A Letter from Fr. Tim an Fr. Matt

Dear Friends,
 
As we move forward, we will try to address some more immediate needs at St. Matthew & St. Hubert Parish that cannot wait until a new pastor arrives. One of those issues is the Mass schedule. When both parishes were combined through Renew My Church, the Mass schedule remained the same at both sites. That means several weekdays currently have two Masses and every weekend, there are nine Masses scheduled. This is not sustainable and it is unnecessary. Fr. Mike knew this would need to be discussed sooner rather than later, but his sudden passing left that conversation on the table.
 
The new Mass schedule for the weekend will be the first topic of conversation with the newly formed Unification Committee, made up of parishioners from both sites that Fr. Mike had begun to put together. We are a part of the team as is Sarah Pelrine and Edith Martinez, Renew My Church Project Managers assigned to our parish and helping us tremendously. Our goal is to have that schedule in place by the beginning of Advent, when the new church year begins. We will discuss options at the Unification Committee meetings and then present possibilities for Mass schedules for people to vote on, so that everyone who wishes to will have a say in what the new schedule will be.
 
It is always a challenging proposition to change Mass times in any parish. People are very loyal to their own Mass times and don’t want to think about having to change that. In a unification of parishes, there is also the added stress of potentially having to not only change a Mass time but also the location of that Mass.
 
However, in the current structure, with nine Masses per weekend, multiple priests are needed to celebrate those Masses, and even though our visiting priests have very graciously offered to celebrate them, it is hard to form a sense of parish unity with so many priests who aren’t assigned to St. Matthew & St. Hubert celebrating Masses even though some of them may have long-time connections to the parish. In addition, the multiplicity of Masses weakens unity because the parish is fractured with people attending the many Masses available.
 
A few decisions have been made in consultation with the Unification Committee and the Parish Pastoral Staff that we can announce at this time. These decisions will hopefully help us to be a more unified community praying together and adoring Christ in the Eucharist as one parish.
 
Beginning on Monday, November 6^th, the weekday Mass schedule will be as follows: 

• All weekday Masses will be at 8:30 AM:
• Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the chapel at St. Matthew (across from the church)
• Tuesday and Friday at St. Hubert. Tuesday will continue as the School Mass at St. Hubert. 

In addition, Confessions and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will shift to one day only beginning on November 8^th:

• Wednesdays from 4:00 – 6:00 PM at the chapel at St. Matthew. 

Hopefully this new weekday schedule of Masses, Reconciliation and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament won’t be too burdensome for anyone. It is understood that there are no perfect solutions to these kinds of situations, but we discerned these schedule changes that would meet some of the challenges that are currently in place – priest shortages, attempts to unite the parish community and scheduling conflicts for both sites.
 
Please keep the process of unification in your prayers.As you can imagine, it isn’t easy.
 
May God bless you all.
 
       Fr. Tim Fairman & Fr. Matt Jamesson