April 20, 2020
Dear Parishioners,
As the COVID pandemic continues to bring our country to a standstill, along with the extension of the stay-at-home executive order, it is with great sadness that I am writing you. Since St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy has had to temporary suspense the celebration of the Mass, it has caused a dramatic reduction in offertory resources. This reduction is being felt in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit.
At this time, St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy is no longer able to maintain our current operations. Therefore, like parishes around the Archdiocese of Detroit, St. Mary will begin implementing temporarily layoffs, and reduction in hours for our staff. This is a very difficult decision, and was made after a lot of prayer, and time spent trying to balance the needs of our staff with the needs of being good stewards of our Parish’s resources. Our staff will be eligible for many of the government assistance programs, that are helping workers throughout our nation.
It is my prayer that the measures taken today will see the parish through this crisis and to a time when we are able to explore how we can resume normal operations. Please join with me and the Archbishop as we turn to Our Lady of Lourdes to intercede for the healing of all impacted by this pandemic.
Sincerely,
Fr. Shafique Masih
Pastor
low tech version of this at this time. It is a simple plastic tote with some food in it. It is there if someone wants to grab food, or if they want to drop off extra food. I know someone could just drive up and grab it, or that someone could make a mess by leaving food all over the place, but I think we have to do something to make sure our parishioners, and community members have access to food at this time. If you or someone you know needs something, please take advantage of the food. If you have something to drop off, please make sure it fits in the tote, and will stay dry.
Hopefully things will get on track again soon, and we can make something more permanent. Until then, I hope everyone stays safe, and uses every precaution to keep others safe as well. If you want to help with this project, even more than food, I ask that you pray that the food will find the people who need it, and that everyone will be able to feed themselves. After that, if you feel like you want to do more, feel free to drop non perishable food.
Yes, it is painful for the priest to be away from his people. Not only this, we are also suffering because of your pain from being away from Mass. Our lives do not make sense without a people to serve or a flock to tend. As Catholics, we can take this threat as a real spiritual challenge. Let us learn to humble ourselves, turn toward God more fervently, and give ourselves into His hands.
Our very own Pastoral Associate, Paul Zbytowski will be our facilitator for this study beginning Thursday, January, 23, from 7:00pm-8:00pm thru February 20th. No session on February 13th. Cost of study $15 (book cost only.)
St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy Catholic Church 