Harvest of Hope Catholic Community in Albany announced in its Aug. 2 weekly bulletin that the church is requiring parishioners to wear face masks during all live services in an attempt to thwart the spread of COVID-19.

“Worldwide deaths now total around 650,000, and in the state of Minnesota alone they are approaching 1,550,” the Rev. Edward Vebelun wrote. 

In Japan, where Vebelun spent 12 years, people regularly wear masks when they are unwell in order to protect those around them. Japan’s coronavirus rates, Vebelun wrote, remain low despite its dense population. 

“With so many people living in fear and keeping to their homes for their own protection or that of a loved one, it feels like a small measure of sacrifice to wear the mask,” Vebelun wrote. 

Masks, Vebelun said, are something that we must be willing to do for the well-being of those around us, not just for our own safety. 

“So I thank you for putting on the masks as you enter our churches and offices,” Vebelun wrote. “May God keep us all safe.”