Memo from Msgr. Raun- Tuesday September 8th, 2020
| My dear family, Greetings in the Lord Jesus, as today we celebrate the Birthday of our Blessed Mother. REASONS TO TRUST YOUR SHATTERED SOUL TO GOD'S STRENGTH God’s Word Is Full of Examples The Bible is not only full of his commitments God makes to His children, but also examples of Him following through on those commitments. In the Old Testament, prophets share about a coming King who will be unlike any king the world had yet to experience. And in the New Testament, we see that promise fulfilled through the life and death of Jesus. Another example where God follows through with his promise is through the life of Job during his hardest season of life. Job was a normal man just like me and you, and then things began to change when hardship took over his world and threatened to shatter his soul. He became the man who struggled with all of the hardships none of us ever want to experience. For example, he experienced the loss of his spouse, children, livelihood, and most friendships over a short period of time. Yet through the desperation, He clung to the promises of the Lord and refused to deny his faith. His friend tempted him, his mind wanted him to slip away from truth, yet he drew near to the Lord in his darkest moments. In response, as God promises, the Lord drew near to Job. In Job 42:10 we learn, “the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” God is a promise keeper, and there are countless moments where you can see Him hold true to the promises He gives: After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years. – Job 42:16-17 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT : OUR FALL PARISH SPIRITUAL CAMPAIGN !!! We as a parish family are going to have for six weeks not a political campaign but a spiritual campaign – 40 Days of Prayer! This will start the weekend of September 19-20. A spiritual campaign is where we as a parish focus in on just one thing – learning how to pray, and to pray better! There are four things that we are going to do. Each week the Sunday sermon will be about an aspect of prayer. Then during the week, we will have small groups meeting by Zoom to listen to a presentation by me on prayer, followed by time for discussion and prayer. Then each day we will commit to spend quiet time with God in prayer and meditating on His Word. As your pastor, I’m asking you to commit to these simple things for six weeks – attend or at least listen to our parish Sunday Mass, join a Zoom small group for a weekly meeting, give time for daily prayer and time to meditate on God’s Word. We are going to kick this spiritual campaign off with "Adoration Under the Stars" on 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, and listen to everything through our car radio. 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! WE ARE RAISING THE LIMIT of people who can attend Mass to 300 people. We have been hitting about 250 people at the 9 am and 11 am Mass, and about 220 at the 5 pm Saturday. All other Masses are below 200. If we start having Mases hit 300 consistently, we will start duplicate Masses in the Hall. It's hard to know how many people we can have in the church "social distancing" because some people can sit together as household groups, while others sit alone. The new 300 person rule means that on occasion some people may have to stand, but Mass is only 35 minutes long. (Don't get used to it!!!) This is a really hard problem to figure out, but we are doing our best, and are ready to make any sacrifice to allow all the people who wish to come to Mass in a safe way. ADORATION - WE SAW THIS ONE COMING: The daily adoration from 10 am to 6 pm has been going very well, with the exception of when we have funerals, which are almost always at 10:30 am. We put the Blessed Sacrament out at 10 am, but then people are scurrying all around the church and talking preparing for the funeral until we put our Lord back into the tabernacle at 10:25 am. It's just not working out. So - on days when there is a funeral we will start Exposition right after the funeral - normally a few minutes after 11 am. Keep your eyes out for the funeral notices to know when this happens. Of course we can still come into the church and adore our Lord in the Tabernacle during the funeral Mass. REGISTRATION FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CLASSES : All religious education classes are starting! They are being offered both in-person and on-line, according to the wish of the parents. This includes First Confession, First Communion, and Confirmation Classes. All you have to do is go to the parish website (stanm.org), or call the parish office (892-1511). Friends, it is absolutely critical that our children and teens continue their religious learning and receive their sacraments at this time. CARE KITS continue to go out from our parish. Last week we delivered eight of them ! Your generosity makes this possible. If you, our anyone you know, needs basic foodstuffs and is unable to leave the house to go shopping, just call the parish office, and we will do our best to serve them. SCAMS, SCAMS, SCAMS..... apparently, the emails saying that the parish/pastor/Archbishop etc. need "gift cards" is making the rounds again. These are all scams. I've also noticed that I've been receiving a lot more scamming phone calls as of late. I think these people are trying to take advantage of the climate of fear and confusion. Please don't fall for them! 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. 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...…. “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE: Some more play-on-words.... I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work. OUR PRAYER FOR THE DAY: for our Blessed Mother's Birthday..... Your Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God, was the herald of joy to the whole world; since from you arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, who, destroying the curse, bestowed the blessing, and confounding death, rewarded us with life everlasting. V. Let us celebrate with joy the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. R. That she may intercede for us with Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray: Grant to us your servants, we beseech you, O Lord, the gift of Your heavenly grace, that as our salvation was begun in the child-bearing of the Blessed Virgin, so from this solemn festival of her Nativity may we obtain an increase of peace. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 | | |
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