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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Thought for the Day #78 – Thursday, June 18, 2020

“Smiling Through the Mask”

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We are on the eve of a long -awaited moment. The joy of the reunion of the
people of God as they return to church to receive the Eucharist and to pray!
But also the joy of the pastors and the pastoral team united with the people of
God. The people of God crave being together. As much as we were deprived
of the Eucharist during the pandemic, priests were deprived of the people of
God. Therefore, we are all together anticipating this moment with great joy.

Starting on June 22nd, as the first step, the church doors could be opened!
That means, in each parish there is a team, already in place and working
to prepare the church to open to welcome the people; preparation with
signage for social distancing, hygienic product stations and steps to follow
all protocols laid out by the government and health authorities.

When the pastoral committee has the required equipment and put all
these measure into place, when sufficient volunteers have come forward, (it
takes many volunteers to ensure the operation runs smoothly , switching and
spelling each other to keep the doors open for the entire day) , all is ready. The
church committee will notify the archbishop who may then give permission to
open the church and move forward.

Each parish operates at its own personal rhythm and is autonomous in
that sense. Once the parish receives authorization, their name will be added
to the Montreal diocese website to inform you if the parish is open or not and
when you can begin to go to pray. If you want to go to your parish, you could
call and offer to help as the need for volunteers is great and appreciated at this
time. If you are available, kindly offer your assistance to facilitate the opening
of the parish doors, to be a presence, a person to greet the parishioners, it is
so important! People are also needed to help clean the pews, also important!
This is going to take teams of many volunteers.

(cont’d)

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 93