What's Happening During a Pandemic
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While we are "Safer At Home" our weekly newsletter has changed format
to help you during this challenging time.
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Spiritual Meanderings During a Pandemic
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Fr. Michael will be hearing confessions this
Friday, May 22 at 8:30 a.m.
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Live-streaming: Mass and Adoration
We are now live-streaming daily and Sunday Masses and Adoration. We are still in a learning curve, but if you have been watching since day one we have come a long way.
Our YouTube channel is SJE-Greenfield if you are searching for it.
Our daily Masses will be live-streamed Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 8:00 a.m. and Tuesday, Thursday at 7:30 a.m. If you miss the livestream we will post a link on our Facebook page (you can subscribe to our Facebook page by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter).
Mass on Saturday, May 23, will live-stream at 4:30 p.m.
Mass on Sunday, May 24, will live-stream at 8:30 a.m.
In order to comply with Archdiocesan directives, these are private Masses and are not open to the public. Adoration will close 15 minutes before the Mass starts and anyone in church will be asked to leave. Adoration will reopen when the Mass has concluded.
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Preparing to Return to Mass: Solemnity of the Holy Spirit - Pentecost
Next weekend is the long-awaited time to return to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. In preparation to return to Mass, you are asked to sign up for a specific Mass time by calling the parish office. We can only allow 25% of the church capacity, or 150 people per Mass, at this time.
We decided to return to our former Mass schedule through August to accommodate more parishioners who desire to come to Mass. Our Mass times are:
- Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
- Sunday, 8:00 a.m.
- Sunday, 9:30 a.m.
- Sunday, 11:00 a.m.
A letter with your “ticket” to come to church will soon be sent to those who signed up and will also offer further guidelines.
People have been asking, “must we wear our mask?” The guidelines from the Archdiocese is that we encourage people to wear their mask, but it is not mandatory.
Let us not only prepare on the physical realm. Let us also Spiritually prepare our minds, hearts and souls to prepare for Holy Communion. In this week before we return to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, may we ask forgiveness for all of our sins. It would be good to spend more time in private or family prayer, preparing our hearts to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.
When we return to Mass, it will be the Solemnity of Pentecost. Remember to wear something visibly red to church.
Red is the liturgical color for this Solemnity.
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Your donations are needed and will help us
continue to operate during these unsettling times.
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Ascension of our Lord
May 23/24, 2020
Today, we celebrate the great feast of the Ascension of our Lord, that glorious moment when Jesus, 40 days after His resurrection, was lifted up, quite literally, into heaven, as the apostles watched in stunned amazement. It is recounted in both our first reading from Acts of the Apostles, as well as the Gospel passage from Matthew. It must have been an extraordinary thing to witness.
But the first reading tells us that the apostles were not permitted to simply bask in the moment for very long. “While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?’”
In other words, “Don’t just stand there; do something!”
This verse is a call to each one of us Christian stewards this very day. We have been given every grace and blessing through the Mass and all of the sacraments, through the Word of God, the rich teachings of our faith, and even our talents and our material possessions.
And like those first apostles, we are not meant to just stand there, but to do something with these gifts, in love and gratitude to the One Who gave them to us. We are called, just as much as the first apostles “to be [His] witnesses… to the ends of the earth,” not with our own power, but through the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
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Our Unusual Journey and the Need for Prayer
Regardless of the level of quarantine we face, spring and summer will still arrive. It’s easier for our teachers and students to engage in distance learning on cold, rainy spring days, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t all longing for the warm, sunny days that we know will soon be here.
Even as we work toward the end of the current year, we are busy planning for next year. Three teacher retirements means we are recruiting and hiring new staff members to join our team.
Each year, we retool our daily schedules to meet the needs of differing class sizes and student needs. This year, we are facing the challenge of planning for both in-school and distance learning. Although we believe that we will be coming back to traditional school in the fall, we also understand that our students need to be prepared to work virtually, using a variety of devices and platforms. The lessons that our students learn now will prepare them to continue their educations into high school. Becoming successful digital learners will also prepare them for the ever-changing world of technology. The ability to switch between devices and developing the fortitude necessary to conquer a variety of virtual platforms will help students prepare for the work world.
Of course, we can’t predict what the world will look like when our current elementary students enter adulthood. Distance learning has taught us lessons about unpredictability. We know that helping our students conquer the challenges we have faced this spring is preparing them to meet so many of the challenges they will face in adulthood. No matter what you do or where you go, adaptability is a key to success. We’ll take those lessons with us as we plan to face whatever August and September bring us.
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Staying Safer at Home and Being a Blessing!
Mary Laidlaw-Otto, Principal
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CDs from Augustine Institute
Did you know we have CDs (and other items) located in the narthex? Each week we will highlight one of the available CDs.
Cost is $4 each.
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Come to grips with “what really happened to Jesus” as Dr. Steven Smith explores Resurrection narratives from the vantage point of each of the four Gospels as well as many of the vital medical details of Roman crucifixion. Dr. Steven Smith is a professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary, in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Dr. Smith earned his PhD from Loyola University in Chicago, where he specialized in the study of the Gospels and their relationship to the Old Testament.
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With public celebrations of Mass being canceled until further notice, SCRIP is still available at the parish office during regular business hours. However, we have some materials available if you would like to set up an online account.
Our enrollment code is
18DE7D4F11822. Once you have an online account you can pay by direct debit from your checking account (Presto Pay), by credit card, or by check here in the parish office. If we do not have the item in stock we will order on Monday and have the cards by Thursday. Once you have the physical card you can enroll it in your "wallet" and reload it as needed.
These are unprecedented times, but with your help we can keep this fundraising effort viable.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the parish office at 414-321-1965.
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This program allows .5% of your shopping on Amazon to be donated to St. John the Evangelist.
If you purchase Scrip, St. John's receives an additional 2.25%. That's 2.75% of your purchases to St. John's if you are already shopping Amazon.
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The newsletter is published on Wednesdays. Articles for each week's publication are due on Mondays at noon.
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"Remember God's Will in Yours!"
Please keep the needs of St. John the Evangelist in mind as you do your estate planning. For information on how to include the parish as a beneficiary, contact the Parish Office at 414-321-1965.
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