Last June, my article had the title: 鈥淎nd then, there were five.鈥 This June 2020, the article is titled: 鈥淎nd then, there were four." The number 鈥渇our鈥 refers to the number of assigned Catholic priests currently in the Auburn-northern Cayuga County area.
Three years ago, the Auburn Catholic parishes, along with the parish in northern Cayuga County, began once again a process of pastoral planning. This process was inaugurated with the knowledge that the then-current six priests assigned to this area would eventually be reduced to four.
The pastoral plan called for the Catholic parishes to be divided into two clusters, each cluster having one pastor and one parochial vicar (assistant priest). The current cluster No .2 consists of St. Alphonsus, Holy Family, Sacred Heart and St. Ann. The Rev. John Gathenya is the pastor and the Rev. Michael Brown is the parochial vicar.
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Cluster No. 1 consists of St. Mary鈥檚, SS. Mary & Martha (St. Francis/St. Hyacinth) and Our Lady of the Snow (St. Joseph in Weedsport, St. John in Port Byron, St. Patrick in Cato). With the retirement of the Rev. Bill Darling of Our Lady of the Snow Parish effective June 30, that cluster now has one pastor, me, and one parochial vicar, the Rev. Justin Miller.
Due to financial consideration, demographic changes and the need for extensive repairs, St. John鈥檚 Church in Port Byron has been relegated (closed) as of June 30.
The coming of the three parishes under one pastor has necessitated a modification of the Sunday Mass schedule in all three parishes. Below is the schedule for St. Mary鈥檚 (three Masses), SS. Mary & Martha (two Masses) and Our Lady of the Snow (two Masses) effective this weekend.
4 p.m. Saturday at St. Hyacinth (M&M)
5:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary鈥檚
7 a.m. Sunday at St. Mary鈥檚
8:30 a.m. Sunday at St. Patrick (OLOS)
8:45 a.m. Sunday at St. Francis (M&M)
10:30 a.m. Sunday at St. Joseph (OLOS)
10:45 a.m. Sunday at St. Mary鈥檚
When parishioners are attending Mass in churches other than their own, they can use their own church envelope in the collection. There is an agreement among all the Catholic churches in Cayuga County that individual envelopes will be returned to the home parish of the donor. On the other hand, electronic giving can be a convenient way to financially support one鈥檚 parish. Those interested in doing so may contact the regional finance office at (315) 252-7111 or the parish website.
As of June 26, our geographic region entered phase four of reopening various venues due to the pandemic, increasing the limit of church gatherings from 25% to 33% capacity of the church building. That being the case, the obligation to attend Sunday Mass continues to remain suspended.
For those feeling reticent or unable to come to church at this time, Mass from cluster No. 1 is available at 10 a.m. Sundays on ARMA (Spectrum channel 12, and Verizon channel 31). The TV Mass is rebroadcast Thursday evenings at 8 on ARMA.
You can also follow Sunday Mass on St. Mary鈥檚 YouTube channel, accessible through St. Mary鈥檚 website. Mass there begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and is available anytime Sunday and afterwards.
For those who now are coming to Mass, it is the direction of our bishop and health officials that we continue to wear a mask in public and in church. This is in consideration of our neighbor, even if we ourselves don鈥檛 like wearing a mask. In St. Paul鈥檚 First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8, he advises the Christians in Corinth not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, not because they believe in idols, but because it would be a stumbling block to the weak. So we wear a mask in consideration of the well-being of our neighbor.
In conclusion, Bishop Matano has asked that I, as the new pastor of cluster No. 1 and dean of the eastern region of the Diocese (Cayuga and Tompkins counties) work with Father John Gathenya, pastor of cluster No. 2 (Holy Family, St. Alphonsus, Sacred Heart and St. Ann) and all our parishioners to understand the best possible future configuration of our Catholic parishes in this area of our diocese.
Blessings to all on this Fourth of July holiday weekend!
The Rev. Frank E. Lioi is pastor of St. Mary’s Church and SS. Mary & Martha Parish (St. Francis Church and St. Hyacinth Church) in Auburn, and dean of the East Region (Cayuga and Tompkins counties) of the Diocese of Rochester. He can be reached at flioi@dor.org.
