OMC Update December 11,  2020

Celebrating the Sacraments:

• Sunday Mass Livestream attendance ONLY: Saturday, 4:30 PM Vigil Mass and Sunday 9:00 AM Mass. Click HERE to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Due of the increase cases of COVID-19, the “Safer at Home” restrictions issued by the City of Philadelphia requires us to limit our capacity at Mass to 5% of our maximum occupancy, which is 20 people.  Considering this requirement, the parish staff  has decided to offer ONLY  a livestream Mass on Saturday, 4:30 PM Vigil Mass and  9:00 AM on Sunday.  We believe that it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our parish community, our neighbors, and the common good, that we take extreme caution.  By not having in-person Mases on the weekends, we will not only witness our concern for doing what is “good” by supporting the requirements for houses of worship in the City of Philadelphia, but we will also not have to regulate the number in attendance at Mass (20), determining who could and could not attend.
• Reception of the Eucharist: We will offer an opportunity to receive Communion after the Saturday 4:30 PM Livestream Mass until 6:00 PM and the after the 9:00 AM Livestream Mass on Sunday, until 10:30 AM.  Please enter thru the main doors, wear a face covering, and use the hand sanitizer as you enter Church.
• Church Open:  The Church will be open for personal prayer and confessions on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 12 Noon, with confessions from 10:00 to 11:00 AM and on Wednesday, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. With confessions available.
• Daily Mass: Presently, since the attendance at the Daily Mass (7:00 AM  Monday – Friday), is ordinarily below 20 people, we will continue to celebrate these Masses with in-person attendance unless the situation requires otherwise.   
• Making a Spiritual Communion (Click HERE): If you are unable to join us for Mass, you are invited to make a spiritual Communion.
• Visual Mass Schedule for Children:  This manipulative can be used with young children to help them follow the Mass.  Simply print out to help your child move through the Mass and identify where we are in our prayer.  Whether virtual or in-person it can be a great help for our young parishioners and a wonderful teaching tool!   Click HERE for printout

 
Christmas Masses: Thanks to all those who participated in the Christmas Mass Survey.  The survey indicated that an overwhelming number of parishioners want to attend Mass on Christmas Eve.  As we have all experienced, our Christmas Eve Masses are beyond capacity with standing room only and the crowd literally flowing out the doors. Obviously, such a gathering is not in keeping with the Safer at Home Regulations for the City of Philadelphia and has the potential of being a COVID super spreader.  In addition, based on the daily COVID deaths reported by John Hopkins University, one person in the United States dies from COVID-19 every 40 seconds.  After lengthy discussions with the Parish Staff and the Parish Pastoral Council, based on the information we have and the crisis-level rise in the spread of COVID, we will offer the following Mass Schedule.   It is our hope that our adjusted Mass schedule, along with our continuing mitigations efforts, will not only meet the need of those who wish to attend Christmas & Sunday Mass at OMC,  but will also demonstrate our commitment to the common good in preventing the spread of COVID-19.  We appreciate your understanding and your personal efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.  Let us continue to pray for an end to the pandemic, for the 286,000 people who have died, and for their loved ones. 

      Christmas Eve

• 4:15 PM Preludes - Livestream 
• 4:30 PM Vigil Mass with livestream attendance only
• 5:15 PM Distribution of Communion until 6:00 PM
• The Church will be open for visits and personal prayer until 8:00 PM

     Christmas Day

• 7:30 AM Mass with in-person attendance (limited seating)
• 9:00 AM Mass with livestream attendance only
• 9:45 AM Distribution of Communion until 10:30 AM
• The Church will be open for visits and personal prayer until 12:00 PM 

 
Weekend Mass Schedule - Beginning December 26-27.
      Saturday 

• 4 30 PM Vigil Mass with livestream attendance only
• 5:15 PM Distribution of Communion until 6:00 PM  

      Sunday

• 7:30 AM Mass with in-person attendance (limited seating)
• 9:00 AM Mass with livestream attendance only
• 9:45 AM Distribution of Communion until 10:30 AM
• The Church will be open for visits and personal prayer until 12:00 PM 

 
Weekday Masses: Monday thru Friday 7:00 AM with in-person attendance. 
 
Walk of the Holy Family (Tomorrow) Saturday, December 12, 2020 the walk begins at 4:30pm:  In the Spirit of Las Posadas you are invited to join a consortium of area congregations and your Chestnut Hill neighbors in a Christmas event that raises critical funds for the Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network’s (PIHN) work in preventing homelessness and rapidly housing displaced families.  .  Join us from Christ Ascension Lutheran Church to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with numerous stops at businesses along Germantown Avenue. The walk is approx. 6/10 of a mile and is suitable for all ages. Walkers will wear masks and travel in small groups to maintain social distancing. Click HERE for information and to register for the walk.  
 
OMC Virtual Ministry Fair: The Parish Pastoral Council invites you to participate in our annual Ministry Fair. Click HERE
 
OMC Youth Ministry Update: In light of the “Safer at Home” regulations, all youth ministry activities are cancelled through January 2020.  Please stay tuned for virtual youth opportunities

• All teens in grades 8-12 are invited to our parish youth events.  Click HERE for our Teen Ministry Page, updates and teen gospel reflection.
• OMC Cub Pack 1855 – Click HERE for the latest Wolf Pack Newsletter

 
Parish Offices:  The parish office is open Monday thru Friday – 9 AM to 4 PM on a restricted basis.   Please call (215-247-0430) or email ([email protected])  Mary Cassidy for Mass intentions, certificates,  letters, etc., which can be mailed or pick-up.  We ask only 1 person be in the office at a time,  that you wear a face covering when in the office and limit your stay to 10 minutes.  The food pantry is  available, call St Vincent de Paul Society  (215-240-0430 - Ext 5) to arrange for food pickup.  
 
Faith Formation Opportunities:
 
​The Institute for Christian Formation: The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is launching The Institute for Christian Formation at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary on January 21, 2021 as a non-credit/non-degree program which will award a certificate upon completion of all sessions.   This program is meeting the requests of an archdiocesan-wide survey which took place in 2017 to inquire about levels of interest in faith enrichment and graduate studies in Theology.   The survey results were impressive in that the respondents expressed a desire for spiritual formation programs and both non-degree and graduate degree programs leading to an encounter with Jesus Christ. Click HERE  for more information.
“EC Next Step”: Grow closer to God one step at a time!  This is an innovative discipleship tool which offers individuals an opportunity to deepen their spirituality and call to discipleship through short modules which include input, short videos, questions and reflections on various topics.  It is FREE and available to anyone through our parish Reach More subscription.  To learn more and/or to sign visit ecnextstep.com.  
 
Revive Courses: An opportunity to grow in our Baptismal Call to leadership! The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is grateful to partner with Revive Parishes, an organization that provides online ministry training for parish leaders taught by the best and most experienced Catholic ministry practitioners in the country.  WE ARE ALL PARISH LEADERS by virtual of our Baptism.  Revive provides individuals with a way to enrich their own ministry in our world and in our parish so that they can more effectively care for others and “be the presence of Christ in our world.”  To learn more and to start of FREE course visit: archphila.org/revive.
 
Service Opportunities: 
 
2020 Catholic Charities Appeal:  The 2020 CCA ends this month. We need your help to reach out goal!  To date we have reached 85% ($66,777) of our goal ($78,762) from 182 gifts.  Once again, we call on your generosity through a monetary donation, through prayer, and through service to achieve this year’s CCA goal.  If you have already contributed to this year’s appeal……THANK YOU!!  If you have not had the opportunity to contribute, please click HERE  to make your donation.  

OMC Hat, Glove, Sock & Scarf Collection:  Saturday, December 5 thru  Sunday, December 13.  The Peace and Justice Committee will be collecting adult sizes for area shelters and other projects helping those in need.  We have also received requests for: children’s socks for border asylum camps, and for children’s gloves/socks for local needs. Bring donations to the Parish Office or drop them off in the bin  on the Oblate Residence porch.  Clean, gently used items welcome. 
 
OMC Food Pantry:  We are still collecting food for our sisters and brothers in need. You may leave your bags of non-perishable food items on the rectory porch whenever convenient.  If you need food, or know of someone in need of food, please call the parish office 215-247-0430, press 7 when the auto-attendant service answers, and leave a message in the St. Vincent de Paul voice mail box. Thanks again, for helping us to meet the needs of our neighbors during this time of uncertainty and to our St Vincent de Paul Society for coordinating our efforts.
 
Caring for Friends – CFF (formerly Aid for Friends):  Meals are still needed. You can drop off your frozen meals at the parish or a volunteer can pick them up from your home; please contact  me to make arrangements.  If you are interested in becoming involved as a volunteer cook, click HERE for information. This is a great opportunity for families to do service at home and to assist those in need.  Laura McKenna, our OMC CFF coordinator, can assist you with getting you started. Click HERE to email Laura.