Fifth Sunday of Lent March 17, 2013
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Dear Parish Family, We have received the great news that we have a pope! Pope Francis I was elected on Wednesday, March 13. We rang the church bells of St. Michael in celebration of his election and we pray that he will serve the People of God in his new ministry. There will be more to say about his election in the weeks ahead (and I have shared some further reflections on his election in our Easter Sunday bulletin). For now let us just give thanks! We are now at the 5th Sunday of Lent and we are running out of Sunday’s that are numbered. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday which marks the beginning of Holy Week so we are also running out of Lent. That being said, we still have our Parish Reconciliation Service coming up this week on Wednesday, March 20 and we still have one more session of the Stations of the Cross on this coming Friday at 6:00 PM. All are invited to attend these opportunities that are part of the traditional devo- tional practices of Lent. This week I am not in the parish but rather back in Tucson, not for vacation but to preach a Parish Mission. I am at Santa Cata- lina Parish, the parish that I served as sacramental minister for about twelve years. I have many friends in the parish and so it will be good to reconnect with them. At the same time I am also excited about the mission because I asked one of our Redemp- torist seminarians to go with me and help out. Aaron Mezarros, C.Ss.R. accepted my invitation and so we are presenting the mission together. I will be doing the preaching, but Aaron has other ways he can contribute and it is a good experience for him and a privilege for me. The preaching of parish missions is one of the important minis- terial opportunities that we have as Redemptorists. It has been Fifth Sunday of Lent central to our way of life from the beginning, all the way back in 1732 when we were founded by St. Alphonsus and also begin- March 17, 2013 ning in 1832 when we started working in the United States. Over the years, the way that missions have been preached has Go, and from now on do not sin any more changed and developed according to the needs of the Church. (John 8:1-11). Today, for example, most parish missions, reflective of the life- style of people, are not as long as they used to be. Typically This Week at St. Michael For more information or to participate in any of the From the Pastor activities listed below, please call the parish office three or four nights is about the standard length. Not too long ago, and some at (312) 642-2498. of our older parishioners will certainly remember, there was one full week just for the men of the parish and a second full week for the women. Times Sunday, March 17 have changed but the importance of the mission remains. 9:00 a.m. Mass 10:00 a.m. Religious Education Class It is hard to imagine but we are just weeks away from our Parish Gala on Sat- 10:00 a.m. 3rd Sunday YA Gathering urday, April 20. Our Gala committee has been hard at work for months 11:00 a.m. Mass already but now the crunch time is upon them. Somehow they pull it all to- 12:00 p.m. Church Tour gether and we end up with a great party and a wonderful auction as part of the 7:00 p.m. Mass festivities. If you have never attended the Gala, please consider being part of it this year. It is a great evening of fun for all those who participate. Monday, March 18 8:00 a.m. Mass This year we are honoring two of the members of our parish at our Gala cele- 5:30 p.m. Mass bration. We had a special insert in our parish bulletin last week that high- 7:00 p.m. ACOA lighted the contributions of Greg Pfeifer and Barbara Rose, but I wanted to 7:00 p.m. Stillpoint/Contemplative Prayer bring their names to your attention. Remember that Barbara and Greg are Tuesday, March 19 representative of all of the wonderful people that make St. Michael in Old 8:00 a.m. Mass Town the special parish and community that it is. Whenever we single out 11:00 a.m. New Mom’s Group someone to publically thank them for their dedication and service, we are 5:30 p.m. Dining for St. Michael’s RE always aware that there are others who have not yet been singled out and 6:00 p.m. Mass thanked (after all, that is why we have more Gala’s scheduled!). Greg and 6:45 p.m. Choir Rehearsal Barbara would be among the first to remind each of us that all of us together 7:00 p.m. Bible Study are what make us a community. 7:30 p.m. Finance Council I would like to publically welcome to our parish staff Patricia Krier who will 8:00 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous serve fulltime in our parish finance office. Patricia accepted our invitation to Wednesday, March 20 join the parish staff and we are very pleased to welcome her. It is imperative 8:00 a.m. Mass that we have a finance office that is capable of serving the needs of each of 5:30 p.m. Mass our parishioners in a timely matter. We have struggled to make this a reality 6:30 p.m. AA (women only) and even though we have improved our effort, we were missing an important 7:00 p.m. Reconciliation Service contributor to the effort. I have every confidence that Patricia has the neces- Thursday, March 21 sary skill to make the kind of contribution that we are all hoping for and in 8:00 a.m. Mass need of. I believe she will help us integrate the efforts that we have been 10:30 a.m. Scripture and Life making and will position us to be in a place where we want to be. 5:30 p.m. Mass It is not too early to mark your calendars for this year’s Second Annual St. 6:00 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration Michael Craft Beer Festival. The festival is scheduled for the weekend of 7:00 p.m. Yoga June 21-23. It is not too early to begin praying for good weather. We have 7:00 p.m. Rosary listened to parishioners, our neighbors, and many other people and have insti- 7:00 p.m. Scripture and Life tuted some significant changes from last year. We have every confidence that Friday, March 22 the changes will position this festival as a key contributor to our fundraising 8:00 a.m. Mass efforts. Last year we were not able to generate a profit with this event but it 5:30 p.m. Mass was the first year for the effort and we learned some very valuable lessons 5:30 p.m. St. Joseph’s Day at Orso’s along the way. I have high hopes for this year’s effort. We can only try and 6:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross give it our best effort. If it is meant to be, then it will happen in the way we 8:00 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous hope for and imagine. If it is not meant to be, then we can move on to some- thing else that might work better for us. Saturday, March 23 8:00 a.m. Mass Well, that is about it for this week. Even though I am 5:30 p.m. Mass in Tucson as I have explained above I will continue to Sunday, March 24 keep you all in my thoughts and in my prayers. I 9:00 a.m. Mass would ask that you also pray for me and for Aaron and 10:00 a.m. Religious Education Class for the people of Santa Catalina Parish. If you want to 11:00 a.m. Mass check out the parish and see where I am at you can go 7:00 p.m. Mass to their web site: www.santacatalinaparish.org . Have a great week and enjoy the nicer weather, or at least I hope it will be nice! st-mikes.org/calendar Fr. Tom Santa, C.Ss.R. - Pastor 2 St. Michael in Old Town Mass Schedule Parish Directory Sunday: 9:00 a.m.; 11:00 a.m.; 7:00 p.m. Pastor/Rector Bulletin/Website Saturday: 5:30 p.m. Rev. Thomas Santa, C.Ss.R. Noah Jeffrey [email protected] [email protected] Monday - Saturday: 8:00 a.m. Associate Pastors Mon., Wed., Thurs., and Fri.: 5:30 p.m. in the Maintenance Rev. Thomas Donaldson, C.Ss.R. Ancilla Domini Chapel (enter via the sacristy) Patrick Morin [email protected] Evalds Zemmers Our Mother of Perpetual Help Devotions: Rev. James Keena, C.Ss.R. Tuesdays after the 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Mass [email protected] Church Tours (in the church) Linda Evans Rev. Joseph Morin, C.Ss.R. [email protected] [email protected] Finance Council Confessions Rev. Ken Sedlak, C.Ss.R. [email protected] Council Chair: Laurence Grant In the Church: Saturdays 4:45 - 5:25 p.m. [email protected] At the Rectory: When a priest is available or by Redemptorists in Residence appointment Rev.