St. John Brebeuf Letter to Families

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Friday, March 13, 2020

Dear St. John Brebeuf Parish, School and Religious Education School Members,

This morning, our parish received more information from the Archdiocese of Chicago concerning the Coronavirus (COVID-19). This information was developed in collaboration with government health officials.

Cardinal Cupich mandated the suspension until further notice of all liturgical services effective Saturday evening with regularly scheduled weekend masses. In addition, he has mandated the closing of schools operated by the Archdiocese, and closing the Pastoral Center and related agency offices until further notice.

By exception, funerals scheduled for Saturday may proceed observing the guidelines issued by the Governor of Illinois, limiting participation to no more than 250. Future funerals and weddings will be decided on a case by case basis after further consultation with Archdiocese officials. Links to these statements can be found on our website at ?www.sjbrebeuf.org?.

This weekend

ALL WEEKEND MASSES ARE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

In addition to the suspension of all weekend masses, let me address what will happen this weekend regarding other parish activities.

The Adoration Chapel will be closed at 1 p.m. today. The Adoration Chapel will remain closed until further notice.
The Stations of the Cross planned for 3:15 pm and 7:00 pm will take place.
There will be no Divine Mercy Holy Hour scheduled for 3 p.m.
There will be no Polish Bible Study group this evening.
This evening’s Fish Fry is cancelled.
The Nicholas Copernicus School of Polish Language and Culture will not be in session this Saturday and until further notice.
The Youth Ministry Retreat and the planned Taize´ service are cancelled for Saturday evening.
The GLADD meetings planned for Saturday morning and all future GLADD meetings are cancelled until further notice.
The Knights of Columbus St. Patrick’s Day party on Saturday evening is cancelled. Individually prepared meals will be available for carry out only, for those who have already purchased, and may be picked up in the Parish Ministry center on Saturday between 5:30-7:00 pm. Please contact the Knights of Columbus if you have questions.

We encourage all parishioners to watch the weekly broadcast of Sunday Mass from Mercy Home, which can be found at ?www.mercyhome.org/sunday-mass/

Beginning Monday, March 16

Beginning Monday, March 16, until further notice, we will cancel all our weekday morning masses and our Wednesday evening Polish mass. The Friday Stations of the Cross are cancelled along with all normal scheduled confession hours on Saturday. All weekend masses will be cancelled.

Beginning Monday, March 16, all meetings and events including our School and Religious Education classes will be cancelled until further notice. All Golden Agers meetings are cancelled until further notice.

We will await further information regarding Holy Week and Easter activities.

The church will be open from 9:00 a.m. until noon from Sunday through Saturday for private prayer. All other parts of our parish campus will be closed to the public.

Voting

Please note that our parish will be a polling place, and we will be open in accordance with the guidelines for polling places. We encourage you to vote early.

Parish Office

Our Parish Office will remain open for critical business only, with modified hours from 9:00 am until noon from Sunday through Saturday. Please refrain from visiting the Parish Office.

We encourage parishioners to communicate via phone and email. Until further notice we will only take Mass intentions via phone or via email, and payments for intentions must be mailed to the parish office.

Please conduct all other business via phone, email, and regular mail. The parish office may be reached at 847-966-8145 or ?office@sjbrebeuf.org?. Our staff remains ready to assist all parishioners.

Communication

Any parish changes and announcements will be communicated via our Weekender email blasts, the parish website (?www.sjbrebeuf.org?), and via Facebook. We will also communicate via direct email to ministry leaders so that they can share the information directly with volunteers. The parish bulletin will also continue to contain all important communications. School information will continue to be communicated via direct email blasts to parents, via website, and via social media.

As you know, we continue to closely monitor the situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19). We have already implemented the measures recommended by the Archdiocese of Chicago, and will continue to follow these procedures. These include proper hand washing and special instructions during all Masses

designed to limit the spread of illness. ?Please see this week’s parish bulletin for more information.

Prevention
The recommended ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are:

* Stay home if you are sick, unless seeking medical care.
* Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
* Cover your cough or sneeze.
* Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
* Try alternatives to shaking hands, like an elbow bump or wave.
* If you have recently returned from a country, state, or region with ongoing spread of COVID-19, monitor your health and follow the instructions of public health officials.
There is no recommendation to wear masks to prevent yourself from getting sick.

I encourage you to pray for the families affected by this situation and for our nation.
Yours in Faith,
Fr. Mike Meany

St. John Brebeuf Playground

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Archdiocesan Coronavirus Update

Please read the important information in this email.

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Dear Catholic School Parents and Guardians,

You may have heard that Gov. Pritzker has announced the extension of the statewide school closure through April 30, 2020. As you know, the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago have been temporarily closed as a result of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. We are not yet certain when our schools will reopen. However, as we would not reopen our schools before the end of the Governor’s statewide school closure order, you should plan on our school buildings remaining closed until at least April 30.

In the meantime, our Catholic educators continue to work hard to implement e-learning and alternative learning for our students. I am extremely grateful for the efforts of our students and families to continue the learning process while our buildings are closed. I have been very impressed by the quality of e-learning/alternative learning happening, and know that our dedicated Catholic educators will continue to provide support. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to view the Cardinal’s message to Catholic school students and families.

In addition, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has announced that the state is suspending the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), the standardized test for public schools in Illinois, this school year. Catholic school students receiving tax credit scholarships are required to participate in the IAR and will not now need to do so this spring.

Please be aware that the Office of Catholic Schools has decided to suspend the administration of the ACT Aspire assessment, the standardized test for our Catholic elementary schools, for the 2019/20 school year.

We do hope to return to regular classes once it has been deemed safe to do so. The archdiocese is in frequent contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local and state health departments, and other agencies, and will make a decision about reopening our schools after the statewide school closure order is lifted. I sincerely appreciate your flexibility and understanding during this challenging time. May God bless the efforts of our health care workers and keep all of our Catholic school families healthy and safe.

Yours in Christ,

Jim Rigg, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Catholic Schools
Archdiocese of Chicago