Amid pandemic, Pittsburgh parishioners attend Mass for 'reassurance of faith'

The sign in front of Sacred Heart church in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood pointed out the canceled fish fry, but parishioners still attended Mass Sunday morning.

During exchange of Sign of Peace, some waved, others held up two fingers rather than shaking hands.

“We woke up and we wanted to go,” said Mary Rose Stuhldreher of Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood. “It’s our reassurance of faith. It is normalcy at a time when things are not very normal.”

She attended Mass with her husband, Tom, and their son, Ben.

Ben attends Sacred Heart’s elementary school, which will transition to online learning as ordered by the state.

“I can’t wait to see how that turns out,” Ben, a fourth-grader, said with a chuckle.

Tom Stuhldreher said the overall message from the Rev. Joseph Mele was one of calm, hope and unification. He estimated the crowd at one-third its normal size.

“It was very positive,” he said as Mass let out just after 10 a.m. “Many people wanted to be there because of their faith. That’s why we were there.”

Sacred Heart is affiliated with St. Raphael’s church in Morningside, which has a large Italian population.

“There’s a strong tie back to Europe, especially Italy, so we made sure that we prayed for them,” Tom Stuhldreher said.

Mary Rose Stuhldreher said the gospel centered on “the story of the woman at the well who goes from ignoring Jesus and being skeptical of him to believing that he is the living water.”

“I suppose we ultimately decided to go to Mass today because we realized that at this time of uncertainty, what we really need is the living water that will get us through this life and beyond, not the hand sanitizer and rolls of toilet paper that we’re tripping over ourselves to find,” she said. “More realistically speaking, if we aren’t afraid to go out to crowded stores right now, it doesn’t make sense for us to stay away from Mass.

“In fact, it might do us more good.”