Memo from Msgr. Raun- Wednesday November 30th, 2020
My dear family,
Good day to you all!
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Some of you are aware that Fr. Bill Young, our retired priest in residence, has been suffering from pain the past few weeks. Well, this all came to a head on Thanksgiving, when first his right arm, and then his left, broke with no reason. He was taken to Rust Hospital, where he is currently. They operated on his right arm on Friday, putting in two rods. Why his bones are so thin and brittle has not yet been determined.
No one (including me) is being allowed into the hospital, but I speak to Father and the hospital pastoral care person daily. Right now Father is in a lot of pain. Please pray for him.
As I said, no visitors are allowed. It is hard for Father to answer the phone. But I'm sure cards and notes would be welcome.
Father Young does a lot here in our parish. I'm afraid that, for the time being, the "priest-power" of our parish has been cut by one-third. Please be patient!
PRAISE REPORT: I was overwhelmed with the attendance at the Mass on Thanksgiving Day. We had over 400 people receive Holy Communion, and I'm told the parking lot was full! How pleased our Lord must be. What a witness to our community! I am very proud of you!
ADVENT IS HERE! The season when we prepare for the birth of our Lord. Despite the circumstances, we are going to have a very spiritual and meaningful Advent this year.
This is what is coming up:
ADVENT FAMILY ACTIVITY PACKETS have already been distributed. Together with these, we will have an Advent meditation video given by the clergy on the website for each day of Advent.
ADVENT TEACHING AND SMALL GROUPS : The parish will hold a three-week small group study on “The Purpose of Christmas”. The study will be held each Monday on the 7th, 14th and 21st of December. If you have a computer or mobile devise connected to the internet, you can participate! Just go to the website (stanm.org) and register for the study. We will watch a video presentation by your humble pastor and then break into small groups for further discussion. I hope you can join us. It will be the best thing you do this Christmas.
NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM : On Saturday 19 December from 4 pm to 6 pm, the parish will have a modified Night in Bethlehem. There will be a living presentation of the Stable and Manger where Jesus was born along with a few shops from the Town of Bethlehem. Families will be able to drive by and view the town of Bethlehem. At the end of the drive each child will be given a gift bag. We encourage you all to come and honor the birth of our Lord Jesus with you visit and prayers.”
THE CHRISTMAS NOVENA will be prayed at all the Masses from December 16 to the morning of the 24th.
EXTRA CHRISTMAS CONFESSIONS will be each night from December 16 to the 23rd at 6:30 pm. There will be two priests hearing, one in the Adoration chapel and one in the sacristy. It will all be very Covid-safe. Remember to go to confession early!
CHRISTMAS YARD SIGNS: If you have kept your signs from years past, now is the time to put them out. This weekend we will have more signs available on tables outside the church at the Masses. This is such a simple and effective way of giving witness to our faith, and reminding everyone of the reason for Christmas. Let's make it a point of honor to have our signs out in our yard or in our apartment windows.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE BABIES GONE? We are just not having those many baptisms. A gentle reminder, dear friends - baptism is not a sacrament we put off. The law of the Church says babies are to be baptized in the first weeks following birth (not months nor years. Weeks.) How we are doing the baptisms nowadays is very Covid-safe. If godparents can't travel, you can always have a proxy (substitute) stand in for them. You can throw the party when this wretched virus is done and over. Call the office to make arrangements and baptize that baby!
YOU CAN RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION EVERY SUNDAY - IN FACT YOU CAN RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION EVERY DAY !
HOW TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION DURING THIS TIME:
1. The normal schedule of Masses - weekday and weekend - are being celebrated in the church. These will be private Masses.
2. BUT - every Mass is being broadcast on our low-wattage FM transmitter at 106.5 FM. You can listen to the Mass anywhere in our parish parking lot. Just sit in your car and listen to the Mass.
3. THEN - after each Mass, Eucharistic Ministers go out of the doors of the church with the Blessed Sacrament. Just go line up at the doors and receive Holy Communion.
Please remember to wear your mask and to keep socially distanced while lining up to receive Communion. And - be very considerate and careful of your fellow parishioners in the parking lot as you drive away!
4. The 9 am Mass will continue to be live-streamed daily, and can be seen on our parish app and website (stanm.org).
Also, remember the following:
We are opening the church building every day at 9:30 am until 6:00 pm. ( On Saturdays, 9:30 am to 5 pm. On Sundays from 2 pm to 6 pm.) We have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during these times.
We are hearing Confessions Monday through Friday at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm. Saturday confessions will be at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm.
Please call the parish office to arrange funerals, marriages and baptisms. There are to be no more than 10 persons present, and are to be celebrated without Mass.
Your priests are happy to make sick calls. Every precaution will be taken to protect the health of the sick person and the priest. Just call the parish office.
PLEASE SHARE ALL THIS INFORMATION WITH THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET!
Laughing is the best medicine :
Why do lobsters have a hard time sharing?
Answer: Because there selfish
What do you call a grisly bear with no teeth?
Answer: A gummy bear
What is a sharks favorite game?
Answer: Swallow the leader
Quotes From the Saints to give peace and encouragement in difficult times....
“Don’t spend your energies on things that generate worry, anxiety, and anguish. Only one thing is necessary: Lift up your spirit and love God.”
– St. Padre Pio
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
Good day to you all!
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Some of you are aware that Fr. Bill Young, our retired priest in residence, has been suffering from pain the past few weeks. Well, this all came to a head on Thanksgiving, when first his right arm, and then his left, broke with no reason. He was taken to Rust Hospital, where he is currently. They operated on his right arm on Friday, putting in two rods. Why his bones are so thin and brittle has not yet been determined.
No one (including me) is being allowed into the hospital, but I speak to Father and the hospital pastoral care person daily. Right now Father is in a lot of pain. Please pray for him.
As I said, no visitors are allowed. It is hard for Father to answer the phone. But I'm sure cards and notes would be welcome.
Father Young does a lot here in our parish. I'm afraid that, for the time being, the "priest-power" of our parish has been cut by one-third. Please be patient!
PRAISE REPORT: I was overwhelmed with the attendance at the Mass on Thanksgiving Day. We had over 400 people receive Holy Communion, and I'm told the parking lot was full! How pleased our Lord must be. What a witness to our community! I am very proud of you!
ADVENT IS HERE! The season when we prepare for the birth of our Lord. Despite the circumstances, we are going to have a very spiritual and meaningful Advent this year.
This is what is coming up:
ADVENT FAMILY ACTIVITY PACKETS have already been distributed. Together with these, we will have an Advent meditation video given by the clergy on the website for each day of Advent.
ADVENT TEACHING AND SMALL GROUPS : The parish will hold a three-week small group study on “The Purpose of Christmas”. The study will be held each Monday on the 7th, 14th and 21st of December. If you have a computer or mobile devise connected to the internet, you can participate! Just go to the website (stanm.org) and register for the study. We will watch a video presentation by your humble pastor and then break into small groups for further discussion. I hope you can join us. It will be the best thing you do this Christmas.
NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM : On Saturday 19 December from 4 pm to 6 pm, the parish will have a modified Night in Bethlehem. There will be a living presentation of the Stable and Manger where Jesus was born along with a few shops from the Town of Bethlehem. Families will be able to drive by and view the town of Bethlehem. At the end of the drive each child will be given a gift bag. We encourage you all to come and honor the birth of our Lord Jesus with you visit and prayers.”
THE CHRISTMAS NOVENA will be prayed at all the Masses from December 16 to the morning of the 24th.
EXTRA CHRISTMAS CONFESSIONS will be each night from December 16 to the 23rd at 6:30 pm. There will be two priests hearing, one in the Adoration chapel and one in the sacristy. It will all be very Covid-safe. Remember to go to confession early!
CHRISTMAS YARD SIGNS: If you have kept your signs from years past, now is the time to put them out. This weekend we will have more signs available on tables outside the church at the Masses. This is such a simple and effective way of giving witness to our faith, and reminding everyone of the reason for Christmas. Let's make it a point of honor to have our signs out in our yard or in our apartment windows.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE BABIES GONE? We are just not having those many baptisms. A gentle reminder, dear friends - baptism is not a sacrament we put off. The law of the Church says babies are to be baptized in the first weeks following birth (not months nor years. Weeks.) How we are doing the baptisms nowadays is very Covid-safe. If godparents can't travel, you can always have a proxy (substitute) stand in for them. You can throw the party when this wretched virus is done and over. Call the office to make arrangements and baptize that baby!
YOU CAN RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION EVERY SUNDAY - IN FACT YOU CAN RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION EVERY DAY !
HOW TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION DURING THIS TIME:
1. The normal schedule of Masses - weekday and weekend - are being celebrated in the church. These will be private Masses.
2. BUT - every Mass is being broadcast on our low-wattage FM transmitter at 106.5 FM. You can listen to the Mass anywhere in our parish parking lot. Just sit in your car and listen to the Mass.
3. THEN - after each Mass, Eucharistic Ministers go out of the doors of the church with the Blessed Sacrament. Just go line up at the doors and receive Holy Communion.
Please remember to wear your mask and to keep socially distanced while lining up to receive Communion. And - be very considerate and careful of your fellow parishioners in the parking lot as you drive away!
4. The 9 am Mass will continue to be live-streamed daily, and can be seen on our parish app and website (stanm.org).
Also, remember the following:
We are opening the church building every day at 9:30 am until 6:00 pm. ( On Saturdays, 9:30 am to 5 pm. On Sundays from 2 pm to 6 pm.) We have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during these times.
We are hearing Confessions Monday through Friday at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm. Saturday confessions will be at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm.
Please call the parish office to arrange funerals, marriages and baptisms. There are to be no more than 10 persons present, and are to be celebrated without Mass.
Your priests are happy to make sick calls. Every precaution will be taken to protect the health of the sick person and the priest. Just call the parish office.
PLEASE SHARE ALL THIS INFORMATION WITH THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET!
Laughing is the best medicine :
Why do lobsters have a hard time sharing?
Answer: Because there selfish
What do you call a grisly bear with no teeth?
Answer: A gummy bear
What is a sharks favorite game?
Answer: Swallow the leader
Quotes From the Saints to give peace and encouragement in difficult times....
“Don’t spend your energies on things that generate worry, anxiety, and anguish. Only one thing is necessary: Lift up your spirit and love God.”
– St. Padre Pio
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
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