March 21, 2021 Fifth Sunday of Lent (B), Third Scrutiny

March 21, 2021, Fifth Sunday of Lent (B), Third Scrutiny

Father Gerry’s Message:

Dear Parishioners,

Greetings.

On behalf of our diocese and our Parish, Francis de Sales, I would like to thank all those who have donated to this year’s Diocesan Appeal. Because of your generosity, we have raised to date $2,495. This puts us at 29.03% of our goal, which is $8,800.

As you can see from the figures above, we are still a long way off, to reach our goal. I, therefore, kindly ask those who have not donated to this appeal to prayerfully consider doing so.

Everything we do in this parish and diocese is made possible because of the generous donations from each member of the Church. By participating in the 2021 Annual Appeal, you are making a true difference by ensuring that the Church’s Mission and all the different ministries continue to grow.

Thank you for the faith and trust you have put into your contribution to the Annual Appeal.

Yours in Christ,

Gerry Kaggwa

Announcements:

ALL PARISHIONERS OF FRANCIS DE SALES ARE INVITED TO COME TO MASS IN PERSON. INDIVIDUAL FAMILIES WILL BE SEATED TOGETHER, ALL OTHERS WILL BE SEATED SIX FEET APART. If you are planning to attend, please notify the church office by 12:00 noon on Friday via email or phone with how many people in your family will attend. SOCIAL DISTANCING AND FACE MASKS ARE REQUIRED AT ALL TIMES IN THE CHURCH BUILDING. Please arrive 20 minutes before Mass begins to allow time for the COVID-19 no-contact temperature checks and answer the following questions: 1) Do you currently have a fever, i.e., temperature higher than 100.4 degrees F? 2) Do you have other symptoms of COVID-19, without an alternative diagnosis, i.e., chills, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea? 3) Have you had a positive diagnostic test for the virus that causes COVID-19 in the past 10 days? 4) Have you been exposed to a COVID-19 case in the prior 14 days: exposure being less than six feet away for greater than a cumulative 15 minutes over a 24-hour period without wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment as defined by the CDC?

Please Note - It is the responsibility of any member of our Church who is involved with the youth of our Church to be up to date with the VIRTUS and CHILD PROTECTION requirements of the diocese. This includes but is not limited to those involved with our Sunday School Program and our youth group program. The requirements are: you must be VIRTUS TRAINED and COMPLIANT and you must renew your background check every five years. You must also read and complete the monthly bulletins to be compliant. The church office will try and notify those that are approaching their five-year renewal but the responsibility of all of the requirements belongs with the individual. I thank you for your attention to the above, Father Gerry Kaggwa

The last STATIONS OF THE CROSS (NO SOUP) will be held Tuesday, March 23rd at 6:30 p.m. A volunteer is needed to lead the Stations. Please contact Helen Yacobucci (804) 815-7606 or Patti Sarosy (804) 832-3642 if you wish to volunteer.

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES (CRS) RICE BOWL: What is CRS Rice Bowl? Each Lent, Catholic Relief Services encourage catholic families across the country to unite and put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and alms giving. Through CRS Rice Bowl, families learn how our brothers and sisters across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. CRS Rice Bowl shares stories of hope from CRS’ work around the world. These stories are examples of your alms giving at work. Take a virtual tour of Madagascar, El Salvador and Timor-Leste by checking the web site below. What does your donation provide? Forty dollars can purchase an infant scale to measure an infant’s growth, $80.00 can help raise chickens for eggs for protein and income, and $120.00 contributes toward a household garden for family nutrition. Only a portion of your contribution is used abroad. Seventy percent of your donation supports the work of CSR. Twenty percent stays in the diocese for local hunger and poverty alleviation efforts. For more information, videos and recipes for meatless Lenten meals, log on to the web site at: crsricebowl.org. Rice Bowls are in the Commons, please pick one up to begin your alms giving. They should be returned Palm Sunday, March 28th. Yours in Christ, Helen Yacobucci, Social Outreach Committee

The CFDS 2020 Donation/Contribution Tax Letters are on a table in the Commons area. Also, the new 2021 Donation/Contribution Envelopes are also on a table in the Commons area. Please pick yours up at your earliest convenience.

The link to watch the videos of each Sunday and Tuesday and Friday Daily Mass services at the Church of Francis de Sales is: https://www.facebook.com/Church-of-Francis-de-Sales-102720301404594/

We still have available copies of The Bicentennial books about the history of the diocese. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, the price is $40. To order one you can contact the office or Claudia Hale at (804) 854-5410 or her email is: [email protected]

If you would like to have Father hear your confession, please call the office during normal hours and an individual appointment will be set. Please know that our Church and office are open on Monday and Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and on Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 Noon and you are welcome to come for individual adoration. If you wish pastoral care, please call the office, (804) 725-2776, during the normal hours and we will do our best to meet your needs. Outside office hours please call Father Gerry at (804) 286-9271. Should any of the above change, we will notify you by e-mail.

March 21, 2021, Fifth Sunday of Lent (B)

Readings:

Ezekiel 37:12-14: I will put my spirit in you that you may live. Psalm 130: “With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.” Romans 8:8-11: The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. John 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45: I am the resurrection and the life.

Prayer for Spiritual Communion My Jesus, I believe that You are truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to possess You within my soul. Since I am unable at this moment to receive You Sacramentally, Come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as being already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen (2020 Catholic Diocese of Richmond)

March 21, 2021, Fifth Sunday of Lent (B)

Father Gerry’s Homily:

The Merciful Love of our God is constantly at work. When we fail to follow His will, He always finds new ways of bringing us back to Him. He spares nothing for our salvation, that is why He sent us His only son, Jesus, to come and die for us, thus establishing an everlasting Covenant with His people. This is the focus of our reading for this Sunday.

The first reading, taken from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, explains how God will replace the Old Covenant of Judgment with a New Covenant of Forgiveness of sins. This New Covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah, was fulfilled through Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection. In the second reading, St. Paul tells the Hebrews that it is by Jesus’ suffering and death, in obedience to His Father’s will, that a New Covenant is established.

Today’s Gospel teaches us that, the new life of the New Covenant is possible only by the death of the self through obedience, suffering and service: “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Jesus himself was the expression of this principle. He is the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and in dying yields a harvest of life. He describes that harvest in prophetic words: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”

If God worked powerfully through the life of Jesus, He worked even more powerfully through the death of Jesus, a death that reveals the power of God’s love, even more fully than His life of healing and ministry, for the amazing love revealed in His death on the cross drew people to God and continues to do so. Over the centuries, millions of people, by looking upon the crucifix, have experienced God’s personal love and compassion and found themselves drawn to God in return. It is by accepting freely, the suffering, that Jesus drew people of all nations to Himself and to sharing in a new life, lived in and with God.

The Gospel hints at the inner struggle of Jesus in accepting the cup of suffering to inaugurate the New and Eternal Covenant. However, Jesus accepts the cross as His “hour,” meaning his passion, death, Resurrection. It is by accepting this “hour’, that Jesus glorifies His Heavenly Father, and in return, He is being glorified by His Father. It is by this hour of being lifted up on the cross, that Jesus draws all people into the saving action of God.

The lesson we get from Jesus is that, only a life spent for others will be glorified. Jesus left us an example, He is that grain of wheat, which fell on the ground and died, and as a result it produced much fruit. We know that the world owes everything to people who have spent their time and talents for God and for their fellow human beings. Let us pray that we may acquire this self-sacrificing spirit, especially during this time of Lent.

LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER:

Parishioners: Helen Yacobucci, Mike Beavers, Joe King, Ginny Groff, Kirsten Beatley, Rita Engle, Bob Tanner, Anna Deagle, Roland Gauthier, Pat Barnes, Terry & Randy Dobson, Sharon Simmons, Janet Letizia, Peggy Kinsey, Don McCue, Ann Marie Lachner-McCue, Skip & Patti Sarosy, George Denio, Bonnie Goolsby, Alice Mercer, Gloria Bosley, Matthew DeForge, Paul Reardon, Sally Howland, Jerry Johnson, Susan Sanderson, Michelle Oliver and Neil D’Amato.

Family: Cathy Moody, Vicki Krieger, Jim & Joan Banocy, Michael Einfeldt, Myron & Shirley Schmoldt, Mary Catherine Ort, Stephen Harrold, Ellie Kennedy, Dale Wilson, Mallory Hurst, Peg Leonard, Jordan Hurst, Brian Carroll, Karen Beal, Larry Hargrove, Melissa Smith, Francis Smith, Brett Smith, Tony Cantrell, Susan Boone, Grahame Walker, Joe Schertle, Dottie Long, Fred Moody, Jean Raines, Frank Manozzi, Mimma Angelillo, Kathleen Cala, Shirley Schmoldt, Timothy Farrell, Ruth Brown and Jim McAndrew.

Friends: Clayton Bruce, Kresia McCoy, Zachary Reynolds, Lee Osenton, Mike Bergman, Donald Henry, Jim Renner, Charles Altar, Don & Sandy Mikulecky, Florence Foster, Cheryl Lamport, Bobby Tinder, Bob Thompson, Bill Smith, Nancy Taylor, John Kelly, Shirley Primovic, Jim & Tammy Ellis, Jean Steel, Lourdes Parker, Laurel & Allen Robins, Nita Rew, Bella Silvus, Mary Roberti, Robin Dale, Jan Towne, Lori Roscher, infant Ezra Freeman, Zoe Hassim, Jon Noble, Tom Neiger, Nancy O’Donnell, Joanne Jones, Lisa Coolahan, Marie Coolahan, Jeannie Morgan, Jennie Horner, Joy Long, John Machen, Sr., Paul Flaherty, Benny Leigh and Kevin Hershey.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR MILITARY MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES:

Captain Andrew Bohn, son of Jeff Bohn & Suanne Dittmeier, U.S. Army, South Korea

Cdr. Ryan Carey, son of Jack & Ginny Carey, US Navy NMCB Battalion 5, Okinawa, Japan

MSGT Kristin Dobson, daughter of Randy & Terry Dobson, Langley AFB, VA

SSGT, EOD, USAF Cameron Farrell, great-nephew of Elaine Lynch, Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro, NC

Master Chief, Andrew Guenther, son-in-law of Eric & Monica Chadwell, USS Nimitz (CVN-68) Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, WA

E-4 Gregory Michel, son of Jill Edmonds-Michel, USAFA, CO

E6, U.S. Navy, John Robert Pizzicar, son-in-law of Jim & Deona Pavik, Ft. Meade, MD

SPEC Zachary Shields, son of LeAnne & David Shields, Guam

Lt. Patrick Sopko, son of Suzanne Sopko and Ronald Sopko, North Island Naval Air Station, Coronado, CA; currently deployed, attached to the USS Nimitz Air Craft Carrier.

Austin Tice, freelance journalist & former Marine Captain, captured in Syria on August 14, 2012

Updated March 15, 2021

FdS Parish Financial Report (Through the end of February 2021) Fiscal Year 2020-2021

Total Income: $114,877 Offertory Income: $101,658 Total Expenses: $111,169 Offertory Budget: $105,600 Income Minus Expenses: $3,708 Difference: -$3,942 As we reach the end of February, our Offertory Income was $3,942 Less Than our budget. That said, we were able to meet our required expenses when you compare total income versus total expenses.

As we move forward, we are counting on continued Parishioner support and generosity. Your generosity is important all the time, but right now, it is critical. If you are able to do so, please continue to contribute to our parish on a weekly or monthly basis. The following are ways to continue your financial support to Church of Francis de Sales:

1. You can bring your Sunday Offering [i.e., envelopes, check, cash] to the Parish Office [Monday & Tuesday 08:00 a.m. to 04:00 p.m. and Friday 08:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon].

2. You can send cash or checks to the Parish Office for each week.

3. If you pay bills online, please consider making your weekly/monthly Offertory an online payment or set up automatic bill pay.

4. You can use the Catholic Diocese of Richmond website to donate online and 100% of all proceeds will go towards your selected parish. Go to:

https://offertory.richmonddicocese.org

Then select our Parish: “Church of Francis de Sales, Mathews – 4011”

There are many opportunities available to support worthwhile causes, but please consider supporting our Parish first. Thank you for your continued financial stewardship especially during this difficult time.

Parish Finance Council questions may be directed to Leon Iveson at [email protected] or cell: (501) 749-2276.

Church of Francis de Sales Contact Information (updated December 22, 2020) Name Committee Email Home Phone Cell Phone

Fr. Gerry Kaggwa Pastor; & Liturgy, Co-Chair [email protected] 804-286-9271

Chuck Dawson Parish Administrator; & [email protected] 804-725-2993 804 -512-8940 Columbarium, Chair

Mary Marshall Office Manager [email protected] 804 -725-2776

Mike Beavers Lectors, Chair [email protected] 804-694-6489

Richard Churray LEMS Coordinator, Chair [email protected] 804-725-8140

Jeffrey Bohn Funeral Coordinator, Chair [email protected] 804-854-1077

Joan Dawson Sacristan, Chair [email protected] 804 -725-2993

Suanne Dittmeier Prayer Chain, Chair & Music, Chair [email protected] 804-854-9620

Allen Downs Grounds Manager [email protected] 804 -725-5807 804-725-6067

Rita Engle Parish Life, Chair [email protected] 804-725-1462 804-824-1599

Christine Dehnert-Fernald Counters, Chair [email protected] 804-725-4943

Rachel Foss Youth Ministry, Co-Chair [email protected] 804 -384-4248

Michelle Haas K-8 Religious Ed., Chair [email protected] 804-695-0549

Claudia Hale Parish Council, Chair [email protected] 804 -854-5410 Alan Hartlove 717-471-4795 Memorial Bricks, Chair Robert Hartlove Building Manager 717-572-4210

Cheryl Henig RCIA, Chair [email protected] 804-725-7750 804-356-2475

Leon Iveson Finance Council, Chair [email protected] 501-749-2276

Christine Johnson Evangelization Program, Chair [email protected] 410-967-8863

Pat Lipinski New Members Chair [email protected] 804 -725-1537 703-969-2430

Elaine Lynch Bulletin; Environment, Chair & [email protected] 804-725-4617 Receptions Clean Up, Chair

Ed McNamee Webmaster [email protected] 571-265-6192

Jon Oliver Acolytes, Chair & [email protected] 804 -725-6702 Youth Ministry, Co-Chair

Michele Oliver Liturgy, Co-Chair [email protected] 804-695-4959 Paul Reardon Greeters, Chair [email protected] 804-384-3339

Phillip & Susan Sanderson Faith Formation, Co-Chairs [email protected] 804-725-9026 804-384-8919

Patti Sarosy [email protected] Pastoral Care, Chair 804-832-3642

Valerie Smith Sunday Hospitality, Chair [email protected] 804-514-5311

Mark Sopko 804-815-2897 Ushers, Chair [email protected]

Helen Yacobucci Parish Outreach, Chair & [email protected] 804-815-7606 Funeral Receptions, Chair

OUR THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES FOR SUPPORTING OUR BULLETIN