St. Mark records in his gospel that when, [T]he apostles had gathered together with Jesus and reported all that they had done and taught, he said to them, ’Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’” (Mark 6:30-31) Heeding the Lord’s advice about the importance of retreat time, I will be away from the parishes this week on my annual retreat. It has been a very busy year and it looks like that trend is likely to continue so I am looking forward to the opportunity to reflect and to “decompress”. I will be keeping all of you in my prayers this week and I ask that you do the same for me that this may be a spiritually fruitful week.
St. John’s new parish secretary, Lesley Benyo, is settling into her new position. The transition has been pretty smooth so far. Please note that effective immediately St. John’s office hours will be Monday & Wednesday from 9AM-4PM and Thursday from 10AM-2PM. Please make Lesley feel welcome as a member of the St. John Parish Family!
The recent reintroduction of distribution of the Precious Blood at Masses at both parishes highlights the need for more Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Ministers must be fully-initiated Catholics (have received baptism, confirmation, and communion) at least 18-years of age and be free from any canonical impediments. I would like to be able to schedule training and orientation sessions at both parishes later in the spring. If you feel called to this ministry or have any questions, please contact either Deacon Mike or myself.
It was a big week for both St. John and Holy Family in the 2024 Diocesan Lenten Appeal…
St. John has blown past our diocesan target! As of April 8, we’ve received $40,219 in pledges and gifts (86% of our parish goal of $46,825) from 116 households (46% of our parish). Our parish share is currently $3394 and grows with each gift...100% of everything we raise for the rest of the year remains in our parish—assessment-free—to do work that we need to do here at the parish: to do some needed repair work to our main entry doors to the church and to add an automatic opener to improve access.
Holy Family had another great week as well. As of April 8, we’ve received $95,622 in pledges and gifts (93% of our parish goal of $103,190) from 193 households (21% of our parish). Our parish share is currently $22,432 and grows with each gift...100% of everything we raise for the rest of the year remains in our parish—assessment-free—to do work that we need to do here at the parish: updating of the church’s security and fire alarm systems.
Please help us keep the momentum going! If you have not yet made a pledge or gift, I ask you to please prayerfully consider doing so in the coming days. You may return your pledge or gift by mail, in person during office hours, drop it in the collection basket, or online.
The Easter Season is a time for sacramental celebrations for our young parishioners who have been in this year’s sacramental preparation programs. On Sunday, April 28, eight of our young parishioners will be celebrating their First Holy Communion at the 10:30AM Mass at Holy Family. On Saturday, May 4 howmanyever of our parishioners will joining with parishioners from the other parishes in our deanery celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Kulick at St. Vincent Basilica. Please keep our young parishioners and their families in your prayers over the coming weeks as they prepare to celebrate these important milestones in their journeys of faith!
Finally, with Primary Election Day next week, I remind everyone that it is the long-standing policy of the Diocese of Greensburg that only voter guides published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, or the Diocese of Greensburg may be distributed in parishes and other diocesan institutions. This is for reasons of both U.S. civil law and the Church’s canon law. While Catholics are strongly encouraged to be engaged in the political process by being informed on the issues of the day and by voting regularly, the Church does not endorse candidates for public office. It is also totally permissible to actively campaign for candidates of your choice, but not on Church property. No dissemination of political materials or active politicking on parish property is permitted, including the leafleting of cars.
Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to police our parking lots or adjacent streets to prevent leafleting so if you do find such literature—during election season or any other time of year—when you come out of Mass, please know that this activity was done without permission and should not in any way be seen as the diocese, the parish, or yours truly endorsing the candidacy of any politician or political party. I might also add that our neighbors who park on the streets surrounding the church and who are not our parishioners do not appreciate their cars being leafletted. I ask all parishioners to please be respectful of this policy. If anyone would like more explanation or clarifications of diocesan policy, please contact me.