NATCHEZ — Not able to make it to Mass? There’s an app for that.

St. Mary Basilica has launched an app through My Parish Online, designed to better connect the church with parishioners.

Jay Gamberi, who was part of the group that decided to launch the app, said more than 200 parishioners have signed up for it.

“It allows ease of access to current events and pertinent information that our parishioners need to have,” he said. “It is well organized, the content is completely managed by staff, and it is accessible to anyone in our parish or even outside. Visitors to Natchez will be able to see what is going on at St. Mary.”

Many parishioners may not have access to a computer to look at St. Mary’s online content, but Gamberi said a lot of people have a smart phone. Through the iPhone or Android app, parishioners will have access to messages, the calendar, readings, homilies, Mass times, prayers, confession information, news and bulletins,

Gamberi said parishioners have access to this information from St. Mary Basilica, but also any parish around the country using the app.

“If you are traveling and want to attend a Mass, you can easily find Mass times,” he said. “You can also get a glimpse into other parishes, reading other parishes’ content.”

St. Mary’s Youth Director Carrie Lambert said the app is a good way to connect with teens, but also people in their 20s and 30s.

“Everyone has so much going on these days,” she said. “This is a good, quick way to keep them informed.”

For children, who are not as fond of email as other age groups, it’s also a good way to reach them, Lambert said.

“As technology progresses, you figure out what works and what doesn’t,” she said. “I think in time this will become a useful app.”

One feature that might be of particular use to the youth group, Lambert said, is a portion of the app allowing parishes to set up groups.

“It’s an easy way to get in touch with all of them — one click, and boom, they’ve got it,” she said. “They tend to rely on their phones and texts, but a text message is not something you always want to send out to large groups because when one person responds the whole group gets it.”

Lambert said the group members would receive an on-screen notification when a message is received and could check it. Once the church sees how the group function works, Lambert said they’d likely expand it to include other groups in the church.

Of particular interest to youth might be the ease of getting information and exploring faith, Lambert said. For instance, those interested in learning more about confession can click on it, and it goes through a rundown of things one might want to discuss with the priest.

“The youth can use it if they want to look into more things about their faith if not in class,” Lambert said. “Sometimes you don’t want to ask questions in class, but this is right at your fingertips.”

Ricky Warren has been using the app for a few weeks, and he said he loves it. Warren said his favorite parts of the app are the homilies and the daily readings.

“Most people can’t go to Mass every day, but this will keep you connected to the church,” he said. “Every day it will give you the gospel readings.

“You can also click on the homily, and I think it’s pretty cool you can see the homily for other Catholic churches in the country. You can hear what they have to say about the gospel reading each day.”

The app can help keep you organized, and it can also help with something many forget — silencing that ring tone.

“It will send you the reminder for Mass times, and it silences your phone when you walk in,” Warren said. “You can even schedule a confession if you need to.”

Warren, 64, said it’s good to see the church staying fresh with the times.

“The church is coming to what everyone else is doing with an app, with everything right at the touch of your fingers,” he said. “I love it. I love new technology — I’ve always been that way.”

The app is available online at myparishapp.com. It can be downloaded in the Apple App Store or in Google Play — search for myParish Catholic Life Every Day. Or you can text app to 88202.

Once in the app you can search for St. Mary Basilica and have access to that information.

“We were not sure how the majority of people would take it, but the reception has been fantastic,” Gamberi said. “We hope this is another step in reaching out to not only parishioners who are able to attend every weekend, but those who many not be able to come on a weekly basis.

“I also hope the ease of availability it contains will help our youth program to continue to grow.”