Fr. Mike's Message - 05/23/2021

Dear Parishioners,

Congratulations to our Borgia Grade School 8th graders who will graduate this Monday, May 24th!  They are a special group of students and we will miss them very much in school. I have enjoyed getting to know them and working with them this year.  They are ready and excited to embrace high school!  And we are excited for them.  8th grade, we wish you well and look forward to seeing you around our Parish for many years to come.  Please keep our 8th grade students and their families in your prayers.

Tuesday, May 25th, will be our last day of school for this year.  What a year it’s been!  Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are proud to say that our school has been in-person every day for the entire school year.  I am grateful for the resilience, flexibility, patience, and creativity of our students, faculty, and staff for all the out-of-the-ordinary measures they had to take in order to keep us in-person.  Everybody deserves a pat on the back for the extra work they did to navigate this school year.  Prayers for a safe and fun summer!

As we announced last week, the Archdiocese of St. Louis has lifted the mask mandate for churches.  The entire Church is open for seating at St. Francis Borgia.   Those who have been vaccinated will no longer be required to wear masks.  Washing and sanitizing of hands will continue to be strongly encouraged.  If you are ill, please refrain from coming to Church.  The dispensation from the requirement to attend Mass has not been lifted. Therefore, if you are not comfortable attending Mass, you still have the option to virtually attend Mass via our parish livestream on Facebook Live or YouTube.  You may access those from our parish website.  I look forward to welcoming more people back to Church and gathering as the family of St. Francis Borgia Parish. It was sure nice to be able to see smiles during Mass last week! Please continue to pray and care for one another and respect the comfort level of others with regard to distance, mask usage, etc.  As has been the rule of thumb this past year, things will surely be revised as we move forward and as more details are developed, so please be on the lookout for those.  And, once again, thank you for your patience and understanding.

It’s hard to believe that next Monday is Memorial Day!  Our Mass on Memorial Day will remain at 7:00 a.m.  Please join us if you can as we gather to pray for the men and women of our military who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  We will also pray for all who have served and for those who are currently serving our country in the Armed Forces.

Have a great week!

Fr. Mike Boehm