The Catholic Community of St John the Baptist April 5, 2020 Palm Sunday

WELCOME Whether you’re a registered parishioner or first-time visitor, we hope you feel welcome. There are many ways to get involved. If you have any questions, please let one of our staff members know or call the parish office 253-630-0701 Mission StateMENT The Catholic Community of St. John the Baptist: Where stewardship is a way of life and the diversity of our gifts is used to answer Christ’s call to proclaim and live the Gospel. Gather in God’s Name, Grow in God’s Time, Go in God’s Spirit PARISH STAFF

Rev. Jim Coyne, Pastor ext. [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for Liturgy & Pastoral Care Laurie Moloney, ext [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for Administration Kathy Wickward, ext 103 [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for Stewardship & Evangelization Anne Frederick, ext. [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for Faith Formation, RCIA & Sacramental Prep Joan Williamson, ext. [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for PreSchool/Elementary Faith Formation Amy Bonte, ext [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for Youth Ministry 5-12 Chelsea Wilde ext [email protected] Pastoral Asst. for Social Outreach and Advocacy Andrea Mendoza, ext 115- [email protected] Music Ministry Coordinator Luis Diaz de Leon, ext. [email protected] Administrative Asst. (Bulletin) Connie Tietz, ext. [email protected] Bookkeeper Nancy Moore, ext. [email protected] SCHEDULE OF LITURGIES Facility Steward David Aldous, ext. [email protected] ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH AND PARISH OFFICE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE CONTACT INFORMATION IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE PLEASE Church/Office: 25810 156th Ave SE, Covington, WA 98042 CALL THE PARISH OFFICE-253-630- Phone: 253-630-0701 0701 AND SOMEONE WILL CONTACT E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.sjtbcc.org Regular Office Hours: YOU. Monday-Friday 9 am - 4:30pm Saturday, 10 am - 3 pm ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH

FROM YOUR PASTOR GUATAMALA CORNER

Welcome to Holy Week! I think it’s safe to say that this is An Immigration Story: the strangest Triduum we’ve ever encountered. We will My mission experience to Union de Aldeas Corpus Cristi be recording the rites of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil but in an abridged format. On How does the immigrant story of the Holy Families journey to Egypt relate the Guatemalans journey to America today and Thursday we will not record the washing of the feet but why do we struggle to connect the two stories as Americans you may do it for each other at home. On Friday you and Catholics? may wish to venerate your crucifix. At the Easter Vigil we will forego the Liturgy of Baptism until a future day Every one of my (6) trips have been different from the first trip. (perhaps the Vigil of Pentecost). Regardless, I pray that This one took on a new focus with respect to our Catholic Social each of us enter this time with an openness to relive the Teaching on accepting the stranger, the foreigner in our midst passion and death of our Savior so that we may rise to and the immigrant and how we welcome them like family into new life with him. our cities, towns and homes. The reality of the Holy Family is very relevant today with Guatemalans in the Region of San Marcos and in our Sister Villages and Parishes. As I mentioned at the end of last week’s mass, Archbishop Etienne has asked me and the other priests The Holy Family had to flee persecution to a foreign land of transitioning to other parishes or retirement this year to Egypt to escape the potential death of the infant Jesus because stay another year at their respective parishes in light of of the edict of King Herod to kill the oldest son in each family to the coronavirus. I concur with his decision and am happy destroy the threat of a Newborn King. Today many of our to be able to be with you another year. May the Lord brothers and sisters in Central America live the same reality of bless us all. the Holy Family. There are no jobs, a poor education system, no sustaining economy and in the bigger cities a propensity to Fr. Jim have to choose from gang membership or death.

The new and old testaments reflect this reality via Jesus teachings. Jesus reiterates the Old Testament command to love2020 and care for the stranger, a criterion by which we shall be judged: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me" (Mt 25:35).

So how do we live out the Justice of the Church to welcome the stranger in our communities? We become people of action. No one in our sister communities wants to leave their homelands. So how can we help. Education is the one virtue which can change the reality of our brothers and sisters in Guatemala. Currently most children do not make it past middle school. Especially young girls and women of the family. We as a community can embrace the notion of creating education opportunities for children and teens which could change this daily reality. A high school education is not free in Guatemala. Holy Week Schedule With the cost of transportation, books and tuition most of our We will be posting videos of the Holy Week Masses and villages live knowing there is not much opportunity for them beyond 7th grade. I believe our parish and broader community Services on the St. John’s web page and on our can change this reality by raising funds for education and letting Facebook page at the following times: our brothers and sisters in our communities be the stewards of these resources to help solve some of the access problems to Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion education. Saturday, April 4, 5:30 pm Thursday of the Lord’s Supper I believe at the core of my faith the notion if you give a young Thursday, April 9, at 7 pm person the resources to be educated, they begin to dream Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion about the potential of tomorrow and begin to change the daily Friday, April 10, at 7 pm reality of their current circumstances. Easter Mass I look forward to the future dialog around education and Saturday, April 11, at 8 pm enterprise as we help our companions in Guatemala reach their true potential of living out the gifts of the spirit, they were all We invite you to celebrate rituals that we are unable to blessed with in being images of the creator. Come join us and celebrate at church this year, such as foot washing on change this reality. Holy Thursday and venerating the cross on Good Friday. Liturgical Press has created a wonderful resource, Holy By: Jim Tanasse Week at Home, to help you celebrate with your family. Reconciliation with God during the Coronavirus and the Season of Lent The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Forgiveness his work of healing and salvation even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. (ccc1421) As my love of the Lord grows, I seek out many spiritual aids. For example, I went to the spiritual retreat in The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) is about January 2020 here at St. John’s. In our small faith share conversion, change, turning back to God, desiring and group I expressed the need to forgive. I was told about a acting in a way that restores my relationship with the very One who created me! When I turn back to God, I turn back book called Everybody Needs to Forgive Somebody. As to the One who knows me best, knows my design best, the usual I went right out and purchased it. I'm not a big One who will lead me to become the best version of myself reader. I tend to fall asleep or reread the same paragraph for both me and all of humanity! This conversion includes over and over again. One evening—I think with a little reflection, contrition, confession, absolution, and to practice nudge from the Lord—I started reading the book. I was doing it differently. We take time to ask the questions, up until 2 am and able to retain what I read. “What is in the way of my relationship with God? Where am I intentionally falling short of living out the Good News of When we think about forgiveness, we tend to think about Jesus Christ within the world around me, and at large? How reconciliation. I’ve always questioned whether or not we have I intentionally harmed my neighbor?” We name our need to go to traditional reconciliation. Of course, if you brokenness (sin), we pray for a heart that is sorrowful about have major sin, it's required of us. I've been to confession these choices. We confess our sins to God via the Priest with Fr. Jim a couple of times, and it was a great who then gives us some ways to practice doing it differently. experience. But I wonder if it’s okay to ask for forgiveness We are then blessed with God’s love and absolution. We outside of the reconciliation room if you are sincere. walk away restored in our relationship with God, as well as walking in communion with the Church. A heart of sorrow This is where the book Everybody Needs to Forgive would also have us find ways to go back and restore Somebody helped me find my way. Each story in the book wholeness to those we have sinned against by expressing describes a real-life situation. At the end of each story our sorrow and asking for forgiveness in person. It is about there is an exercise to help you apply it to your own life. letting God restore a love relationship with us. Before I knew it, past situations started bubbling up and “Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon flooding my mind. The exercise was so profound I could from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, not keep up. For a couple evenings I was catching up at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by with my past. prayer labors for their conversion.” (ccc1422) Then my life started to change. A weight was lifted off me. As Catholics we are asked to go to the Sacrament of I was more relaxed. And now my heart beats to a different Reconciliation (Penance) at least once a year if in serious drum. Now I feel closer to the Lord. I'm able to share a sin. Our less serious sin is forgiven in the smile a little laughter and joy. I'm the best version of me. celebration/participation of mass. It has been difficult this What a great feeling! Lent to have those opportunities due to the social restrictions place on us in response to the coronavirus. Have you ever wondered if you can forgive and forget? I Know that we can spend time in prayer reconciling our forgave all of those who have hurt me, and then I was relationships with God at home right now, it is about coming able to forget. I still have more forgiving to do, but now I back to the One who loves us most. I remember being on a know how to handle it. The book Everybody Needs to very scary plane ride in 1987, I thought for sure we were Forgive Somebody just happens to be in St. Johns the going to crash. I remember opening the Bible to the Ten Commandments (Ex20.2-17) and having one of the best Baptist library confessions that I’ve ever had with God! These moments I now understand what Living a Legacy of Love is all are not the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but the Church about for me. states that God forgives us when we are sorrowful and ask. We can have these moments at home, right now, then when Kathleen Grizzle we are able to meet again, we can celebrate mass and/or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. At this time we can celebrate God’s love for us by having a personal examine and asking God for forgiveness, praying together as a family, or pray an act of contrition. Remember, reconciliation isn’t a transaction between us and God, it is an act of love. It is not about changing God’s mind to love us more, rather it changes our own minds about ourselves. Below are a couple articles on the topic directly related to this historic moment in our lives:

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/03/20/pope- francis-authorizes-plenary-indulgences-and-general- absolution-coronavirus

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/03/27/read- pope-francis-urbi-et-orbi-address-coronavirus-and-jesus- calming-storm Prayer Space in Your Home Are you missing the sacred space of the church right now? My guess is AND THE PEOPLE STAYED HOME that when we are able to return to St. John’s for prayer together, you and I will feel a sense of home, a sense of holy that we have been away And read books, and listened, and rested and from. Even though we are away from our Sacred Space, the Sacred is exercised, and made art, and played games, and not away from us! Know that in the midst of the change this coronavirus has brought to us…in the different, weird, and strange that we are learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened experiencing…it is good to remember that God is always with us! more deeply. Through the Holy Spirit who resides within each of us upon our baptisms, Jesus the Word of God who speaks to us in our hearts and Some meditated, some prayed and some danced. minds, and the Father our Creator who holds us in the palm of His hand we can trust that God’s got this! And God’s got each one of us! Some met their shadows. And the people began Wherever we are there the Sacred is! to think differently. Space is important in life; it helps to give definition to action. The space of a church is used to pray in, think about God in, be And the people healed. And, in the absence of reminded of the Holy in. Our homes have places of People living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, entertainment, food prep and consumption, sleeping, personal And heartless ways, the earth began to heal. hygiene, passages from space to space. In your home do you have a little space set aside to pray in? Even just a chair to come to each day for a moment with God, pondering the big And when the danger passed, and the people questions of life? It might be a good time to designate a space joined together again, they grieved their losses, in your home for prayer, you can call it our family’s prayer and made new choices, and dreamed new space! When someone is in the prayer space it is important for images, and created new ways to live and heal the rest of the members of the household to honor that person the earth fully, as they had been healed with solitude while they are there. Kitty O’Meara How do you create a prayer space? First designate a place that will only be used for prayer, it might be a little corner in the living room or in your bedroom, it might be a little nitch in the kitchen, or it might even be a small room that you set aside for prayer. Talk with your When you go out and see the empty streets, the empty family/household members to define the space and make a stadiums, the empty train platforms, don’t say to yourself. commitment to keeping this a space for prayer! “It looks like the end of the world.” Second give the space an environment that helps you focus on God. You may want to find a picture of the Holy (Jesus, Madonna & Child, an Icon, etc), or a statue of Jesus to have as What you’re seeing is love in action. What you’re seeing, a center piece in the space. You can use textiles and objects to in that negative space, is how much we do care for each help set the space. Candles and incense can be nice as well. other, for our grandparents, for our immune-compromised Remember, these are things that will help you think about God brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet. and holiness. You may want to have a way to bring sacred music into your space also. People will lose jobs over this. Some will lose their Third find sacramentals to add to your space. Crucifix, businesses. And some will lose their lives. All the more rosaries, prayer cards, etc. These are items that bring a special reason to take a moment, when you’re out on your walk, sense of God to the space, and/or may also be tools for prayer. You can include pictures of the canonized Saints of the Church, or on your way to the store, or just watching the news, to as well as pictures of the saints in your family that have gone look into the emptiness and marvel at all of that love.. before you. This would also include the Bible and other books that you could use to pray with. Let it fill you and sustain you. Finally, make a date with your space to have a little personal It isn’t the end of the world. It is the most remarkable act prayer each day! Make a date with those in your household to of global solidarity we may ever witness. have family prayer at least once a week. This might also be the Submitted by a friend of Andrea Mendoza space that you watch mass together in, each Sunday while we are distancing ourselves from others to lower the curve of the virus. In terms of how to pray? Here is a little method that might be helpful: Praise and Thank God for the many gifts that you have been given! Ask God for what you and others need! As a household, make Join Fr. Jim every a list of petitions that you will hold up in your personal and your weekend on our family prayer times! website Listen to God. Take some time just to be quiet before the Lord. www.sjtbcc.org, as After five minutes or so, you may want to read scripture to hear he says Mass God speak to you. Romans is a great book to read during this time of difficulty and struggle in the world around us. Music is another great gift to hear God’s message from, maybe listen to a song you like. Hopefully this will help bring more prayer, solace, comfort, and peace into you and your family’s lives. Each time I go to my prayer space I will be holding you in prayer. May god’s presence be deeply felt in our homes. Amen Blessings and Love, Joan Williamson Please Support The Advertisers On Our Bulletin As They Make It Possible For Us To Have A Bulletin Each Week

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