Next Sunday: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time                  Celebrant:  Fr. Tharp

Rescheduled Beacons announcement meeting:  SHJ 1/12/25 @ 4:00 p.m.   

Beacons of Light:

Announcement of Canonical and Legal “merge” of TWO parishes into ONE!

The combined Parish (Pastoral) Council of St. Ann and Sacred Heart has voted unanimously to complete the initial goal of the Beacons of Light initiative by asking the Archbishop to allow for the canonical “MERGE” of the two juridic persons known as Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and St. Ann Catholic Church into one new “parish” (aka juridic person) to be known by the name for which you all voted, i.e. the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church of southern Butler County.  The canonical consultation includes the approval of the combined Worship Commission as well as the combined Finance Council.  As stated in prior articles in this bulletin, the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish will have two separate parish schools known currently (and in the future) as Sacred Heart School and St. Ann School located at their present sites. 

It is with great joy that the Immaculate Heart of Mary Combined Parish Council and I invite you to attend the rescheduled (due to the snowstorm) informational meeting so you may share our enthusiasm and be fully apprised of the intricacies that have been a part of this process. I will also invite any questions or comments regarding the timing of the “canonical merge” and the benefits that are ours in doing this sooner rather than later. 

Please join us at Sacred Heart on Sunday, January 12 at 4:00 p.m. (if you have not attended last Thursday’s meeting at St. Ann), so you are “in the know” about this important new way of moving forward as an evangelical force . 

Remember however that finalizing the canonical restructuring is only the beginning.  Embracing the new canonical structure will require us to rethink all of our old priorities and gradually gravitate to an entirely new model of what it means to be a “parish.”  In the past, the goal was to build and maintain physical buildings and tried and true programmatic structures.  However we are not just combining two parishes under a new successor name!  We are not just changing the rules of the game, we are redefining the “game.”  Our focus is to reintroduce our faith filled gathering of believers into a cynical world with relevance to their daily way of life.  In dialoging with our community we will reinvent models of service and frame definitions of prayerful fidelity into a structure that speaks to modern human experience.   In other words, an entirely new paradigm of church.

DO NOT FALL FOR SCAMS!!!!

I keep running this article because there are new scams everyday

Remember I NEVER solicit funds, donations, favors, or any request of any kind over the telephone, text, email, carrier pigeon, drone, etc.   NEVER!  Do not allow yourself to be taken in by scammers.  Even if they have my recorded voice, be assured it is computer generated fake!  It is not me!!!  

Reminder for volunteers who work with or around children

Please be aware that failure to register with and complete the requirements of Safe Parish will result in your inability to continue to work with or around children in any parish and/or school setting.  We have been informed by the Archdiocese that there can be NO EXCEPTIONS.

Live Streaming for Precept Masses

Please remember to access the Sacred Heart / St. Ann Pastoral Region You Tube site by clicking on the following link:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg

Reflection on Scripture:

For us as Catholics, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord signals the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Ordinary Time.  In many Protestant traditions however, Epiphany is a season encompassing the Baptism of the Lord (also called the Theophany) and all the way up to the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday.    These Sundays celebrate the Divinity of Jesus.  Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord remembers the voice of God (theophany) after Jesus baptism.  The public ministry of Jesus is inaugurated.  When the eternal makes itself known in temporality, holiness is in our midst. 

NEXT SUNDAY  Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 62:1-5

1 Cor 12:4-11

Jn 2:1-11

Theme:    The Wedding at Cana