Return to Liturgy at Sacred Heart & St. Luke
Sacred Heart and St. Luke’s will be opening their doors for face-to-face liturgy services beginning the weekend of June 6-7. There are several health protocols that have been put in place. In order for you to make a decision about whether attending Mass in person is the right option for you and your family, we would like to outline our health and safety plan. One Mass each weekend will continue to be livestreamed on Facebook for those who do not feel comfortable or are unable to attend in person. Mass times are as follows:
Sacred Heart
- Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.
- Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
- Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
St. Luke’s
- Thursday at 8:00 a.m.
- Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
The Church doors will open 30 minutes in advance and will be locked when capacity is reached. There will be no public recitation of the Rosary said before Mass, and we ask that there is no congregating in the gathering spaces or Newman Hall before or after Mass. The Church will be disinfected after each Mass. Mass will be shorter, so we ask that restrooms are used only in emergencies, as they will need to be disinfected by the Ushers after each use.
We will be following guidelines for social distancing by roping off every other pew, maintaining space between individuals and 6 feet between parties, and limiting attendance to 50% of the Church’s capacity. The doors will be locked and a sign posted when capacity is reached.
We will be limiting physical contact as much as possible through elimination of the following: holy water fonts, receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, receiving the Precious Blood, use of hymnals, shaking hands, holding hands, and passing of the offertory baskets. There will be baskets at the entrances of the Church where you should drop your donations as you enter for Mass.
Those in line for Holy Communion will be spaced apart and wear masks until after they have received the host in their hand, at which point they will step aside, lift their mask to place the host in their mouth, and replace the mask before returning to their seat.
Hand sanitizing stations have been ordered, and sanitizer will be available at the doors. We encourage parishioners to bring their own small bottle of hand sanitizer to use immediately prior to receiving Holy Communion in the hand.
Face masks are required for everyone including children and are raised only to receive Holy Communion and then immediately replaced. We will try to provide masks for those who do not have one but everyone is encouraged to have their own. If we provide one for you take home and do not leave it at the Church. Masks do not protect the person wearing them; they protect those around them. Please wear a mask as an act of love for others by protecting them, since people with no symptoms may still be able to transmit disease.
We are using the CDC guidelines to determine if attending Mass in person is safe for you and for those around you. These will be posted on the Church doors as a reminder. You should NOT attend Mass if any of the following apply to you:
- Are sick or have an underlying condition
- Work with or care for high risk people
- Have been within 6 feet of a person with Covid 19 for at least 5 minutes or had direct contact with their mucus or saliva in the past 14 days
- Have had ANY of the following symptoms in the last 48 hours:
- Fever of 100.5 degrees or higher
- Fever symptoms like alternating chills and sweating
- Cough
- Trouble breathing, shortness of breath, or severe wheezing
- Muscle aches
- Diarrhea
- Sore throat
- Loss of smell or taste, or change in taste
- Headache
This is the current plan. As the situation and/or guidelines change, this plan will be re-evaluated and revised. Stay tuned!
May 31, 2020