Mass Times Decision – Effective July 1st, 2022
Over the past couple days we had two town hall meetings to roll out our Mass schedule which will go into effect on July 1, 2022. This decision began with the instruction from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to limit the number of Masses that a priest can offer in a day. From there we asked parishioners to brainstorm possible solutions. The Pastoral Council and staff met on multiple occasions to discuss the schedule. Two other schedules were considered, one that simply eliminated the 6pm Mass at St. Joseph and another schedule that had all weekend Masses at St. Joseph and Immaculate Conception.
For various reasons that were detailed at the Town Hall, the below schedule was decided upon. It was important to consider the different things that could be offered around Mass. The Lord’s Day doesn’t end with Mass, but it flows into other possible activities like Confession, Youth formation, Sacramental Parent meetings, RCIA for second shift workers, and more.
Also the daily Mass schedule will be slightly adjusted. All the daily Masses will be celebrated at 8:00am instead of four at 7:00am and five at 8:00am. This will give the priests and seminarian time for a holy hour each morning. Everyone is welcome to join us for this holy hour at 6:30am at St. John.
During the town hall, we also discussed merging into a single parish and what this means for our names, finances, and identity. Finally, I talked a little bit about loss and moving forward. If you are able, please watch the recording of the Town Hall, if you weren’t there in person.
This schedule isn’t set in stone and maybe we’ll need to come back to the drawing board. This is where we’ll begin on July 1, 2022. We’ll do our best to make this a smooth transition for everyone. Thank you for your continued prayers.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson
