Next weekend, September 12, will be our Parish Homecoming Celebration. The reason that Bishop Stika chose this date was because it is the weekend following September 8 which is the birthday of Saint Mary as well as this diocese.
On September 11th there will be a virtual conference hosted at our parish hosted by Gus Loyd. This day will begin at 9:30am and will conclude at 3:45pm. The schedule of events will be as follows: 9:30 am Donuts and coffee, 10am 1st conference, 11:30am: lunch, 1:15pm: 2nd conference, and 2:45pm: Holy Hour with confessions.
On September 11th there will be an outdoor bilingual Mass at 11am with lunch to follow. It is my hope that this one Mass will bring together our parish family. Please note the change to our Sunday Mass schedule because of this Mass. There will not be Mass Sunday at 10am, 12pm, or 2pm. There will be an opportunity for Mass Saturday evening at 5pm, Sunday at 8am (Latin) and 5pm (Spanish) for those who are unable to make this 11am Mass. I understand that this Mass schedule change may be difficult for some. This Mass schedule was considered to highlight Mass at 11am while providing another opportunity for everyone to attend Mass outside of this time.
Due to this change in our Mass schedule I will only hear confessions Saturday evening at 4:30pm and Sunday at 7:30am. Confessions will not be heard Sunday at 9:30am, 11:30am, nor 1:30pm. Confessions will also be heard at there normal time of Wednesday at 6pm and Saturday at 9am.
Finally, our Parish Open Forum was held via Zoom this past Monday. At the highest moment there were 33 who were logged into the room. A concern was brought up concerning the Mass time changes for September 12th. These changes were made in consultation with the Parish Pastoral Council and were made with the hope of providing a Mass opportunity for everyone while highlighting our 11am Mass. I apologize to anyone that feels offended by these Mass changes, but they were made with the good of the parish in mind. I did not make them playing favorites with certain people over other people, but from the standpoint of what would best provide for the needs of the people of our parish while not taking away from our 11am Mass. There was a concern brought up concerning the current condition of the outside of the school. This concern is already being taken care of behind the scenes through looking for bids to fix the soffit of the school as well as address some erosion issues to the front of the school. If you have not looked closely at the front of the school lately I would advise you to do so in order that you may see the current issues. A question was brought up concerning the financial status of the Church and the PPP loans. It was mentioned that a financial report will soon be provided to the parish. There was also a presentation to three future groups which will be started at our parish. These three groups being the Council of Catholic Women, a marriage enrichment group, and a young adult group. I invite your participation in these open forums. There will be a future open forum which will be set up by the Parish Pastoral Council at their next meeting. I will pass along the date to all of you once it has been set up.
Beyond all else please pray for the good of our parish community.
In Christ,
Fr. Dustin Collins
