From the Pastor's Desk

Dear Parishioners of St. Mary’s,

The Covid-19 Pandemic continues to impact every aspect of our daily lives. The uncertainty of when life will return to normal can be overwhelming and even frightening. We long to return to our familiar routines at home, at work and in the community. It is also difficult for us to be separated from one another in our St. Mary’s community of faith. Yet we remain together and united through our prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Bishop McManus has continued the suspension all public Masses in our diocesan churches with the exceptions of weddings and funerals. This past Tuesday (March 24) Governor Baker reduced the number of persons allowed to gather from twenty-five to ten and has decreed the closing of “all businesses and organizations that do not provide COVID-19 Essential Services”. However, Churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship “shall not be required to close their brick and mortar premises to workers or the public” provided that they observe the limitation in the number of persons to ten. While all parish activities have been cancelled, St. Mary’s Church will remain open during the day for private prayer.

As we come to the second weekend without Sunday Mass in our church, be assured that you are with me and Fr. Javier in our prayers and private Masses. Our seminarian, Juan Parra, has also returned home to our parish from St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He will complete his courses on-line like most college and university students across the country. This coming week we will continue to livestream daily Mass from the Pastoral Center Chapel at 9:00 am. Join us on Facebook @stmarysshrewsburyma. We will also record Sunday Mass and invite you to watch on the parish website www.stmarysparish.org, through our parish Flocknotes and on Channel 28 on TV again this Sunday at 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. I also invite you to take a look at Formed The Catholic Faith. On demand. Go to: Formed.org FORMED provides the very best Catholic content from more than 60 organizations to help parishes, families and individuals explore their faith anywhere. It offers thousands of movies, children’s programs, ebooks, audio, parish programs and studies. St. Mary’s has just signed up for a 40 day FREE parish subscription trial. Sign in as a “member of a parish” with your name and email (no password necessary).

While there will be no Masses in the church on Palm Sunday (April 5), we will be recording and livestreaming the Mass and the Blessing of Palms. Palms will be distributed in the church parking lot from 9:00 – 11:00 am on Palm Sunday. We will be wearing gloves and will keep a respectable distance from parishioners who will receive them in their cars.

As the St. Mary Parish & School staff continue to pray for your health and safety during these difficult days, please join us as we offer the following prayer. God’s Peace &

Blessings,
Msgr. Michael Rose