St. Henry Catholic Church

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the brief time that I have had the privilege of serving in St. Henry, it has been said to me frequently that there is a desire for me to communicate better with all of you. It is also my sincere wish to do so. As such, I have decided that I will add this little section to our website and, on occasion, also to our bulletin. It is my hope that through this I can keep you all better informed as to what we are doing and why.

In the same vein, it is also important for me that you be able to contact me with your concerns. For a start, I have read every one of the surveys that many of you sent in. I have also now created an additional email address where you can send me any of your concerns, desires, or comments on how things are running in our parish. That address is: st.henry.feedback@gmail.com.

Before I get into things, I want to start by thanking you all for welcoming us so warmly. I know that it has a been a huge change, and that change is never easy. To that end, thank you all for doing so much to help us get started and for giving us a chance! Know that is greatly appreciated.

In this first note, I want to address some or the changes that I have been making to our liturgy. Liturgy is the heart and soul of any parish. That said, it is not just our personal prayer, but always that of the Church as a whole. We are praying with the universal Church and are taking part in the sacred liturgy that takes place throughout the world, calling to mind the heavenly liturgy as described in the books of Revelation and Daniel. To that end, we are called to follow the liturgical norms of the church, both at the Vatican level as well as at the archdiocesan level.

As a part of that, I have instituted the archdiocesan policy on extraordinary ministers of the holy communion, which mandates how they are to serve both at mass and in bringing communion to the sick. The biggest changes there have been that extraordinary ministers of holy communion are not allowed to open the tabernacle and remove the Eucharist and that they are not permitted to give blessings to those who are not receiving the Eucharist during mass as those functions belong properly to the clergy.

I have also changed many of the little things in how I serve mass with the altar servers. Again, those changes, such as adding bells or only using vessels made of precious metals, are to bring us into conformity with current church regulations.

One other question that has been raised is that of Fr. Niall and I being available before and after Mass, as that was the tradition with Fr. Charles. Prior to celebrating mass, we are not available as we are in the sacristy preparing ourselves in prayer. It is our genuine desire and need to prepare to celebrate the Eucharist by being in prayer and silence as much as possible. That said, we are both more than willing to speak with everyone after mass. Feel free to come up to us as we want to be there for you all and are more than happy to get to know you all better. During the week that will likely mean coming back to the sacristy, and you are welcome to do so.

With that I will conclude this first note. Again, if you have any needs or comments, please feel free to write. I will read everything that you send, even if I cannot respond personally to every message.

May God bless you all through the intercession of St. Henry,

Fr. Francesco