Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, St. Paul’s 100th Anniversary Update This weekend would have been the closing celebrations of our 100th anniversary year. As sad as it is, we had to cut many of our events, at least one can say that it was unique and memorable. Even so we still move forward with faith, hope, and love. One of our hopes is that now with our new bishop installed, perhaps we can host him here in the near future. Ideally I think our Feast Day on Jan.25, 2021 would be great!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, New Sunday Schedule Begins! 8:15 OF, 9:30 EF(High), 11:15 OF We are basically returning to our pre-covid schedule with the exception of the 11:15 rather than the 11am. Also we added a Mass in the Extraordinary Form. We are discerning this for a trial period of ten weeks. We will keep track of the numbers at all Masses every weekend so we have information to help us discern. If you are person who likes to get to church very early (which is great by the way), please be mindful of the people coming out from the previous Mass. Especially during Covid we need to clean the pews and maintain social distancing. My advice is do not plan to arrive more than 15 minutes prior to Mass. This should help things go smoothly in the church and in the parking lots.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Next Week Begins New Schedule! Be sure to make any adjustments for next Sunday morning. Due to Covid-19 our weekend attendance is of course much lower but the 10am has been, shall we say, comfortable. We only had a couple weeks where it was full while maintaining social distancing. Now with the three offerings on Sunday, there should be plenty of space for people to feel safe. As you know, one of those Masses will be in the Extraordinary Form. Again we are discerning this for a trial period of ten weeks

Erich and Patricia Bettle celebrated 50 years of marriage! They received a special blessing at Mass for this occasion. In our culture, the importance of marriage is not only downplayed but often attacked. May we thank God as this couple continues to be a blessing for us all.

Paul and Irene Fickert celebrated 60 years of marriage! Thank God for the beautiful sacrament of Matrimony. Paul and Irene show a great example of God’s love and presence in the world. What a joy to bless them on this occasion.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brother and Sisters in Christ, Do You Feel a Bit Lost? This week I invite everyone to acknowledge who we are as disciples of Christ. In this truth is our surest foundation. At the same time, this does not mean we cannot feel fear or distress or frustration or even a righteous anger. With so much confusion and uncertainty in our world, our church, and, admittedly, even in the parish with a possible Mass schedule change, it is appropriate to feel a certain tension. At times we may feel lost. I feel it too! All the more reason to pray and stay close to Christ, Who is our peace.

Sunday Aug. 23, seven young adults from St. Paul Parish received the Sacrament of Confirmation: Grace Mazzagati, Daniel Rudowicz, Makayla Ulery, Alec Sturgill, Gabriel Vance, Garrison Stone, Thomas Tatum. May God the Holy Spirit continue to dwell in them strengthening them to live holy Catholic lives!

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brother and Sisters in Christ, As I write this I am on retreat with seven other priests, all pastors. We are praying for our parishes and people. Especially in this weird time, it is sad but at the same time comforting to know that others are going through it with us and we with them. So many parishes and other brethren in the faith struggle to discern these times and how to live faithfully. Religious, political, cultural, and economic upheaval breed confusion, discouragement, and even despair. All the more reason to hold fast to Christ. He must be our center - the source, the summit and everything in between.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Examining the Sunday Mass Schedule As promised from last week’s column regarding the proposed Sunday Mass schedule change, I offered the opportunity for input from people after the Masses.  Thus far, folks have responded positively. Here is the proposal: 4:30pm Vigil (Ord. Form no music) 7:30am     (Ord. Form no music) 9:00am.   (Extra. Form w/ music) 11:00am.  (Ord. Form w/ music)

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Examining the Mass Schedule As things stand now with our two weekend Masses, current attendance due to Covid-19 does not risk exceeding our church capacity especially since we have overflow seating in the PAC. However, we hope that as things calm down, more Masses will become necessary with more people returning. While we aim for stability we also need to recognize the “signs of the times” around us, which extend beyond the merely physical into the spiritual. This is the time to examine certain aspects of our Mass schedule and discern a way forward.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Pew Missal Giveaway Due to the Covid-19 Liturgical guidelines from the diocese we are not to offer communal pew missals or hymn books. This is why we have not put out the pew missals the past two months. Since the missals we use are renewed each year, we thought it might be helpful for people to take home the ones we have. After all they are just sitting in a closet. After Masses this and next weekend a member from each household may take home a pew missal and keep it as their own. You can bring it back each week and use it for Mass if you wish. But don’t leave it in the pew, we will end up throwing it away.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sister in Christ, New Podium You may have noticed a new podium placed near the Baptismal font area. There is actually quite a story behind it. It has been over two years since I thought it would be good to have a portable podium for use in the church. While there are moveable podiums one can purchase, they all looked tacky and flimsy, not appropriate for use in the church. So, we connected with a carpenter to custom make us a podium. I went to the Ladies Guild at the time, which approved of funds to commission this new piece.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sister in Christ, This week I reproduce here a blog entry from Monsignor Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington DC. I often find he has excellent reflections on Catholic matters. He also writes a column for Our Sunday Visitor. Here he reflects upon a reading from last Monday’s Mass which also connects with this Sunday’s Gospel.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Chruch, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Reciting the St. Michael Prayer After Masses As I mentioned last week, for the month of July we are adding the St. Michael Prayer after Masses. It was almost eighteen months ago that we began honoring our Blessed Mother after all Masses with a particular hymn for the liturgical seasons or Advent, Lent, and Easter. Outside of those seasons we rotated with other prayers for vocations, for the faithful departed, and for the parish.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Chruch, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Reciting the St. Michael Prayer After Masses As I mentioned last week, for the month of July we are adding the St. Michael Prayer after Masses. It was almost eighteen months ago that we began honoring our Blessed Mother after all Masses with a particular hymn for the liturgical seasons or Advent, Lent, and Easter. Outside of those seasons we rotated with other prayers for vocations, for the faithful departed, and for the parish.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Possible Change in Mass Schedule for July As June is coming to an end it is time to reevaluate our “Return from Covid.” The past month we have returned to our regular daily mass schedule, which continues to work well for most people. The 10am Mass on Sunday has been sufficient for the numbers of people desiring to attend a weekend Mass. Especially with the PAC for overflow and live-streaming it we have had plenty of room at the one Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Returning to Ordinary Time Should be Far from Ordinary The word “ordinary” is perhaps an unfortunate translation. It really means “ordered” time in the sense that it follows a sequential order - think of the word “ordinal.” When the church is in “ordinary” time this simply means the sequential order of time outside of the other liturgical seasons.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Solemnity of Corpus Christi This weekend at the 10am Mass there will be a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament in honor of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. As long as the weather cooperates we will process outside as well. We of course will need to maintain social distancing. After Holy Communion people may follow us in the procession. For those who wish to stay in the Church during that time (about 10 min.) can remain there in prayer.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Happy Pentecost! And Welcome Back! I rejoice that we can celebrate this great Solemnity of the Church together! For it is the Holy Spirit that unites us and gathers us a one body in Jesus Christ. This week’s column understandably needs to be informative rather than reflective due to the many questions people have. So I put this FAQ’s together. As of the time this writing, this is our approach on these questions. Remember to check our website as we update it regularly with any changes or communicating protocols. I trust in all of you to be mindful of our duty to God and our neighbor as we return to Holy Mass.

Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “Soft-Opening” Begins May 25 Jesus Christ is Risen! There will be a “soft opening” of daily Masses starting Monday, May 25. Obviously, there will still be some guidelines and restrictions. However, I want to assure everyone, all those who desire to come to Church will be able to do so. Furthermore, any who are unable to come and desire a visit for confession, anointing, or Holy Communion please call the rectory so we can make arrangements for you.