From Fr. Paul's Desk

My dear parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima Church,

After further investigation, we will have to limit our Masses to about 60 congregants (give or take) to observe the necessary 6-feet of social distancing required by our authorities.  I advise you to come early and I apologize if you are turned away because we are already "at capacity."

Please note that I caution high-risk categories of persons, especially young children, against attendance for the time being, firstly, for your own safety, but also to allow other parishioners access to the limited seats.  Again, if you have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus or have any flu symptoms please do not come to Mass.

Hopefully, things will return more to normal soon.  I'll keep you informed going forwards.

Be assured of my prayers for you and your loved ones.

Fr. Paul

My dear parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima Church,

Most of you are probably already aware that we will resume our public Masses on the weekend of May 17th with our normal weekend schedule.  However, we must do so under restrictions placed on us by Bishop Taylor and our state’s civil authorities so let me share with you a couple of things for your consideration and ask your cooperation.

First, we must continue social distancing and Bishop Taylor has directed us to limit our numbers to 25% of our church’s capacity.  So, at Our Lady of Fatima, we will limit the number of congregants for a given Mass to 75 persons, give or take based on some persons sitting compactly together as a family.  I suggest you arrive early, enter through the front doors of the church and cooperate with the ushers who will offer you hand sanitizer and seat you appropriately.  If you have been exposed to COVID-19 or have any symptoms please do not come to Mass; you are dispensed.  I regret that we will have to turn some persons away once we have reached our maximum capacity.

Secondly, all persons 10 years of age or older must wear a mask throughout the Mass and remove it briefly only to receive Holy Communion, which must be received only on the hand - gloves must not be worn while receiving Holy Communion.  (Bishop Taylor recommends that if your not inclined to receive Communion on the hand that you make a Spiritual Communion instead.  He also advises only communicants approach the priest in the Communion lines - no blessings.)  Please bring your own masks if you have them.  We will have only a limited supply on hand to be given to those who do not have their own but we may very well run out of them quickly.

You will undoubtedly notice quickly that we have removed all the missalettes and song books from the pews so Masses will be without music and shorter.  You may bring your own missals with you but leave nothing in the pews afterwards.

The first weekend will be telling as to how things will proceed in our parish, and, based on how it goes, I will be willing to consider other alternatives, e.g., offering Sunday Masses on weekday mornings, offering an extra Spanish Mass on Saturday evening, etc.  We’ll figure it out as we go along.

Other things to consider:  we must continue social distancing at the end of Mass so the ushers may dismiss you pew by pew and ask you to proceed directly to your vehicles.  Our restrooms will be limited to one person at at time.  Between Masses we must do our best to sanitize the church - we could use volunteers after Mass to help with cleaning and sanitizing.  Finally, Confessions thirty minutes prior to each Mass will be suspended for the time being.

I encourage you to read the full document of the Bishop’s Restrictions and Options for Worship on our parish website or Facebook page or at dolr.org.

We can resume our public Masses with everyone’s patience, understanding, and consideration.  Please contact me or the office staff if you have any concerns or helpful suggestions.

Yours in Christ Jesus, our Risen Lord,
Fr. Paul

A Sunday Afternoon Jaunt With Fr. Finbarr

By Rev. Paul F. Worm

        Fr. John Marconi and yours truly recently traveled to Ireland on holiday, taking time to tour Dublin, make a brief pilgrimage to Knock, driving to Kinsale, taking an overnight trip to the Dingle Peninsula, and attending Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s in Innishannon with our traveling companions, Kelly and Patty Shay, Jeff and Kathleen Ferro, and Lori Kauffman.  Following Mass we were invited to visit with Alice Taylor in her house and have tea.  That was the plan for the day anyway.  Until Fr. Finbarr found us.
            On our short walk from the church to Alice’s place Fr. Finbarr came quickly to a stop beside us in his vehicle, rolling down his window to say hello to the visitors he had been told were coming.  Those of us who had fallen a bit behind the others introduced ourselves to him and he told us he would come to Alice’s with us, just around the corner.
            Having now all arrived at Alice’s and making introductions all around Fr. Finbarr was struck with an overwhelming impulse to “take the lads” – as he called us brother Fathers – to visit some beautiful place.  “Do you have any plans this afternoon?” he asked.  “Well,…”, we stammered, “it’s our last day; we fly out tomorrow….”  “But you don’t have anything this afternoon then?” Fr. Finnbar continued.  “We have dinner reservations at six o’clock in Kinsale.  Can you have us back by then?”  “Oh!  Yes, of course! I have an appointment myself at six.  Alice, do you mind if I take the lads?”  Alice didn’t object and our traveling companions were amused at what was unfolding.  But, before we left, Alice insisted that we have tea, just the three of us since we were in a rush to leave.  So the three of us, Fr. Finbarr, Fr. John, and I had a delightful repast featuring fresh salmon, sides with tea before leaving on our adventure.
            So, having “had tea,” we bade our hostess and traveling companions farewell and got into Fr. Finbarr’s vehicle for the journey to “a beautiful place.”  After a quick stop for petrol, we were on our way, to Gougane Barra.
            It was nice being chauffeured around by Fr. Finbarr as Fr. John and I didn’t have to worry about driving on the left and following directions given by his GPS on his phone.  So we were happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.  And what a ride it was!  Fr. Finbarr’s knowledge of the area, the roads, the houses, and the people wherever we happened to be at any given moment was something remarkable.  He explained that everybody in his parish knew his vehicle and, in his home parish as well, he still knew just about everybody and everybody, just about, knew him.
            But the roads… the roads we drove were much narrower than we had been traveling and he was driving so fast, honking briefly before rounding a blind curve or cresting the top of a hill… well, it was like riding a roller coaster, all the while Fr. Finbarr narrated the journey, the families who lived in the area, all the children he had baptized, the school system and the schools he visited each week – the range of topics seemed endless.  Occasionally, he would see somebody he knew so he would stop, exchange a few pleasantries with them, introducing us briefly before speeding off again.  The tales he told on our journey there and back….  Of course, we heard about his stellar play as a goalie on his championship hurling team.  The Irish love their sports.  We had already learned that during our time in Dublin and Knock.
            We stopped for a brief visit and to take some photos together at a grotto on the side of the road.  It featured a little stream and he pointed out all the photos and notes people had left, seeking intercession for their loved ones.  Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
            Finally, after driving for a little longer, we arrived at our destination.  Fr. Finbarr explained to us how Gougane Barra hosted many, many weddings every year because of its scenic beauty and he walked us around the grounds to spend some time in the original monastery of St. Finbarr and his first monks.  Wow!  We were impressed.  I especially loved the lake and imagined fishing in it. Fr. Finbarr insisted that we walk to the hotel and gift shop.  Along the way he met an old school chum and teammate and his wife so, naturally, they spent some time in conversation together catching up.  We had a little refreshment in the hotel pub and then went to the gift shop where Fr. Finbarr insisted upon buying some postcards for us.  He wouldn’t allow us to pay for anything.
            On our way back to Kinsale we also stopped to see the spot where Michael Collins was killed, Fr. Finbarr’s other church, St. Patrick’s, and, finally, we got the full tour of Fr. Finbarr’s rectory in Innishannon.  We took some time to read some framed news accounts of games and his fine play during their championship run.  We were impressed.
            Lastly, Fr. Finbarr took us into Kinsale by an alternate route that ran along a beautiful river.  As we arrived at our rented house I pointed out our rented vehicle.  He told me that my parking on a double yellow line was “sinful.”  I don’t think it’s anything I need to confess though.
As promised, he had us back in time for our dinner reservations, with 15 minutes to spare!  I don’t believe John and I will ever forget that wild afternoon tour with our new friend, Fr. Finbarr.
What a wonderful pastor you have.