Saint Matthew's Church
A Roman Catholic Community
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You Belong Here

Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil at 5:00 PM
Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 AM
Full Schedule of Services
Weekly Bulletins
Ministry Schedule

LITURGY OF THE WORD SERVICES

Click HERE to be directed to the St. Matthew's website ​Services page that contains links to St. Matthew's Liturgy of the Word Services.

OFFERTORY COLLECTIONS

In this time of social distancing and isolation, please remember that the needs of your parish continue.  You can continue to support your parish through traditional methods (envelopes) or it may be more convenient for you to make your offertory contribution electronically through St. Matthew’s E-giving program.   Please see St. Matthew’s E-Giving page for more information.  We are truly grateful for all who have remained faithful with their financial assistance during this time of uncertainty.

Pastor's Message 

Here is my dilemma: how can we (can we) reopen safely in this time of the coronavirus and still remain faithful to the essence of Eucharist? If you  have been reading these Pastor's messages last year you know that our liturgy committee has asked me to write a series of reflections on the celebration of the Mass. In these reflections I have used the document on the liturgy from the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium)  and Lucien Deiss' book, The Mass, as my sources for reflection. The Mass, by definition, is a communal gathering of the People of God around the Table of the Lord to share in the sacred meal and participate in the sacrifice of Christ. Everything about the Mass demands our community gathering and physically sharing in communion. How can we do that safely in the age of COVID-19?
 
I have looked at the pandemic as a time in which you and I have been asked to participate in a desert experience of fasting from so much that we love and need: hugs from our children and family, large gatherings of friends, carefree conversations with neighbors at the store, celebrating Mass on Sunday with the community,... A friend of mine has called this a time of exile and suggests that this call from the Holy Spirit into exile began with the Second Vatican Council and continues into our day. This priest friend thinks that the pandemic is just another sign of our exile from all that, in the past, nourished and sustained us. In exile, just like when the Jews were in exile in Babylon or wandering in the desert for 40 years, my friend suggests, God demands a whole new way of doing life. And although I think that the metaphor of exile for our church may be a bit too strong for this time, I do think it offers some real possibilities for how best to live through these weeks and months. 
 
Here is the dilemma: in this time of COVID-19, if returning to the celebration of the Mass requires social distancing, constant hand sanitizing, no singing, distributing communion by dropping a host into an open palm while never touching another or even distributing communion after the Mass has ended!, entering through one door and exiting another all the time while staying apart from others,  (and all this is necessary to stay safe), is this celebration in any way Eucharist, the Mass? Might it be better to acknowledge that we continue to live in a desert time (a time of exile) and realize that we cannot celebrate Mass safely so we must, for now, find ways to pray individually and communally in other ways like, perhaps, the liturgy of the hours where we pray the psalms, listen to readings and respond in prayer? Instead of so diminishing and (to my mind) degrading what it means to celebrate Mass under the suggested guidelines should we not acknowledge our current state of affairs, grieve our loss of Mass for the time until it is safe once again to truly celebrate together, and find alternatives for now to be and pray with each other safely?
 
This is my dilemma. A committee of your fellow parishioners will be meeting this week to pray about and discuss how/when we can begin gathering as our blessed St. Matthew's community. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as we make very difficult decisions in a very difficult time.
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Fr. Chris 

Seasonal Messages

Visit our new Facebook Page.  You can view it by clicking on the facebook symbol below even if you are not currently on Facebook.
The weekend of June 6 - 7 is the weekend of the Special Collection for the Catholic Communications Campaign.  Please see the letter below from Bishop Scharfenberger regarding the campaign.  Please be as generous as your resources will allow.
ccc_letter.pdf
File Size: 3875 kb
File Type: pdf
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RESOURCES

The Diocese of Albany is keeping Catholics apprised of changes, updates and resources on its dedicated web page: rcda.org/coronavirus. In addition, a Faith at Home page includes links to livestreamed Mass, daily Scripture readings, saints of the day, and suggestions for creating a sacred space at home: rcda.org/coronavirus/resources.

HOW TO COPE WITH STRESS AND ANXIETY
The attached documents provide some insight in how to deal with stress and anxiety in uncertain times​.  We are providing these as a resource for you.​
managing_stress_and_anxiety_during_difficult_times.pdf
File Size: 144 kb
File Type: pdf
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coping_article_part2.pdf
File Size: 148 kb
File Type: pdf
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managing_anxiety_part_3.pdf
File Size: 104 kb
File Type: pdf
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anxiety_part_4.pdf
File Size: 124 kb
File Type: pdf
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We also offer you this link (courtesy of one of our parishioners) to the Catholic Health Association of the Unites States website.  This link specifically provides spiritual resources for support during this time of COVID-19.   www.chausa.org/newsroom/coronavirus-resources/spiritual-resources-for-covid-19
We offer the following document on the Pandemic written by a parishioner who is an Ethics and Health Policy Professor at Maria College.
pandemic_review_by_david_hoffman.pdf
File Size: 131 kb
File Type: pdf
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 Due to social distancing,  some may be unable to connect in person.  The attached file provides some resources for on-line AA Meetings.
online_aa_meeting_list_as_of_3-20-20__1_.pdf
File Size: 329 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Sight and Sound Bus Trip

Please see the Parish Events page for information about the Bus trip to Sight and Sound's production of "Queen Esther" in July 2020.
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