Well friends, in another world, I would have written at length here about which priests are to be assigned to our new family of parishes come July, but since we aren’t allowed to announce it officially until the weekend, and some of you weirdos go online and read the bulletin before it’s printed, I’m afraid I still must speak cryptically. It seems that, as usual, some nerds just ruin everything.

Anonymity aside, there is one very important detail that I can share with you here, and that is that we will not, as previously stated, be getting a pastor and two vicars. The “final” draft plan of Families of Parishes said that St. James, Our Lady of the Valley,
Our Lady of the Rosary, and St. Matthias would be getting three priests, but because of the higher than anticipated number of retirements, there will be just one pastor and one vicar here, with additional help from Fr. Roberto. Disappointing, yes, but we almost certainly would have had to face this reality sooner or later anyway. Perhaps it is better, in God’s providence, to lay the cards on the table now and start preparing for the future of one pastor, one parish while we have momentum.
 
The immediate impact of this for most people will be the fact that the Mass schedule must change. Barring Padre Pio being stationed here this summer, I am fairly confident that your priests will still only be able to be in one place at a time. This means that
some tough conversations are coming down the pike, wherein we will have to determine what the best Mass schedule for the family will be to both foster the devotional life of the people and not kill the priests. These conversations will be happening with the parish and finance councils, the staff, and the priests themselves. But in order to get as much input as possible, I would like to introduce a manner for the good people of the parish to express their desires and hopes for the future of their parishes.

In the coming weeks, we will have forms at each of the parishes with a sample Mass schedule or two, and a template for those who want to propose something other than what the clergy and staff have brainstormed. In the meantime, I ask that you start praying about this issue and consider the following matters when putting your thoughts
and proposals together:
 
· Fr. Roberto is split between our parishes and  St. Ann’s, and so we have to implement a Mass schedule that can be covered by two priests by themselves.  · We ask that you leave at least two hours between the start times of Masses to allow for travel time and unscheduled pastoral needs that can be covered by the priests instead of just  saying Mass and then cramming themselves into the car to rush off to the next thing.
 
· Each priest should only be expected to offer two Masses on a given day. It is possible to offer three Masses in one day when pastoral need requires it, but it is the exception, not the norm. This helps to prevent the rote and joyless celebration of the Holy Sacrifice.
 
· Please be sure to fill out an entire schedule and not just pencil in your request to keep Mass X or Mass Y. We have to operate as a family and, cards on the table, I will toss out any form that only deals with one Mass or one parish.
 
Finally, I’d like to say that I am aware that this stinks. No one wants to be in this position, and it’s not news that I enjoy delivering. That said, I believe that our parishes are strong, and we have made good progress these last few years. The sooner we mourn this together, the sooner we can start planning for a prosperous and holy future. Know
of my prayers for you, and if you want to wail about the injustice of it all, you know where to find me.  We’ll get through this, and I believe we’ll be stronger for it.