13/04/2021
Message from Fr Richard: Sunday Mass Attendance
It is good to see people at Sunday Mass and especially as confidence increases, more people are attending, including single people, couples and families. In fact, our average Mass attendance on Sunday morning has increased to the point where we are now struggling to seat everyone who wishes to come to that Mass.
We are fortunate at St Mary’s to have had public Masses for quite some time. This has only been possible due to the consistent support and commitment of our stewards who have been volunteering since the church re-opened for public Mass last September. They arrive thirty minutes before Mass begins and they stay for at least thirty minutes afterwards to clean the church. Their help is invaluable. Please be respectful and compliant when the stewards ask you to sit in a certain place. They ask this of you simply to maximise the available seating capacity in church, which is limited at the moment, so that they do not have to turn people away who arrive to a full church. Please trust the stewards to know what they are doing and to help them to help others in this way. Unfortunately, last Sunday the stewards had to turn some people away from church because there was no more space. This is not the situation I want for the Parish and it can be avoided by co-operating with the stewards.
Last week I re-introduced the Saturday Vigil Mass which I hope you will consider attending if you can, instead of coming on Sunday morning, thus freeing up space in church. I also appreciate that many parishioners like to come to Sunday Mass as well as Mass during the week. However, due to the growing numbers attending on Sunday morning, I must request that you only come to one Mass per week. If you are able, please attend Mass on a weekday (rather than Sunday) and do not then attend again on Sunday. This allows families and people with work commitments to attend Mass at the weekend.
In my opinion, it is preferable to keep our arrangements as open as possible so that you are free to attend Mass without further restriction. However, if we cannot adjust to the situation I have indicated, we will need to introduce a booking system, which some Parishes are already using. It will be necessary then to book before coming to any public Mass in church. This will be more limiting, but it will ensure that we do not have to turn people away.
Finally, I know that it is deeply ingrained in us that we should come to Sunday Mass and that is certainly what we should do under normal circumstances. However, you may recall the message that the Bishops gave us some time ago and which still applies: there is presently no obligation to come to Sunday Mass. While the Church gives us this dispensation, we can continue to encounter Christ in the Eucharist whatever day it is.
With prayers and good wishes,
Fr Richard.
