Parish Update -- June 4, 2020
Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph:
1. Recent Marriage -- Congratulations to our parishioners, Rachael and Jon Barkl, who were married last Saturday, May 23 at Sacred Heart Parish in Yankton, South Dakota. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to build their lives together here in Starkville.
2. New Seminarian -- Congratulations to Will Foggo who was accepted Monday to begin priestly formation for our Diocese. You may have seen the announcement we shared on our facebook page. Will grew up in Brandon, MS and attended St. Richard Elementary and St. Joseph High School in Madison. Will has been very active with CCM and the parish for the last three years that he has been here at Mississippi State. Congratulations!
3. New K of C State Deputy -- Congratulations to Mike Kassouf! Mike was recently elected the State Deputy of the Mississippi Knights of Columbus State Council, which is the highest office in the state Knights of Columbus. This is a great honor for our own Knights of Columbus Council Mike has put an enormous amount of work and volunteer hours in
4. Deacon Anniversary! -- Congratulations to our deacons who celebrate 4 years of diaconate ministry today June 4, 2020.
4.5. John 10:10 -- Thanks to Deacon John who has been putting some videos together on John 10:10. Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ZUwMUmziN4Jb-MOTT_nAg
5. Virtual Vacation Bible School -- Vacation Bible School has been going on this week. Unfortunately, we are still unable to gather everyone together, but here is the link https://www.catholicbrain.com/student/signup. Use the school code STJ22500.Once you do that you can log on and access the material by clicking on VBS in the upper right portion of the page. Day 1 of program is ready and you can start tonight, tomorrow, or whenever is convenient for you and your family.
6. YouTube -- The 9 AM Mass is on YouTube only. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgnYRs2xFCo8J-fMq6xBMkg
7. Sign-up for Mass this coming week: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a4baba72fa2f85-trinity
8. Young Adults -- There has been some recent interest in offerings for our young adults in the parish ages 22-39. If you know of anyone please forward their names and phone numbers or email addresses to ccm@stjosephstarkville.org
9. 11:30 Mass will be in the Parish Hall this coming Sunday. This will allow time for cleaning after the 9 AM Mass as well as enough time for ventilation of the air.
10. Confession is now in the Mary Room at the regular times to allow for social distancing. Masks are still required.
11. Cancellation -- Tomorrow, Friday June 5, 2020 Daily Mass is cancelled for a funeral.
12. Need for Ushers -- We still have a need for ushers at all of our Masses. Please let me or Dawn (dawn@stjosephstarkville.org) know if you can help out.
13. Need for healing -- Concerning what is happening in our country at the moment, I wanted to share the two statements that the USCCB has released thus far: http://usccb.org/news/2020/20-83.cfm
The first was the initial statement released last Friday from 7 bishops who are chairmen of different committees on the conference of bishops and the second was issued Sunday by the president of the USCCB, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles.
I can't help but think of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Family prayer that is said at the end of Masses in different parishes in New Orleans. Here it is:
Our Family Prayer
Loving and faithful God, through the years the people of our archdiocese have appreciated the prayers and love of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in times or war, disaster, epidemic and illness. We come to you, Father, with Mary our Mother, and ask you to help us in the battle of today against violence, murder and racism.
We implore you to give us your wisdom that we may build a community founded on the values of Jesus, which gives respect to the life and dignity of all people.
Bless parents that they may form their children in faith. Bless and protect our youth that they may be peacemakers of our time. Give consolation to those who have lost loved ones through violence.
Hear our prayer and give us the perseverance to be a voice for life and human dignity in our community.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. Mother Henriette Delille, pray for us that we may be a holy family.
If you know people who are not receiving these updates, please let us know, and share any relevant information with them.
Thank you all for being respectful of the guidelines this past Sunday and at Daily Mass throughout the week, this helps all of us as we try to do this as safely and responsibly as possible.
Thank you all for being respectful of the guidelines this past Sunday and at Daily Mass throughout the week, this helps all of us as we try to do this as safely and responsibly as possible.
Hang on to hope and keep the faith!
Peace,
Fr. Jason