Parish Information & Event Impacts
 

• St. Francis Parish will Facebook livestream Sunday 9:30 Masses
  • Facebook Live!  Click Here To Join Us For 9:30am Mass Every Sunday
     
• PSR & Sunday School are canceled through the end of the school year.
   
• Confirmation is postponed.  New date not yet announced. 
   
• Aviston Bible class in-person meetings are cancelled.  Members who are on the bible Study roster will receive class materials by e-mail until further notice.  
   
• RCIA is cancelled for the time being.  Future meetings will be shared on the website. 

Diocesan Announcements
 

• On May 14, 2020, Bishop Braxton announced phased plans to return to church. 
  • The Bishop's Plan - Return to Church - Cover Letter
  • The Bishop's Plan - Return to Church - Executive Summary
  • The Bishop's Plan - Return to Church - Guidelines for Sacraments
     
• On March 24, 2020, Bishop Braxton released new directives to the Diocese.  This includes:
  • All Church and adoration chapels must be closed and locked until the order is lifted by Gov Pritzker.
  • Priests can - and are encouraged - to continue celebrating Mass privately and to livestream their Masses for their parishioners, if possible.  
     
• On March 17, 2020, Bishop Braxton decided for the good of the faithful to suspend all Masses, liturgical services and Church activities.   Click here to view letter from Bishop Braxton.
   
• On March 13, 2020, The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton released this letter.  

Health Information
 

• Visit the CDC website (www.cdc.gov) for regular updates on the COVID pandemic
   
• Visit the State of Illinois website for COVID-19 news and updates
   
• Visit https://www.diobelle.org for information from Bishop Braxton and the Diocese of Belleville

Free On-line Mass & Worship Links
 

• Visit the Conception Abbey Mass & Divine Office Site.
  • Watch Conception's special events and liturgies live online!
     
• Read "What If Public Masses Are Canceled" article by Dr. O'Malley, McGrath Institute for Church Life, Univerity of Notre Dame
   
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops President, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, invited “all the faithful to seek together the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe.” His Excellency shared a powerful prayer to bring us spiritually together as a community of faith in these uncertain times.  View the prayer here. 
   

• Concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 virus have left many parishes with the difficult decision to suspend liturgies. To support our community's prayer, Give Us This Day has made available at no charge a digital file of our periodical, which includes daily Mass texts. Visit GUTD.net and select "Digital" in the upper right of the screen. While it is not a replacement for community worship, we hope this resource will support you during this challenging time. Please share this resource with friends and family.

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  Pastor's Note

Now that life and our busy social lives have had to slow down, it is a prime opportunity to reach out and connect with God on a more personal level. We speak of a “Domestic Church” - that is “people of faith” gathered with each other in their home with their own family unit.

Since we are unable to join together as a faith community to celebrate the Eucharist and other liturgical services in Church, you as a family can and should gather together to join in your own scripture reading and prayer at home daily and especially on Sunday. “The family that prays together stays together.”

Below are some FREE tools being provided in light of the crisis to assist your family’s “Domestic Church” and offer worship events in your home.

• https://www.conceptionabbey.org/live - Live streamed daily Mass at 11:45am and Lauds and Vespers (Morning and Evening Prayer); also offered on YouTube and Facebook Page
   
• https://www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass - Bishop Robert Barron, word on Fire daily celebration of Mass at 7:15pm
   
• https://www.ewtn.com - Televised mass
   
• www.giveusthisday.org - Give Us This Day has made available at no charge a digital file of their periodical, which includes daily Mass texts.

Above all, take time to pray daily with your family far a few minutes, at meal time, before bed, when you awake, or any time that will work for you as a family, as the “Domestic Church.” Prayer and faith in God is our way through crisis!