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Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 30 October 2022
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
God was definitely smiling on us with his good creation last weekend for an uncommonly perfect day as we celebrated our fall festival/parish picnic! Some 2,000 people came together and enjoyed the afternoon. Thanks to all the many who made it happen – all who brought their side dishes, who grilled the hamburgers and hot dogs, who set up the fun booths and activities for the kids, baked for the cakewalk and supervised the bouncing attractions and rock climbing wall, not to mention everyone who set up so many tables and chairs and cleaned up at the end. It was a labor of love and I hope that no one felt overworked. There were so many people pitching in to provide a great outcome.
Special thanks to the school PTO and the Knights of Columbus for always providing such great support!
"Everyone is happy," someone said to me. "How often do you come across that?" Indeed.
If you think about it, we've had a major event nearly every weekend in the month of October, and it feels like a parish community again. But notice – and this is the most important thing – that it happened because we came together and made it happen together. Let's imagine what else is possible if we join our minds and hearts and make dreams happen.
This week is the beautiful feast day of All Saints, when we celebrate all those who have gone before us who are with God in heaven – all those whose friends didn't have a budget for a formal canonization! I like to include in this group of unrecognized saints so many who I have known and have gone before us already. For those of us who might need a little help to get there we have All Souls' Day, when we remember all those who are undergoing whatever purification is necessary to be comfortable in the presence of God in eternity. It's possible we know some folks in this group, too, and this feast day reminds us of our need to care for each other with prayer, particularly those who depend on it.
The Lord be with you,
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 23 October 2022
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
THIS weekend we will celebrate World Mission Sunday. Pope Francis invites the entire Church to pray and give generously in support of mission dioceses in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe. Your prayers and generous help in next week’s collection for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith will support priests, religious and lay leaders who serve the world’s most vulnerable communities. Thank you!
Save the Date! You are invited to our Saint Bernadette Parish Picnic and Fall Festival Family Day, October 22, 1-5pm. Volunteers will be needed to make this family event a success and all are asked to bring a side dish, a dessert or a snack. Please contact the office if you'd like to give a hand. Find more information and details on page 9.
ECHO's popular Yard Sale will be held on Saturday, October 29 from 8am-noon in the school gym. Proceeds of the sale benefit ECHO whose mission is to help local people who are experiencing an emergency as well as those who have long-term low-income needs.
All Saints’ Day Masses (a holy day of obligation this year): October 31 Vigil Mass, 7:30pm, November 1 Masses at 7 and 9am, Noon, and a 7:30pm (bilingual). The All Souls’ Day Mass schedule includes 7 and 9am, noon, and a 7:30pm bilingual Mass for all our deceased.
Remember loved ones in the All Souls’ Day Novena of Masses. All Masses November 2-10 will be offered for those included in the novena. Remembrance envelopes in which you may include the names of your deceased family or friends are available in the vestibule of the church and parish office. To participate please fill out one of the envelopes with your donation and return them to the parish office before Nov. 2.
This week is the last opportunity to sign up for the Rise Against Hunger Event. Volunteers from the community to pack and distribute 175,000 life-changing meals. Details and a signup link can be found on page 10 of this week's bulletin.
Please note, there will be no 7am daily Mass the weeks of November 7 and 14.
+ + +
+Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates!
Parish Family Picnic, Saturday, October 22, 1-5pm
Echo Yard Sale, Saturday, October 29, 8am-Noon
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 23 October 2022
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
I want to start with thanking all of you for your kindness and patience as we have worked on practicing our bilingual Mass responses. After three weeks, and this being the fourth, we will all be able to attend bilingual evening Masses on All Saints' Day (a holyday of obligation) and All Souls' Day together and be united, familiar with the music for Mass. As holydays come along (and other feasts, like Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 12) we will have one Mass in the evening that is most practical for all, rather than two small Masses as we have done in the past (English 6:30 and Spanish 8pm), two times that really don't work for anyone.
As I have mentioned in the past, there is more than just a matter of convenience here, it is an opportunity to practice real hospitality to those among us, to help people feel like this is their home. Members of the parish who have Spanish as their first language (and some as their only language) are offered only one Mass with Spanish on Sundays. Imagine if your only option was 1pm on Sunday afternoons, probably the least desirable time. Now, imagine if you could go to other Masses and hear something familiar, even sing something you recognize, and realize that the entire parish is welcoming you by singing with you. I realized again the goodness of this when I met a wonderful young couple at Mass last weekend who had come for the first time with their new baby to Mass. Spanish was their original language, but 1pm just didn't work with the baby. They were joyful to discover that we cared enough to help them feel included and are registering here. It was a moment of grace.
Once we are past the first week of November, we will continue to revisit other Mass settings as we always do, and refresh our repertoire of Church music. These things must be planned carefully, because they involve a lot of preparation with choirs and cantors. So, thanks for your wonderful hospitality and patience.
According to an article by the Catholic News Agency in 2015, the average American Catholic was a middle-aged white woman married to a Catholic spouse. Today the American Catholic is younger, less likely to be married, and Spanish speaking. In 2016, 18% of the population of the United States was Hispanic, about 40% of the Catholic Church. 50% of Catholics 14 to 29 were Hispanic, 60% of Catholics under 18 years of age.
Surveys show that the decline in membership of all Christian churches of those who speak English or Spanish is consistently the same, but the presence of Hispanic Catholics is the reason that the Catholic Church continues to show growth in the United States. People who identified as Catholic in the western world declined from 81% in 1986 to 47% in 2020. Catholic population has grown 71% since 1960 due to Hispanics, according to the USCCB website.
The USCCB places the challenge before us, to find new ways of encountering and responding to the Hispanic and Latino presence in the Church, empowering all of us to become missionary disciples.
The Lord be with you,
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 16 October 2022
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
NEXT WEEKEND we will celebrate World Mission Sunday. Pope Francis invites the entire Church to pray and give generously in support of mission dioceses in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe. Your prayers and generous help in next week’s collection for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith will support priests, religious and lay leaders who serve the world’s most vulnerable communities. Thank you!
The Knights of Columbus Springfield Council is holding its annual youth Soccer Challenge this weekend, Sunday, October 16 from 8am until noon on the school athletic field. The event is open to all parish youth ages 9 – 14.
Save the Date! You are invited to our Saint Bernadette Parish Picnic and Fall Festival Family Day, October 22, 1-5pm. Volunteers will be needed to make this family event a success and all are asked to bring a side dish, a dessert or a snack. Please contact the office if you'd like to give a hand. Find more information and details on page 9.
All are invited to El Señor De Los Milagros (The Lord of the Miracles) celebration on Saturday, October 15 at 10am.
ECHO's popular Yard Sale will be held on Saturday, October 29 from 9am-noon in the school gym. Proceeds of the sale benefit ECHO whose mission is to help local people who are experiencing an emergency as well as those who have long-term low-income needs.
+ + +
+Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates!
El Senor de los Milagros/Lord of the Miracles Mass and Procession – Saturday, October 15, 10am
Parish Family Picnic, Saturday, October 22
Echo Yard Sale, Saturday, October 29
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 16 October 2022
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
This past week on October 11 we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Saint Pope John XXIII's speech at the solemn opening of the council on that day in 1962 marked the beginning of the 21st ecumenical council of the Church which would, over the next four years and four sessions, involve the participation of nearly 2,500 bishops, thousands of observers, auditors, sisters, lay men and women. It was the largest, most universal, and most diverse general council in the history of the Church. There were nearly four times as many bishops as the next largest council, and close to ten times as many as attended the two other most influential councils, Nicaea and Trent.
Over the next few years I hope we will use this opportunity to dig into the documents and understand them better, especially as they are deeply formative of who we are as the Church and how we understand our mission in the modern world. I would like to share a bit with you today from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (ch. 2):
10. Christ the Lord, High Priest taken from among [humans], made the new people "a kingdom and priests to God the Father." The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through all those works which are those of the Christian [person] they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. Therefore all the disciples of Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God, should present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Everywhere on earth they must bear witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope of eternal life which is in them.
Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ. The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity.
11. The sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community is brought into operation through the sacraments and the exercise of virtues. Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful are appointed by their baptismal character to Christian religious worship; reborn as sons [and daughters] of God, they must profess before [all] the faith they have received from God through the Church... Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread the faith by word and deed.
The Lord be with you,
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 8 October 2022
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for the Twenty-eight Sunday in Ordinary Time
Consider RCIA, The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults for all those interested in becoming members of the Catholic Church. Monday meetings begin this week, September 12. Call the parish office to register!
Concerts at Saint Bernadette presents the first concert of our 2022-2023 season, welcoming international concert pianist John Robilette, Wednesday, October 12 at 7:30pm, in the church. The Knights of Columbus Springfield Council will hold its annual youth Soccer Challenge on Sunday, October 16 from 8am until noon on the school athletic field. The event is open to all parish youth ages 9 – 14. See page 6 for more information.
Please join us for our Anniversary Mass for the Dedication of our Church on Friday, October 14 at 7:30pm in the Church. A light reception will follow in the vestibule.
Save the Date! You are invited to our Saint Bernadette Parish Picnic and Fall Festival Family Day, October 22. Volunteers will be needed to make this family event a success and all are asked to bring a side dish, a dessert or a snack. Please contact the office if you'd like to give a hand. Find more information and details on page 9.
All are invited to the Lord of the Miracles (El Senor De Los Milagros) celebration. on Saturday, October 15 at 10am. The Lord of the Miracles is a mural painted of Jesus Christ that is venerated in the country of Peru and throughout the world by Peruvians. The mural became famous after it withstood the many violent earthquakes that shook the City of Lima and for this reason it became known also as “The Lord of Earthquakes,” a divine sign that recognizes the Lord God as all powerful. There were many who swore the image was responsible for miracles that happened in their lives. The image became known as the “Lord of Miracles” and now is the Patron Saint of Peru.
+ + +
+Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates!
Anniversary Mass for the Dedication of our church, Friday, October 14
El Senor de los Milagros/Lord of the Miracles Mass and Procession – Saturday, October 15, 10am
Parish Family Picnic, Saturday, October 22
Echo Yard Sale, Saturday, October 29
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 8 October 2022
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
Thanks, first of all, to all of you for your generosity of spirit as we sing bilingual Mass parts for a while. One of the things we are not very good about as a Church is intentionally welcoming people from other places speaking other languages to our common gatherings, especially the Mass. In our case, we have probably 1/4 of the parish who speaks Spanish and only offer them one option on Sundays at 1pm. Imagine how that would impact your life if you were given only one opportunity to really feel at home at Mass – right in the middle of the afternoon. By this simple gesture, we make it clear that those who speak Spanish are welcome at all the Masses. Hospitality must start at home.
In my homily last week, reflecting on what it is to be disciple/servants of God, I spoke of how we can't earn God's love, and the good news is that we don't have to. He loves you wherever you are, he loves you completely. He can't love you more, he can't love you less, and we're not living a test working toward a report card at the end, when he will pass or fail us. Although it is true we can reject his love and separate ourselves from him, he always will welcome us back. It is his perfect system, and all the sacraments provide us guidance on the path.
Especially this past weekend, I found myself grateful that we are in the Good News business. So much bad news in the world right now. The fruit of that Good News became visible last weekend as 114 young women and men from our school and religious education program received the sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Burbidge.
To those of you who were confirmed last week – and to all of you who have been confirmed – reflect on the promise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit you have received. Reflect on the power of those gifts. I said last week, for whatever reason, when I heard Jesus say "if you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to that tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would happen. Unfortunately, in my mind, I had always inserted the word "only" into the saying. "If you only had..."
But Jesus is speaking to the people whom he already has personally called, including you: he knows their faith, he knows yours. It is so much greater than the size of a mustard seed, but Jesus is saying that, even so, with only a little faith anything is possible. We become servants of his amazing power and bring it to the world by our willingness to serve.
If we could begin to consider the simple truth of this statement, the Church would experience a reawakening that is unimaginable. With faith, what is unimaginable is absolutely possible because it is not up to us to provide the power, only the servant's heart to make it happen.
Speaking of reawakening! Recently we celebrated Grandparents' Day in the school with a Mass which filled the church. At Confirmation last weekend, again, about 1,000 people attended. The upcoming Mass and festival of El Senor de los Milagros and our Parish Picnic will be events which will bring us all together in ways we haven't seen in a long time, thanks be to God! Please come!
The Lord be with you,
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 2 October 2022
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Consider RCIA, The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults for all those interested in becoming members of the Catholic Church. Monday meetings begin this week, September 12. Call the parish office to register!
Sunday, October 2 is Respect Life Sunday. Join us as we participate in the 35th annual Life Chain, praying and quietly standing in public witness to the sanctity of human life! Please, see page 7. The St. Lucy Project will have a food drive the weekend of October 1& 2. A St. Lucy truck will be in the front parking lot to receive donations. Be sure to pick up blue bags for food collection this weekend!.
Concerts at Saint Bernadette presents the first concert of our 2022-2023 season, welcoming international concert pianist John Robilette, Wednesday, October 12 at 7:30pm, in the church.
Save the Date! You are invited to our Saint Bernadette Parish Picnic and Fall Festival Family Day, October 22. Volunteers will be needed to make this family event a success. Please contact the office if you'd like to give a hand. More information and details will be in next weekend’s bulletin.
All are invited to the Lord of the Miracles (El Senor De Los Milagros) celebration. on Saturday, October 15 at 10am. The Lord of the Miracles is a mural painted of Jesus Christ that is venerated in the country of Peru and throughout the world by Peruvians. The mural became famous after it withstood the many violent earthquakes that shook the City of Lima and for this reason it became known also as “The Lord of Earthquakes,” a divine sign that recognizes the Lord God as all powerful. There were many who swore the image was responsible for miracles that happened in their lives. The image became known as the “Lord of Miracles” and now is the Patron Saint of Peru
+ + +
+Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates!
Anniversary Mass for the Dedication of our church, Friday, October 14
El Senor de los Milagros/Lord of the Miracles Mass and Procession – Saturday, October 15, 10am
Parish Family Picnic, Saturday, October 22
Echo Yard Sale, Saturday, October 29
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 2 October 2022
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
The results of our Parish Life Weekend Ministry Fair are in. You can see the list to the left where we have listed parish ministries' leadership/service commitments. (Please notice, those who signed up for classes, Bible studies, social or prayer groups as participants are not included.) These leadership/service commitments represent both the sign-up sheets from the ministry fair as well as the back commitment page of the parish Ministry Catalogue booklet which were returned (32). Since people making commitments signed up for as many as six different ministries, the number of persons (both new and renewing) totals about 150.
Please don't read this number as a bleak forecast for the coming year, however! For example, we already have more than 60 catechists and aides in our Religious Education Program and they didn't fill out a commitment page. Another good example is our RCIA team, with six members already plus the two new ones are listed here. Our choirs and other liturgical ministers are obviously already meeting and serving at Masses, so these numbers largely represent new commitments.
It is not too late to make commitments. Please return them within this week so you will be included in the communications as we begin to respond to your commitments.
I have a couple of observations. Especially since the Gospel in these weeks squarely addresses the fact that it is not okay to do nothing for the poor, our outreach to those in need needs your serious attention.
We would all agree that the youth of our parish are a priority and we need to help them know the faith and that they belong. This response to Youth Ministry also needs your serious attention.
In the next few weeks we will start meeting about the Parish Capital Campaign Part 2. If there are any of you with campaign experience, especially those who helped with the first three-year campaign which just ended in July, please contact me directly. This is also a priority if we hope to make the window before the BLA starts again in January – and needs your serious attention. More about this will come very soon.
Response to the ministries that take place outside of normal Mass times are admittedly thin, but I am confident that the right leaders, with prayer and determination, will be able to build around them groups of dedicated servers to accomplish something new this year. If not, we will wait until God raises up those needed to succeed in the future.
Accept our thanks, those of you who made commitments for the coming year in parish ministry. Our parish staff is only as successful as you who serve in those ministries which bring a parish to life. Thanks especially to those of you who are trying something new this year, I hope you find the ministry that makes your heart light and draws you closer to God and our parish family.
The Lord be with you,
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 25 September 2022
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Consider RCIA, The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults for all those interested in becoming members of the Catholic Church. Monday meetings begin this week, September 12. Call the parish office to register!
Did you miss a wedding anniversary celebration due to the pandemic? All couples are invited to a Wedding Anniversaries Mass on Friday, September 30 at 7:30 pm to celebrate. A light reception will follow Mass. Unfortuantely, without sufficient response, the event will be canceled. Please call the parish office to register no later than Monday, September 26. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED
The St. Lucy Project will have a food drive the weekend of October 1& 2. A St. Lucy truck will be in the front parking lot to receive donations. Be sure to pick up blue bags for food collection this weekend!.
Sunday, October 2 is Respect Life Sunday. Join us as we participate in the 35th annual Life Chain, praying and quietly standing in public witness to the sanctity of human life! Please, see page 8.
+ + +
+Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates!
Wedding Anniversaries Mass on Friday, September 30 at 7:30 pm
Anniversary Mass for the Dedication of our church,
Friday, October 14
El Senor de los Milagros/Lord of the Miracles Mass
and Procession – Saturday, October 15, 10am
Parish Family Picnic, Saturday, October 22
Echo Yard Sale, Saturday, October 29
