Holy Family Catholic Church

Welcome Back to

Holy Family Mass in a Time of Covid-19

Let us celebrate and praise God!

The time has come to once again gather and worship together!

 Welcome Back! We will have our first weekend of Masses beginning June 13^th and 14^th. Our times will remain as follows; Saturday: 4:00 pm; Sunday: 8:00 and 10:00 am.   We are allowed to have 25% of our total capacity of the main worship area, which means 200 parishioners per Mass. Due to the seating guidelines to maintain the 6’ distance, it may be slightly less. Families that live in the same household may sit together and do not need to maintain the social distance rule.

We are encouraging all adults to please wear a mask when you attend Mass.

We are asking that if you are displaying any signs of illness, (temp. of 100.4 degrees, cough, headache, sore throat, shortness of breath, etc…), or have underlying health issues, that you refrain from attending Mass to protect yourself and others. The bishop is encouraging those of the vulnerable age of 65+ to remain home and continue to celebrate Mass virtually as you have been.

Bishop Power’s dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass as well as the obligation to receive Holy Communion remains in force till further notice.

On the first weekend back at Holy Family, you will notice some changes. The Diocese of Superior, with our best interest and safety in mind, have a few guidelines we need to follow when we come together to worship. We will be sanitizing the worship area between each Mass, which will take extra time, thus no 9:30 Mass on Sunday.

Please read below so that you will be better prepared when you arrive.

 Seating: You will be seated by ushers every third pew and six feet apart from non-household members. Those from the same household need no separation when seated. We will start seating in the front of the church and work to the back of the church and by sections. For dismissal, you will be ushered out starting in the back of the church working towards the front and again by sections. This will be similar to a wedding. We would appreciate your patience as this is new to the volunteer ministers too. It may take a couple weeks to “iron out the wrinkles”.

Come early to get a front row seat!

Communion: Please follow the ushers as you go forward to receive. Keep your mask on and use hand sanitizer before you come forward to receive communion. You may only receive on the palm with your hand stretch out so the distributers will not inadvertently touch you. We will continue to NOT use the common cup as before. Once you receive, step aside, lower your mask, take the host, and put your mask back up. Don’t forget to maintain a distance of 6 feet from the person in front of you, unless you’re from the same household.

Music: You will notice that all hymnals, papers, and pencils have been removed. We will have an accompanist and cantor at each Mass for music. The diocese has asked that there be NO choirs or congregational singing at this time. Denise will try not to schedule the hymn, “How Can I Keep from Singing”.

Offertory Collection: We will not be collecting the offering by passing baskets. In the back of the church on a table there will be two baskets to place your offering in. One for the regular, (1^st), collection as you enter and another for the second collection as you exit. They will be marked accordingly.

We will continue to NOT hold hands during The Lord’s Prayer.

The following are changes to shorten the Mass to help limit exposure time:

We will not be doing the “Sign of Peace”.

The gifts will not be brought forward.

We will recite the Mass parts instead of singing them.

In order to have time to sanitize the church between Masses on Sunday morning, we are temporarily suspending the 9:30 outdoor Mass. If it rains, that Mass would need to be inside, which doesn’t give enough time to sanitize between the Masses. We apologize for the disappointment, but remember, all of this is short term and for the health and wellbeing for all parishioners and visitors.

Fr. Jerry will continue recording Sunday Mass which will be recorded at the 4:00 pm Saturday Mass and can be found on Holy Family's YouTube channel.   

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPrJVcQ9moEzLW9oxI3Cg6Q

Hearing assist sets are available for use at Mass. Please provide your own ear buds, which can be purchased at stores such as Walmart or can be purchase at Holy Family for $12.00.  If interested, please call the office at 715-356-6284.

Place the sets in the “used” basket when you are done and take your earbuds with you.

A Message from

A Message from Music and Liturgy

I will be on vacation from July 7th through 24th . I am asking for your help and cooperation on a
couple items in my absence.

FIRST: If you have an announcement you would like to be read at the weekend Masses, please
forward them to Fr. Jerry. He will be handling this issue. His email is:
[email protected] I ask that you have this to him no later than the Tuesday
before the weekend you want it announced. The earlier the better.

SECOND: Addie Halfmann has graciously volunteered to make sure the Reader and Eucharistic
Minister positions are filled at each weekend Mass. If you are unable to volunteer at the last
moment, please call Addie, (715-356-7830), and she will fill in for you. If you know ahead of
time that you are unable to fulfill your ministry, enter a “swap request” as usual. If no one
volunteers for it by the Friday before the weekend, call Addie and let her know. With only one
reader and EM, it’s very important that these positions are filled.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in these ever changing times.

Denise Ronk
Music and Liturgy Coordinator