Christ Prince of Peace & St Lawrence               

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Dear Faithful,

        You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shade of the Almighty, say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.”  He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare, from the destroying plague, He will shelter you with his pinions, and under his wings you may take refuge; his faithfulness is a protecting shield.  You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day. – Psalm 91
 
        I pray that you and your loved ones are safe and well.  Be assured of daily prayers for all during these challenging times and remember to “dwell in the shelter of the Most High.”

        I just wanted to provide you with an update and information about the upcoming Holy Week celebrations.  First, I would like to direct your attention to the website of www.fccatholic.org.  Then click on the link to Diocese of Greensburg Health Alerts and then click on the message of 03/27/2020.  There you will find all of the information regarding the virtual Holy Week celebrations from the Diocese.  As a reminder, all Holy Week celebrations throughout the diocese will be conducted in private and are not open to the public in compliance with COVID-19 directives. 

        In addition to the Diocesan resources, I am also pleased (and a little anxious) to announce that we are going to attempt to live stream our own Holy Week celebrations to Facebook.  Please join us on Facebook at Partner Parish Youth Group.  As much as possible, we have scheduled
our celebrations not to conflict with the diocesan Holy Week schedule.  If all goes according to plan, I invite you and your family to join us on Saturday, April 4th at 5pm for an anticipated Mass for Palm Sunday.  During that liturgy, you will observe that the palms will be blessed; however, according to recommendations, we are not to distribute the palm in anyway at this time.  To the best of our ability, we will attempt to preserve the palm for distribution at a later date.  On the morning of Palm Sunday, please join Bishop Malesic on line at 9am.

        Bishop Malesic has decided to postpone the Chrism Mass until later this year when the faithful and the clergy can gather to celebrate this Mass together.  As many of you know, the Chrism Mass is an opportunity for the priests to renew their promises and for the Bishop to consecrate and/or bless the Holy Oils.

On Holy Thursday evening, April 9th, I invite you to join us at 6:30pm for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.  Just like on Palm Sunday, there will be some adjustments to how the liturgy is celebrated without a congregation.  For instance, there will be no washing of feet, no reception of the Holy Oils and no procession with the Blessed Sacrament to an Altar of Repose.  At the end of this liturgy, I would invite everyone to avail yourself of one of the many online resources for a period of quiet virtual Eucharistic Adoration at home.

        On Friday, April 10^th at 1:30pm, you are invited to join in the prayerful celebration of the reading of the Passion of the Lord and the Adoration of the Cross.  You will notice at this time, as on Palm Sunday, the proclamation assistance of our Seminarian, Andrew Hamilton.  Just prior to leaving the seminary to complete his semester on line from his home in Ford City, Andrew took
his next step toward his journey to the priesthood by being formally installed into the Ministry of Lector.  We are going to put his ministry to good use by having him not only serve at these liturgies but also to proclaim the Word of God.  Congratulations to you Andrew!

        Then, on Saturday, April 11^th at 9pm, we will conclude our live streaming events with the celebration of the Easter Vigil.  Again, for those of you who are familiar with this outstanding liturgy, it is going to look and feel a little different this year.  Without a congregation, there will be no blessing of the Easter fire or preparation of the Paschal Candle.  And, this year our partnered parishes do not have anyone in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), so there will be
no baptisms, confirmations or adults receiving Holy Communion for the first time.  That having been said, we will still bless the Holy Water and renew our baptismal promises so you may want to have candles for yourself and the family to light and hold at that time.  On Easter Sunday, there will be no live streamed liturgy from the partnered parishes.  Everyone is invited and encouraged to link in and join Bishop Malesic at 9am on Easter Sunday morning.

        As a reminder, please prepare for these special liturgies just as we are to prepare to come to Mass in person.  Take time before these celebrations to calm and quiet yourselves.  Reflect on
the readings beforehand.  Get dressed up.  Do your “Catholic Aerobics” of sitting, standing and kneeling at the appropriate times of the Mass.  Also, even though you will not physically receive Holy Communion, observe the one hour fast anyway to assist you in making a powerful spiritual communion.  Remember, you will not just be passively watching TV, but really praying. 
I would also like to encourage everyone to please continue to financially support the parishes. 
I understand and appreciate that these are challenging times for everyone.  As I said in my DLA presentation, I do not expect anyone to do something that they are not able to do.  The financial picture has changed for everyone.  If you are able to continue sending in your envelopes, please do so.  I also encourage you to visit the diocesan website and either click on the Giving tab in the upper tool bar or there is a bar at the bottom of the page that says “Click for Parish Offertory”.  Both of those options will allow you to make an online gift to the parish.  For DLA, as of this writing, Christ Prince of Peace has $26,800 pledged of $42,315 and Saint Lawrence has $8,525.00 pledged of $12,275.  Thank you for your generosity and your support.

        I would like again to draw your attention back to the diocesan schedule for Holy Week and remind everyone to join Ford City’s own native son, Fr. Tyler Bandura, for the Diocesan Virtual Blessing of Easter Baskets on Saturday, April 11th at noon.  In other words, the blessing of Easter Baskets will not be occurring in our churches but will be done on line by Fr. Tyler.  Please prepare your baskets as you normally would and we will gather as a virtual family for this traditional blessing.  Also, please watch your mail for a special issue of the Catholic Accent, and also continue to check the website for updates.  There will be an at-home worship aid available on our website for the Holy Week liturgies.  In addition, on Friday, April 3^rd, there will be a robo call from me to all for whom we have phone numbers.  This is also a good time to remind everyone to please email Kim at khalutick@dioceseofgreensburg.org or phone the office, with your name, address, phone number(s), and most current email address(es).  Now more than ever, we need up-to-date information on all of our parishioners so that we can stay connected.

        As was mentioned in my previous letter, I am acutely aware that as families and individuals are being asked to remain at home, they may be looking for resources with good Catholic content to feed their souls and maintain a connection to their faith.  To that end, on our website we have posted links to various other websites such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Bioethics Center.  Furthermore, I have signed up the parish for the FORMED on line platform.  FORMED has a tremendous amount of good quality Catholic
content - everything from classroom style presentations, to devotional videos, to family friendly movies to audio books to video presentations on all of the Sacraments.  I would encourage its
use individually, as a family and in small groups. Signing into FORMED is very easy and there is no cost:  1) Go to formed.org/signup  2) Select your parish (Christ Prince of Peace & St. Lawrence
if asked for a zip code, use 16226)  3) Register with your name and email address  4) Check that email account for a link to begin using FORMED.  If there are any issues with signing in or using the site, please direct them to the FORMED help line at www.help.formed.org or (844) 367-6331.  I truly pray that this resource, and all of the others listed on the website, will assist all of you through these challenging times.

        To stay continuously updated with communications, recommendations and actions taken by the Diocese of Greensburg to combat the spread of the coronavirus, text “Faith” to the number 724-305-3057 to sign-up for important text message alerts. Up-to-the-minute communication is available on all diocesan social media outlets — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — and on its website, www.dioceseofgreensburg.org/healthalerts.

        As a reminder, although the parish office is open Monday through Thursday from 9am to 3pm, we are encouraging everyone to conduct as much business as possible via phone calls or emails during those times.  Also, at this time, the center doors of Christ Prince of Peace will remain unlocked daily from 8am to 8pm.  My friends, let’s continue to hold each other in prayer. Please reach out to one another.  Check on the elderly.  Call a friend.  Provide a meal to a first responder or their family.  If you know someone without computer access, please print this letter and offer it to them.  Let’s all continue to creatively live out the hope that is inside all of us as faith filled disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May we continue to love Him with our whole heart, mind, soul and body, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

                                                  Sincerely in the peace of Christ,  

                                               The Reverend Alan N. Polczynski, Pastor
 

As concerns surrounding the spread of the coronavirus continue to grow, Bishop Edward C. Malesic has decided to temporarily suspend all weekday and weekend public Masses in the Diocese of Greensburg.

The following events are also temporarily suspended:

Faith Formation / Youth Group, Stations of the Cross, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Eucharistic Adoration, Fish Fries, Bake Sales, Public Morning / Evening Prayer, Public Rosary and
Public Penance services

We will update this page when any new information is received.  
Please pray for all of us, especially the elderly and the medical professionals.

Confessions will be on Saturdays at Christ, Prince of Peace at 9:00 AM.
Please keep a distance of at least 6 feet between yourself and others.  Hand sanitizer will be placed in the church for your convenience.  

Christ, Prince of Peace Church will be open from 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM Monday through Sunday for private prayers.  

The Partner Parish Office hours are Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Friday - Closed.