Loss of Spectrum TV Mass called 'unfortunate'

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Elders keeping the faith.
Those who know the Our Father – even if they don’t know their own names.
People for whom watching Mass on a computer would be difficult – for a variety of reasons.
These are among the individuals that celebrants and viewers expressed concern for, upon learning that Spectrum will cease carrying the Worcester Diocese’s TV Mass beginning Oct. 23.
Also to be eliminated are the Family Rosary and other programs produced by the diocesan TV Ministry. Certain local cable access stations will still broadcast the diocesan Mass and programs, and all will continue to be available at worcesterdiocese.org. Masses from the Boston Archdiocese and the Catholic network EWTN remain available on cable TV.
Susan Soden, of St. Joseph-St. Pius X Parish in Leicester, said she likes the Worcester Diocese’s televised Mass and has financially contributed to it. She said she goes to church on weekends, and watches the daily Mass on television. But she said she feels badly for nursing home residents and shut-ins, whom she used to visit before the coronavirus pandemic.
“They may not know your name; they may not know their own name,” she said. “But … they know how to say the Our Father” when watching the Mass on television.
Some don’t see or have family, she said.
 “When you celebrate the Mass with the priest it’s like having a visit – he’s coming to your home via TV,” she said. “It’s something that’s familiar to them. …
“I think it’s very unfortunate that we’ve come to this point, where we can’t take care of our elderly” by offering them the Mass. “We’re all going to be there someday.”
Father Michael J. Roy, pastor of St. Roch Parish in Oxford, who’s been celebrating the television Mass monthly for about 30 years, said he looks forward to it, because he knows it’s appreciated by so many people.
“The homebound elderly have so little, and then to be deprived of this opportunity is a great loss for them,” he said. “They’re the generation that’s holding on to the faith. We have to do something for them. In our society, the most vulnerable are disregarded.”
He said many people watch the Mass on television. When he concelebrated a funeral in Worcester recently, three people told him they appreciated the homily on the TV Mass earlier that day.
“I’m standing in line at the grocery store, in Gardner I think it was, and someone asked, ‘Aren’t you the TV priest?’” he added.
He’s not the only priest who hears that.
Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan, pastor of Christ the King Parish in Worcester, who celebrates the television Mass weekly, spoke of “people who call you by name because they see you on TV.” And there’s the grocery store bagger “who always tells me, ‘I saw you on TV.’”
Msgr. Sullivan said he thinks the decision to cancel the Masses is tragic because so many people watch it.
More people, including younger people, started watching Mass on television when they couldn’t go inside a church because of the coronavirus, and some are still afraid to come back, he said. For faithful Catholics, that was not ideal, and watching Mass on computers could be worse, with computer screens that are smaller than television screens and poor internet connections, he said.
“The TV Mass has been a godsend for a lot of … people who don’t use computers,” he said. “Think about people in nursing homes. Alot of them have a television. … In all my years of visiting nursing homes, I’ve never seen a computer in a room.”
“A lot of people depend on (the TV Masses),” said Father Richard A. Fortin, a retired priest who, at age 86, still celebrates those Masses twice a month. “It’s a wonderful thing for anyone who’s a shut-in or can’t get around the way they used to.” And, he said, “it’s a devout little community that gathers” to attend the TV Masses in person.
He said he was surprised by the decision and hopes another channel will start broadcasting these Masses.
“Since the announcement we have been actively contacting area cable access stations to see if they can carry at least Sunday, if not Daily Mass on their channel. If they are Spectrum subscribers, that might mean going to channel 194 instead of 193,” said Raymond L. Delisle, director of communications.
“But it’s going to take some time. Even once a station is interested they need to test how to get the Mass file each morning after 9:30 a.m. and whether they have an available slot to air it consistently,” he said.
Mr. Delisle suggested that people who want to see the Mass in their community, might become proactive.
“Current viewers could certainly call their local access stations to let them know they are interested in watching if they can make it possible,” he said.
 As soon as there are any stations confirmed, the diocese will list them on a special page at worcesterdiocese.org.
“It’s still premature but we are hopeful,” Mr. Delisle said.
A longtime viewer and former volunteer for the ministry knows how important the TV Mass is.
“I sent Steve and Ray a note that I was very disappointed in Spectrum,” Frank S.P. Yacino said, in reference to Mr. Delisle and Stephen Kaufman of the diocesan TV Ministry.
“I have been watching the Mass … every day, unless I had a doctor’s appointment,” said Mr. Yacino, who was a lector and altar server for the TV Mass for eight years and serves at Lord’s Day vigil Masses at his parish, St. Denis in Douglas. He said his wife, now deceased, started watching the Mass on TV in retirement.
People used to tell him they saw him on television, and now comment about seeing him on St. Denis’ Mass on Facebook.
Asked what he will do when the TV Mass is cancelled, he said, “I can watch EWTN or I can watch ours on Facebook.” People don’t have computers can watch Mass on EWTN, “but it’s always nice when you’re closer to home,” he said of the local Masses.