This week, the Archdiocese has offered parishes the opportunity for parishioners to enter the church for private prayer beginning on May 17, subject to strict guidelines and protocols. While we miss you all very much, we are greatly concerned about the health and safety of our parishioners.  In consultation with our staff, we unanimously agreed that opening our church at this time, when our Governors have continued stay at home recommendations, would put too many people at risk. We do not have the resources on hand yet (i.e. hand sanitizers) to provide healthy indoor protocols at this time.

During the course of the many long weeks of the Coronavirus pandemic, we have seen many families take advantage of the numerous ways you can use our parish campus to help you find comfort in prayer and want to remind you of the many opportunities available to you.

• We have a beautiful labyrinth on our property which offers an ancient practice for spiritual centering, contemplation and prayer.

• The Eucharist is present in our tabernacle and available for prayer from outside. This gives us an opportunity for the prayer of adoration of our gracious Lord.

• Mary’s Grotto is located in front of the southern cross window, with places to sit and pray to our Blessed Mother to strengthen those who are discouraged, comfort those who are sorrowful and intercede in prayers for our families.

• In the rear of the church building, we have a stairway to a path up the hill behind the soccer field, to pray the stations of the cross. This is a powerful way to contemplate and enter into the mystery of Jesus’ gift of himself to us.

• At the top of this walkway is a grotto to St. Francis.  Here we can pray to the patron saint of Catholic Action and care for creation. St. Francis’ prayer for peace is comforting and encouraging during this challenging period.

Rest assured that we are doing all we can to prepare for re-opening our church when it is safe for all of us. We are resourcing wipes and are on a long waiting list for sanitizers.

In the meantime, we join you in online prayer each day:

• at our 9AM Daily Mass with Fr. JC,
• our Weekend Mass with both of our priests,
• our Daily Reflection with Fr. Bob
• and with daily praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and 7:30PM Rosary LIVE! with Therese.

While the church is not opened yet, we are reaching out and calling all of our parishioners to check up on you. We have volunteers to help anyone with a need for someone to pick up shopping or medications. You have been very generous in keeping our food pantry stocked.  It is being used by families in need and we are contributing to our soup kitchens in Harlem and Newark.

God bless you all and keep you safe and healthy,
Fr. Bob and the Presentation parish staff