As we enter Holy Week, we may find it even more difficult to live with the stay at home order. Of course we want to be near to the church, and near to our families during this holy time. I want you all to know that the parish will do everything it can in these unusual circumstances to assist you as we celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
With that in mind, I invite you to participate in our Holy Week services by watching them online from home. We will share videos of all the liturgical services that usually take place during the Paschal Triduum. However, because of time constraints, and the time needed to produce videos, some of the services will be filmed and streamed by the Archdiocese of Chicago and celebrated by Cardinal Cupich. The rest, including Easter Sunday Mass, will be done with both Fr. Bob and I from St. Bernadette. Our online bulletin has more details on which services will come from us and which will come from the Archdiocese. All of the services will be available on our website, Facebook page, and on Youtube.
Lastly, I want to add that we have received a number of questions as to whether or not we will have palms available. We order palms every year from a liturgical supply company, and once it became apparent we would not open in time for Palm Sunday, our order was cancelled. On top of this, the Archdiocese has asked parishes not to make palms available for fear of spreading the virus. I know that the palms would have been a nice, simple way to help you feel connected to your faith, but we all must do what we can, however inconvenient, to stop the spread of COVID-19. The sooner we do this, the sooner we will be able to join together in faith as a community once more. I hope you have a very Blessed Holy Week and may God be with you and keep you and your family safe.