August 22, 2020
Dear Friends,
First time Announcements:
This Weekend’s Livestream Mass will be at the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. We will get the Mass posted and sent out by email as quickly as we can after that Mass.
Reopening of the St. Joe Hill Chapel for Weekend Masses: When this whole Covid-19 virus began back on the spring of this year like all of the rest of the world we shut everything down. When we were given permission to reopen for weekend and weekday liturgies we felt it was best to do everything at one location. To be honest I thought all of this would be over by now. Obviously it will be like this for a while. We also believed that our Masses would be fuller than they have been and so we thought we would struggle at St. Paul’s to fit everyone into each Mass. That has not been the case. And so we are currently working on a plan to move things back to a more normal pattern of liturgies. To that end, effective September 19-20 we will move back to our regular schedule and location of all of our Masses. Our weekend schedule will be Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. at St. Paul (livestreamed), Sunday morning will be 7:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at St. Joe (with a capacity of 100-110), and 11:15 a.m. at St. Paul.
We will continue to require masks to enter either Church. We will also continue to ask you to make reservations for these Mass. If we fill up any Mass, those with reservations will be seated first and then, if we have room, others without reservations will be seated. Thus far this has not been an issue, but if it is that will be the process we will use.
A Fraternal Note from Your Pastor: Archbishop Thompson has extended the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass until November 1. However, every person should form his/her own conscience about attending Mass during these uncertain times. If you are going out to eat, going to social gatherings, going to sporting events (or have your kids going to sporting events), going to the gym or to movies, then it is just as safe to come to Mass. Having the livestream is nice and it is necessary for many people who feel compromised at this time. However, gathering as a community of believers and participating in the celebration of Mass is also important. All that to say, don’t simply use the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass as a “get out of Mass free card.” I do encourage those of you who are out and about to consider coming back to Mass at this time. For those who feel a little uneasy, might I suggest a daily Mass. In most instances our daily Masses have about 10-30 people so there is ample opportunity to social distance. We have little singing at our daily Masses (we sing a couple of songs connected with Benediction at our Friday Mass). While none of you have to go to Mass (because the obligation to attend has been lifted), if it were me I would HAVE to go to Mass because I just can’t see a world where Mass attendance is not part of who I am and what I do.
Religious Education Program: In light of the need to physically distance, our religious ed program will be held family style. We will meet on the third Sunday of the month at 6:30 PM at the St. Joe Gym, starting September 20. See the website for more information and to register for our Family Faith Nights.
Alpha will be running again online, starting September 10 and will continue on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 pm through November 19. Visit the website for more info and to register. Over the next two weekends, we will be showing brief videos so you can learn more about Alpha.
Repeats and Reminders:
Parish Mission – JP2 is excited to offer "Surge of the Heart", a three night mission presented by Jon Leonetti September 13 -15 from 6:30pm - 7:45pm. The mission will be held in the St Paul Chapel and be Livestreamed as well. This family friendly mission explores the greatest story ever told - the story of Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church. You can reserve your seat by using the Mass Reservation link and clicking on all three nights of the mission!
Lifeline - Phone a Friend How are you managing and coping with all that is going on in our world today? Covid, back to school, in person or virtual, unemployment, pressures on family life, protests and unrest. Coping is one option, but our faith helps us to do more than just cope. Our faith moves us from coping to hoping. If you or anyone in your family is in need of pastoral counseling to help you through this time, our Director of Discipleship, Marlene Stammerman, is available to assist you. Individual counseling and group counseling are available. For more information contact Marlene directly - 317-989-1795 or mstammerman@stjohnpaulparish.org
The Ladies’ Club has cancelled their Craft Show which is typically held in November.
Limited Livestream Masses September 1-8. I will be on vacation from August 30 to September 8. During this time we will only Livestream Wednesday Morning Mass on September 2 and the Saturday Mass on September 5.
Job Opening: This announcement was sent to all the area Churches. We also wanted to send it to all of our parishioners (at least on our email list) in case you know of anyone who might be a good fit for this job opening here in our parish.
Saint John Paul II Catholic Church in Sellersburg, IN, a Divine Renovation Network Parish, is seeking a full-time Director of Operations (Business Manager) for the parish and school. Responsibilities include oversight of finance, facilities, cemetery and human resources administration. This role will prepare and administer the budget, monitor collections and maintain accurate filing and record-keeping for all parish financial matters. This position will also administer the payroll process.
Applicants should have knowledge of and be willing to foster the Catholic Church’s mission. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field experience. Prior church experience with accounting and record-keeping principles and practices is beneficial. Knowledge of cash-flow management and budgeting processes. Strong organizational and project management skills are required. In addition, the ability to work effectively with employees, parishioners, vendors and the public is necessary.
For additional information or to submit your resume please send to:
The following are all reminders from previous updates:
· Archbishop Thompson has extended his dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass until November 1. This dispensation was originally scheduled to end on August 15, but that has now been extended until at least November 1.
· Wednesday Morning Mass is a school children ONLY Mass beginning this Wednesday. Whenever the children are present on Wednesday, we cannot allow any parishioners into that Mass as we simply don’t have enough room to do so. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
· New Indiana Mask Law-Governor Holcomb has issued a new mask mandate that began Monday, July 27, 2020. In order to comply with the law masks will be required to be worn as you enter the church. If you do not have a mask, we have a supply on hand.
· New Confession Times: Beginning August 7, we will be offering different times for the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. This is actually a little bit of a return to what we were doing before the pandemic. We will have confessions on Saturday afternoon beginning one hour before Mass begins (currently that will be at 4 p.m.) Confessions will last for one half hour. We will also begin confessions again at 11:00 a.m. on Fridays (during the holy hour). Once again that will last for one half hour until 11:30 a.m. We will no longer have confessions on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Of course, you can always call me and arrange a time for this sacrament.
Be safe and continue to pray for the day we can put this pandemic behind us.
Fr. Tom
