Respect for All

As the number of COVID infections has been going down the number of people attending our weekend and daily Masses has been going up.  People are taking off their masks in many cases because they feel safe and long to be able to relate to other on a face-to-face basis.  While yelling across the street to our neighbors, or meeting with others via ZOOM, or just making more phone calls to others have all been important ways to connect with others, we are hungry for face to face connections.  At the same time I see the anguish in the faces of others who long for the real face to face connections, but still feel the need to be safe for themselves, their family and the loved ones they are taking care of.  I want to remind all of us to NOT be judgmental of others because they do or do not wear masks.  There are many good reasons to wear a mask and people make a conscious decision to wear them for safety reasons.  As a family we want to respect and try to accommodate members of our faith family as is possible.  That is was families do for one another because we are family.  Thank you.