What's Happening During our Catholic Comeback
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As we navigate our Catholic Comeback, the newsletter will continue to bring you updated information.
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Fr. Michael will be hearing confessions this
Friday, June 5 8:30 a.m.
in the School Garden, please line-up by the flag pole.
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Live-streaming: Mass and Adoration
We are now live-streaming daily and Sunday Masses and Adoration.
Our YouTube channel is SJE-Greenfield if you are searching for it.
As we start returning to public celebrations of Mass this weekend, we will continue to live-stream for those that are unable to attend.
Mass on Saturday, June 6, will live-stream at 4:30 p.m.
Mass on Sunday, June 7, will live-stream at 8:00 a.m.,
9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
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, you can watch the upload of each daily Mass on our YouTube channel.
In order to comply with Archdiocesan directives, daily Masses will still remain private 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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Feast of the Holy Trinity
T
he Sunday after Pentecost, the church invites us to celebrate one of the core beliefs of our Catholic Faith, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Our God is One and yet Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in majesty and glory, One in Three and Three in One. This is something so wonderful that the human mind cannot pretend to comprehend the full meaning of the mystery, which nonetheless is the cause of our joy and our hope as followers of Jesus.
St. Augustine, one of the greatest minds that ever existed in the Church, was trying to comprehend the mystery of the Holy Trinity, in which he firmly believed and placed his trust, yet realized it was no easy thing to fully grasp. In his contemplation, Augustine decided to take a walk along the seashore. There, he saw a child playing in the sand near the shoreline. Having dug a hole in the sand, the child was bringing over handfuls of water from the nearby ocean to fill the hole.
At one point, Augustine asked what the child was trying to do. The youngster replied that he wanted to empty the entire ocean into the hole he had dug in the sand. “But that’s impossible,” Augustine observed. “Can’t you see the ocean is infinitely greater than the hole you have dug in the sand?” At that moment, Augustine realized a profound truth: it is equally impossible to fill the human mind with the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Something worth pondering.
Welcome Back to Mass
One of the parishioners wrote that his expectations were exceeded regarding the planning and implementation of return to Mass. He said, “the planning was thorough and easy to follow.”
I must admit there was a lot of planning that took place before we were able to open the doors for Mass this past weekend: Where to have people sit? Where to put hand sanitizers? What kind of music? Where to distribute Communion? Who is able to clean pews after each Mass? It took a great amount of planning to implement all these factors. Thank you one and all who worked to get everything in place. And a big thank you to those who signed up for your ticket. There were a few frustrations, but overall they were minimal. We hope to do it again next weekend as we celebrate the Great Mystery of Faith: The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
May 25 Medjugorje Message
Dear children! Pray with me for a new life for you. In your hearts, little children, you know what needs to be changed. Return to God and His commandments, so that the Holy Spirit may change your lives and the face of the earth, which is in need of renewal in Spirit. Little children, be prayerful for all those who do not pray, be the joy for all those who do not see the way out; be carriers of light in the darkness of this peaceless time. I am with you and am protecting and blessing all of you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.
St. Francis Shrine
Along with all the parish gardeners, I would like to take this time to thank Larry and Connie Elliott, who have worked to enhance the flowers around the St. Francis Shrine.
With beautiful weather, the children, especially after Mass, find themselves attracted to this area. I ask that parents prevent their children from climbing on the statue and shrine area so they will not get hurt and the plants may thrive.
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Your donations are needed and will help us
continue to operate during these unsettling times.
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The Most Holy Trinity
June 6/7, 2020
Today we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
tells us that the Holy Trinity is the “central mystery of the Christian faith” (261). The concept of the Triune God; Three Persons in one God; is truly a mystery, almost too lofty for us ordinary people to even begin to grasp. Can the truth of the Holy Trinity teach us anything as everyday Christian stewards? Actually, yes!
St. John Paul II described the Holy Trinity as a “Divine Family,” a community of Persons Who give themselves completely to each other and Who wishes to share Itself, Its life, with us. These concepts are at the very heart of the stewardship way of life. As stewards, we too, are called to share ourselves and our lives with others.
Our Gospel passage from John reminds us that the stewardship way of life is nothing more and nothing less than the imitation of our Most Holy Trinity. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes might not perish but might have eternal life.” He gave Himself, in the person of His Son, for love of us. We must love this God back now by giving ourselves, our lives, to Him.
Amazingly, the more we give of ourselves to God in love, the more we will find the “grace of the Lord, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit within us.” The God of the universe, this mysterious Triune God, invites us to an ever-deepening intimacy with Him when we make our lives a loving gift to Him and others through the stewardship way of life.
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Celebrating Learning and Our Faith
This is my last communication with you for the 2019-2020 school year. What a year it has been!
Although we have faced unimaginable challenges, our students have grown immensely in mind, body, and spirit. Despite quarantine restrictions, we have managed to celebrate our learning and our faith. We’ve made some new friends and will sadly bid goodbye to some who are moving on to other educational experiences.
Our teachers are lifelong learners and will spend time not only relaxing, but also reviewing what went well and what did not during our distance-learning experience. As our communities begin to open up, we wish all of our teachers and students time to rest and relax over the summer. At the same time, we hope that all will have new experiences, and that we will return to traditional school in August, ready to share what we have learned. Truthfully, although we look forward to summer, this year more than ever, we can’t wait to meet again in August.
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Have a Happy Summer!
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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There are several moments in life where God attempts to grab our attention and remind us that He is in charge. Through humor and poignant biblical insights, Mark Hart candidly reflects on a particular near-death experience in his life where Our Lord grabbed his attention and put Mark's Catholic faith to the test. Mark is a best-selling author and a heavily sought-after Catholic speaker serving the Church today.
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Although we are starting to come back to weekend Masses we are unable to have gatherings after Mass. 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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