It was a blessing to see a number of people returning to Mass in-person this past weekend for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, and it is also wonderful to have a sense of normalcy returning in the actual celebration of the sacraments themselves. There are a few small remaining things that we are still being careful with re-implementing, but the sense of joy in the Church was palpable on the great Solemnity that celebrated God’s gift of the Eucharist to us.
Unfortunately, with a return to some normalcy, a few overdue things need to be brought up. I know that this is going to be unpopular with some parishioners, but for the time being, our current weekend Mass schedule is going to be the one that will remain in place. This means there are no plans to bring back the 6:30PM Mass on Saturdays, or the 6:00PM Mass on Sundays right now. This is not a lightly made decision, and discussions about reducing the weekend Mass schedule were in motion long before the pandemic began and before I returned to the parish. There are a number of reasons for this:
When the 6:00PM Mass was added to make seven weekend Masses in 2010-2011, there were three full-time priests and two additional retired priests who were available almost exclusively for full sacramental schedules here at St. Gregory the Great. Beginning on July 1, we will have two full-time priests, and will be relying on extra help from retired priests who live at Villa Vianney in Lawrenceville who help out at other parishes, to supplement our sacramental schedules. The canon law of the Church does give guidance on the number of Masses a priest is meant to preside at per day (Canon 905). The provision is: once under normal circumstances, twice for a just cause, and three times on Sundays and Holy Days, when necessary and with permission. While out of pastoral necessity, priests of the Diocese of Trenton may preside at three Masses on a weekend: to do so on a regular basis requires justification. At this time, St. Gregory the Great has a total of 16 scheduled Masses per week, and a number of additional Masses (funerals, weddings…etc). Of course, I and Fr. Ballacillo will do whatever we can to fulfill the Sacramental needs of the people of our parish, but in doing so, we must determine what is necessary and, for lack of a better way of describing it, what is not.
Our main church has a capacity that exceeds 1000 people, and can comfortably seat at least 900. Prior to the pandemic, with seven weekend Masses, the total average attendance each weekend was between 2000-2500 depending on the season. Even at the busiest time of the year, at most, 35% of our actual capacity was being utilized. Currently, with five Masses and with reduced attendance due to the effects of the pandemic, we are utilizing less than 25% of our available capacity. Due to this, it is difficult to justify spreading out our staff, volunteers, facilities, and limited resources for additional Masses. Prior to the pandemic, both the Saturday 6:30PM Mass and the Sunday 6:00PM Mass often averaged less than 150 attendees on a weekly basis. The 6:30PM Mass at times averaged significantly less than 100 attendees. With a schedule reduction needed, these are the most logical Masses to reduce.
I understand that we get accustomed to attending Mass at certain times and in certain styles, and it is a luxury to have the Mass available to us whenever we wish to go, but the reality for St. Gregory the Great is that our previous Mass schedule is unnecessary for the time being and unsustainable in the longer term. With the current situation in our diocese, it is unlikely that we will be in a position to have three full-time priests here in, at least, the near future. Thankfully, many of our wonderful retired priests are close by and willing to help when they are needed. I would love to be able to say to the bishop, “we need extra priests because our Masses are full and we need to schedule more of them,” however the numbers do not bear that out.
We are a large, vibrant, and active parish, but that does not mean that we do not have challenges. We have a responsibility to be examples of faith to our families and friends, reminding them of the importance of Sacramental worship. We have a responsibility to our faith, to God, and to the Church to foster vocations in our parish as well. Being a longtime parishioner of St. Gregory the Great myself, I can say with full heart that I would not be a priest today if it weren’t for this parish. My story, however, should not be one that is as rare as it is, so we have to work and pray fervently to increase the faith of our parish and encourage the vocations of our parishioners. I hope one day to be discussing a future in which we need to expand what we offer and I believe that with prayer, faith, and hope we can get there. Until we do, we have to make the best decisions we can for our parish as a whole, and unfortunately, not all of them are happy ones, but discernment is part of the life of a people faith, and our hope can never be diminished.