Our Lady of Lourdes Church

My dear parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Joseph, this should be the last bulletin needing to be posted on the website and church door. After this, you can personally pick up bulletins before or after Mass beginning June 13th. We have a green light to begin services on Corpus Christi weekend (June 13-14). By then we should have sufficient supplies of masks, gloves, and sanitizer for at least two weeks. We will need to keep reordering.

Confessions. I plan to begin hearing confessions at OLL in California City at 2:00 PM Sat. June 13th to begin catching up on the demand for confessions. I also will resume hearing confessions monthly at SJM in Boron on Sat. June 20th starting at 1:00 PM. We may also be able to schedule penance services to accommodate people. It will not be possible to hear everyone's confession before Mass on the 13th so go ahead and go to Communion that weekend. As long as we make a sincere act of contrition and resolve to go to confession the first chance we get, we are allowed to receive Holy Communion.

Mass Protocols. Please, I plead with you, cooperate with the protocols. We will (if we can get volunteers to do so) take temperatures of people as they come in, and will be asking people to put on a mask and space themselves at least six feet apart. Families and couples, of course, can sit close to each other. I know a few chafe at wearing the mask, but do this not become someone tells you, but for love of neighbor. Many seniors and vulnerable adults want to feel safe. You are doing it for them. I will discuss more in person at our first Mass together. I also need volunteers to help sanitize bathroom fixtures and door knobs and other surfaces between Masses.

Deficit. Finally, a clarification from my previous two bulletin announcements. Two weeks ago I shared the fact that we were down $10,000 for April, and last week I mentioned we had good news regarding payroll being covered for 2-1/2 months by a SBA loan. Both are true. The loan will help us a lot, but we are still spending more than we collect. But the deficit will shrink somewhat.

God bless you all and I can hardly wait to see you! I know it must seem as if the Church neglected you during this pandemic. The bishop insisted priests shelter in place along with everyone else. They had saving human lives as the primary aim. But it is also true our spiritual lives were neglected. I hope you will forgive the bishop and your priests for this neglect. We were under intense pressure to maintain this shut-down by the civil government.    - Fr Kris

Sunday June 7th we celebrate Most Holy TrinitySunday.
Click here for the Sunday Bulletin  (Español) during the closure. 

Please consider the ongoing financial needs of the parish as expenses still continue! You can now make online donations which go 100% to the parish. See our Donate page. Or you can mail in your contributions to the Parish PO Box 2060, Calif. City 93504,  during this closure. God bless you! Thanks!

Updates on the church closure from Bishop Brennan may be found on the Fresno Diocese Website: https://dioceseoffresno.org/.

In light of the virus epidemic, Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence to the sick and those who take care of them - but also to " T hose faithful that visit the Most Blessed
Sacrament, engage in Eucharistic Adoration, or read Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour, or pray the Holy Rosary, or do the pious exercise of the  Via Crucis [Way of the Cross]  or pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, to implore Almighty God for an end to the epidemic, relief for the afflicted and eternal salvation for those the Lord has called to Himself.”  More info here. .

• Recall that a plenary indulgence can be obtained for yourself or the deceased, and that you must have a spirit detached from any sin, go to sacramental confession and receive Holy Communion (both as soon as it is possible for you), and pray for the Holy Father's intentions.