Office of Vicar General Very Reverend William D. Thompson To: Priests, Deacons, Diocesan Employees, Parish Administrators, Parish Secretaries, and Seminarians From: Very Rev. William D. Thompson, Vicar General Re: September Diocesan Update Date: September 1, 2020 Every shower and dew, bless the Lord; Nights and days, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. praise and exalt him above all forever. All you winds, bless the Lord; Light and darkness, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. praise and exalt him above all forever. Fire and heat, bless the Lord; Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. praise and exalt him above all forever. Cold and chill, bless the Lord; Let the earth bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever. praise and exalt him above all forever. Dew and rain, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. ~ Daniel 3: 64-74 Frost and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. Appointments: The Most Rev. John M. Quinn, Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, announces the following: Dean Very Rev. Thomas Loomis: reappointed Dean of the Rochester Deanery, effective September 1, 2020. Loyola Catholic Schools Ms. Jennifer Fraze: reappointed to a three-year term on the Loyola Catholic Schools Board of Trustees, effective July 22, 2020, through June 30, 2023. Mr. Gary Zellmer: reappointed to a three-year term on the Loyola Catholic Schools Board of Trustees, effective July 22, 2020, through June 30, 2023. Office of Divine Worship: Large Print Roman Missal: The National Catholic Partnership on Disability now offers a large print Third Edition of the Roman Missal in English, to priests and deacons with vision issues. It is available both in file form on a CD and printed forms. They are free of charge, but they do ask for a donation to their organization. The missals are available in three sizes of type. They can be found at this link: https://ncpd.org/roman-missal. Office of SPOF: Holy Land Collection: In early April, Rome moved this year’s Holy Land collection, which normally takes place on Good Friday, to Sunday, September 13. The Christian communities in the Holy Land benefit every year from the generosity of the faithful from all over the world. This solidarity enables them to continue their evangelical presence, in addition to maintaining schools and social structures that assist all citizens with healthcare, education, and peaceful coexistence, attending above all to the weakest and poorest. Please publish this date change in your bulletins, websites. etc. Please send all monies received in this collection to the Diocese of Winona-Rochester Special Collections. Office of Life, Marriage and Family, and Faith Formation: Marriage Anniversary Mass: The annual Marriage Anniversary Mass will take place at 2:00 pm on Sunday, September 13, at Holy Spirit Parish in Rochester. Please post the attached flyer and add the following paragraph to your bulletins: The Most Reverend John M. Quinn, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, in recognition and gratitude of your years of marriage, requests the honor of your presence at the Diocesan Marriage Anniversary Mass: Sunday, September 13. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will take place at two o’clock in the afternoon at Holy Spirit Parish, 5455 50th Ave NW, Rochester. In order to keep you and your spouse safe, we are asking that ONLY the celebrating couple attend the Mass. There will not be a reception, but an anniversary certificate will be given to each couple after Mass. If you wish to participate online only, please register at www.dowr.org (and let us know that is your preference) and we will send you the liturgy program via e-mail. Pre-Cana: Please see the attached listing of Pre-Cana offerings for this year. Catechetical Sunday: The Church will celebrate Catechetical Sunday on September 20. On this day, catechists may be formally commissioned for ministry to the community. Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each baptized person plays in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. The 2020 Catechetical Sunday theme is taken from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (11:23): “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to You.” The theme focuses on the primary substance of catechesis, which is an invitation to a whole new life given by Christ Himself. It emphasizes that living faith necessitates movement, inspiring all those who hear the Word to share it as witnesses of the true and living God. Attached is a certificate you may use for a Commissioning Service. Numerous other resources are available at the USCCB website, including prayer cards, posters, and a Commissioning Service Liturgy Resource (also available in Spanish). Faith Formation Guidelines: The COVID-19 Guidelines for Faith Formation and Youth Ministry Programs of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester have been sent to all priests, Faith Formation Directors, and Youth Ministry Directors. They can also be found on the diocese’s COVID-19 page, and are addressed on the diocese’s COVID-19 FAQ page. Respect Life Month: This month each parish will be receiving materials to assist in celebrating Respect Life Month in October. The 2020 theme is “Live the Gospel of Life,” and the tagline is “to imitate Christ and follow in his footsteps” (Evangelium vitae 51). Please see the attached document for an explanation of the materials you will be receiving. Thank you for all you do during Respect Life Month! Office of Missionary Discipleship, Lay Formation and RCIA: Update on Missionary Discipleship: Later this week, Fr. Will Thompson, Vicar General, will be sending out an update to priests and deacons on current diocesan plans for Missionary Discipleship. This will especially address moving forward in light of having to cancel most of the spring deanery workshops, and postponing our annual Ministry Days. Pastors are 2 asked to share this update with the staff / parishioners on the leadership teams that did / were going to attend the spring deanery meetings. Alpha Training: If you want to foster spiritual community in your parish, refocus on the basic good news in a time of pandemic, and do some spiritual outreach to those outside of the Church, consider running Alpha Online this fall. (This also works very well as the Inquiry stage of RCIA.) Although Alpha is typically in-person, there are some advantages to Alpha Online, including attracting new people who wouldn’t come in person but are open to Zoom. It is also entirely free if you have Zoom Pro (otherwise, you spend $60 for three months of Zoom Pro). Those interested in experiencing Alpha Online are welcome to a Zoom meeting Tuesday, September 8, 10:30 am-Noon. Susan Windley-Daoust will introduce Alpha and how it works online. Starting September 22, we will meet and “do Alpha” on Tuesdays, 11:00 am-12:15 pm, until late November. Most people new to Alpha have more confidence offering it if they have been through the process themselves. For more information, contact Susan Windley-Daoust at [email protected]. Discipleship Quads: Susan Windley-Daoust will be offering a 45-minute introduction to Discipleship Quads, via Zoom, on Friday, September 18, at noon. Find out how simple they are to implement, and how these small groups can be the engine of deeper discipleship, connection, and outreach in your parish. They can be offered in-person or online. Contact Rosalie Beyer (subject line: Discipleship Quad sign up) at [email protected] to register. Evangelization Discernment Retreat: The second (western) session of the Christ’s Love Compels Us: Evangelization Discernment Retreat will be September 11-13, at Shalom Hill Farm near Windom, and co-led by Dr. Susan Windley- Daoust and Fr. Jonathan Fasnacht. There are a couple of spots left! Please consider signing up, or encouraging others who may be looking for time and space to discern their call to share the Gospel. COVID-19 protocols will be in place. Contact Susan Windley-Daoust at [email protected] with any questions. Registration and more information can be found here. Fall Ministry Day: An online diocesan Fall Ministry Day will be held Thursday, October 15, 9:00 am-3:15 pm (with a midday break between the morning and afternoon sessions). The title for the day is, “New Wine into New Wineskins: The ‘How’ of Missionary Discipleship in Our New Reality.” Rich Curran from the Parish Success Group, who was the scheduled presenter / facilitator for our June Ministry Days, will lead the day. Program and registration information will be forthcoming. For more information, please contact Susan Windley-Daoust, Director of Missionary Discipleship (507-858-1277 / [email protected]) or Todd Graff, Director of Lay Formation and RCIA (507-858-1270 / [email protected]). RCIA Update: As we continue to navigate this pandemic, Christian initiation ministry is significantly affected. This past spring, a RCIA resource page was developed, to address questions pastors and RCIA leaders may be facing regarding the Elect and Candidates, and the celebration of the RCIA rites and Sacraments of Initiation. We encourage parishes to carry on with RCIA ministry (i.e., catechesis, service, prayer, liturgical rites, etc.) as they are able while following COVID-19 protocols. This is an opportune time to focus on “one-on-one” formation and mentorship with catechumens and candidates. For guidance on in-person formation sessions, the diocesan Faith Formation Guidelines should be consulted and followed. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of help to you in any way: ❖ Todd Graff (507-858-1270 / [email protected]) ❖ Camille Withrow (507-858-1271 / [email protected]) Institute of Lay Formation: Formation sessions for our diocesan Institute of Lay Formation were suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.