Saint Jude Parish

Fr. Adrian Milik

You are most welcome and encouraged to join in parish activities and participate actively in the Christian life.  May you find friendship, peace, and serenity in our loving and worshiping community.  If you are a visitor interested in joining our parish, please call the parish office.  If you are returning after being away....Welcome home!

New families and individulas are most welcome to our Parish Community.  Please register at the rectory- 781-893-3100.
All are welcome!

Join Fr. Adrian Saturday, November 14, 7-8:15 p.m. for a Zoom demonstration and conversation as he makes pierogi, a delicacy from his native Poland, in a special event to benefit the ministry of Fr. Joe Domfe in Ghana. You will receive Fr. Adrian's recipe and a link to view the recording afterwards, to make your own pierogi! Click here to sign up. 

Since the City of Waltham has entered into the Red category in terms of COVID 19 infections, we have to follow some additional safety guidelines. Until numbers come back down, all parishioners coming for Mass will have their temperatures taken and we will note down their names and contact information. This will be used only to contact the people who attended that Mass if somebody from that Mass turns out to have been infected with the virus. We apologize for the inconvenience this additional step will undoubtedly cause, and we ask everyone for their patience and understanding as we continue to strive to provide a safe environment for worship during this continuing pandemic. 

Cardinal Seán has released a statement on a piece of legislation being considered by the Massachusetts legislature called the ROE Act. Please read the statement here, consider letting our elected officals know the importance of preventing this act from coming into law, and pray for the protection of all life, remembering in a special way the unborn who are the most vulnerable of all. 

Due to the continuing pandemic the Religious Education Program will begin on October 18 and will be done through distance learning until in-person education can resume safely. Registration forms can be downloaded on the Religious Education Page and either dropped off at the rectory office or emailed to Sheila King. It is also possible to pay the fee on the page if that is more convenient. 

The second half of our Confirmation Class received the Sacrament of Confirmation from the hands of Bishop Robert Reed on September 9th, joining their classmates who received it at the end of June. We are so proud of them for all their preparation for this wonderful gift under the most unusual and difficult of circumstances. May God bless them greatly in all that they do.

The last few weeks the number of penitents has caused confession to run long and caused Fr. Adrian to have to rush in to Mass. To avoid that problem, we are implementing two changes for our Drive up Confession. Fr. Adrian will now start hearing confessions at 2:00 and will remain there until 3:30. If at that point there are still people wanting to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Fr. Andrew will take over hearing confessions until the last penitent to give Fr. Adrian a chance to focus and prepare for Mass. Please also note that we are starting to use a tent to prevent the priest and penitents from the elements. 

This week’s announcement that we will be able to reopen if we can do so safely was a very welcome surprise. Over the last few days we have been working to see if it is possible to develop a plan that will let us meet all the safety requirements and provide parishioners with a reverent and safe experience of the Eucharist. This plan will apply to our regular weekend schedule of Masses (Saturday at 4pm, and Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30am) as well as for funerals. Due to limited supplies of cleaning products, we will not be celebrating daily Mass publicly at this time.

Improvements in our situation have allowed us to open up to a degree, but we are aware that the pandemic is not over. Please know that the Sunday obligation continues to be waived for all Catholics. If you do not feel safe coming into the church; if you are in a high risk category, are worried about yourself or family members, or just do not feel comfortable around crowds right now, please know that this is completely okay. Televised Masses are going to continue, and there is absolutely no problem with waiting to return until you feel comfortable you can do it safely. If you decide to come, you will need to wear a mask or other face covering, unless you are not able to do so for a medical reason. This is important for safety, and masks should be worn all through the Mass except at the moment of receiving communion. We will be asking everyone to use hand sanitizer on arriving, and some will be available in the church, but if you have your own supply of hand sanitizer we ask you to use it so as to extend our supply for as long as it will be necessary.

It is also important that people do not congregate. When you are arriving for the Mass, know that the three doors on the Main Street side of the church will be opened 15 minutes before Mass starts and will remain open through the whole Mass to provide good ventilation. If the doors haven’t been opened yet, please remain in your car or standing at a distance from others who are waiting. Once the door is open, please move to the door in a calm and orderly manner, making sure to socially distance from others coming in. This distancing will need to continue throughout the length of the Mass. To help with that, there are two pews taped off between every open pew. Please do not enter the taped off pews for any reason. If you are entering an empty pew, please move all the way down to the end. If you are entering a pew with people already in it, make sure you leave a full six feet of separation between yourself and the family or individual already in the pew.

To help with all this, there will be a number of volunteers present at each Mass to help maintain the flow. Please listen to their instructions and follow their directions for safety. They will also be responsible for watching for when the pews are filling up, and will place a sign in front of the doors if there are no more spaces available for people to sit without violating social distancing guidelines. If those signs are out, please do not try to enter. We cannot risk people’s safety by having too many people in the building. Please also follow the posted guidelines and follow them as well as following the arrows on the carpet that show traffic flows within the church. At the end of Mass, we will need everyone to leave in an organized manner so that they do not congregate or violate social distancing. We will also need the church to empty out relatively quickly so that we can have the space cleaned and all surfaces wiped down with disinfectant for the next Mass.

All this will be new and different. As will be the fact that we will not be able to do any congregational singing during the Masses and the procedure for receiving communion will be different since we are limited to only the priest distributing communion and people will need to step to the side and temporarily remove their mask to place the host in their mouth before putting the mask back on and moving on to their seat. Still, we believe that these practices will minimize the risks and allow us to celebrate the Eucharist as a community safely. We draw a lot of strength from receiving the Lord, and the chance worship together, even if in this somewhat strange form, can be a source of comfort and hope, but we need to make sure that we are doing what we can to minimize the risks inherent to coming together in a time of pandemic. Please do not come if you are feeling ill, follow all safety guidelines, and be respectful of others who are trying to keep safe. We need to be instruments of love for one another now more than ever.

In Christ,

Fr. Adrian