A dozen people visited Jesus today.  It seems that we now have a good routine.  The church is open for private prayer Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 2 PM.

     Today, I set-up for Mass in the garage because of the wind.  Tomorrow, the wind will be less.  Instead of using the Roman Missal, I used a tablet computer so that the wind couldn't blow the pages.

     We had 30 cars today, one less than yesterday.  Perhaps we're stabilizing.

     I asked Rod Colon to help me distribute Holy Communion.  I handled the driver's side of cars while he was on the passenger's side.

     When driving toward the Holy Communion station, please stay in the lane.  Don't try to get close to me or the EMHC.  We will walk toward you.  Several people almost drove onto the grass because I kept backing up further and further.  I was doing my best not to get run over and succeeded quite nicely.

     Also, please don't reach so far outside the car.  A couple hosts when flying yesterday because of the wind.  I've got long arms and can easily reach to where I need to place the host.  (Rod is pretty tall too).

     Basically, present yourself for Holy Communion in a safe and reverent way.  The EMHC or I will approach you.  You don't have to get so close to us.

     Thank you to the daily Mass goers for your patience and feedback.  We're getting better each day.  This will help us get ready for Sunday.

     St. Mary's in New Monmouth, St. Mary's in Medford, and Nativity in Fair Haven were featured in a Monitor article about daily Mass outside.  With us, that's at least four parishes out of 99.  We will be featured in The Monitor for Sunday Mass.  Apparently, we're among the trailblazing parishes in the diocese.  In the photos, I noticed that the three featured parishes had lots of help.

     One difficulty in our parish is that we have a high percentage of parishioners in the high risk categories.  I've been reluctant to ask for help as a result.  Even so, I'm asking for help now but still trying to keep everyone healthy.  We're being stricter about EMHCs by only asking for help from people under 60.  Joe Pittarelli has five people to help me including two new, young people.  Joe also has several parking lot ushers for Sunday.  They will direct traffic and hold baskets for donations.

     JEMS did some more computer network wiring today.  They've finished this phase of our tech upgrades.  We're ordering new computers through them.  Also, they're going to install a camera and encoder for livestreaming in the church by June 1st.  I'm hoping we'll be back in the church with small groups of people by mid June.  We're also getting new VoIP phones very soon.  The telephone upgrade should helps us communicate via phone better.

     The staff and I have begun brainstorming about RE in the fall and keeping the staff safe in the office.  We'll be rearranging furniture and rooms in order to maintain social distancing expectations.  We'll also continue to use video conferencing.  It's exciting to be planning for increased activity on campus.

God love you,

Fr. Jim

frjim@stjohnlakehurst.com