COVID-19 (Coronavirus) March 24, 2020 Update
March 24, 2020 Letter
Another week, another set of changes, and another email. Have we all learned yet who is really in control of everything? As much as I think I acknowledge that God is in control, He has been reminding me lately that maybe I don’t do it as much as I think. Even this morning I locked myself out of the sacristy as I was exposing the Blessed Sacrament. No keys, no phone & every way I figured out left me reminded again how little control I really have. As scary as that can be, it can also be very freeing...if I remember that the Creator of all things is in control and hasn’t left me, what do I have to worry about? In the midst of all of the things that are changing, there is One who doesn’t change, God. He is with us through all of this & wants us to trust that He will never leave us.
Yesterday having received news of Governor Holcomb’s executive order to shelter in place until April 7, we were left with yet another change and wondering what it might mean for us. Looking closely at the executive order though and having this confirmed by Bishop Siegel, we fall under the “Religious Entities” group that allows us to continue what we do here at Holy Redeemer. Specifically, this means that we will keep the church open for prayer from 7 am to 7 pm daily. Having this place of prayer and peace is important in the midst of uncertainty and the needs in our community and the world. In consultation with the parish staff this afternoon, we have decided to close the parish office to the public. We are offering staff members the opportunity to work from home and a number of them are. In order to continue to accompany you, we will still have staff on hand to answer questions by phone or email as you have them. Please simply call the parish office or email Lori Hurt lahurt@evdio.org or Michelle Wible kwible@evdio.org. In the midst of this though we are echoing the Governor’s call for those in the vulnerable population because of age and underlying health conditions to please stay at home for your own safety.
As this new directive of sheltering in place takes effect, I do want to remind you that we are now live streaming Mass daily at its usual time. We are certainly still learning, but this morning’s live stream was much better than our first weekend experience. Please do check out the parish website homepage for the link to Mass live streaming from Holy Redeemer as well as the other opportunities that are available.
If you haven't seen it, Pope Francis has asked us to join in praying together the Our Father tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25 at noon. Wherever you are, please take a moment to stop at that time for this simple prayer. If you need to, set an alarm now on your watch, phone or smart home device to remind you. Prayer unites us together in “spiritual nearness” even when we must be practicing “social distancing.”
Jeff Wilmes, chair of the Finance Commission, has this weekend’s bulletin article. Important words for us as we continue forward as a parish family, he writes:
“At a time like this, I feel a little uncomfortable asking you to continue in your generous financial support of Holy Redeemer. Even during this shut down and stay at home period, we continue to be dependent on your financial support.
We continue to incur costs during this period even though the school is closed and the church is closed for “in person” Masses. We continue to pay our teachers as they are working from home during this “e-learning” period whereby our students are given lessons, homework that needs to be reviewed by the teachers, and tests that need to be graded. In many, if not all, cases the teachers are putting in more time dealing with e-learning than they would have if they had been able to continue classes with the students physically present at Holy Redeemer. Our teachers are salaried and continue to be paid their normal salaries even though they may be putting in additional time over and above their normal working hours. We are thankful for this because their efforts are enabling our students to complete this school year.
We continue to incur utility costs, property and health insurance costs, and salaries for parish personnel who are working during this period to try to provide our great ministries as well. As is the case with the teachers, in many instances our salaried employees are having to put in additional hours in order to deal with the challenges of this shutdown. Youth Ministry is having “Cafe Cristo at Home” with our junior high youth utilizing teleconferencing. Our RCIA elect are supported with online materials as they prepare to become fully initiated members of our Church. We continue to provide faith formation opportunities through FORMED and work with our catechists to look at upcoming Religious Education opportunities.
While we will experience some small reductions in our gas and electric bills, paper, and copier bills, etc., all of our most significant expenses continue to be incurred as normal. That is why we need your continued financial support during this period.
Our weekly budget for Sunday collections is $18,846. If you have been following the bulletins, you know that we have been meeting that budget (actually slightly exceeding it) for the fiscal year so far. Unfortunately, our collection for the weekend of March 21/22 was only $4,006. If we continue at that pace, our financial situation will deteriorate rapidly.
About 30% of our Sunday collection dollars are sent to us by EFT and Online giving. We are grateful for this and hope that these parishioners will continue to give during this shutdown. If you would like to participate in Online giving, information can be found here. If you would like to learn more about the EFT option, click here. If you have questions about Online giving or would like to start giving via EFT, contact Lori Hurt at 812-424-8344 or email her at lahurt@evdio.org For parishioners that wish to continue to contribute by writing checks (this is about 70% of our contribution dollars), checks can be mailed to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 918 West Mill Rd., Evansville, IN 47710. If you would rather not mail your check, there is a secure drop box for Sunday Collection envelopes at the Mill Road entrance of the church inside the first set outside doors. The secure dropbox is mounted on the wall on the left side as you enter.
Please prayerfully consider continuing your financial support during these trying times. If you weren’t able to contribute for the weekend of March 21/22, we will be happy to receive your check for that weekend as well! I pray that we all remain safe and well during this time. I look forward to seeing you when we are once again able to gather for Mass.
Sincerely,
Jeff Wilmes
Finance Chair”
My brothers and sisters, we are all in this together. We are the Body of Christ, supporting one another through our prayers and continued generosity in many ways. As members of that Body, we care for one another and support one another. If you know of a parishioner in need, please let us know. Please forward this email on to others who you know might not be getting it. If you received this from someone else rather than the parish email list, please look to sign up at the bottom of the parish website homepage.
God Bless,
Fr. Jason Gries
Pastor
Pope Francis offered a prayer to the Virgin Mary on Wednesday afternoon, in a video message to mark the Diocese of Rome’s day of prayer and fasting for the coronavirus emergency. Let us join him in praying:
O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain,
with steadfast faith.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, so that,
as you did at Cana of Galilee,
joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the Father’s will
and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us,
through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Another week, another set of changes, and another email. Have we all learned yet who is really in control of everything? As much as I think I acknowledge that God is in control, He has been reminding me lately that maybe I don’t do it as much as I think. Even this morning I locked myself out of the sacristy as I was exposing the Blessed Sacrament. No keys, no phone & every way I figured out left me reminded again how little control I really have. As scary as that can be, it can also be very freeing...if I remember that the Creator of all things is in control and hasn’t left me, what do I have to worry about? In the midst of all of the things that are changing, there is One who doesn’t change, God. He is with us through all of this & wants us to trust that He will never leave us.
Yesterday having received news of Governor Holcomb’s executive order to shelter in place until April 7, we were left with yet another change and wondering what it might mean for us. Looking closely at the executive order though and having this confirmed by Bishop Siegel, we fall under the “Religious Entities” group that allows us to continue what we do here at Holy Redeemer. Specifically, this means that we will keep the church open for prayer from 7 am to 7 pm daily. Having this place of prayer and peace is important in the midst of uncertainty and the needs in our community and the world. In consultation with the parish staff this afternoon, we have decided to close the parish office to the public. We are offering staff members the opportunity to work from home and a number of them are. In order to continue to accompany you, we will still have staff on hand to answer questions by phone or email as you have them. Please simply call the parish office or email Lori Hurt lahurt@evdio.org or Michelle Wible kwible@evdio.org. In the midst of this though we are echoing the Governor’s call for those in the vulnerable population because of age and underlying health conditions to please stay at home for your own safety.
As this new directive of sheltering in place takes effect, I do want to remind you that we are now live streaming Mass daily at its usual time. We are certainly still learning, but this morning’s live stream was much better than our first weekend experience. Please do check out the parish website homepage for the link to Mass live streaming from Holy Redeemer as well as the other opportunities that are available.
If you haven't seen it, Pope Francis has asked us to join in praying together the Our Father tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25 at noon. Wherever you are, please take a moment to stop at that time for this simple prayer. If you need to, set an alarm now on your watch, phone or smart home device to remind you. Prayer unites us together in “spiritual nearness” even when we must be practicing “social distancing.”
Jeff Wilmes, chair of the Finance Commission, has this weekend’s bulletin article. Important words for us as we continue forward as a parish family, he writes:
“At a time like this, I feel a little uncomfortable asking you to continue in your generous financial support of Holy Redeemer. Even during this shut down and stay at home period, we continue to be dependent on your financial support.
We continue to incur costs during this period even though the school is closed and the church is closed for “in person” Masses. We continue to pay our teachers as they are working from home during this “e-learning” period whereby our students are given lessons, homework that needs to be reviewed by the teachers, and tests that need to be graded. In many, if not all, cases the teachers are putting in more time dealing with e-learning than they would have if they had been able to continue classes with the students physically present at Holy Redeemer. Our teachers are salaried and continue to be paid their normal salaries even though they may be putting in additional time over and above their normal working hours. We are thankful for this because their efforts are enabling our students to complete this school year.
We continue to incur utility costs, property and health insurance costs, and salaries for parish personnel who are working during this period to try to provide our great ministries as well. As is the case with the teachers, in many instances our salaried employees are having to put in additional hours in order to deal with the challenges of this shutdown. Youth Ministry is having “Cafe Cristo at Home” with our junior high youth utilizing teleconferencing. Our RCIA elect are supported with online materials as they prepare to become fully initiated members of our Church. We continue to provide faith formation opportunities through FORMED and work with our catechists to look at upcoming Religious Education opportunities.
While we will experience some small reductions in our gas and electric bills, paper, and copier bills, etc., all of our most significant expenses continue to be incurred as normal. That is why we need your continued financial support during this period.
Our weekly budget for Sunday collections is $18,846. If you have been following the bulletins, you know that we have been meeting that budget (actually slightly exceeding it) for the fiscal year so far. Unfortunately, our collection for the weekend of March 21/22 was only $4,006. If we continue at that pace, our financial situation will deteriorate rapidly.
About 30% of our Sunday collection dollars are sent to us by EFT and Online giving. We are grateful for this and hope that these parishioners will continue to give during this shutdown. If you would like to participate in Online giving, information can be found here. If you would like to learn more about the EFT option, click here. If you have questions about Online giving or would like to start giving via EFT, contact Lori Hurt at 812-424-8344 or email her at lahurt@evdio.org For parishioners that wish to continue to contribute by writing checks (this is about 70% of our contribution dollars), checks can be mailed to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 918 West Mill Rd., Evansville, IN 47710. If you would rather not mail your check, there is a secure drop box for Sunday Collection envelopes at the Mill Road entrance of the church inside the first set outside doors. The secure dropbox is mounted on the wall on the left side as you enter.
Please prayerfully consider continuing your financial support during these trying times. If you weren’t able to contribute for the weekend of March 21/22, we will be happy to receive your check for that weekend as well! I pray that we all remain safe and well during this time. I look forward to seeing you when we are once again able to gather for Mass.
Sincerely,
Jeff Wilmes
Finance Chair”
My brothers and sisters, we are all in this together. We are the Body of Christ, supporting one another through our prayers and continued generosity in many ways. As members of that Body, we care for one another and support one another. If you know of a parishioner in need, please let us know. Please forward this email on to others who you know might not be getting it. If you received this from someone else rather than the parish email list, please look to sign up at the bottom of the parish website homepage.
God Bless,
Fr. Jason Gries
Pastor
Pope Francis offered a prayer to the Virgin Mary on Wednesday afternoon, in a video message to mark the Diocese of Rome’s day of prayer and fasting for the coronavirus emergency. Let us join him in praying:
O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain,
with steadfast faith.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, so that,
as you did at Cana of Galilee,
joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the Father’s will
and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us,
through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.