Pastor’s Letter & May 2 Bulletin

Pastor’s Letter & May 2 Bulletin

30 Apr 2021 | Posted by: chadmin

The May 2 bulletin is now available online. 

Dear friend,

As we enter the month of May, we are beginning to wind down the school year. It’s really hard to believe the year is coming to a close. In some ways it feels like a long year and in others it feels like its flown by quickly. As administration prepared for the school year, we knew it would take a whole community effort to successfully start and stay in school. From our principal and office staff to the faculty and aides, to the mainly different school programs, everyone has worked so hard to keep the kids in the building. Essentially that was our one goal this year, get the kids in school and help them stay here all year. When we started in August, we had a whole room set aside as a nurse station to care for and separate Covid-19 cases. We thought we’d constantly be dealing with new cases and quarantining students. In reality, we didn’t need the room and our staff and students have largely been unaffected by the coronavirus. Percentage wise, we’ve had a mild number of infections and very few known active coronavirus cases in the school building. Fortunately, students and parents that did contract the virus have all recovered well. Our local experience seems to be the same as around the world: the kids that do get the virus don’t get very sick and have few symptoms. All things considered, we feel very blessed with the position we are currently.

When people ask me about the pandemic, I often say the most challenging aspect is the wide variety of thoughts, concerns, guidance, and fears. People are at very different places with the virus. Now that the vaccine is out and widely spread, most people are relaxing their concerns. All through the varying communications, even from the CDC, our Peoria Public Health Department did a phenomenal job of informing schools and maintaining communication. Our health department was consistent and logical. We are most grateful for their help with managing the virus and school as well as guiding the vaccine distribution. While people are at different places with the vaccine, it is clear that it is an effective way to not contract the virus and certainly removes the threat of death. In more recent communications, the CDC confirmed that masks worn outside are largely unnecessary, especially for those vaccinated. The CDC has also relaxed guidelines on cleaning surfaces as the viral transmission from a surface to a person is extremely rare. For this reason, we are going to stop cleaning the pews after every Mass. We have a larger, automated sprayer we use in school that will be used in church on a regular basis, but we will not have the volunteers after every Mass. A special ‘thank you’ to all the volunteers that cleaned church this year. Albert Tony kept the disinfectant spray bottles filled and many people helped to spray down the touchable surfaces.

As more people get vaccinated and the infection rate continues to drop, I am hopeful we can return our church to some more normalcy in the coming weeks. I don’t know when the bishop might restore the Sunday obligation, presumably after we can fully open church; but, the next steps for us would be to forego the scheduling of Masses on Eventbrite and remove the signage in church. There is no set date for this but I think we can all see that we are getting closer to this reality. Thanks for all the support this year.

God bless,

Father David