Father Seth's Bulletin Column for May 2, 2021

This weekend it is a great joy to celebrate First Holy Communion for our second graders at our parishes of St. John and St. Joseph.  We celebrate First Communion at St. Joseph’s at our normal 9:00 a.m. Mass, and at St. John’s we are having a 2:00 p.m. Mass in order to accommodate families.  Please be sure to congratulate our second graders for making this big step and commitment in their faith in Jesus Christ.

They will be able to fully participate at Mass by receiving Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist.  Please also take advantage of this moment to congratulate the parents of these children and encourage them as they do the work to raise their children in the faith by coming to Sunday Mass every weekend as well as teaching and praying with their children at home.  They are not alone; they are part of the community and family of the Church. 
 
In reflecting on this awesome gift of Jesus giving Himself to these young people in the Eucharist it is an opportunity for us to look back at our relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. Now is the time to add to our lives more prayer time with Jesus who is present in the Eucharist. Perhaps we will do this through stopping by at adoration, committing ourselves to an hour of adoration each week, or simply coming to Mass a few minutes earlier or staying a few minutes later to spend time with Jesus who is present in the Tabernacle.

When we present ourselves in the Communion line at Mass we are to be free from all mortal sins, and if we are not we need to make sure we go to confession before receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist.  Devotion to the Eucharist will increase our devotion to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are all united in the One Body of Christ, the Church, through our baptism, and we are all strengthened by Our Lord Jesus in receiving Him in the Eucharist.  Let us help each other by encouraging one another in the practice of the faith and by asking the Lord for the strength in our hearts to grow in deeper relationship with Him in the Eucharist and to be well prepared to receive Him at Mass.
 
As I mentioned last weekend at Masses about the United Catholic Appeal (UCA) letter, you should have likely received it in the mail.  I encourage you to make your gift to support diocesan ministries.  UCA is calculated based on the ordinary income of every parish.  Ordinary income is the normal giving through cash/check/online giving to our parishes that isn’t designated, “large projects,” – basically the money given which supports salaries, ministries, and the general repairs and maintenance for our buildings.  This year’s percentage is 18.8% of our last year’s ordinary income.  I will be talking about UCA as the weeks progress towards the end of the calendar year, which is when the assessment is to be paid.  Thank you for your generosity in the past, and I know we can get to our goal in no time!
 
Speaking of giving, I have learned in my time as a pastor that often times there are parishioners who are more inclined to give money towards specific projects rather than general giving for salaries, etc.  With that in mind I would like to mention a few projects/items that will be purchased in the near future at St. John’s.  We will get to these projects and items as we have money to do them, and we do try to put into our annual budget money for some of these things too, so we will get to all of this eventually.  We may just get to some sooner as we get specific donations for specific projects.

As mentioned in previous bulletin articles we are tearing down two small houses that we have acquired.  We have already been given funds for the tear down of one of the houses.  We are also intending to expand the parking lot where the white house which borders Woodland Avenue is. 

It has been great having the extra pews on the east transept of the Church, but you may have noticed that these are the pews that need to be refinished to match the color of the rest of the pews already refinished some years ago. 

In addition to funds for the pews, if anyone knows someone who does that type of work, please contact the parish office.  

We will be purchasing new matching vestments for the priest and deacon.  We do not have any matching sets at this time. 

You may notice the beautiful images on the wall in the gathering space near the bathrooms.  These are images from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.  We have five images, but there is a sixth – Therese of Liseiux that once it is available we would like to purchase to finish the set.

Lastly, we have begun a fund for capital improvements for the St. John’s School Campus of Stella Maris.  We have money set aside at this time which we will use for tuck-pointing and other repairs on the original school building, but as time goes by more repairs and updates will be needed.  

These are a few of the things in the pipeline, so if you would like to donate to any of these in particular we would greatly appreciate your kindness and generosity. 

God Bless. – Fr. Seth