Father David’s Letter
Dear Friends in Christ,
“They all ate and were satisfied.”
These six words from this Sunday’s Gospel speak volumes. How often do we consume something, enjoy it for the moment, but are left wanting for more shortly thereafter. In fact that’s the entire story of our lives, a search for the fulfillment of our inmost being. God grants us so many good pleasures in this world to point us to him. As good as all these created goods are, they can never satisfy fully as only the Creator Himself can. This is why the Eucharist is so unique and powerful, being made of “stuff” of this earth but in its essence consisting of the substance of the Eternal Son of God. No other gift can ever compare! The crowds had a tiny taste of this Truth in the miraculous feeding at Jesus’ hands. They all ate from the bread that he blessed and distributed to them, and they were all satisfied. Not only that, but there were leftovers! The food was not exhausted even as they were all fully nourished! This is how Jesus is. He feeds us, we are filled to the brim with His Joy and Delight, and there is much more left to go around. They, we, can keep coming back to the Eternal Wellspring of Grace, Mercy, and Truth, and find ever greater nourishment for our souls and our lives. The people from this gathering left utterly changed and fulfilled in the deepest level of their being. Some of them would keep coming back to the Fount, others would not. We must keep coming back, for it is only through Communion with The One that we will remain properly nourished in our souls! “Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life.”
This past Sunday we celebrated First Communion with our children. They were so sweet and precious, dressed up very handsomely and beautifully to receive their Eucharistic Lord. It was a small but intimate celebration, somewhat subdued but very deeply meaningful. Congratulations to these lovely children – Brooke, Bentley, Justin, and Dana. We ask Our Lord’s abundant blessings to always rest on them, and that they will always seek him as their ultimate fulfillment in their lives.
Taste and See that the Lord is Good!
Gratefully,
Fr. David
COVID-19 Mass Directives
As some parishioners do not feel comfortable attending Mass for at this time, you are encouraged to watch Mass on ETWN, local channels, and on St. Mary’s, St. Patrick’s and Holy Apostles’ websites. Bishop Malloy will also offer Masses on Sundays at 9am and reflections on Wednesdays at noon. These will be available on the diocesan website and their Facebook page. Here is the link to Spiritual Communion and Chaplet of the Blessed Sacrament: https://www.virgosacrata.com/spiritual-communion.html
Below is a video that shows how attending Mass in the next few weeks will look like. We are now able to accept 50 people per Mass on the weekends. Some of our parishioners have come back to Church during the week and on the weekends. Many – especially those who are 65 or older or who have compromised immune systems or other health issues – have decided not to attend. That being said, dispensation for non-attendance for Sunday Mass is granted until further notice.
Tutorial for Diocesan Directives: https://youtu.be/GgwAQ6j8Zck
To attend Mass, please remember to bring your face mask! This a requirement to wear a mask during the Mass. You can remove the mask when receiving Communion. Hand sanitizers are available in the church for your use as well. Our highest prioritiy is to keep our parishioners safe! We are following all the directives issued by the Diocese of Rockford and the Archdiocese of Chicago regarding social distancing, sanitizing, etc.
St. Mary’s CCW is now accepting nominations for the Woman of Inspiration for 2020. Nominations are being accepted until August 16th. You can return your nomination form via mail, email, fax, or simply dropping at the parish dropbox. Nomination form: WOI nominee2020
ST. MARY CCW FUND RAISER
Pack the Truck!
September 26-27
Clean, Sellable, Good Condition!
BAGGED: Clothing shoes, socks, ties, belts, purses, accessories, scarves, mittens backpacks, and wallets
CLEAN USABLE: pillows, towels, sheets, blankets, curtains, and tablecloths
BOXED: knick-knacks, games and small toys
BOXES MUST CLOSE!
Watch the bulletin and the website for times to drop off your items on that weekend!
Here’s something to SMILE about! 🙂
St. Mary’s Church is now connected with AMAZON.SMILE! What is Amazon.Smile? Amazon is dedicated to giving back to charitable organizations like our parish. When you buy online at Amazon, you have the opportunity to have .05% of your purchases donated to St. Mary’s by Amazon. When you sign up for AmazonSmile, you’ll be asked to select from over a million of charities to support. But you can skip this step and click on our unique link. Then you’ll be taken to smile.amazon.com and then automatically asked if you want to support St Mary Church. Our unique charity link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/36-2182123
Don’t forget to sign up for St. Mary’s MyParish App today!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enhance your spiritual life and get updates on what’s happening at St. Mary! Just text App to phone number 88202 or visit myparishapp.com to download. St. Mary’s will not automatically be one of your choices because we are a national parish which means we have no boundaries. Just type in St. Mary 1407 and the site will be available for you to click on and join. Keep yourself up to date on parish events, daily readings, messages, Pope Francis messages, and programs to enhance your faith journey.
