Holy Faith HIGHLIGHTS
April 05, 2020
Volume IV Issue 114
At Holy Faith our mission is that everyone come to know, love and serve God in union with Christ Jesus and his Spirit-filled Catholic Church. In doing so we are committed to our vision to build together a community of compassion in Christ.   
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13)
Click on the banner below for How to Celebrate at Home!
If you haven't had a chance to follow the written version of Sunday Mass with us, please join us today in celebration of Palm Sunday. As we cannot gather together physically, we are providing this resource to give everyone a feeling of a spiritual connection to our Parish of Holy Faith. We share the parts of the Mass including the prayers and responses, links to the scripture readings, the Gospel, the Homily , and Intercessions, as well as our parish announcements all on one page.

Be sure to read and meditate on Fr. Emmanuel's homily.

Don't forget to read the rest of this E-Newsletter full of ideas and links to family resources for Palm Sunday and Easter below.
As our community pulls together to  stave off the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Pope Francis is busy preparing for Holy Week services that will begin airing today on Palm Sunday, April 5 (click on video link below). And while it won't be the same as celebrating Holy Week and Easter in our parish church,  we can still find meaningful ways to commemorate and celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with our family and loved ones. (see our resources below)

The Holy Father will celebrate Holy Week from St. Peter’s Basilica and we will post the Palm Sunday Mass here, on Facebook and Twitter and send the schedule for Holy Week to you in our next E-Newsletter coming to your inbox on Wednesday, April 8th.
Appeal from the Diocese of St. Augustine and our Bishop:

Offertory Gifts Needed for our Parishes 
"It would be difficult to overstate how challenging these days have been for all of us, as we face the various effects of the COVID-19 crisis on our families, jobs, and communities.
Among the most dramatic ways we've had to adjust to this pandemic is the suspension of Holy Mass and refraining from gathering as a community. And while the public celebration of Mass has been suspended, the work of the church goes on. 
The crisis is having a significant financial and economic impact on us all. Our inability to gather each week at Mass also means your parish is unable to receive your offertory gift there, and it can't be stressed enough how vital this support is to the parish and the people who work there.
Parish and school operating budgets depend on this revenue to pay employees and all the other monthly expenses associated with running the church. Most parishes don't have large sums in reserve. Your continued support of your parish is crucial now."
We thank you for your continued support of Holy Faith Parish. We know during this time of uncertainty of our financial situations that it may be difficult to donate the usual amounts to the church, and understand if you cannot make your contributions at this time or give a smaller amount, but know that any amount helps. We appeal to all who can to mail a check to: Holy Faith Catholic Church, 747 NW 43rd St, Gainesville 32607 or sign up with your bank to send Holy Faith a check or use ParishSoft online giving. Be sure to identify what your donation is for in the memo area: example Palm Sunday offering or for the poor, etc. For online giving click on the ParishSoft banner for instructions on how to sign up for our online ParishSoft giving platform. Feel free to call the office at 352-376-5405 and leave a message on ext 122 if you need assistance with this. Again, thank you. We appreciate our Holy Faith family and keep you in our prayers always.
CATHOLICS ON THE MOVE
Small Christian Community News
"Catholics on the Move - Moving Online"
New Opportunity

Dear Parishioners,

In these difficult times, it is more important than ever to stay connected and keep moving; church continues to happen! You will soon be receiving an email from us, inviting you to participate in an online Small Christian Community ( SCCs-Online ).  

We will have different topics for study, along with different methods of study.  
  • You will have the option to choose a topic and participate online individually. 
  • You will have the option to choose a topic and participate in a group setting. You would watch a video session online individually and then discuss as a group via email.
  • You will have the option to choose a topic and participate in a group setting. You would watch a video session online individually and then discuss as a group via video chatting, using programs such as Zoom, FaceTime, etc.
Please stay tuned for the email with the Doodle Poll sign up, and if you have any questions in the meantime, please respond to this email!
RESOURCES FOR OUR PARISHIONERS

We are currently adding more resources for prayer, reflection, and information, and links to online Mass, Stations, the Rosary, etc., on our webpage. Visit often. Be sure to connect to myparishapp, and read the bulletin and our E-Newsletter, when it hits your mailbox, to stay connected to the most current notices.

Here are a few resources and ideas for our families
to help celebrate Holy Week together:
We may not able to be together in person this Holy Week at Holy Faith, but let us commit ourselves to joining together spiritually. Some common things that continue to be promoted throughout the Church right now is that we are never alone, that Christ is always with us, that celebrating our faith goes far beyond the walls of our church buildings, and our homes are domestic churches. Let’s make the most of this time at home and bring these truths back to the center of our lives and share what we’re doing with one another!

  • Palm Sunday—Gather palms or branches and decorate your front door or windows with them. Take a picture and share that photo with us on Facebook, Instagram, or via email for our website or upload from your cellphone to 352-870-3258.

  • Some other ideas include wearing red, or decorating your table or other things in your home with branches and red cloth or candles. Children can make paper palms by tracing their hands on green construction paper, cutting them out, and gluing them together or onto popsicle sticks. Have fun with this by reading together Matthew 21: 1-11 and having family members act out the parts.
For a homemade centerpiece and day by day Scripture readings and prayers to do around the centerpiece go to: Holy Week Ideas

For lots of crafts, recipes, and printable resources like Stations of the Cross: VISIT

For ideas and instructions for walking the Stations of the Cross at home and Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, etc: STATIONS

Again, if you do any of these things (or others) in your home, please take a picture or two and share it with us via email or on our social media pages! If you know how, send a photo from your cellphone to 352-870-3258 and we will post and share on Facebook and Instagram and on our website too.

Stay tuned for our E-Newsletter this Wednesday, April 8th for more links to "Sharing your Easter with Holy Faith", full of ideas for celebrating Easter with the family.
FOR THE TEENS

Tips for doing family activities during Holy Week with teenagers:

  • Include music during prayer and reflection times. Teens can find Christian music that they like online, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, etc. Have them make a playlist for the week. If you need a place to start…try Googling Matt Maher, Audrey Assad, Ike Ndolo, or see what is recommended on Life Teen

  • Involve teens in preparing meals or special desserts. Many people have bread baking traditions they follow for Holy Thursday and Easter. Share those with your teen if you have any.
A few of our teens at the Diocesan Youth Retreat at Camp Kulaqua.
     Involve your teenagers in setting up or decorating in your home.

  • Allow them to light candles during reflection time.

  • Try doing activities that involve things that are physical or tangible for them as opposed to just listening to someone read through a prayer or Scripture story. For example, ask teens to draw images that stick out to them while they are listening to Scripture stories or prayers. Or have everyone write a word/prayer on a rock and place those rocks at the foot of a crucifix in your home on Good Friday as a symbol of things you are asking Jesus to heal or free you from, etc.

  • Invite your teens to participate in the CYM meetings throughout Holy Week and Easter:

SCHEDULE: Sunday, April 5 th 5:00pm .... watch the L ife Teen Global Life Night, Anchored on YouTube live and then join the CYM Zoom meeting to talk about the video at 5:30pm. Email TiAnna, Youth Minister of Holy Faith at EMAIL or check the Holy Faith CYM Facebook group or holyfaithcym on Instagram Sunday morning for the Zoom meeting code/link.

Thursday, April 9 at 7:00pm: Zoom Lectio Divina

Friday, April 10 at 3:00pm: V irtual communal Stations of the Cross prayer on Zoom

Sunday, April 12 at 5:00pm: W atch the Life Teen Global Life Night, Anchored, on YouTube live and then join CYM for a virtual scavenger hunt on Zoom at 5:30pm.
FOR ONLINE RESOURCES PROVIDED BY OUR DIOCESE, CLICK BANNER


Click on the graphic for our
Current Bulletin

Bulletin Requests
Send all bulletin requests to:

Deadline for the April 26 , 2020
bulletin is Friday, April 10th by 5pm.  

Read meditations on "Holy Week, Let it Begin"

Our prayer list is now posted online on our webpage. To place a request to add a name to the list, please call the office or complete a Prayer List request form . (During the coronavirus pandemic, we will continue to add and publish our prayer list in the bulletin weekly without removeing any names unless requested). They will also be uploaded to our webpage every six weeks. Visit our Prayer Corner Wall to see the list or to add a personal intention for prayer by clicking on the graphic below.
We appeal to all who can, to please continue to give financially to our church family. If you are not using online giving, it might now be more convenient to sign up now or ask your bank to send your check to Holy Faith.

If donating by check, please mail to Holy Faith Catholic Church at 747 NW 43rd St ... Gainesville 32607, or drop off through the mail slot on the left side of the door of the office but don't come out if you are vulerable. (Please do not drop off cash) We really appreciate your support during this trying time and understand if you cannot. We will keep you in our prayers and ask that you do the same for Holy Faith.

ParishSoft Online Giving is the online giving platform for Holy Faith. Click here for information and to sign-up on our website: ONLINE GIVING If you prefer to receive envelopes, please let us know, especially if you use envelopes for the special Diocesan collections throughout the year. If you use checks for your donations it helps to include your envelope number in the memo. Call us if you need that number at the office, 352-376-5405 or contact us via: EMAIL

Click on the Parish Soft Online Giving box above to set-up your online giving!

Again, thank you for using online giving which allows your donations to reach us even when you are away. May God bless you and return your generosity in abundance.
IN THE COMMUNITY
CLICK ON BANNER TO GO TO THE CATHOLIC CHARITIES GAINESVILLE WEBPAGE
Catholic Charities needs our help. especially to help children struggling with hunger. They are asking for kid-friendly foods. Click on banner for more information.


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The Office of Communications has launched a new digital newsletter entitled, "Go Make Disciples." The newsletter is open to the general public and is intended for Catholics in the diocese who want to receive news and information between the issues of the St. Augustine Catholic magazine, which is published bimonthly. Go Make Disciples is for anyone who wants to stay in touch with the diocese and diocesan events. The diocesan website has a Keep in Touch section where people can sign up to receive the newsletter, or you can  click here  to sign up now.