Congratulations to Jim Haselsteiner who was installed by Bishop Stika today as a Lector. Jim is currently serving our parish as head sacristan and is in the diaconate program for the Diocese of Knoxville. Please remember that this weekend is the first Friday and Saturday of the month. These days are set aside to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary. On Saturday two priests will be available to hear confessions starting at 9am. Finally, the blessing of pets will take place Saturday at 10:30am. There will be a pet show to follow which is being sponsored by the Knights of Columbus/youth group. There is a fee of $10, $2 for each additional pet, to register your pet in the pet show.
A big thank you to those who were able to attend our Parish Open Forum which was held on September 14th. At this forum we discussed the importance of out reach to our homebound during this period of time. It was encouraged for ministry heads to continue to reach out to those in their ministries especially those who may not currently be attending Mass. It was mentioned that we are still at work making a list of parishioners who are now homebound due to COVID-19. Those on our lists will be provided cards from our school, parish youth, missalettes, and other types of outreach.
We spent time highlighting past and future parish activities. These included the Knight of Columbus BBQ sale which was held over Labor Day and the tamale sale from our Spanish speaking community. It was mentioned that there is hope that a parish fall picnic could be offered if our restrictions on food and drink at events was lifted. A few ministries/studies presented on what is currently taking place. The importance of FORMED was also mentioned as something that parishioners should take advantage of.
We concluded with general topics which included the frustration with our mandates and the desire to return to normalcy. It was recommended to read Cardinal Sarah’s document, “Let us return to the Eucharist with joy.” An inquiry was made into the status of the diocese’s grant for live streaming Masses. This grant will allot $6,000 to proper streaming equipment which we are still in works of filing for.
The Parish Pastoral Council has set November 16th from 6:30pm-7:30pm as the date of our next Parish Open Forum. It is my hope that parishioners will participate in these forums, if a topic interests them or not. It is important that we be invested in this parish and listen to one another in the building up of the Church here in Johnson City, TN.
In Christ,
Fr. Dustin Collins
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