September 10, 2020
Dear Friends,
First time Announcements:
Thanks Again: Once again I want to thank all of you for your cards and notes after the death of my brother, David. I am overwhelmed by your kindness to me. I love you all!
JPII Morning of Service: It’s that time of year again! Our JPII Parish Morning of Service 2020 is just around the corner. This year we are focusing on outdoor venues which could benefit from our services. It might be a painting project, leaf raking or other light yard work, cleaning and organizing….the list is as broad as your imagination. If you know of an organization in need of our services, please email the contact information to Barbara Smith at bsmith@stjohnpaulparish.org or Linda Pratt at lrpratt29@gmail.com. This year's date is Saturday, October 17, 2020.
Starting this Week:
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.
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!
Two Weeks Out:
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), 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.
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.
Previous & Repeat Announcements:
Current Haiti Secondary and University School Sponsors: Please remember to start paying on your pledge for the 2020-2021 school year if you have not already done so. You may send your payment to the parish office - making your check out to "St. John Paul II Parish" and include "Haiti Sponsor" on the memo line of your check. For questions, contact Barbara Nicol at barbrenn01@aol.com or 502-479-7780. As it has us, the Coronavirus also is impacting Haiti. Schools shut down last April and will reopen in August to finish up the last school year. The next school year will begin in November. We will be looking for 15 new sponsors at that time. Cost of sponsoring a child for 1 year is $300. This includes tuition, books and uniform.
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
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.
Be safe and continue to pray for the day we can put this pandemic behind us.
Fr. Tom
