Memo from Msgr. Raun - Sunday, April 5th, 2020
Dear family,
Just a reminder of what is happening the rest of today (April 5, Palm Sunday)
Blessed palms will be distributed through the car window to all who drive to the church from 11 am to 1 pm, and 4 pm to 6 pm, on Palm Sunday. Please follow traffic instructions.
How we are going to distribute the palms is a little goofy, but it is the best we could come up with. From 11 am to 1 pm, and from 4 pm to 6 pm, there will be people outside the church. They will have sanitized hands and will be wearing protective gloves. You drive up to them, open your car window a little, and they will pass through palms. Then off you go to the safety of home.
THE HOLY MASS is being offered by Fr. McKee and me each day at 9 am. You can watch it on the website any time during the day. I am offering the Holy Mass each day for the intentions of our fellow-parishioners. Unite yourself in your heart to the divine mystery of the Holy Mass. Sorry for any technical glitches. We are doing this off my I-Pad !
In all of this let us in a dark world be bright lights of Christian patience, service to others, cheerfulness, and Christ-like love.
Just a reminder of what is happening the rest of today (April 5, Palm Sunday)
Blessed palms will be distributed through the car window to all who drive to the church from 11 am to 1 pm, and 4 pm to 6 pm, on Palm Sunday. Please follow traffic instructions.
How we are going to distribute the palms is a little goofy, but it is the best we could come up with. From 11 am to 1 pm, and from 4 pm to 6 pm, there will be people outside the church. They will have sanitized hands and will be wearing protective gloves. You drive up to them, open your car window a little, and they will pass through palms. Then off you go to the safety of home.
This will be your only opportunity to get blessed palms this year.
6 pm – Holy Hour live streamed from the rectory
9 am - Holy Mass on-line
7 pm - Sacred Music for Palm Sunday Concert by Steve Woodbury featuring The Holy City live-streamed from the church
Tomorrow, April 6, Monday of Holy Week :
9 am - Holy Mass on-line
5:30 pm - Confessions in the Adoration Chapel
6:00 - Holy Hour of Prayer on-line
7:00 - Lenten Soup and Scripture Study on-line
7:00 - Concert of Holy Week Music on-line
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WHAT DID I DO YESTERDAY? In the afternoon, I went out and worked on the kitchen patio garden! The weather was perfect. I cleaned up the dead stuff from winter, planted six new plants, and watered and fertilized everything. My rose bushes are budding. All in all, it was really good therapy! What interesting thing are you doing at this time? (From what I hear, there are a lot of very clean houses, and a lot of long-deferred home projects being done. Good!)
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SPIRITUAL TIP OF THE DAY: Ask St. Jacinta Marto, one of the Fatima children, to pray for those alone in hospitals. She died 100 years ago on Feb. 20, 1920, alone in a hospital at 9 years old. St. Jacinta predicted this would happen but was at peace and determined to offer her suffering for the conversion of sinners.
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REGULAR PARISH UPDATES
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"I know that many of you go to confession before Easter… Many will say to me: ‘But Father…I can’t leave the house and I want to make my peace with the Lord. I want Him to embrace me… How can I do that unless I find a priest?’
Do what the catechism says. It’s very clear. If you can't go to a priest to go to confession, speak to God. He’s your Father. Tell Him the truth: ‘Lord. I did this and this and this. Pardon me.’ Ask His forgiveness with all your heart with an act of contrition, and promise Him, ‘afterward I will go to confession.’
You will return to God’s grace immediately. You yourself can draw near, as the Catechism teaches us, to God’s forgiveness, without having a priest at hand."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOLY HOUR is being aired every night on our website and app at 6 pm from the rectory chapel, being lead by Fr. McKee. Join in adoring the Holy Eucharist, and praying the Holy Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
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CONFESSIONS are being heard each evening, Monday through Saturday, in the church at 5:30 pm. The priest will remain until the last person in line has confessed. What this means is that if you want to go to Confession, show up at 5:30 pm. The priest will hear the confessions of those people in line. He will then go home. If you can never make it at 5:30 pm, give a call to the parish office and we can set up a special time for you.
We are using the Adoration Chapel for Confessions. This is working out very well.Please follow the directions on the sign.
Also, remember what the Pope said a few days ago:
"I know that many of you go to confession before Easter… Many will say to me: ‘But Father…I can’t leave the house and I want to make my peace with the Lord. I want Him to embrace me… How can I do that unless I find a priest?’
Do what the catechism says. It’s very clear. If you can't go to a priest to go to confession, speak to God. He’s your Father. Tell Him the truth: ‘Lord. I did this and this and this. Pardon me.’ Ask His forgiveness with all your heart with an act of contrition, and promise Him, ‘afterward I will go to confession.’
You will return to God’s grace immediately. You yourself can draw near, as the Catechism teaches us, to God’s forgiveness, without having a priest at hand."
THE CHURCH is open from 7 am to 7 pm. Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is present in the Tabernacle. Our parish staff is disinfecting the church three times a day.
HOLY WATER is available in the back of the church. We are out of blessed salt at the moment - we will try to get some more soon! These are two very powerful sacramentals that we can use to protect ourselves and our homes. Traditionally we sprinkle our homes with the holy water, and sprinkle the blessed salt around our property. Please take what you need (bring your own container for the holy water. The blessed salt is pre-packaged.)
The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and 24 Hour Adoration has been suspended for the duration of the emergency. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CARE KITS: Taking essential household goods and food to those who have no way to leave their house: If you would like to volunteer for Care Kits, please email your name, phone number, and email address to frank.smith@stanm.org (Please: no one over 60 or with serious health problems should volunteer for this ministry.)
If you need a Care Kit, please call the parish Office at 892-1511. Please give this number to people you know who might need a Care Kit.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember, Christians are to set the best example in following the directions of our civil and public health officials.
CARE CALL: Reaching out to our parish family with phone calls of concern and prayer. If you would like to volunteer for this, please email your name, phone number, and email address to viana.sikes@stanm.org
CARE KITS: Taking essential household goods and food to those who have no way to leave their house: If you would like to volunteer for Care Kits, please email your name, phone number, and email address to frank.smith@stanm.org (Please: no one over 60 or with serious health problems should volunteer for this ministry.)
If you need a Care Kit, please call the parish Office at 892-1511. Please give this number to people you know who might need a Care Kit.
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THE PARISH OFFICE and the ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY are open, but not for walk-in traffic. Please call on the telephone first.RELIGIOUS EDUCATION : Our staff is doing wonderful things to continue to provide religious education to our kids:
- The School. Our teachers are giving the children in our parochial school on-line classes, and provide for their educational needs.
- Catechism Classes: We are "firing up" online classes for our kids in catechism, including First Penance, First Communion, and our Mis-School program (called "The Edge") If you have not received information about this, please e-mail cre@stanm.org
- Youth and Young Adult are meeting regularly online, including LifeTeen and Confirmation Class. For more information, please contact ed.leyba@stanm.org
YOUR TITHING : Friends, for those of you who are able to support the parish, we are really going to need your tithes and offerings at this time. The best way to do this is on-line: Go to the parish website stanm.org and click on the "Three Ways To Give" button. You can use your credit card or checking account, and you can set it up for a one-time gift or a reoccurring donation. If you can't do that, mail it to the parish office.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WONDERFUL FREE PRAYER RESOURCES :
The Magnificat: the prayers and readings of daily Mass, and a simplified form of Morning and Evening Prayer : https://us.magnificat.net/free
Live-Streamed Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament : from the chapel of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit: http://savior.org/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SPIRITUALLY ADOPT A PERSON WHO IS DYING ALONE : This is really on my heart, friends. These coronavirus victims in the ICU units are dying alone. No family and loved ones, no priest and sacraments. Often, I am afraid, little or no knowledge of God or faith in His love for them. Just facing death terribly alone.
It's real simple: Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Then say to our Heavenly Father words to this effect: " Dear God, I offer up this Chaplet for that person whom You know is at this time dying alone."
I think this is a great work of mercy, much needed at this time!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prayer, dear friends, prayer!
Remember, Christians are to set the best example in following the directions of our civil and public health officials.
In all of this let us in a dark world be bright lights of Christian patience, service to others, cheerfulness, and Christ-like love.
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TELEPHONE NUMBERS ! EMAIL ADDRESSES ! There is a lot of ministry going on in this parish right now, and we want to minister to each person in our parish. But I need your working current phone number. Many of you registered with a land-line, then got cell phones and dropped your land-line without telling us. Please, if you have not received a phone call from the parish in the last week, please email your name and phone number to viana.sikes@stanm.org Help others, especially the elderly who do not have the Internet, to get their phone numbers to us!
Also, I keep on talking to parishioners who have no idea that we have a website, daily email, on-line services, and so forth. Please - when you talk to parishioners, ask them if they are getting my emails. If not, encourage them to right away go to our website, stanm.org and sign up for our emails and download our parish app.
This is the only way we have to directly minister to people right now, and I do not want any of our parishioners to be missing out on the spiritual resources their parish has to offer them to get through these difficult times!
Our Prayer for the day:
Almighty God, your Son came to us humbly on a donkey's back, but now He sits exalted by your right hand. As we enter into Holy Week contemplating your His path of suffering, help us to become loyal and steadfast disciples, that we may always hear His word, follow His teachings, and live in His Spirit. Prepare our hearts for that day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord and King to your eternal glory. Amen.
I send you my fatherly blessing, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Msgr. Doug Raun
Posted in Daily Memo from Msgr. Raun
1 Comment
Msgr, I really appreciate your daily notes & uplifting wisdom. It is so needed by the Faithful as they struggle through daily challenges. Thank you for all that you do for your parishioners!