Hello all. I wanted to highlight a few parish updates.
Last Sunday’s Mass – Thank you all who participated in last Sunday’s Mass dedicated to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a moving and healing moment where we were spiritually connected even if still socially distant.
Change to Friday Liturgy of the Hours Timing – There is one change to our online weekly events. The Liturgy of the Hours prayer will move from Friday morning to Friday at 5 PM to better accommodate people’s current schedules. We encourage you to join in—as Fr. Bill says, it is a wonderful way to end the week with Jesus, and there will be an opportunity to stay on the line afterwards and socialize.
Rosary in May – Like Carol, I’ve been glad to participate in the Monday and Wednesday rosaries when my schedule permits. It provides a chance to join with Catholics worldwide in praying the rosary and one of the Pope Francis’s new prayers. If you don’t have a rosary with you or are unfamiliar with the prayers, don’t worry: everything you need to say is displayed on the screen. Special thanks to Katrina Mestas and Fr. John, who have prepared more inviting and meditative artwork to replace the prior set of images, which could only be charitably described as dated.
Support of Catholic Charities – Thank you for your generous support to Catholic Charities’ food banks. We donated $1,650 in April and a further $3,460 on May 5. Since the May donation was made on Giving Tuesday, it was doubled by a matching grant. I pray we can continue to support Catholic Charities since the need at this time is so great. When watching the recent NetTV segment on Catholic Charities emergency food distributions, I was struck by the forthright and sobering assessment that Richard Slizeski of Catholic Charities, who spoke at St. Charles last summer, provided: “We will run out of food today. […] We packed for 1,200 bags. There’s probably easily 700 more people in line after that.”
In addition to financial support, Catholic Charities also seeks volunteers to help pack bags of food this upcoming week. Please join Fr. Bill and others from St. Charles to pack bags nearby at 191 Joralemon St. on Tuesday and Thursday morning at 9 AM.
Collaborative Ministry Opportunities – In his commentary, Fr. Bill refers to collaborative ministry—sharing our different gifts as well as sharing our different experiences to build up our community. We wanted to flag two opportunities:
- The Parish Pastoral Council (“PPC”) is establishing a Physical Church Reopening Committee to plan for the logistics and precautions that will be needed to resume Masses when Diocese determines it is safe to reopen churches. We would like to have representation from different aspects of parish life, including lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, ushers, and parishioners in the pews. If you are able to assist, please contact Jane Olson, [email protected].
- We’d like to broaden this intro column to include voices other than PPC members. Antonia Fusco will be sharing her thoughts and faith experiences next week. If you would like to participate, please drop me an email, [email protected].
Mother’s Day Prayer – Sunday is Mother’s Day, so we’ll close with a prayer for mothers.
There is but one and only one,
Whose love will fail you never.
One who lives from sun to sun,
With constant fond endeavor.
There is but one and only one
On earth there is no other.
In heaven a noble work was done
When God gave us a Mother.
God bless moms. God bless us all.