s Desk” group on Flocknote; (https://sjegoshen.flocknote.com/pastorsdesk);
- the parish Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sjegoshen);
- the parish website (www.sjegoshen.org).

Of these, the Facebook page is best for the most up-to-the-minute information.

Included among the graphics below is a simple two-page bulletin I prepared on Tuesday. That seems like years ago, but at least it lists the Mass intentions for the week.

A few other notes:

• In just the last hour, we received a directive from Cardinal Dolan that none of the Holy Week liturgies will be celebrated publicly. This includes Palm Sunday, the Triduum, and Easter Sunday. This is as crushing for your priests as it is for you; I’ll write more in the weeks to come on how we might celebrate these in spirit if not all together in one place.
• We will work out a schedule to make the sacrament of Penance widely available, though the details will be contingent on the new restrictions being placed on our movements by the state.
• It is entirely possible that we will be asked/directed to close access to the church entirely. Until then, the church remains open every day from 7:00am to 7:00pm for personal prayer.
• We’ve received requests for adoration, public recitation of the rosary, etc. Much as I would love to, it has been made very clear that we cannot and should not promote any activity that may bring more than ten people together. I certainly don’t want to be in the position of turning people away because we’re over the limit, so we’re going to err on the side of caution.
• At this time, we have been asked to postpone the celebration of the sacraments of initiation indefinitely. Therefore, First Communion will be rescheduled from May to a time to be determined. It makes no sense at this stage to start bouncing new dates around, so I’m not even going to try.
• I still intend to give “Mobile Mercy” a try tomorrow; please see the information posted on Facebook and sent by Flocknote a few days ago.
• I have been praying the rosary myself most evenings around 7:00pm. Starting tomorrow (Saturday), I will make that a standard time, and invite you to join me in praying the rosary from your homes. If I am able, I will livestream on Facebook, at least a few times each week; stay tuned.
• Bishop Robert Barron is now livestreaming Mass from his chapel every day; this may be accessed right on the homepage of our parish website. This is in addition to the livestreams from St. Patrick’s Cathedral (see below).
• I hope to provide a short video update on Sunday morning; this will be posted on the parish Facebook page. At this time, for a variety of reasons, we are not going to try livestreaming Mass from St. John’s.
• If you’d like to pray the Stations of the Cross, please visit https://www.catholic.org/prayers/station.php.
• As of now, the parish office will be closed for the duration, though the priests are here and ready to help in any way possible. We can still be reached by phone and email; we’ll do our best to respond as quickly as possible.

In closing, I invite you to join me in prayer:

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe,
Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas.
We fly to you today as your beloved children.
We ask you to intercede for us with your Son,
as you did at the wedding in Cana.
Pray for us, loving Mother,
and gain for our nation and world,
and for all our families and loved ones,
the protection of your holy angels,
that we may be spared the worst of this illness.
For those already afflicted,
we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.
Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,
wipe away their tears and help them to trust.
In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be
patient and kind.
Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to
our hearts.
We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother,
health of the sick and cause of our joy.
Shelter us under the mantle of your protection,
keep us in the embrace of your arms,
help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus.
Amen.

Faithfully your priest,
Fr. George Hafemann

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020

As we come to the end of the first weekend of our "Babylonian captivity," it's been wonderful to see a steady stream of parishioners coming throughout the day to pray and spend time with Our Lord. Let's continue to pray for those who suffer with coronavirus, those who care for them, and that the scourge pass quickly.  

A couple of notes:

+ The church will be open each day from 7:00am to 7:00pm for personal prayer.  
+ I'm going to ask that, for the duration, the chapel be reserved solely for the use of the priests. We're each going to be in there at different times of the day celebrating Mass both for the announced intentions and for all of you, so this will allow us to maintain "social distancing." 
+ As noted earlier, even though not open to everyone, your priests continue to celebrate Mass every day. Unfortunately, we're not equipped to livestream Mass from the chapel, and trying to rig a temporary set-up wouldn't do justice to the liturgy. So if you'd like to "watch" Mass online, visit https://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/live; they'll broadcast Mass Monday-Friday at 7:00am and on Sunday at 10:15am.
+ As of now, we're planning to keep regular hours in the parish office, though that could change. Stay tuned.
+ While the "suspension" of public Masses basically includes all other services (e.g., Stations of the Cross), we can - and will - hear confessions on request. We'll use the new confessional, and would ask that all such confessions be done behind the screen (i.e., no face-to-face) - this is probably the safest thing under the circumstances. Just give a call or drop us an email.
+ Social distancing can easily give way to social isolation; this is especially true of our older parishioners. Please check in on your neighbors and let us know if we can help. We've got folks ready and willing to pick up groceries, medicine, etc.  
+ If we get a request for a funeral during the quarantine, we'll explore all options. We've been directed to ask families to consider burial first, with a memorial Mass after the immediate crisis passes. If that's not feasible, we may be able to celebrate funeral Masses in church, but with attendance very strictly limited.
+ We'll keep posting updates here, on the website, and via Flocknote. If you're not on Flocknote yet, now's the time; sign up at https://sjegoshen.flocknote.com/
+ We've gotten lots of questions about how long it will be until we can celebrate Mass again, what about Easter, etc. We're just going to take it one step at a time - God will provide!

Oremus pro invicem!

O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope. We entrust ourselves to you, 
Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, 
with steadfast faith. 
You, Our Lady of New York, 
know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, 
so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee,
joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.

Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the Father’s will
and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, 
and bore our sorrows to bring us, 
through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen.

We seek refuge under your protection, 
O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Amen.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020

As we continue to navigate these uncharted waters, here are some updates, information, and resources to help us pray for those afflicted with coronavirus, those who care for them, and a quick end to this scourge.

+Mass, confessions, etc. will be celebrated as scheduled. Whether or not you come is up to you (see the statement from the archdiocese [included below] for guidance). If you'd like to bring a wipe to give your pew a once-over, feel free; our supply has run out!

+We have been asked to extend the suspension of religious education classes through March 30. Given that there are already no classes scheduled for Palm Sunday week and Easter Sunday and Monday, we're just going to say that RE classes are suspended until further notice. I implore everyone to keep up on lessons at home. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact Cathy Fife.

+By way of reminder, all of the following have been canceled:
*the parish mission;
*the Spanish-language retreat scheduled for March 21;
*the First Eucharist retreat scheduled for March 22;
*the Lenten Bible study (a separate email will be sent to participants).

The March 30 presentation on the Holy Land will be postponed to a time after Easter.

+If you are not able to get to church, here are some options:
*Sunday Mass will be livestreamed from St. Patrick's Cathedral (https://saintpatrickscathedral.org/live) on Sunday at 10:15am. Mass will likewise be livestreamed from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC (https://www.nationalshrine.org/mass/) at 12:00pm. Mass is also celebrated on EWTN (channel 97); visit ewtn.com for details.
*Read the scripture readings for Sunday Mass (http://usccb.org/bible/readings/).
*Pray the rosary (http://www.usccb.org/…/…/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm).

+If you know of an older parishioner in need of food, assistance, etc., please give us a call, as we have folks ready and willing to help.

We'll be posting a variety of prayers over the coming days. To start, here's one that Pope Francis himself has used.

O Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus' pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.

Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God. Do not disdain the entreaties of we who are in trial, but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.