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HOLY NAME OF JESUS CATHOLIC CHURCH BEECH GROVE, IN Resuming our Regular Schedule of Sunday Masses To our Holy Name Parishioners: Thank you all so much for your generosity and your patience during these past few months as we have all tried to figure out how best to live and respond to this Covid -19 epidemic. Below, is a detailed plan, outlining the transition back to having our regular schedule of Sunday Masses. While the schedule will be the same, many of the procedures and precautions we will need to take in order to mitigate against the spread of the virus will be different; and we will need additional volunteers – especially when it comes to ushers and people to help disinfect the Church between Masses. As we prepare to re-open our Church and come together once again for the regular schedule of Sunday Masses, we will need to be particularly aware of what we will need to do for the safety and protection of one another and our families. Currently, the Church is unlocked every day from 7:30 AM until 9:30 PM for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Eucharistic Adoration is scheduled to resume on Thursday, June 4th. Daily Masses have resumed according to the regular schedule: Mondays, 5:45 PM (with Confessions at 5:00 before Mass) Wednesdays, 5:45 PM (with Confessions at 6:15 after Mass) Thursdays, 8:00 AM Fridays, 8:15 AM Saturdays, 8:15 AM (with Confessions at 3:30 PM) Confessions will be heard in the Franciscan Room (off the Narthex) to allow for proper social distancing, and penitents can go either face to face or behind a screen. On Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020 we will continue the outdoor drive-in Sunday morning Masses in the parking lot at 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM. If you attend one of these Masses please feel free to bring lawn chairs to sit outside you car as long as you remain on the driver’s side – or in a way that is socially distanced from people in other cars. For communion, Extraordinary Ministers will come around to each car to distribute communion. Sunday Masses in the Church will begin on the weekend of June 6-7. We will resume our regular Mass schedule : Saturday at 5:00 PM (with confessions at 3:30), and Sunday at 7:30 AM, 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM. Once we open for Sunday Masses, we need to follow CDC guidelines and work together to address this epidemic as follows: 1. Social Distancing: We will need to ensure that: a. Everyone must enter either through the Narthex area or the Main Entrance adjacent to the roundabout, so that we can allow individuals and families to enter in a way that ensures proper social distancing. b. Pews will be marked to help parishioners sit at least 6 feet apart as CDC Guidelines specify. Please do not sit in the areas of the pews that are marked with a blue X. c. Also, the center aisle floor will be marked every six feet to allow proper distance as parishioners come forward in procession to receive Holy Communion. d. If we run out of space in the Church, the Gym will be set up to livestream the Mass on a large screen, and seats will be available separated by at least six feet. Parishioners can participate via video, and will receive Holy Communion along with the rest of the community. e. Everyone may need to be flexible about seating arrangements as it may not be possible to sit in our regular pew. f. All parishioners must wear a mask to cover their nose and mouth as this is mandated by the Mayor, and will provide a higher degree of protection for themselves and others. g. After Mass it will be important to observe social distancing by not congregating in groups that are closer than 6 feet apart. h. We will need additional ushers to help coordinate social distancing, so we are seeking volunteers to help with this. Please contact the parish office if you are able to help in this capacity. i. At the end of Mass and during communion, please wait for ushers to dismiss your pew. 2. Disinfecting the Church a. We will need to recruit volunteers to disinfect the surfaces of the Church after each Mass in order to comply with CDC Guidelines b. Additionally, after each Sunday we will have the Church professionally disinfected by our cleaning company c. We will remove all hymnals and provide disposable worship aids for each Mass – we would appreciate it if families could share these worship aids and dispose of them when they leave at the end of Mass d. Hand sanitizing stations will be set up in the Narthex for use before and after Mass 3. Reception of Holy Communion a. Only one side of the Church will receive Holy Communion at a time, starting with the St. Joseph side of the Church. After everyone in the Church has received, the priest will then go to the gym (if necessary) to distribute Communion. b. Please observe social distancing in line for communion by waiting at the next mark on the floor in line. c. We ask that you maintain as much distance as possible from the priest or Extraordinary minister when receiving Holy Communion. d. We ask that you receive Communion in the hand. e. A hand sanitizing station will be set up next to Extraordinary Ministers, so that if the EM inadvertently touches a communicant they will sanitize their hands immediately before distributing communion to the next person. 4. Use of Discretion a. Archdiocesan Guidelines state: • THOSE WHO ARE 65 AND OVER AND THOSE WITH HIGH-RISK HEALTH CONDITIONS SHOULD REMAIN AT HOME. THIS IS THE POPULATION THAT IS MOST VULNERABLE TO THE CORONAVIRUS. OF COURSE, THOSE WHO ARE SYMPTOMATIC OR HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 SHOULD NOT ENTER A CHURCH UNTIL RELEASED TO DO SO BY THEIR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL. • THE DISPENSATION FROM THE OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE AT MASS ON SUNDAYS IS EXTENDED IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF INDIANAPOLIS AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF INDIANA UNTIL AUGUST 15, 2020. b. Please remember that remaining at home if we are sick or vulnerable to this virus is an act of love for our families and our community. This is not the usual way that we express love, but at this time in the life of our parish, it is so important to protect those who are at risk and to protect one another by remaining at home if there is a significant risk to ourselves or to others. c. We will not be checking ID’s at the door, but we will continue to livestream our Holy Name Mass on our parish Facebook page. Additionally, there are other online options for viewing Mass on Sunday. If there is someone in your household who can bring communion to those who are at home due to age or health, please let us know and we can make arrangements for this. Additional Precautions: • Again, remember that Archbishop Thompson has declared that the faithful of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass until August 15, 2020. Please, if you are concerned about the possibility of contracting the virus, or if you are not feeling well, stay home and make a spiritual communion. • The following precautions will be taken for all Masses and liturgical events: • The exchange of the sign of peace is now suspended • The practice of holding hands during the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer is now suspended • We will not distribute Holy Communion via the chalice. • Priests and Deacons will not physically touch a non-communicant for a blessing, nor will they shake hands before and after Mass • The use of Holy Water fonts is discontinued • Priests, deacons and extraordinary ministers of holy communion should take care not to touch the hands, mouth or tongue of communicants • Communicants should receive Communion in the hand rather than on the tongue during this extraordinary time of concern • All extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion will wash or sanitize their hands before Mass (as should all who attend Mass). • While the acts of holding hands, shaking hands, hugging, etc. is suspended during the liturgy, the faithful should be reminded that these restrictions should be honored before and after Mass as well. • Please respectfully, but repeatedly remind people that if they are feeling ill, they should stay at home • Outside of Sunday Masses other liturgical/devotional activities will continue according to the schedule outlined earlier. • Please remember to follow the proper social distancing guidelines for all of these activities. • Also, we ask that during the week, each parishioner who enters the Church (whether for daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, or just to pray before the Blessed Sacrament) take measures to disinfect anything they may have touched while in the Church, and sanitize their hands before and after they are in the Church. • Parish Meetings and other events will be rescheduled as the Archdiocese and the CDC Guidelines allow. Please check the Parish website, or the Front door of the Church to receive updates on this. • Starting the week of May 25, the Parish Office will re-open from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM, Monday through Thursday, in order to provide for the pastoral care of the people. Starting June 1, the Parish Office will resume regular hours from 8:00 AM until 5:30 PM, Monday through Thursday. As we resume our daily life, and our society begins this transition back from quarantine let us continue to pray for one another. Especially, let us pray that this virus may be contained and mitigated as we move into the summer months. Of course, we also pray for all health care workers and first responders who will be working tirelessly to help our community. It is with great joy that we resume the sacramental life of the Holy Name Catholic Church family. Please know that we love very much and will miss the wisdom and example of our mothers and fathers in the faith who have built and sustained this amazing parish and are unable to join us due to age or health concerns. But please know that these measures will not last forever. Thank you, and please know that you all remain in my Prayers. I am very much looking forward to seeing you! Fr. Bob Robeson, Pastor Please note that we will need additional volunteers who are under 65 years of age to help as ushers and to disinfect the Church after Masses. If you are willing to help with this, please contact the Parish Office to let us know which Mass you are able to help with! THANK YOU!

HOLY NAME OF JESUS CATHOLIC CHURCH BEECH GROVE, IN Our Road to Emmaus As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:28-35 Brothers and Sisters: May the Lord Jesus shelter you and protect you as we continue on this road – that leads us always back to His presence in the Eucharist. I’ve been thinking a great deal about this road to Emmaus that these disciples of Jesus followed. I’ve thought about how they learned and grew more passionately in their faith on this journey – even though they did not initially recognize Jesus. I’ve thought about their generosity, and the way they invited Him into their home, and their desire to remain with Him. Above all, I’ve thought about all of you – who have faithfully walked this road – through a pandemic, and the many people who have expressed so deeply their desire to encounter Jesus once again in the breaking of the bread. As we prepare to re-open our Church and come together once again we will need to be particularly aware of what we will need to do for the safety and protection of one another and our families. The Archdiocese has determined that we may begin opening in phases. Please remember that this is contingent upon Mayor Hogsett lifting the Stay at Home order for Marion County after June 1. If this order is extended, we may be required to change the following plan. At this point, Holy Name will begin the re-opening process as follows: Phase 1: Beginning Saturday, May 16, the doors to the Church have been unlocked from 7:30 AM until 9:30 PM and Fr. Bob Robeson will begin Celebrating the Sacrament of Penance. Confession times will be Saturday at 3:30 PM, Monday at 5:00 PM, Wednesday at 6:15 PM or by appointment. They will be heard in the Franciscan Room (off the Narthex) to allow for proper social distancing, and penitents can go either face to face or behind a screen. Phase 2: Beginning Wednesday, May 20, daily Mass will resume at regularly scheduled times, with the exception of one change to the daily Mass summer schedule, there will be no Tuesday morning Mass during the week until school begins in August. If attendance at daily Mass exceeds 25 people, we will have to determine a process for limiting daily Mass attendance to keep it below 25. Phase 2B: We will begin outdoor drive-in Sunday Masses in the parking lot on Sunday, May 24. There will be two (2) Masses on Sunday morning, at 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM Masses will be offered. We are offering two Masses because of the limited parking space in our lot. The plan is to broadcast the Mass through a local FM transmitter while parishioners remain in their cars. For communion, Extraordinary Ministers will come around to each car to distribute communion. We will continue to livestream this Mass on our Facebook page if possible. Phase 3: the earliest it would be possible to resume Sunday Masses in the Church, considering the Marion County Stay at Home Order, would be June 6-7. Once we open for Sunday Masses, we need to follow CDC guidelines and work together to address this epidemic. We will continue to livestream this Mass on our Facebook page. Before we return to celebrating Sunday Mass inside the Church, we will send more detailed guidelines with regard to proper procedures necessary to help mitigate the spread of the virus. Again, remember that Archbishop Thompson has declared that the faithful of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass until August 15, 2020. Please, if you are concerned about the possibility of contracting the virus, or if you are not feeling well, stay home and make a spiritual communion. God bless you all and Please know that you are in our prayers! Fr. Bob Robeson, Pastor

In response to Governor Holcomb’s Stay at Home Order, the Archdiocese has directed that all Catholic Churches must be closed until the order is lifted. Furthermore, the sacrament of confession should be postponed, unless in danger of death; there is no distribution of the Eucharist of any kind outside of Viaticum. For the full details see https://archindy.org/worship/coronavirus2020-penance.html and https://archindy.org/worship/coronavirus2020-holyweek.html.