Dear Parishioners,
 
It has been a joy to meet more of you every week as you come back to Mass in person or take advantage of our drive-thru prayer. I know there are many people I haven’t met yet in person but who are watching every week on the live stream and I look forward to the day when we can meet face to face. I pray for you all each day. Our parish has been able to stay focused on praying for one another and our mission because of how well we are following the necessary state and diocesan guidelines and because of the charity and patience we show to one another during these challenging times. I particularly want to thank our ushers who help welcome everyone to Mass and find everyone a seat, as well as those who are helping to sanitize the church after each of our weekend Masses.
 
As we enter into cold and flu season and with some instances of Covid in some schools and businesses in the surrounding towns, it is most important that we do not become complacent so that we can continue to safely provide the sacraments and come together as a community in the midst of this pandemic. Please wear a mask or face covering that completely covers your nose and mouth at all times when in the church and please maintain six feet of distance between yourself and members of of other households while sitting in the pews. It is also critical that we do not come to church if we are suffering from symptoms consistent with Covid such as fever, respiratory symptoms that are not the result of seasonal allergies, changes to the sense of taste or smell, or other flu-like symptoms. We should also not come to church if we have been traveling outside of New England or been in close contact with someone confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19 in the last fourteen days. We will continue to live stream all weekend Masses on our parish website ( stmichaelparish.org ) for those who are unable to join us in person.
 
We will be making one adjustment to our current procedures. Beginning this coming weekend, October 10 and 11, we will no longer be requiring advanced reservations for weekend Masses. The reservation system was very helpful to prepare us to open back up this summer, but is no longer necessary as we’ve been able to accommodate those who wish to come to Mass and not had to turn anyone away. Seats in the pews will be available on a first come, first served basis. Ushers can help find a seat if needed. Once the upstairs church is full at our current capacity and social distancing is no longer possible, ushers will direct people down to Cotter Hall where a livestream of the Mass will be available. This downstairs option might also work well for parents seeking a quiet place to bring small children as well as those who might feel more comfortable in a less crowded space. Those downstairs will be directed to come upstairs for communion at the appropriate time. We hope to accommodate all wishing to come to Mass in the church and will only direct people downstairs if necessary.
 
Let us continue to pray for a quick end to the pandemic and a safe return of everyone to our
church to worship the Lord as a whole community once again.
Fr. Matt     

WE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER DURING THE PANDEMIC

"Loving God, Holy One, Your desire is for our wholeness and well-being.
We hold in tenderness and prayer the collective suffering of our world at this time. We grieve precious lives lost and vulnerable lives threatened. We ache for ourselves and our neighbors, standing before an uncertain future. We pray: May love, not fear, go viral. Inspire our leaders to discern and choose wisely, aligned with the common good. Help us to practice social distancing and reveal to us new and creative ways to come together in spirit and in solidarity.
Call us to profound trust in your faithful presence, You, the God who does not abandon, You, the Holy One, breathing within us, breathing among us, breathing around us in our beautiful yet wounded world." 
- Sisters of IHM, Scranton, Pennsylvania

Dear Friends,

I want to thank everyone for the very warm welcome I have received here at St. Michael since arriving last Tuesday.  I appreciate all the assistance that has been offered in helping me move in and get settled into my new home and community.  This area is certainly a beautiful part of the state and I can tell the pride you all take in your towns and parish.  I guess it really was worth waiting eight years to get here after my last arrival as the associate pastor was canceled at the last minute!

Thank you for your generosity in this time of transition.  Fr. Marc was very gracious in letting me attend staff meetings and visit the campus over the last couple months so I could hit the ground running.  I know it will take me some time to get my head around everything that goes on in such a lively parish, but I am certainly looking forward to meeting you all.  I’m conscious of and so grateful for all the incredible work that is continuing to get done here and look forward to seeing so many of the successful ministries in this parish continue.

Even though we face many challenges with the pandemic, and I personally face the challenge of balancing my new role with my continued work as Vocations Director of the Diocese, I am filled with peace and confidence knowing that the Holy Spirit will continue to watch over our parish family.

Since so many people are not yet able to make it back to Mass in person or are wearing the necessary masks when they do, it would be very helpful to me if you would please send a picture of yourself or your family (maybe with a brief description of who you are), so I may begin learning names and faces.  Please send your picture to the parish office or email it to me at pastor@stmichaelparish.org.

Many blessings,
Fr. Matt

1. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before the start of Mass to allow time for parking and seating.

2. Enter through the main front doors, check in and wait to be seated by an Usher.

3. Charity begins at home and in order to protect other people at church, masks really must be worn by all except children younger than 2 years old, anyone who has trouble breathing, anyone incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the face-covering without assistance. Complimentary masks will be available for anyone in need.

4. Maintain social distance of at least 6 feet at all times. Follow the one-way foot traffic directions posted in the aisles during Communion.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages.  We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability- and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you.  Your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. (1881-1955)

PRIVATE PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES
St. Michael church is open daily from 8AM to 8PM.

Effective August 19th Adoration will take
place at St. Michael on
Wednesdays from 8:30AM - 8:30PM

Please practice social distancing. 

Click here for tips on how to make
"MASS AT HOME" more meaningful
for young children! 

What should I do if I can't go to Mass?

•                  1. Make an Act of Spiritual Communion

  • My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things,  and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

          2. Watch Livestream Mass every morning at St. Michael or check out Mass times at one of these sites:

    • https://www.ewtn.com/tv/shows/sunday-mass-live

    • https://www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass/

    • http://www.catholictv.org/masses/catholictv-mass

    • https://saintpatrickscathedral.org/live
      
                 3. Avoid unnecessary work on Sundays
      
      4. Gain a plenary indulgence every day of COVID-19

  • The Church grants a plenary indulgence to all those who are suffering from the coronavirus, to healthcare workers who are treating those affected, and to all the lay faithful.
    In order to obtain the plenary indulgence, Catholics must have the will to fulfill the usual conditions as soon as possible and do one of the following spiritual acts:

    For those suffering from the coronavirus & healthcare workers treating them: 

  • Attend Mass (even if this is only possible through video streaming).
  • Pray the Rosary.
  • Pray the Stations of the Cross.
  • If Mass, Rosary, or Stations of the Cross is not possible, pray the Apostles’ Creed, an Our Father, and a Hail Mary.

  • For the rest of the lay faithful: 

  • Visit the Blessed Sacrament.
  • Read the Bible for at least half an hour.
  • Pray the Rosary.
  • Pray the Stations of the Cross.
  • Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. 

  • The spiritual act must be offered for the following intentions: the end of the pandemic, relief for those afflicted, and eternal salvation for those whom the Lord has called to himself.
    
    What If I Can’t Go To Confession? 
    
         As Catholic Christians, one of the great gifts we have is turning our sins over to God through the ministry of our priests, who carry on the work of mercy and forgiveness founded in Christ Jesus. This sacramental encounter with our loving Lord  is vitally important to both growing in holiness and being freed for salvation, so that we come to fully reconciled communion with the Trinity and one another in the undying splendor of the new creation.
        Though it is still possible to go to Confession to one of our priests, for some the present conditions may truly prevent them from celebrating this healing sacrament. What if this happens? Both our Bishop and the Pope have spoken to this situation, echoing the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love God . . . expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness and accompanied by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones.”
         Thus, although we should seek sacramental confession whenever it becomes possible for us, it is good in the interim to express our sins and failures to our Heavenly Father, who hears in mercy and offers us pardon and peace.
     

    Examination of Conscience

    Act of Contrition
    O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.
     

    OTHER RESOURCES: 
     

    How Should Catholics Respond to the
    Coronavirus Pandemic
    A video by Fr. Mike Schmitz
    
     

    Here are two FREE resources to help parents navigate fear and anxiety in the lives of their teens and kids. Our friends at Ministry to Parents put this together. It's designed for you to send to the parents in your ministry. In these uncertain times, it will be a really helpful tool. Although not specifically created for the COVID-19 pandemic, everything included is spot on for the situation we're all facing. Parent Cheat Sheet on Fear - Youth Version DOWNLOAD HERE Parent Cheat Sheet on Fear - Kids Version DOWNLOAD HERE The cheat sheets help parents navigate students/kids through four kinds of fear: physical, emotional, spiritual & mental.

A Prayer for Protection in Time of Pandemic


COVID-19 211 Hotline From the NH Governors Office