Fr. Mike's Message - 11/29/2020 - Saint Francis Borgia

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend we welcome Archbishop Rozanski to St. Francis Borgia for his first visit to our parish and to our fine town of Washington! Welcome, Archbishop, we are glad to have you here. Archbishop Rozanski will preside at the 11:00 a.m. Mass which will also be livestreamed on our parish FaceBook page. I hope you have the chance to join us either in person or via the livestream.

As things are changing, I want to remind you of some of the policies of the Archdiocese of St. Louis regarding Mass attendance. There is currently no obligation to attend Sunday Mass, but this shouldn’t be taken lightly. We are providing opportunities for livestream so you can attend virtually if need be. Livestream Masses can be “tuned into” via our St. Francis Borgia Parish FaceBook page and they can also be viewed from our parish website and YouTube channel after Mass. Other things to consider when joining us in Church for Mass:

Masks are required when entering Church, and for moving around the parish including Holy Communion. Wearing masks in the pews is strongly encouraged as we have been asking you to do.
Practice social distancing guidelines between family groups in the pews. Wash and sanitize hands often.
Parishioners who are symptomatic or who have been exposed to another with the virus should not come to church, in accordance with national, state and local health directives.
Attendees should take their temperature at home before determining whether they should attend Mass.
Anyone over 60 years old and those with underlying health complications should consider participating in Masses via livestream.

Wherever we are, the prayer of the Mass, the Eucharist, binds us together as the family of the Church. It is in the Eucharist where we are nourished together in our faith so we can walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Whether our Communion is received physically or we pray the Act of Spiritual Communion, we are given the gift of Jesus who feeds us and dwells within us. This is the importance of Sunday Mass. Perhaps you can invite some friends or neighbors to also tune in or make their way to Church if they feel safe doing so. We need the Eucharist. We need to pray together and for each other. We need to be fed spiritually so we can unite ourselves more fully to Christ.

On Thursday, our 2nd grade students from SFB Grade School and PSR will be celebrating their First Confessions. What a joy to be able to celebrate with them and we always look forward to this special day. Please pray for our 2nd graders as they receive the Lord’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. Congratulations, 2nd graders!

Welcome to the Season of Advent as we prepare to welcome the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Please take advantage of the Little Blue Books we have made available for you to help with your prayer during these Advent days. Even though we have to navigate these waters so differently this year, we can still benefit from asking the Lord to open our hearts to make room for Him to dwell with us more fully. As we prepare for the birth of Jesus into our world, let us pray to allow Him to be born into our hearts so we can make Jesus known to the world. Have a Blessed Advent Season and know of my prayers

for you.

Advent blessings,

Fr. Mike Boehm