Pandemic creates opportunity in parish

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

The pandemic has created hardship, but also opportunity.
“It forced us into the 21st century,” said Father Kenneth R. Cardinale, pastor at St. John Paul II Parish in Southbridge.
Attendance at Mass dropped because some people don’t feel safe being around others, so pastors needed to find new ways to reach out to their parishioners.
Father Cardinale continues to hold Masses in person at the parish’s two churches, Notre Dame and St. Mary, for those who feel comfortable attending, but for those who don’t, he’s livestreaming Masses for the first time and posting more often on the parish website, stjp2parish.org/.
“In one way it’s helped us appreciate most intensely what you might take for granted when times are good,” he said of the pandemic. “People have really gone through great lengths to be part of a faith-sharing group or a Facebook community celebrating Mass through cyberspace. In one way, you’re worrying that it’s hurting your faith community, but in some ways it’s an opportunity to grow.”
Father Cardinale understands the fear of the coronavirus because he contracted it during Holy Week last April and was quarantined for 14 days when public Masses were suspended.
While his associate, Father Wilmar J. Ramos, also quarantined, he celebrated daily Mass in a room in the rectory that he converted into a chapel. He recorded the Easter week services on his cellphone and posted them on Facebook. More than 100 people viewed each service that week and to this day close to 100 watch the parish’s livestreamed services on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/stjp2southbridge.
COVID gave Father Cardinale, 59, a headache, chills, a low fever, stomach distress and fatigue. He also lost his sense of smell and taste for a couple of days. He said he had felt as sick with other illnesses, but he was more concerned about his bout with COVID.
“I’ve had the flu before,” he said, “but I didn’t think it could kill me.”
Over a three-week period, Father Cardinale quarantined at St. Mary rectory and four seminarians and two priests quarantined at Notre Dame rectory.
They’ve all recovered.
While he was quarantined, Father Cardinale posted his thoughts on the parish website along with such songs as “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” by Chicago. Parishioners posted their own comments.
“People want to feel like they belong to a community in a crisis so we were coming together as best we could,” he said.
Since public Masses resumed in late May, attendance at Notre Dame and St. Mary has dropped by a quarter to a third, Father Cardinale said. Notre Dame can fit 1,000 people, so social distancing isn’t a problem, and Father Cardinale said parishioners can feel safe there. St. Mary’s capacity is close to 300, not counting the balconies, which aren’t normally used.

ATTENDANCE DROPPED

Father Cardinale said about 300 people attend the four Masses each weekend at Notre Dame and another 150 view an unattended Mass at St. Mary that is recorded on Saturday morning and posted on Facebook each Sunday morning. In addition, six weekday Masses, including one in Spanish, are livestreamed from St. Mary.
“You do have your darker moments,” Father Cardinale said, “when you say, ‘The last thing we needed in a society struggling to maintain spirituality is to get a pandemic that’s shrinking the flock even more, in the number of people who are actually physically gathering,’ but as a parish we’ve really learned how to connect with people in a way through technology that we weren’t doing before. So God is always taking lemons and making lemonade for you.”
Although the elderly are at a higher risk of getting the virus, many continue to attend daily Mass.
“You can’t keep them away,” Father Cardinale said.
Even though attendance has dropped by as much as 33 percent, donations have fallen by only 20 to 25 percent, according to Father Cardinale. Parishioners have mailed in donations, dropped them off in a mailbox that the parish recently purchased and made them online.
Thanks to Zoom, parish council, finance committee and Knights of Columbus meetings continue to be held. Father Cardinale has held Bible study through Facebook and Zoom. Youth ministry has communicated through Flocknote.

TRINITY  ACADEMY

The parish staff has remained intact during the pandemic and continues to work mostly at the parish office. The public is not allowed inside but can drop off or pick up items. The conference room, however, is large enough for Father Cardinale, while wearing a mask, to meet with a couple planning a wedding. 
The parish school, Trinity Catholic Academy, continues to hold classes in person for the 126 students in preschool through eighth grade.
A fourth-grader tested positive for COVID late last fall and his class was quarantined for two weeks. Students wear masks and maintain social distance. Desks are spread out and sanitized.
While Trinity Catholic has about the same enrollment as last year, the number of students in parish religious education has dropped by a quarter to a third, Father Cardinale said. Religious education had been taught in person at the ministry center before switching to Zoom a few weeks ago. 

FOOD PANTRY
        
People are no longer allowed inside the parish food pantry to choose what they want. They receive groceries outside based on the number of people in their families. For much of the pandemic, fewer people have relied on the pantry, which is open two days a week.
Performing the sacraments during a pandemic is a challenge, but parishes have followed guidelines from the diocese.
Last spring some weddings were postponed and others downsized. More recently, because of Notre Dame’s capacity and the fact that social distancing can be easily attained, the church has hosted more weddings, which are usually attended by no more than 150 people.
The church has had fewer funerals with fewer people on hand.
First Communion, baptism and confirmation celebrations are usually held during regular Masses, but they have been moved to Sunday afternoons to promote social distancing.
Deacon Juan Guzman and parishioners continue to visit the homebound, and Fathers Cardinale and Ramos visit the sick when possible.
Father Cardinale said he prays parishioners who have stopped attending Mass will return once the pandemic ends and they feel safe.
“I know that all things are possible with God,” he said, “but in my more human and fearful moments, I say, ‘Well, people are getting so comfortable staying away that we won’t get everybody back,’ but I leave that in God’s hands.”