With a couple more days in quarantine to go, I am still feeling fine and Michele is feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers! This weekend, Fr. Michael Briese will be the celebrant at all of the Masses. The diocese has given Fr. Briese a new assignment that involves ministry to the poor of southern Prince George's County and southern Maryland. With such a unique ministry that's not specific to one parish, Fr. Briese needed a parish to call home. Starting next week, Fr. Briese will be "in residence" at St. Mary's of Piscataway. He will live at St. Mary's, but will spend a lot of his time each week away from the parish to do his ministry for the poor. When his schedule permits, he will help with Mass, Confessions, and other sacramental needs at St. Mary's. Here is an article from this past summer that shows what kind of beautiful work Fr. Briese does for those most in need: https://cathstan.org/news/local/with-local-pastors-help-food-for-the-poor-provides-nearly-20-tons-of-supplies-for-southern-maryland-needy?fbclid=IwAR1AeZfve6VL_lRDXj75A31Haex0UuPSCcfaFiuOB8KpRQhrVKir2ZlBcJo

I regret to announce that we will cancel our 24-hour Eucharistic Adoration that was scheduled for this Friday & Saturday (Feb 5 & 6). In light of all that is going on, we had some people express some reservations about coming. My fear is that there would be some hours where Jesus would be left unattended, which we can't allow. We will resume our efforts with 24-hour Adoration for the First Friday & Saturday of March. It is important to note that First Saturday Mass at 9am will still be happening. In light of the cancellation of Adoration on Friday and Saturday, please note that those Masses will now be in the chapel. It is also important to note, that Adoration for Thursday (tomorrow 2/4) is still happening. I now have to call everyone who signed up, which is a lot of phone calls. If you were someone who signed up and are reading this, it would be a great help if you can acknowledge in the Comments section that you saw this so that it would save me some phone calls. If you would like to volunteer with helping make some phone calls, please let me know and I can give you some numbers to call. Thanks so much!

Dear St. Mary’s, First off, thank you for your prayers, concern, and well-wishes as I battle through Covid-19. Overall, I feel fine and am only displaying mild symptoms. I assure you that I have everything I need to get through this period of quarantine. I want to share with you all that I had a professional cleaning company come in and disinfect the main church, chapel, and parish office on Thursday night. Hopefully, this will ease your mind in case you had any concerns about walking into any of those spaces. Please pay careful attention to the following in regards to Mass, Adoration, Confession, and the parish office: • With the impending snow storm set to hit our area on Sunday morning, I have decided to cancel all Masses on Sunday, January 31st. I did not feel comfortable asking priests, who are mostly older and not living in the general area, to drive here in a snow storm. • While there will be no Masses this Sunday, there will be Mass at 4pm on Saturday, January 30th. Confessions will still be available at the usual time between 2-3:30pm. We will have Fr. Bill George, SJ coming to celebrate the Mass and hear Confessions. Since there will not be a Mass on Sunday, the 4pm Mass will be livestreamed. • There will be no daily Mass on Monday, February 1st and Tuesday, February 2nd. Since they are calling for more snow on Monday and possibly Tuesday morning, I would rather not have Msgr. Balbago drive in those conditions. • Beginning Wednesday, February 3rd at 8:15am, we will resume back to our normal Mass schedule. Please note that “First Saturday Mass” at 9am was officially added to the schedule a couple of months ago and will still be happening on February 6th. • Our normally scheduled Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesdays and Thursdays will continue at the usual times in Our Lady’s Chapel. • The special 24-hours of Eucharistic Adoration will still be taking place on Friday, February 5th into Saturday, February 6th. Just a reminder that this will be in the main church. The Masses on that Friday and Saturday morning will be in the main church. • While we plan on having our normal weekend schedule next weekend (Feb 6-7), we will have visiting priests to cover the Masses and Confessions next weekend since I will be finishing up my quarantine period. God-willing, I will be publicly celebrating Mass for the first time post-quarantine on Tuesday, February 9th. • As of this moment, I am unsure when the parish office will re-open. Please check back on Facebook and the parish website for any announcement of a re-opening and for any other updates. Thank you for your patience and understanding with everything. If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to e-mail me at [email protected] In Christ, Rev. Samuel I. Plummer St. Mary’s of Piscataway

Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners, I write to inform you that I have self-reported a positive test result for COVID-19 last night, January 27, 2021. I am under medical care and will quarantine until cleared by my physician to return. Know that I am feeling fine, and ask that you keep me in your prayers. While the parish has implemented health and safety precautions to minimize the spread of the virus, it is possible that those who attended Mass this week celebrated by me were potentially exposed. I urge you to consult with your physician if you or any member of your family displays symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Symptoms of COVID-19 include coughing, fever, loss of taste or smell, and shortness of breath. It is important to follow all guidelines provided at this time, including staying at home, continuing preventive measures, and practicing social distancing. For more information about symptoms and testing, please use this link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html. In addition, see Frequently Asked Questions from the Maryland Department of Health: https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/Documents/coronavirus_FAQ.pdf I also want to share the following steps St. Mary’s is taking to minimize the impact at our parish, and our workplace and to keep everyone healthy and safe. We want you to be aware of the following actions: • We have communicated directly with any specific employees, clergy, business contacts, and others who are believed to have come in direct contact with me recently, and have asked these individuals to work remote or stay home for a quarantine period as advised by the CDC. • We are following the latest CDC recommendations for cleaning and disinfecting facilities, including the church and work area. • Daily Mass and Adoration will be cancelled on Thursday, January 28th and Friday, January 29th. We plan to resume Mass this weekend and will have a visiting priest cover the Masses. We continue to encourage all parishioners and visitors to practice good hygiene and social distancing to minimize the risk of infection. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during these times. In Christ, Rev. Samuel I. Plummer St. Mary’s of Piscataway