Next week begins Holy Week with the Solemnity of Passion Sunday and the reading of the Passion of Our Lord. Because of the typical length of this liturgy, I will not be record the entire Mass. However, I will record and upload a Palm Sunday sermon for this website.
The directives from the Diocese regarding the Holy Week liturgies during this time of pandemic are as follows:
Please be assured of our prayers for you, and that we sincerely miss you and we miss worshipping our God with you. Let us all pray for a swift end to this virus pandemic.
Fr. Jim Tucker
Due to the ongoing challenge we are facing due to the Coronavirus, the Bishop of Metuchen as issued these directives for all parishes in the Diocese:
All public Masses throughout the Diocese of Metuchen will be temporarily suspended beginning no later than March 18 and resume no earlier than April 3, 2020, when the situation will be re- evaluated as circumstances unfold. Priests should advise the faithful of this change at their Masses on March 17 as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day Masses and invoke his assistance. Despite the suspension of public Masses, a private Mass will be celebrated daily at 7 a.m. in the Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi and can be viewed at that time on their website: www.stfranciscathedral.org. Televised or online celebrations of the Mass and other religious programming are available for use of the faithful on several television channels.
Since the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life, all priests of the Diocese of Metuchen must celebrate Mass privately for the good of all the Christian faithful entrusted to their care and for all people during this critical time. Priests should celebrate this private Mass even if another priest or deacon cannot be with them to assist. Priests are reminded of the obligation to offer Mass for the intentions of those who have made an offering for the Mass. Weekday and other Masses can still be celebrated to fulfill intentions but, the faithful should not be present.
Churches should remain open for prayer, private devotion and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Pastors are asked to consider ... Praying in large groups, however, should be avoided. In all situations, participants should be encouraged to observe social distancing practices, recommending 3-6 feet of space between participants, for any event inside church spaces.