We now have weekend Masses with limited attendance.
  
Mass on Sunday, July 19, will also be live-streamed on  Facebook at 8 AM. 
 

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It is a beautiful and praiseworthy tradition to recite an act of spiritual communion when one is unable, for whatever reason, to receive Holy Communion. Below is an act of spiritual communion composed by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri.
 
My Jesus,  I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.  I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.  Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.  I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.  Never permit me to be separated from You.  Amen.

 
Jesus said, To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand. [Matthew 13:12-13]. 

We have a saying, “use it or lose it,” and that is what the Lord is telling us here. In commenting on these verses the early Church Father St. John Chrysostom said,
 

“But if he (i.e, one hearing Jesus’ teaching) lacks any responsiveness and is not ready to contribute his own share, neither are God’s gifts bestowed ….  Here it is not so much God taking something away from him as it is his own unreadiness to receive these gifts” [cf ANCIENT CHRISTIAN COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTURE, New Testament Ia, Matthew 1-13, p. 270, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2001].

It seems to be a law of human nature, both naturally and supernaturally, that we rarely stay right where we’re are in our development.  We are either growing in holiness or growing weaker in faith.  Today, as we learn from one survey after another, Catholic attendance at weekly Mass is only 20-30% of those who identify themselves as Catholic.  In addition, most surveys show that Catholics in our country don’t differ much in what they value from the rest of the population.

What the words of Jesus means is therefore being seen concretely in our Catholic life today: the second-largest Christian “church” in the United States is made of those who will say, “Oh, I used to be Catholic.”  There are many reasons why people who were baptized in the Catholic Church go a different way in their lives, but there can be little doubt that one of the reasons is a slow weakening of the practice of the Faith.

We are in a dangerous period now.  Because of the pandemic, the Catholic bishops in our country asked us for a time to sacrifice attendance at weekly Mass and the reception of Holy Communion as a sign of our concern that large gatherings will be a source of the spread of the virus in our communities.  The bishops therefore temporarily relaxed the Church law that physical participation at Mass and the reception of Holy Communion is required under pain of serious sin for those without a serious reason to be excused.

Now we are cautiously getting back to the presence of people physically at Mass on Sunday.  We hope that no one will use the excuse, “well, the bishops said we didn’t have to attend because of the pandemic, so it must not be such a big deal” to remain staying away from Mass.  If that happens, it will no doubt be as Jesus said, “those who don’t use it, will lose it.”  If we do not practice our Faith when able to do so, we have a serious risk of being numbered among the “I used to be Catholic” group or the “Nones.”  Jesus warns us: will we listen or “not listen or understand?”

• Mass on Sunday, July 19, will be live-streamed on  Facebook at 8 AM.
• Daily Mass: We will begin celebrating public daily Mass on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 AM starting July 13.
• Anchor: Episode 14 - Visit with our priests this Thursday, July 16, on Facebook at 11:30 AM.
• Confessions: Tuesday 8:30-9:30am; Wednesday 11:00-12:00am; Saturday 11:00-12:00am 

 

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IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM BISHOP DAVID J. MALLOY

** Bishop Malloy Announces Plan to Reopen Churches for Public Mass **

Bishop Malloy has issued a new statement on May 13 about plans, procedures and restrictions for opening churches within the Diocese of Rockford.

Letter from Bishop Malloy and Executive Summary for reopening churches

** STATEMENT UPDATED AS OF 8:00 AM, 4/9/2020 **

Bishop Malloy has issued a new statement extending dispensation past Easter.

Bishop Malloy's Dispensation Statement

To comply with Vatican and state guidance about group gatherings during this time of pandemic, Bishop David Malloy has cancelled all in-person Masses and other prayer gatherings in the Rockford Diocese until further notice. 

Diocesan Cancellations AND Postponements

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