Southern Nebraska Register
The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln has made the decision to end the diocesan-wide broadcast of the “TV Mass for the Homebound.” The final TV Mass will be broadcast Sunday, Oct. 26.
The TV Masses currently air Sunday mornings on three broadcast television stations: KLKN-TV in Lincoln, KSNB-TV in Hastings and KNOP-TV in North Platte. They are also available on the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln YouTube channel. The audio of the Masses are broadcast every other week on Spirit Catholic Radio.
“It was a very difficult decision as we know there are people who are homebound or who are sick and cannot attend Mass in person who watch those TV Masses from the diocese,” said Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the diocese. “It was a combination of factors that led us to conclude we needed to promote alternative methods to share the Mass with those people.”
Father La Rue said those factors include the time and resources needed to produce and edit the Masses, the cost to air the Masses on the television stations, and the time demands on the priests needed to celebrate the Masses. Many different efforts were explored to continue the production of the Masses, but in the end the decision was made to focus on alternative methods to make the Masses available.
There are at least 11 parishes in the diocese that currently livestream Sunday Masses, and sometimes daily Masses as well. The details of those livestreams are now available as part of a guide created on the diocesan website at lincolndiocese.org/streaming.
The guide lists the parishes, the times of the Masses that are livestreamed and a link to those livestreams. The page also includes links to additional Catholic Mass resources, such as the diocese’s Prepare & Proclaim: Enriching our Mass Experience program, and resources from EWTN, The CatholicTV Network and Word on Fire.
The TV Mass for the Homebound has aired for decades. In recent years, five or six Masses were often recorded one or two days a month between October and May, and then broadcast each Sunday throughout the year. Priests donated their time to celebrate the Masses, and the acolytes, lectors, musicians and cantors were all volunteers as well.
Sandy Danek of the Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parish in Lincoln often led the singing for the Mass and scheduled the cantors and organists for each week as well.
“I was proud of the quality of the broadcast we offered… and I mean in terms of the presentation,” Danek said. “I always felt personally it was such a privilege to participate that I could come into that setting and shut out the outside world and be like in my mini-retreat for the day. It was amazing the spiritual blessings I received.”
Bill Stull of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln was an acolyte for decades with Brad Seeman, also of St. Joseph Parish, serving in that role as well the past several years. Dan Nortman of the Cathedral Parish was a lector and also organized the lector schedule for each Mass. Many others through the years gave of their time and talent to make the Masses possible.
The Church teaches that attending Mass in person is the only way to fulfill the Sunday obligation - watching online does not fulfill one’s Sunday obligation. However, if an individual is unable to attend in person due to serious reasons such as illness or duty, he or she is excused from the Sunday obligation. Watching Mass online can provide spiritual benefits.
Those who are homebound should contact their local parish to have someone bring Communion to them.
