March 21, 2021 Fifth Sunday of Lent (B), Third Scrutiny 1 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 2 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. 3 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) 4 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.