Pastor’s Corner — Sunday, August 18th, 2024
Adding Some Confession Time
To allow for more time for confessions before Saturday afternoon Mass we are pushing the Saturday afternoon confession time back to 3:30pm (from 4pm). This will go into effect next weekend Saturday, August 24th. Starting next week our confession schedule will be:
Wednesdays at 4:30pm
Thursdays at 4:30pm
Saturdays at 8:30am and 3:30pm
Just some reminders:
• On Saturday mornings and Saturday afternoons we almost always have two priests hearing confessions simultaneously. But on Wednesday and Thursday
afternoons we only have one. Nevertheless, it is getting more difficult to find subs for Saturday confessions, so on occasion there will only be one.
• Confession lines vary significantly from day to day but we generally stay until all confessions are done. It is only on rare occasions when we can’t find a sub or have to leave early for an important event do we cancel or end confessions early.
Anointing of the Sick Mass: Tuesday August 27th at 10am
Fr. Joshua and I will be offering our quarterly Mass with the Anointing of the Sick on Tuesday August 27th at 10am in the Church. The Sacrament is a tremendous gift to the Church from the Lord and its communal celebration is not just a practical way to anoint more people, it also provides an atmosphere of faith so that we can approach Jesus our Healer together. Remember, that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick can be given to any baptized Catholic who is one or more of the following:
a. seriously ill (you could die from the illness you have) or
b. about to undergo serious surgery, or
c. an elderly person who has become notably weakened through age, or
d. a seriously ill child who is the age of reason, or
e. actively dying
I’ve seen God bring about tremendous peace, spiritual and emotional healing, and even physical healing through the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. If you need the Anointing of the Sick, please plan on coming and allow the Risen Christ to bless you.
Preaching Series #3: A Helpful Website for Going to Mass When on Vacation
In light of my homily last Sunday in which I encouraged us to persevere in giving a good witness to our families by going to Sunday Mass, I want to share a good resource with people. With the uniquity of smartphones and the internet at our fingertips, it’s easier than ever to look up churches and their Mass times when we’re away from our parish. But there is one website that I recommend the most that makes looking up Mass times very easy: www.masstimes.org. This website not only has Mass times for all parishes in the country, it also has confession times. For the most part I think parishes keep their information current and updated. I highly recommend it.
Gathering Space Renovation Project Set to Begin Next Month
Starting the first week of September we will finally be renovating the gathering space in the back of the Church with new finishes to match those of the inside of the Church. This also involves us changing the wall of the cry room area to add more visibility from that room into the Church. This project, which will last until mid-October, is made possible by a generous benefactor. We’ll share more updates about this as it gets closer.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias