Dear Sacred Heart and St. Ann Parishioners and friends:
Apology
As many of you will have noticed, my best efforts to live stream the 5:15 p.m. Mass for Palm Sunday (Saturday) failed. I failed to allow the preset transmitter the time to “boot” properly as I was late coming from the 4:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart. The Palm Sunday (Saturday) from Sacred Heart had transmitted and live streamed fine, but I miscalculated the length of the reading of the Passion. Arriving with less than three minutes to prepare at St. Ann, I failed to allow the transmitter time to receive the signal from my laptop. The transmitter apparently did transmit the live stream to You Tube but I turned it on too quickly before it had properly oriented itself to our channel. Unfortunately this means we have a recording of the Palm Sunday Mass from Sacred Heart for viewing at any time, but I mishandled the tracking on the St. Ann transmission and thus it is lost. I apologize for my mistake.
Holy Week
On Holy Thursday, I plan on live streaming the 5:30 p.m. Mass of the Last Supper on from St. Ann. If it fails to work, I will try to live stream the 7:30 p.m. from Sacred Heart as a fall back. If the 5:30 p.m. from St. Ann works, I will not need to live stream the 7:30.
Good Friday
On Good Friday, I plan on live streaming the 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m. service from Sacred Heart. If I fail, I will live stream the 7:00 p.m. service from St. Ann. If I capture the Sacred Heart Good Friday service in its entirety, I will not need to video the 7:00 p.m. service at St. Ann.
Easter Sunday
It would be very difficult to live stream the Easter Vigil service on Holy Saturday Evening as the camera cannot reach to view the lighting of the fire, and the first hour of the service is done with the lights off. (This means no video; only sound for an hour.)
I will live stream the 8:00 a.m. Easter Morning Mass from Sacred Heart (I hope it works) and then I may live stream both the 10:00 a.m. and the 12:00 p.m. depending on the size of the crowds. How it should work at each parish follows:
Easter Morning at Sacred Heart
Depending on the numbers who show up for Mass, because of the social spacing limitation in the church, we may have to direct overflow into Fellowship Hall where we will live stream the Masses on the large screen. Communion will be brought to that area at the appropriate time. This will happen only if we have an overflow crowd!
Easter Morning at St. Ann
At St. Ann, if there is overflow crowd that exceeds the reduced capacity in the church, at the 9:00 a.m. or the 11:00 a.m. I ask that overflow return to their cars, watch the earlier taped Mass on You Tube using your phone or pad, and then come in single file at communion time after the congregation has received.
Remember, our You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg
The addendum to follow is a letter from the Bishops of the Ohio dioceses regarding COVID vaccine and continuation of the dispensation from “precept obligation” until social distancing restrictions are lifted has been received.
Your pastor in the Lord Jesus
Fr. Larry Tharp
A Letter from the Ohio Catholic Bishops
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Since the onset of the pandemic just a year ago, the Bishops of Ohio have worked together during this unprecedented time with the assistance of government and health professionals to lead and protect all those entrusted to our pastoral care. By the grace of God and the painstaking efforts by so many to
follow Covid- 19 protocols, coupled with the expanding availability of vaccines, we are making progress in our fight against this deadly scourge. What a blessing it will be for us to be in person in our churches this year to celebrate the Paschal Mystery, culminating in the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.
In our shared hope of eradicating this virus and encouraging ongoing return of the faithful to Holy Mass and the Sacraments each week, you are invited to continue to follow all the essential protocols of hand sanitizing, wearing masks and social distancing. These efforts are working to the point that we are in a
much more hopeful place than we were even a few months ago.
At the same time, you are encouraged to receive a vaccine. To reiterate the teaching of the Church with regard to the vaccine options: if you have the opportunity to choose a vaccine, you should choose Pfizer
or Moderna. While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is made from cell lines originating from an aborted human fetus, it should be taken only if it is the only option available.
As we move toward herd immunity, notwithstanding a spike in the virus, it is our sincere hope that soon we can return to the regular celebration of Mass with full capacity in our churches, and thus lift the dispensation of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. We are advised that parish festivals likely can take
place this summer, preferably outdoors, following the necessary protocols. Nevertheless, we all need to remain vigilant.
We look forward with eager longing to when we can all be together around the altar of the Lord without any restrictions. In the meantime, let us continue to do all that we need to do to overcome the virus, and rely upon the guidance of government and health officials so that we can return to some sense of normal.
Have a blessed Holy Week!
Sincerely in Christ,
The Most Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr
Archdiocese of Cincinnati
The Most Rev. David J. Bonnar
Diocese of Youngstown
The Most Rev. Robert J. Brennan
Diocese of Columbus
The Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas
Diocese of Toledo
The Most Rev. Bohdan J. Danylo
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of
St. Josaphat in Parma
The Most Rev. Edward C. Malesic
Diocese of Cleveland
The Most Rev. Jeffrey M. Monforton
Diocese of Steubenville
The Most Rev. John Michael Botean
St. George Byzantine Catholic Diocese