July 2021
MONTHLY DIOCESAN NEWSLETTER
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Please feel free to put the Sunday TV Mass
July 22 ♦ Regional Ministry Gathering – This is the second of three All-Diocese Virtual
Gatherings. These free gatherings are for all members of the Diocese of Saint Cloud interested in learning more about their faith through the lens of "One Body: Gathered, Nourished, Sent." This event will be held online at 6:30 p.m. The speaker is Fr. Edward Vebelun. Topic: "On parish, ACC and community: How do I bring my gifts to the community?
July 29 ♦ Humanae Vitae Mass & Award Reception – Held at Saint Mary's Cathedral, Saint Cloud. We will celebrate the 53rd Anniversary of Humanae Vitae with Mass at 7:00 p.m. with Bishop Donald Kettler presiding. A reception will follow, with the presentation of the 2021 Humanae Vitae Award to Sue Ek. Visit https://stcdio.org/event/humanae-vitae-mass-award-presentation/ for more details.
July 31 ♦ Paschal Challenge – For young men grades 9th – 12th. Follow Jesus and experience the Last Supper, the Way of the Cross and His Resurrection in a WHOLE new way! Register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2021EventRegis.
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2021 Diocesan Ministry Day (DMD)
October 23 ♦ DMD 2021 will be held on Saturday, October 23 at Saint John's Abbey and University. The day will gather the people from across the Diocese of Saint Cloud to celebrate who we are as a diocese and to share with one another the gifts each of our Area Catholic Communities offers. We will be joining together for a presenter, rally and Mass with the Bishop.
Please consider publishing this bulletin announcement:
SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 23 – Diocesan Ministry Day 2021– One Body: Gathered, Nourished, Sent
We’ve got Spirit! Yes, we do! We’ve got Spirit. How about you? This year, Diocesan Ministry Day will be a rousing celebration of all that we are as a diocese. This rally-themed day, to be held at Saint John’s Abbey and University, will honor the gifts of each of our parishes and ACCs. Save the date to come and cheer on the whole diocese and be filled with the love of community and the spiritual gifts of our faith. All are welcome to attend this event. For more information or to register, visit https://stcdio.org/2021-diocesan-ministry-day.
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Regional Ministry Gatherings 2021
Regional Ministry Gatherings are scheduled from now through the fall under the theme “One Body: Gathered, Nourished, Sent.” The next gathering, centered on "Nourished," is listed in the "Calendar at a Glance" above. All-Diocese gatherings are for those interested in learning more about their faith and Leadership Gatherings are geared toward parish ministry leaders. They focus on relevant issues facing our Church and Area Catholic Communities. events are offered virtually online in the lead-up to Diocesan Ministry Day on Saturday, October 23.
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Thurs., July 22 | 6:30 p.m. |
Presenter: Fr. Edward Vebelun, OSB
Topic: “On parish, ACC and community: How do I bring my gifts to the community?
In what ways do I receive what I need from my community? How do I work together with my community?”
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Presenters: Christ our Light staff from Princeton / Zimmerman
Topic: “Calling forward and preparing the gifts of the faithful”
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Tues., Aug. 24 | 1:00 p.m. |
Presenter: Joan Krause
Topic: “Lifelong formation”
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NOTES FROM THE DIOCESAN OFFICES |
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David Fremo ♦ (320) 251-0111
Catholic School Updates – Summer is both a time of rest and preparation for our Catholic school teachers, staff and administrators. After the 2020-2021 school year, this rest is indeed of a holy and necessary order! In addition to changes in our student and parent populations, we have new and shifting roles in our school staff members. Help us stay up to date by sending any changes to Kate Steinbach at [email protected].
Emmaus Institute – Registrations are still being taken to begin classes this fall in English or in Spanish. Applications can be found on the Emmaus Institute website: https://stcdio.org/emmaus-institute/. Some of the classes being offered will be Ministry to and with Families, Ministry at the Margins, and Thriving Parishes. If you have any questions, please contact Kristi Bivens at [email protected] or (320) 251-0111.
Becoming Eucharist: Mealtime Table Talk for Families – The July printable of Becoming Eucharist is available to download, print and view at https://familytogether.stcdio.org/ in English and Español. This will be the last month the table tent resource will be offered as we turn our attention back to face-to-face initiatives.
Online Vacation Bible School: Camp Creation, Day by Day with God
Camp Creation is a virtual five-day vacation bible school experience created by the Catholic Education Ministries Office in collaboration with faith formation ministers throughout the diocese. You will find reflections, activities and videos based on the first chapter of Genesis. The activities are available in a printable format so that it can be used by those with limited Internet access. PDF versions can be printed and mailed by calling Laura at Catholic Education Ministries (320) 251-0111. For those who utilized the virtual VBS resource last year, we are just offering it again for 2021. All resources, videos and printables are available at https://familytogether.stcdio.org/vbs/. Questions can be directed to Laura Gorder at [email protected].
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Joe Towalski ♦ (320) 258-7624
Mass times: With the return of the Sunday Mass obligation July 3-4, more people will be visiting the parish section of the diocesan website to find or confirm Mass times. Please review your parish's information at https://stcdio.org and send any changes or corrections to Barb Simon-Johnson at [email protected].
Synod and Eucharistic Revival – Preparations for both the World Synod of Bishops in 2023 and a multi-year National Eucharistic Revival in the United States will involve local dioceses, including the Diocese of Saint Cloud.
Bishop’s Annual Appeal Update – As of June 21, the Bishop’s Annual Appeal for 2020 raised total cash and pledges of $1,054,786 toward our goal of $1,300,000 (75.34%). This was made possible through the donations of 7,140 people throughout the 16 counties of our diocese.
Parish/School Distribution checks – The distribution checks from the Bishop’s Annual Appeal were mailed on June 14. With the exception of St. John’s Prep and Cathedral High School, checks are sent directly to pastors. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Anna Kampa at [email protected] or (320) 258-7654.
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Patrick Flynn ♦ (320) 252-4721
July & August 2021 – Natural Family Planning Instruction – Instruction will be by personal appointment following COVID precautions or virtual by Zoom or Google Meetings. A First Instruction in the Billings Ovulation Method will be offered in:
· Little Falls: Tuesday, July 6 & August 3 at 7:30 p.m.
· Long Prairie: Monday, July 26 & August 23 at 7:00 p.m.
· Rice: Monday, July 5 & August 2 at 6:30 p.m.
· Sauk Centre: Monday, July 19 & August 16 at 6:30 p.m.
· St. Cloud: Monday, July 19 & Thursday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m.
· St. Michael: Tuesday, July 6 & August 3 at 6:00 p.m.
· Wadena: Friday, July 23 & August 27 at 5:30 p.m.
August 25 – Respect Life Luncheon – Held at the Pastoral Center, St. Cloud. Respect Life grants are distributed once a year to crisis pregnancy centers and entities that uphold the dignity of life. By invitation, members from those entities are invited to attend a luncheon so they can be honored and supported for the work that they do.
September 18 – Sponsor Couple Training, Saturday – Held at the Pastoral Center in St. Cloud from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Registration for couples (names, address, phone number, parish and email address) should be made at least two weeks (September 3) before training. Call Janet at (320) 258-7616 or email [email protected] to register. The parish will be billed $110 per couple for the cost of training (which includes Fully Engaged supplies).
October 2 – Honoring Marriage Day – The event will be held at St. Mary’s in Melrose. This event is for couples celebrating their 5th, 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 60 plus anniversaries in 2021. Parishes are asked to send names and addresses of parishioners celebrating 5, 25, 40, 50, 60 & 60 plus years of marriage in 2021 to the Office of Marriage & Family, 305 7th Avenue North, Suite 100, Saint Cloud, MN 56303 or via email to Jan at [email protected] or fax (320) 258-7658 as soon as possible. Invitations will be sent to the celebrating couples.
October 8-10 – World Wide Marriage Encounter – Held in Buffalo, MN at Christ the King Retreat Center. Looking for a way to increase the love and romance in your marriage? Do you need time just for the two of you? A Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend Experience may be the answer! Instead of simply listening to lectures about how to improve your marriage, you will actually learn a practical communication technique and have an opportunity to rediscover your hopes and dreams for your marriage. Find more information at www.wwme.org or call Brent & Tracy Chessen at (612) 756-8720.
October 9 – 2nd Marriage Course – Held in St. Cloud at the Pastoral Center from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Second Marriage Preparation Course is for couples preparing to marry after the death of a spouse or an annulment ( https://stcdio.org/tribunal/annulments/) . Marriage preparation must be completed at least three months before the date of the wedding celebration. It is recommended you complete the course well in advance (six months or more). Many couples take the course one year before their wedding. For more information, go to https://stcdio.org/engaged-couple-marriage-preparation/
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Elizabeth Neville Brown ♦ (320) 251-1100
Thank you to all who have welcomed or will be welcoming your Missionary Appeals into your parish communities! We appreciate your generosity and hospitality to those sharing their missionary experiences.
The Mission Office has wonderful and unique gifts for graduations, weddings, birthdays as well as excellent chocolates for your s'mores! Come see what we have for sale in our Fair Trade section of the office.
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Brenda Kresky ♦ (320) 251-2340
July Mass counts – Twice a year, in July and October, the Diocese of Saint Cloud requests parish Mass counts from all parishes in the diocese. We use these numbers regularly for planning purposes. As you know, this is becoming more important as demographics change and our Area Catholic Communities use these numbers to plan for the future. Mass count forms are due to the Planning Office by August 15.
ACC Joint Pastoral Council – Area Catholic Community Planning Councils were created when we formed Area Catholic Communities. In a letter from Bishop Kettler in March 2020, he is asking that all ACCs begin to form a joint pastoral council. The ACC planning councils will transition into a joint pastoral council. To help in that transition, the Diocesan Planning Council has approved a template to use for an ACC constitution and bylaws. A copy of the ACC joint pastoral council constitution and bylaws should be sent to the Planning and Vicar General Offices.
ACC Care Teams – In June, I attended each deanery meeting to explain future plans regarding Area Catholic Community Care Teams. ACC Care Teams foster relationships between Area Catholic Communities and the diocesan staff. The Care Teams are comprised of two staff “caring” for, and companioning with, the ACC pastors and pastoral council at they attend to their pastoral plan. Care Team members will be visiting ACC pastoral councils sometime late summer/early Fall to reintroduce themselves as we return to in-person gatherings. More information will be coming in the August Monthly Diocesan Newsletter.
Bridge Builders for a Thriving Mission Grant – This is a grant that was awarded to Saint John’s School of Theology from Lilly Endowment, Inc. to help with Area Catholic Communities. This partnership has the potential for giving each ACC up to $1500 for a project that will help build bridges in the ACC. For more information on how your ACC can be a part of this project, contact Brenda Kresky [email protected] or Barbara Sutton [email protected].
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Linda Kaiser ♦ (320) 251-2340
July starts a new year for safe environment in the Diocese of St. Cloud. The annual audit is due to Stonebridge, the auditors for the diocese, by August 28 with all the data from the past year (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021). The past two years have been unusual for safe environment training due to Covid. The diocese needs every parish and school to complete annual training of children and youth for the coming year. This is a requirement of the policy of the diocese. All adults who work with children and youth must have up-to-date training /certification before they work or volunteer.
There will be a new curriculum for Grades K-12 starting this fall. The diocese has entered into a contract with Virtus and the use of their “Protecting God’s Children” program. Each ACC will be receiving a copy of the video used at each grade level and lesson plans for the coming year.
It is important that the Diocese has up-to-date information after July 1 of all site administrators, DRE’s, youth ministers and principals to ensure that each person is aware of the curriculum and the database has accurate information. The new curriculum will be shared in July with each parish and school. The video will be available in each ACC to share with parishes and schools in that ACC.
Thank you to the many people who diligently updated their safe environment database. I am so impressed with the many site administrators who pay such great attention in keeping folks up to date on training and background checks.
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Kateri Mancini ♦ (320) 229-6020
Congratulations Catholic Century Farm Awardees – Catholic Charities Social Concerns is excited to honor 19 Catholic families for their legacy of farming. These families have farmed the same land for 100 years or more, including a number of families who have nurtured their land for more than 150 years. Bishop Kettler will pray with them and present their Catholic Century Farm Awards at a special Mass on Sunday, August 1. Please join us in congratulating these families:
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Bergquist Family Farm of Parkers Prairie
Eltgroth Family Farm of Sauk Centre
Felling Century Farm of Belgrade
Kroska Family Farm of Foley
Meyer Family Farm of Mellrose
Sobania Family Farm of Rice
Zabinski Family Farm of Waite Park
Boser Dairy Farm of Pierz
Borgerding Family Farm of Freeport
Bruemmer Family Farm of Albany
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Herman John Meier Farm of Melrose
Douglas and Jane Popp Family Farm of Royalton
Faber Family Farm of Watkins
Primus Family Farm of Melrose
Ritter Dairy of Avon
Schwintek Family Farm of Little Falls
Loesch Vossen Century Farm of Watkins
Nathe Family Farm of Melrose
Waldorf Family Farm of Belgrade
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If your parish is home to one of the awardees, please consider recognizing them within your parish announcements or bulletin, and have your congregation pray a blessing over them and all farmers. Below is one example: |
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Creator God,
You formed humans in your image to be partners with you. You have blessed farmers in a special way through calling them to work with the land and its creatures, providing nourishment and health for all. We thank you for the gift of farmers.
We ask you to bless (farm family(s)) in a special way this day, as we recognize their vocation to farming for over a century. Let your Word continue to take root in their hearts and lives, to produce a rich harvest of justice for all creation. Let your Spirit continue to fill them with courage, that they may persevere through toil and hardship. May their farms be blessed with dignity, their homes blessed with health, and their labor blessed with safety and abundance. And may their farm(s) be a beacon of faith and family for generations yet to come.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Rural Life Fund – The Rural Life Fund available through Catholic Charities' Social Concerns Department is available to provide emergency financial help to individuals and families facing hardship in the Diocese of St. Cloud. All requests are considered on an individual basis and are available to help with all types of expenses aside from utilities, rent, mortgages or loans. Requests must be made through a pastor or pastoral leader of a faith community on behalf of the individual in need. If you know of someone in need, please do not hesitate to reach out to Social Concerns to learn more or put in a request.
Save the Date: Parish Social Ministry Gathering on September 25 – The Parish Social Ministry Gathering will be held on Saturday, September 25. This will be a great day for pastors, parish staff and social ministry leaders from across the diocese to come together for formation, prayer and reflection on the needs of our diocese and how our gifts can help our communities. Mark your calendars now and watch for more details.
Praying for your community farmers – We at Social Concerns have been praying hard for our farmers. We know that this time of drought so early in the season is having a detrimental impact on farmers across the diocese. We continue to pray for rain, for healing for farm lands and a successful harvest, and for all our farmers and all that they are dealing with. Please assure farmers in your faith community of our prayers, and reach out and let us know if there are additional ways that we can help support struggling farmers in your community!
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Fr. Virgil Helmin ♦ (320) 251-6557
The work of the Tribunal has continued throughout these months – but with the inability to meet in person with clients we have made several adjustments to meet the needs of the people. In this process the staff has chosen to make some adjustments to the annulment process.
The adjustments are as follows:
- The documents required are the same for each annulment process and are:
- baptismal certificates for both principals;
- marriage certificate
- divorce decree.
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For the formal annulment process, the petitioner can submit the completed form (Formal Petition (PDF) or Formal Petition (DOC)) and a narrative –or– participate in a telephone interview –or– appear in person at the Tribunal Office for a scheduled appointment.
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In the formal process, hearing the witnesses will not have to be in person at the Tribunal. The witnesses will be contacted by phone and the petitioner will assure the availability of the witnesses for a phone interview at a time designated by the Tribunal.
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Fr. Scott Pogatchnik ♦ (320) 251-5001
Invite Fr. Doug – Fr. Doug is willing to say Mass on weekends and talk about vocations. Please call Fr. Doug at (320) 533-0291 if you would like him to say Mass, or if you have any young men possibly discerning the priesthood. Thank you!
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Aaron Carpenter ♦ (320) 255-9068
2021 TV Mass Schedule Now Online – Thank you to the many people who support the ministry of the TV Mass for the Diocese of Saint Cloud. I’m sure you can imagine how important this has been over the past several months. Our viewership and requests for Living Liturgy guides has seen a substantial increase. The 2021 recording schedule is live. All priests and musicians (along with lectors) are encouraged to take a look to see how you might be able to serve. Sign up at https://stcdio.org/worship/tv-mass/tv-mass-volunteer-musicians-information/. If you have questions, contact the Office of Worship at [email protected].
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Bethany Tollefson ♦ (320) 251-2700 Ext. 54621
Congratulations to eight Registered Nurses who were commissioned as new Faith Community Nurses at an online ceremony on May 28, 2021 after completing the Foundations of Faith Community Nursing class.
Faith Community Nursing is a specialized area of professional nursing recognized by the American Nurses Association. These nursing professionals, who have taken on additional training to be leaders in their faith communities, are known as Integrators of Faith and Health.
The class members who were commissioned include:
Kristin Brandt, MN
Michelle Hanson, MN
Rebecca Harpold, VA
Mary Jorgenson, MN
Abigail Mokhtary, MN
Denise Pederson, MN
Ruth Vandenberg, BC, Canada
Carol Whitehead, CA
Helpful Links:
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Catholic Charities ♦ (320) 650-1641
Catholic Charities Is Open and in Need of Your Support
The coronavirus has touched all our lives, and now that Minnesota restrictions have been lifted and with more people in our community getting vaccinated, Catholic Charities has continued to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and newly devastated in our community.
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After more than a year of providing walk-up services, Catholic Charities Emergency Services was excited to open Monday, June 14, by appointment for in-person shopping.
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Catholic Charities Senior Dining is providing home-delivered meals and will continue its frozen meal distribution, which started after our Congregate Dining sites closed in March 2020. We look forward to Congregate Dining reopening again soon.
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Catholic Charities Behavioral Health Clinic is continuing to see clients via telehealth and with more in-person appointments resuming.
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If you would like additional information about these or other programs of Catholic Charities, please visit our website at ccstcloud.org, email [email protected] or call (320) 650-1550.
Help us get the word out by letting businesses, churches and individuals know how Catholic Charities has continued to help so many underserved Central Minnesotans.
And please consider a donation today. Every gift makes a positive impact, helping us provide food, shelter and more to those in need—now more important than ever.
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Happy Birthday to our Retired Priests
Reverend Timothy Baltes will celebrate his 71st birthday on July 1.
1125 – 1st Street S. # 414
Sartell, MN 56377
Telephone: (320) 492-8986
Reverend Frank Tomasiewicz will celebrate his 88th birthday on July 3.
308 Third Street S, Apt. 201
Sauk Rapids, MN 56379
Telephone: (320) 240-7974
Reverend Edwin Kraemer will celebrate his 92nd birthday on July 6.
308 Third Street S, Apt. 202
Sauk Rapids, MN 56379
Telephone: (320) 248-6352
Reverend Harold Pavelis will celebrate his 95th birthday on July 11.
1181 Court Lane
Concord, CA 94518
Telephone: (925) 825-8259
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