Happy Father’s Day to all our Dads! Our hearts are with you! Today, we remember and pray for all our fathers, living and deceased! God bless each of them!

Last Sunday, on the beautiful feast of Corpus Christi, our Church was re-opened, for Sunday Masses, and we were once again, able to satisfy our hunger for Jesus the Bread of Life! It was a true gift! We received a great many positive comments about how it went: people felt safe and things were well organized.

Today, I want to share with you some important information as we move ahead on the re-opening of our Church.

Sacraments: In these days we have been having a number of Baptisms. Due to the pandemic we fell behind about 100 or so baptisms and we are trying to make these up during the week as well as on Saturdays— having many during the day. We can also, once again, have weddings and funerals. There is a temporary change in the Confession times in the parish: English Confessions are on Saturdays from 1:00PM to 2:30PM and in Spanish every evening, Monday through Friday from 6:30PM to 7:30PM. Obviously, you can ask a priest any time to go to Confession.
Priestly Ordinations: This Saturday, June 27 th our Parish of St. John Bosco is particularly blessed by hosting the ordination of two new young Salesian priests: Father John Langan, SDB and Father Sasika Lokuhettige, SDB. During this week, we as a parish, should pray very hard for these two young Salesians. They are wonderful men who will be working in two of our Salesian schools in Ramsey, New Jersey and New Orleans, Louisiana. Congratulations to them and to their families! We pray for them.
Parish Office: The parish office is open from Monday through Friday with temporary hours from 9:00AM to 1:00PM. As you come to the office, please follow the safety protocols that have been put in place.
Memorial Masses: Some have asked about scheduling Memorial Masses for those who have died during the time of the pandemic. To schedule a Mass, call the office and speak with Silvia and she will schedule. Please be understanding, we will try our best to give you the date and time you want, but that may not always be possible as we try to re-schedule so many Sacraments, etc. at this time.
Registering Deaths: If a family member has died during the pandemic, it may very well be the death has not been registered in the parish. If you used Craft Funeral Home, we received no information regarding the death of parishioners unless we were directly contacted by the family. Tutera Funeral Home contacted us with information and one of our priest went to the cemetery, however, there still may be some who were not registered. If you wish to have the death of a family member registered in the parish, please notify the parish office, and speak with the secretary.
Masses: All Mass obligations that were requested for our deceased on certain days were fulfilled during the pandemic. If you wish to request a Mass for the following months, please come to the office or call and you will be helped.
Communication: One of the things we learned during the pandemic is that we MUST improve our means of communication with all of you. Some of our tech persons are working with the Flock Notes program and on some Sunday as soon as we can, we will ask each of you to take out your cell phones so that you can program in the needed app. In this way, we will be able to send simple messages and updates regarding parish happenings to all of you. Everyone can know what is going on in the parish.

As we continue to phase back into our lives, we pray for one another. Let’s be safe. Please be sure we are here to serve you if there is any need.

God Bless you!
Fr Pat.