COVID-19 ORANGE ZONE DESIGNATION FOR THE CATHEDRAL COMMUNITY
Beginning Wednesday, November 25, 2020, portions of Monroe County which have been designated as an orange COVID-19 focus zone by New York State are required to follow Orange Zone guidelines.
This comes about two weeks after a sizable portion of the county was placed in a yellow zone. The new order affects only some portions of the county, including parts of Rochester, Irondequoit, Brighton and Gates, but directly affects our parish, which falls within the designated Orange Zone.
Under the Orange Zone designation, services at houses of worship are greatly restricted as to capacity. As opposed to limiting our attendance to 25 individuals, and for the health and safety of all of our parishioners, we have decided to ELIMINATE IN PERSON ATTENDANCE AT ALL MASSES. Instead we will stream our Masses, making them available to everyone safely. This will begin with the 12:10 daily Mass on Wednesday, November 25, and continue until further notice. The Cathedral will be open for private prayer and Confession ONLY until further notice.
Our schedule will include the streaming of the daily Mass on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:10pm. The Saturday Vigil Mass will be live-streamed at 4:00pm on Saturday on our Facebook page. Following that, it will be available for streaming (viewing) at any time on our website (www.cathedralcommunity.org) including at any time on Sunday. That means that you will be able view the 4pm Saturday Vigil mass at 4pm on our Facebook page live-streamed, and then view the recording immediately after that on our Website and YouTube Page. It also means that you will be able to turn to our Website or our YouTube page and attend Sunday Mass at the time you would have normally come to the church on Sunday. Please remember that the dispensation from Bishop Matano regarding Mass attendance remains in effect until further notice.
All of this will necessarily affect our Christmas Mass schedule as well. Because of the uncertainty as to whether we will remain in an Orange Zone designation (or potentially be designated as a Red Zone in the future), we will be streaming Masses for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - there will be no in person attendance for any of these Masses. There will be a letter arriving in early December from Father Kevin detailing the schedule for these Masses. So once again, for your planning purposes, there will be NO IN PERSON ATTENDANCE at any of the Masses on either Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. We will announce the schedule for streaming of those Masses in the coming days.
Share a piece of your Christmas tradition with the Cathedral Community!
We would like a photo of your family's Creche! We are going to record a slideshow of our parishioner's Creches with background music and song from our choir and musicians to share with everyone.
Please EMAIL your photo to [email protected] by Monday, December 7th.
THANK YOU
Please click on the frame above to view our CMA Video. As of November 17, 2020, we have reached 57.64% of our goal. Thank you to all who have made their pledge and for supporting our mission. Please pray for the success of reaching our goal.
"As (United States) bishops, we unequivocally state that racism is a life issue. Accordingly, we will not cease to speak forcefully against and work toward ending racism." (Open Wide Our Hearts)
Please click here to view the Pastoral Letter AGAINST RACISM
AS OF NOVEMBER 25, 2020 AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, THERE WILL BE NO LIVE ATTENDANCE AT MASSES AT THE CATHEDRAL COMMUNITY. MASSES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE, OUR YOUTUBE PAGE, AND OUR WEBSITE.
WEEKEND MASS TIMES -
WEEKDAY MASS TIMES
CONFESSIONS:
CONFESSIONS WILL CONTINUE AT THE REGULAR TIMES (LISTED BELOW) DURING THE ORANGE ZONE DESIGNATION AT THE CATHEDRAL, AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
WE ARE LIMITED TO 10 INDIVIDUALS IN THE CHURCH AT ANY GIVEN TIME. THAT INCLUDES THE PRIEST AND CATHEDRAL STAFF.
Parishioners wishing enter the Cathedral to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation must wear cloth face coverings or masks in order to enter the church.
Friday from 4:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Saturday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Very Rev. Kevin McKenna, Rector, The Cathedral Community
“Truth... what is that?”Pontius Pilate asked.
Each year on Good Friday, the Passion of Jesus Christ according to John is read aloud in our churches. This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. What is the kingdom Jesus proclaimed?
John’s Gospel, as we know, was written later than the other Gospels, perhaps some seventy years after Jesus died, and those years gave John plenty of time to reflect on Jesus’ death and highlight a number of aspects that are not as evident in the other Gospels.
John’s narrative of Jesus’ death highlights his trial and the eventual judgment that he be put to death. But it is ingeniously written. John writes up the trial of Jesus in such a way that, while Jesus is the one being tried, everyone else is on trial except Jesus. Pilate is on trial; the Jewish authorities are on trial; Jesus’ apostles and disciples are on trial; the crowds watching are on trial, and we who are hearing the story are on trial. Jesus, alone, is not on trial, even as his trial is judging everyone else. Hence, when Pilate asks Jesus: What is truth? Jesus’ silence puts Pilate on trial by throwing Pilate back on his own silence, the truth of himself. It’s the same for the rest of us.
Pilate is very astute. He does not see in Jesus’ answer a denial of his kingship. In fact, Pilate infers and insists: “So you are a king.” Jesus accepts his claim without hesitation: “You say that I am a king.... For this I came into the world...” For what? To inaugurate a world of peace and fellowship, of justice and respect for other people’s rights, of love for God and for one another. This is the kingdom that penetrates our human history, a kingdom that will have no end.
What if there is Pilate inside each of us? What prevents us from being free? What are our fears?
At the end of the trial, Pilate brings Jesus out to the crowd and asks whether or not they want to accept him as their king. The respond by saying: “We have no king but Caesar.” The kingship and leadership of God’s Son refuses rank and privilege, and any attempt to be master of this world. In him there is no lust, greed and ambition for power.
John’s Passion account puts us all on trial and renders a verdict that frees us from our deepest bondage. We pray that with God’s help we will always acknowledge the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the kingdom he came to proclaim.
Thought for the week: The greater the storm, the brighter your rainbow.
Smile for the week : What kind of a jacket do you wear on a hike? A trail blazer!
God bless! Have a wonderful week!
Fr. Kevin McKenna
https://gopro.com/v/8vRoRgk1e5ZRa
Please do not be concerned during this coronavirus health emergency about the collection of your parish/school/campus community's Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl alms. As you know, these alms usually begin coming in after Palm Sunday. However, collection of the alms offerings can be delayed until we are able to return to our normal parish Mass and school schedule. Thank you for journeying through Lent with CRS Rice Bowl.
EARLY BULLETIN TRANSMISSION... Due to our early bulletin transmission for Thanksgiving, the following bulletin articles for our weekly bulletin MUST be submitted by Wednesday, November 11 for the Sunday November 22 bulletin and Monday, November 16 for the Sunday, November 29 bulletin. Please email your bulletin articles to [email protected] Thank you.
Announcements and inserts/flyers for our weekly bulletin must be submitted to the Church Office by NOON on Monday. (Inserts and flyers must receive prior approval before submission). E-mail submissions must be sent to [email protected] and [email protected]
Please note : Articles may be edited due to space constraints & inserts/flyers must be approved by staff. Thank you for your consideration of these policies.
Sunday announcements must be submitted to the office by Thursday at NOON.
Please click on this link to view Father Kevin's video message.
November 24, 2020 Father McKenna's Current Video Message
November 20, 2020 "Welcome to the Cathedral Community" Current News Note
Please see the "Publications" tab on the menu above for past Video Messages and News Note Issues.
The Cathedral Office remains CLOSED until further notice.
Our Mission Statement
The Cathedral Community is a Roman Catholic parish of the Dioceses of Rochester that gathers and worships at Sacred Heart Cathedral. We are an ethnically, racially, and economically diverse community with unique gifts and challenges within an urban neighborhood.
Our mission is to reach out with hope to all in our community, neighborhood, and beyond, to proclaim the Gospel with joy and enthusiasm, and to prepare disciples who will go forth to serve God and others, especially the poor, with mercy and compassion.
Cathedral Library and Cafe Hours :
The Cathedral Library is currently closed until further notice.
Whats Coming Up :
All meetings and events at the Cathedral Community are currently canceled until further notice.
Thanksgiving Basket Gift Card Drive Progress Report
No one should go hungry during Thanksgiving! For many living in our neighborhood with stressed budgets and financial challenges, a Thanksgiving dinner just isn’t possible. Your support of our Thanksgiving Gift Card Drive will ensure that many such families can enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings.
Thank you to everyone who has already donated to this event! Our goal this year is to collect $10,000 in Aldi’s gift cards that will provide Thanksgiving meals for 200 families living in the neighborhood surrounding the Cathedral. As of November 9th, we are at 56% of our goal. For those who haven’t donated yet, there is still time to do so. We would greatly appreciate receiving all donations by November 18th.
“Works of love directed to one’s neighbor are the most perfect external manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit...” Pope Francis
You are invited to view the WHEC Sunday Mass celebrated by Father Mull on the Catholic Courier’s website at https://catholiccourier.com. The Mass can be found in the Worship section under the website’s Faith & Family tab and at the following link:
https://catholiccourier.com/articles/channel-10-sunday-mass
Please click here to find the Three Ways to Give to the Cathedral Community!
Here's what we're doing to ensure that our children and vulnerable persons are safe:
DOR Creating A Safe Environment Information (click here)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester
1150 Buffalo Road
Rochester, New York 14624
