Memo from Msgr. Raun- Saturday September 20th, 2020
| My dear family, Greetings in the Lord Jesus, as we prepare for the Lord's Day...... BENEFITS OF WORSHIPING DURING "Why, God?" HARDSHIPS Worship Satisfies Our Souls When our bodies are hungry, we get food for nourishment. Worry wears down our souls. We become weary and we lose heart. The remedy (or nourishment) for this is worship. We were made to worship. And when we worship, we can feel the cool water quench our thirst. It’s a thirst that nothing else can satisfy. David knew this, and often would go to the sanctuary to seek God and just sit in his presence. And after spending time alone with the Lord, David’s soul was satisfied and his mouth praised God with joyful lips (Psalm 63:1-5). When Jesus became weary, he would draw away by himself to be with his Father. And he would get rejuvenated. We know God refreshes us when we turn to Him and worship. Even though our circumstances don’t change, we are able to continue on being strengthened by Him. 40 DAYS OF PRAYER ! We are on the eve of our Fall spiritual campaign – 40 Days of Prayer! It starts this weekend! For the next six weeks, we will be doing four things: 1. The Sunday sermons will teach about prayer 2. We will have small groups meeting by Zoom, that will start with a 30 minute teaching from me, followed by discussion and prayer. 3. We will pledge to devote at least 5 minutes a day to conversational prayer with God. 4. We will pledge to devote 5 minutes a day to meditating on a scripture verse, that will be emailed to everyone. If you have Internet connection - by a computer, tablet, or smart phone, you can join one of the Zoom groups. It's easy - even a hopeless computer failure like me can do it! The small groups are important. In a large church like ours, its impossible to have discussion - and discussion is one of the most important ways that we learn! Also, on Sunday it's impossible to pray for peoples individual needs. But in a small group we can do that. There are already 20 small groups formed for our 40 Days of Prayer - join one! Make new friends who are your brothers and sisters in our church family! HOW TO REGISTER FOR A 40 DAYS OF PRAYER SMALL GROUP: go to the parish website (stanm.org) and click on the button! ADORATION UNDER THE STARS : THIS SUNDAY !!! Come join our "kick-off" to 40 Days of Prayer this Sunday, September 20th, at 7:30 pm. This will be an outdoor Holy Hour held in front of the Parish Hall. We will be able to stay in our cars - just roll down your window! We will have prayer, sacred music, and end with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. I do hope any of you will be able to join us for this Spirit-Filled time of Eucharistic Worship! NEWS FROM THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY : Our long-serving President, Mrs, Debbie Estvanko, has reached the end of her term of office. I want again to thank Debbie for her outstanding leadership of out SVDP parish conference! And I am happy to announce that our new conference president is Mrs. Candace Hintenach. Candace has long served in many parish ministries, and I know she will lead our SVDP Society to new heights in serving those in need in our parish. Our Society has no money except the alms that you give so faithfully each month. Not surprisingly, the number of requests for help that they receive is going up. I can bear witness that these alms are given with great prudence and Christ-like love by the hard-working members of the Society. God bless you for your support, and God bless our St. Vincent de Paul Society volunteers! NEWS FROM THE SCHOOL - WE THANK GOD that the Governor has allowed private schools to resume in-person learning at 50% of building capacity - just as the public schools have been allowed to do already. Therefore, by the end of next week, all of our school kids will be able to return to school in person. (There is still an on-line option provided for those not comfortable returning to on-line education at this time.) Our staff and teachers have worked so hard to make this happen. REMEMBER : OUR NEW LIMIT FOR PEOPLE AT MASS IS UP TO 300 PERSONS. HOW TO GO TO MASS: 1. All Masses - just show up. But remember that we have to close off the church when we reach 300 people in attendance. 2. Wear a mask. 3. Be prepared to receive Communion in the hand. IF WE REACH 300 PEOPLE AT A MASS, and a person arrives after that, they will be invited to come to another Mass, or they can go to their car and wait, and they will be allowed to join the Communion line at the end of Mass. We are now broadcasting every Sunday Mass on our new low-wattage FM transmitter, at 106.5 FM. You can receive this signal from anyplace in the parking lot of the church. Holy Communion outside the doors of the Fr. D'Arco Parish Hall is distributed after the Sunday 9 am Mass for those who do not yet feel comfortable going inside the church. CONFESSIONS: Weekdays: 8 am and 5 pm Saturday: 8 am and 2:30 pm EXPOSITION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT : Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES,SICK CALLS and FUNERALS are all taking place, albeit under the restrictions mandated by the Archbishop and the Governor. Just call the parish office and we will gladly help you with the preparations needed. PLEASE SHARE ALL THIS INFORMATION WITH THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET! HOLINESS TIP : Quotes from one of the greatest Christian teachers of the 20th Century, C.S. Lewis...…. “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE: Some more play-on-words.... I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going? (taxes?) OUR PRAYER FOR THE DAY: Here is the famous "Serenity Prayer of Pastor Niebuhr. Sadly, often only the first phrase of the prayer is quoted, but the whole prayer is meaningful. Heaven knows we need to be praying this prayer nowadays ! O God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference; living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. - Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) 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 | | |
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