Dear Sacred Heart and St. Ann Parishioners and friends:
If you tuned into the live-stream Mass for Palm Sunday at 5:00 p.m. last Saturday evening, you may have noticed that the Sacred Heart website and perhaps the St. Ann website (which are both supported by our Bulletin Company) crashed a couple of times due to the high number of people tuning in. In the future for live stream Masses, you can avoid the crowd and the inconvenience of a possible crash, by going directly to the Pastoral Region of Sacred Heart and St. Ann Youtube site by highlighting and clicking on the following youtube address: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg
This way, even if either or both the parish websites have crashed, you can view the live stream Mass or any earlier archived Mass at a click of your mouse. Please note that you can subscribe to our pastoral region Youtube page for free. Just hit the subscribe button. It’s free! This does not mean you have a free subscription to all other Youtube services, you are simply signing up as a user of our page!
Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil
The Easter Triduum consists of the Holy Thursday Mass, the Good Friday Mass, and the Easter Vigil Mass. The Holy Thursday Mass (celebrated at St. Ann) will be available for viewing at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 9 on either website or by going directly to our Pastoral Region Youtube page as described above. Similarly, the Good Friday Service will be available for viewing at 12:00 noon on Friday, April 10 or anytime thereafter.
The Easter Vigil Mass will be live streamed on Saturday, April 11 at precisely 5:00 p.m. and archived thereafter. (Please go directly to the Youtube webpage as shown above so you are not delayed should either parish website crash because of volume.
Finally, the Easter Morning Mass will be available on our parish websites or our Youtube site after 5:00 a.m. on Easter morning (Sunday, April 12).
Don’t forget to make your Easter spiritual communion at the appropriate time during any and all of the Masses. One example of a spiritual communion prayer is as follows:
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Easter Prayers from a grateful Pastor
As we approach the Easter Truduum, the most sacred time of the year for those who believe in Christ, I pause to give prayerful thanks for the support, affection, and love I receive from the parishioners of the two parishes that make up our Pastoral Region. In my very early youth, I remember fearing polio until Dr. Salk and Dr. Sabin came along. My parents were ten and five years old respectively when the 1918 Spanish Flu raged. Neither my mother nor my father had vivid recollections of it. We have seen regional epidemics in recent years, but none seem as contagious, or as seemingly unstoppable as COVID-19. And yet in the midst of this time when so many in our world obsess over their own health; I see the people of St. Ann and Sacred Heart expressing concern for neighbors and for people they do not know. The kind prayers, words, and wishes I have received from all of you, and some former acquaintances I have not seen in forty years; have served to strengthen my ordination and priestly commitment in ways that are almost inexplicable. When I say Happy Easter in the upcoming days and weeks, I am saying a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all of you. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and in celebrating his resurrection, I give thanks for all of you. Stay strong in faith and be assured that no disease or trial or tribulation of any kind (as St. Paul says in his letter to the people of Rome) “can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Reprinted from recent Email Blasts
The following message directed to us by the Archdiocese.
BEWARE of Email Scams
Unfortunately, some people see this pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of others. We have had multiple reports of fraudulent “phishing” emails, purportedly from the pastor of a parish, asking parishioners to urgently send money. Of course, close inspection of the email address reveals that the email is not actually from the pastor after all; however, in their haste to help, some parishioners do not look closely enough. Please warn your parishioners that any version of your email address other than the official one printed in your parish bulletin is not to be trusted.
POSTPONEMENTS
First Communion at St. Ann (scheduled for April 26) and at Sacred Heart (scheduled for May 3) are postponed and must be rescheduled since the suppression of public Mass has been extended until after the first Sunday in May. As yet, we have no indication from Civil or Church authorities as to when the restriction on public gatherings may be lifted or whether it may be lifted gradually based on size of congregation and ability to social distance in each building. This uncertainty has had a dramatic impact on Wedding and Funeral (Memorial) Celebrations already delayed. Given our uncertainty as to the possible or probable date(s) by which restrictions may be eased, rescheduling is a challenge. Please bear with us as we all face calendar changes and the scheduling nightmare together.
Your pastor in the Lord Jesus
Fr. Larry Tharp