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Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 27 June 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
This week we come to the end of our fiscal year 2020-2021. Nice to have it in the rear-view mirror! We usually publish the financials in the fall and will have the hard numbers for you later, but we are able to see the general overview of this past year, with its stillness and volatility.
Considering the uncertainties and risks of this year, and the very limited guidelines of in-person participation at liturgies, I have to say we have done well, and we are very grateful to all of you who have continued to be so faithful in supporting our parish community. Thank you.
Overall, collections were down last year by 8%, about $240,000, and at the year-end summary this is basically our shortfall, parish and school. This is a significant number, especially as our offertory has been flat pretty much since before I came here five years ago. We will probably have to schedule an offertory enhancement program this fall to try to dig back out of the lingering effects of a global pandemic.
One of the things that many people don't realize is that the tuition our families pay doesn't benefit the parish as a contribution. In fact, tuition only covers about 85% of the cost of educating our children. That is why we consider our school one of the primary ministries of our parish life and seek to make Catholic education as available as we can to people in various economic situations. Catholic schools need to survive and thrive. For that reason you see the monthly tuition assistance envelopes and the occasional fun-run or day of giving when we reach out to the wider parish to help our school. If it hadn't been for the federal PPP loan, CARES Grants and the USDA free breakfast and lunch programs in the school, our financial situation would look a lot different.
We finalized the budget for 2021-2022 this week and I have to say we are still proceeding with a higher-than-normal level of uncertainty. We don't know what the school situation looks like for next year, although we plan to have all students in school. If restrictions are lowered, we can fully enroll our preschool and fully open our extended day programs which will help balance the budget in the school (at present we have a reduced registration in both programs determined by the guidelines set by VA Department of Social Services).
Many have said that, at this new beginning following pandemic, that we, as a parish are poised for amazing spiritual and community growth. I hope you can feel the excitement and hope that we feel. Many of our parish/school team members are transitioning right how. We welcome our new Director of Youth Ministry this week, Sara Giffin, and next week our new Principal, Darcie Girmus, will be here. Later in July our new school Registrar will also be joining us. It is a time of real team building focusing on the holy unity that is God's will for all his people, as well as for our parish and school family.
Wishing you safety in travels, rest and renewal in your leisure, accomplishment in your work, and confidence in the absolute love of God.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 20 June 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary TIme
Religious Education Registration for School Year 2021-22 is now open on the parish website. The initial registration period runs from June 1 to July 16 with a special Early Bird tuition rate: $75 for one child, $125 for two children, and $150 for three or more children. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July to help us plan for the fall. Tuition prices will increase on July 17.
Today is World Refugee Day. For resources from the USCCB please visit https://justiceforimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/WRD-2021-Toolkit1.pdfToday is World Refugee Day. For resources from the USCCB please visit https://justiceforimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/WRD-2021-Toolkit1.pdf
God of our Wandering Ancestors,Long have we known yhat your heart is with the refugee: you were born into time in a family of refugees, fleeing violence in their homeland,who then gathered up their hungry child and fled into alien country. Their cry, your cry, resounds through the ages: “Will you let me in?”
Give us hearts that break open when our brothers and sisters turn to us with that same cry.Then surely all these things will follow:Ears will no longer turn deaf to their voices.Eyes will see a moment for grace instead of a threat. Tongues will not be silenced but will instead advocate. And hands will reach out—working for peace in their homeland,working for justice in the lands where they seek safe haven. Lord, protect all refugees in their travels. May they find a friend in me and so make me worthy f the refuge I have found in you. Amen.
provided by Catholic Relief Services
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 20 June 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
You know the old saying – if you see one mouse you probably have four or five – so this is probably worth the mention. Several of our parishioners have contacted me about their unease attending Mass with so many children under 12 (obviously unvaccinated) who are now here without masks. I can only ask parents to please honor the mask guidelines which are still in place for unvaccinated persons so that those with concerns might be cared for and feel welcome. This is why I ask all our eucharistic ministers to still wear a mask, so that no one might feel uneasy about coming forward to receive Holy Communion.
As I write this today (Monday), we have just listened at Mass to the gospel where Jesus instructs his disciples to turn the other cheek, to give more than what is demanded, to go the extra mile if one is expected. It speaks to a radical hospitality that goes beyond the usual understanding that I believe most people have of being hospitable. It is well beyond welcoming or being a pleasant host or offering a snack. We read this in the rule of St. Benedict:
“All guests are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (RB 53:1)
“By a bow of the head or by a complete prostration of the body, Christ is to be adored because he is indeed welcomed in them.” (RB 53:7)
“Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received; our very awe of the rich guarantees them special respect.” (RB 53:15)
While Benedictine hospitality calls us to welcome all people as Christ, and to remember that what we do for others we do for Christ, it also calls us to put on the heart of Christ as we receive others.
In the gospels, we hear of Jesus reaching out to the people who are most on the margins: the poor, the sick, the stranger, the outcast, the widow, the sinful. In each of the stories, we hear of Jesus taking notice, reaching out, healing, and comforting.
Consider the implications this demands of us as a parish: what are we doing about the radical inhospitality of our modern culture that seeks to use economic status, race and ethnicity to exclude so many? To put on the heart of Christ... What are the implications of this rule for our response to so many who are persecuted, displaced, wandering for a new life? How are we as a parish to respond?
Speaking of welcoming, it is time to begin our planning for RCIA and welcoming new members to the Church. Intentionally invite someone you know who may be seeking to consider joining us, and consider being a part of our RCIA team who will walk with them shoulder to shoulder in their journey of faith. Anyone interested in joining the Church or our team, please call.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements ~ 13 June 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TIme
The Second Collection next weekend is for ECHO - Ecumenical Community Helping Others - gives food and finacial assistance to people with short-term emergencies, and provides clothes and household items to people with low incomes. Thank you for your generosity. Next Sunday begins our Father's Day Novena of Masses offered for all your intentions placed in front of the altar throughout the Novena. Father's Day Cards and extra novena envelopes are still available in the vestibule of the Church and in the Parish Office. Registration for Religious Education is NOW OPEN on the parish website. The normal registration period runs from June 1 to July 16. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July so we can plan for the fall. We are planning for all grades to have in-person classes with a catechist every other week using a traditional textbook alternating with a textbook lesson completed at home the following week. Give the gift of life! Donate blood! Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 19, 2021 from 8:30am to 2:30pm to donate. Our high school WorkCamp crew is raffling off a corn hole set, which they built, to raise funds for the upcoming workcamp projects. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase following all Masses this weekend. Additional donations are welcome. Thank you for your support!
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 13 June 2021
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 6 June 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Corpus Christi Sunday
Please join us after the 9am and 11am Masses this weekend as we celebrate the retirement of school principal, Mrs. Barbara Dalmut. Mrs. Dalmut has plans to pursue a number of ministry opportunities here in the parish. A light reception is planned under the canopy after the 9am and 11am Masses today. Our Fathers’ Day Novena begins Sunday, June 13th with nine days of Masses for dads, grandfathers and anyone who has served in the role of fathers. It is still not too late to get your envelope in. Envelopes are available in the vestibule or download our Father’s Day Novena Form from our parish website announcements page. Please name those you would like to remember with your donation on the envelope and drop it off at the parish office. Registration for Religious Education is NOW OPEN on the parish website. The normal registration period runs from June 1 to July 16. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July so we can plan for the fall. We are planning for all grades to have in-person classes with a catechist every other week using a traditional textbook alternating with a textbook lesson completed at home the following week. Give the gift of life! Donate blood! Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 19, 2021 from 8:30am to 2:30pm to donate.
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 6 June 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
On this beautiful feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, I ask your patience as I would like to continue some recent reflections through the lens of the Eucharist.
What does it mean to say "I sit in, or receive, or become the Presence of God?" The Christ, through whom and for whom all things were made, present before all things in heaven and earth, the visible and invisible? In his Being all beings begin and thrive, and hold together. The whole creation, St. Paul says. In him we live and move and have our being.
The word that sticks in my throat is "all." The biggest mistake Christians make - and some other world religions - is that we can begin to think all of this is done for me, or my church. As a collection of individuals who each are certain they are right but do not agree on the same things collectively, we have settled to "co-exist" or "tolerate" the other (both words inconsistent with our understanding of Communion) and call it pluralism. Continuing my thoughts on the Trinity last week, I believe the problem with pluralism is the "ism." It is institutionalized and instrumentalized; ultimately we define ourselves as other than the other.
In order to fully claim each's unique lived experience and to discover the presence of God in that experience, I require the presence of you. To be in Christ through our lived experience, each of us needs the other. Perhaps a better word is "plurality," which is another word for God's good creation. Have called ourselves "human beings" and have left behind the fundamental aspect of person-hood? A person is created to be in relationship and comes to know him/herself in relationship.
Each of us has come to know and believe in God by what is grounded in our human experience. Each of us believes that we are somehow chosen to be in a personal relationship with God, but how could God choose me, and not another? How could I ever accuse the other of misunderstanding God when I can't begin to fathom the expanse and the depth of this Mystery myself? My opportunity and obligation, then, is to speak and to listen, so that heart will speak to heart by means of our differences. This is a reflection not only for the loving relationship he has with all those who are called in baptism, church communities so deeply divided, but with all persons in his good creation.
That same Christ, whose love cannot be given partially, pours out this love on all the universe. So many still do not know him and we are stunned that we are able to receive Eucharist despite the fact we ourselves know him so little. It doesn't make us special: it demands that we become that Body and Blood of Christ in this world, Christ, through whom and for whom all people are made. He isn't a thing. In him we are becoming. This can't be reduced to a theological concept.
Had we known earlier that Covid requirements would be lifted, I would have put together an effort to get a procession for today's solemnity. Like so many things, we look forward to next year.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 30 May 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Trinity Sunday
Please join us after the 9am and 11am Masses this weekend as we say farewell to Fr. Peter with a light reception under the school canopy. He is being relocated by his religious order to a parish in the Diocese of Peoria, IL. Join us next weekend to celebrate the retirement of school principal, Mrs. Barbara Dalmut. Mrs. Dalmut has plans to pursue a number of ministry opportunities here in the parish.Join us next weekend to celebrate the retirement of school principal, Mrs. Barbara Dalmut. Mrs. Dalmut has plans to pursue a number of ministry opportunities here in the parish. Our Fathers’ Day Novena begins Sunday, June 13th with nine days of Masses for dads, grandfathers and anyone who has served in the role of fathers. It is still not too late to get your envelope in. Envelopes are available in the vestibule or download our Father’s Day Novena Form from our parish website announcements page. Please name those you would like to remember with your donation on the envelope and drop it off at the parish office. Registration for Religious Education opens on June 1 on the parish website. The normal registration period runs from June 1 to July 16. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July so we can plan for the fall. We are planning for all grades to have in-person classes with a catechist every other week using a traditional textbook alternating with a textbook lesson completed at home the following week. On Saturday, June 12, 2021, from 9am to 1pm, Saint Bernadette is conducting a summer hungry kids drive-thru food drive for the St. Lucy Food Project. See page 10 for more details. Give the gift of life! Donate blood! Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 19, 2021 from 8:30am to 2:30pm to donate. The INOVA Blood Mobile will be here in front of the Bradican Room.Give the gift of life! Donate blood! Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 19, 2021 from 8:30am to 2:30pm to donate. The INOVA Blood Mobile will be here in front of the Bradican Room.
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 30 May 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
If you haven't seen it already, please see Bishop Burbidge's instructions regarding the lifting of Covid restrictions in response to the CDC and governor's guidance on page 9 in this bulletin.
We received this from the chancery on Monday and I have to admit it seems strange to be giving a message that is so starkly opposite of what we have been told to say for over a year. It will take some getting used to.
Please note that, at least for now, Bishop has not withdrawn the dispensation from attending Mass in person. This shows a generosity and thoughtful concern for those who might not be comfortable returning yet. Of course, the obligation has always been waived for anyone who was sick or felt unable to attend for some reason. We will continue to live-stream a daily Mass as we are doing now for those at home.
I am happy to say that all the weekly effort at making reservations, checking people in, keeping records for contact tracing and limiting capacity is no longer necessary. I want to thank all of our brave and generous volunteers who served in the role of porter and usher throughout this time for keeping us safe. You were pretty much the only ministry that was active and in-person for the past year. Special thanks to Nancy Allard who was our coordinator of liturgical ministries.
Masks are no longer required for those who are fully vaccinated. I want to underline this distinction, especially as one of our priests is in a Covid unit this week, struggling to breathe. This virus is not gone, but it is not a threat to those who have received the vaccine. Those who have not are still encouraged to wear a mask, as well as anyone who just feels safer wearing one. No judgment.
All eucharistic ministers starting this weekend will have been vaccin-ated, but will continue to wear masks anyway. We will continue to use hand sanitizer at the beginning of Communion and after anyone re-ceives Communion on the tongue. It happens sometimes that the minister of Communion's finger is licked (we never really thought much about it before all of this), and we want to clearly take precautions so that everyone feels safe to come forward and receive.
We will have a ministry leaders meeting this week and will be ready to give more information about next steps for choirs, altar server training, parish groups and activities. Since we no longer need to sanitize before gatherings in the church, we will return to confessions in the church next week!
Finally, another exciting announcement. Plans are set for our parish pilgrimage to Italy in 2022: 14 days, February 27—March 12, $4,999. Venice, Padua, Ravenna, Bologna, Modena, Florence, Siena, Pienza, La Verna, Assisi, Orvieto and 4 nights in Rome. Brochures are available in the church vestibule in the brochure rack. Seats are filling up, so let me know if you want to go! The enrollment deadline is July 15 with a deposit of $350 due.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 23 May 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for the Vigil Mass for Pentecost
Our Fathers’ Day Novena begins Sunday, June 13th with nine days of Masses for dads, grandfathers and anyone who has served in the role of fathers. It is still not too late to get your envelope in. Envelopes are available in the vestibule or download our Father’s Day Novena Form from our parish website announcements page. Please name those you would like to remember with your donation on the envelope and drop it off at the parish office. Registration for Religious Education opens on June 1 on the parish website. The normal registration period runs from June 1 to July 16. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July so we can plan for the fall. We are planning for all grades to have in-person classes with a catechist every other week using a traditional textbook alternating with a textbook lesson completed at home the following week.
Please join us after the 9 and 11am Masses next weekend as we say farewell to Fr. Peter with a light reception in the school courtyard behind the church. He has been called by his religious order to serve in a parish in the Diocese of Peoria, IL starting June 1.
