Nearly 30 parishes across the Diocese of Springfield are offering live streaming of their masses so many members can still worship at home during social distancing.
Father Tom Meyer of Our Saviour’s Parish says local parish members need only log into Facebook and find the parish’s page to get daily mass and Sunday mass. “We’re using the page as a platform to live stream daily mass at 8AM and our Sunday mass at 9AM. We are doing it from our parish convent. Currently, we cannot meet publicly for mass but we are hoping that people will gather with us spiritually.”
Meyer says that the upcoming Holy Week prior to Easter will have services livestreamed because Bishop Thomas Paprocki has ordered no mass until Easter Sunday. “We are still waiting to hear if Easter Sunday is a possibility. Right now, we don’t know. I’m sure that Bishop Paprocki will be listening to the governor and seeing what he recommends. We are all still waiting. Until we can all gather in place, Our Saviour will continue to provide the live stream. Easter Sunday is still a question mark. We just don’t know yet.”
Since March 18th, all Masses in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois have been closed to the public in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Priests have been offering private Masses with their personal Mass intentions being offered “for the people.” Meyer says he hopes to open confession and other parish services back up soon so people can come back to worship and seek spiritual guidance in the trying times.
The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois encompasses 28 counties in Central Illinois.