Next Sunday: Third Sunday in Lent Celebrant : Fr. Tharp
Heads-up on Holy Week
Palm Sunday is April 2. Easter Sunday is April 9. As usual on Holy Thursday, April 6, I will have the Mass of the Last Supper at St. Ann starting at 5:30 p.m., and the Mass of the Last Supper at Sacred Heart at 7:30 p.m. Feel free to attend at either as your schedule allows.
On Good Friday at Sacred Heart I will participate in the three hours of services beginning at 12:00 noon and ending with distribution of Holy Communion at 2:30 p.m. I will also celebrate the traditional three part Good Friday Service at St. Ann beginning at 7:00 p.m.
As of last July, St. Ann and Sacred Heart are officially a “Family of Parishes” we are to have only one Easter Vigil Mass. Last year I celebrated Easter Vigil at St. Ann. This year, the Easter Vigil will be at Sacred Heart. Next year it will be at St. Ann. Thus each church will celebrate Easter Vigil every other year.
On Tuesday, April 4, I must attend the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral. I will forego the “social and dinner for priests” and try to be back to St. Ann in time for the 6:30 p.m. confessions, but I may be a few minutes late depending on how traffic is that day. Skipping a meal will be good for my waistline.
CMA: Catholic Ministries Appeal 2023
I applaud both parishes in our family for your extraordinary effort. As of Monday, February 27: Sacred Heart is at 195% of goal with 16% participation. St. Ann has achieved 96% of its goal or target with 25% participation. Remember that the Archdiocese looks both at the dollars pledged as well as the percentage of participation. Even a very small gift lifts our participation numbers. We have plenty of extra cards and envelopes available at both parishes. Please help us show the rest of the Archdiocese that the Family of St. Ann/Sacred Heart does its part for the ministries funded by the CMA. Remember that fifty (50%) percent of every dollar over goal returns to the donating parish.
Director of Evangelization for the St. Ann/Sacred Heart Family
I am pleased to announce that Mr. Jose Martinez has verbally accepted this position. More information and timing will be forthcoming.
Beacons of Light Organizational Structure
The recommended Beacons of Light organizational structure requires a Family of Parishes to have a Director of Evangelization, a Director of Worship, and a Director of Administration. The structure I envision will also include a Director of Real Estate and Physical Assets. (This is due to the reality that our Family needs both churches to accommodate our Sunday attendance, and both schools to accommodate our existing and anticipated students.) Together with the two principals, all four directors will serve as an extension of the pastor in their specific areas of expertise. “Beacons” foresees an environment not simply focused on maintaining what is, but directed to outreach, evangelization, and growth.
The symmetry of all this organizational structure is not based on the clerical model I, and most priests of my age, have grown up with! Rather it operates on a model of assumed delegation, so that the younger priest who replaces me when I retire will feel comfortable assuming the role of pastor in an organizational model normative throughout the Archdiocese. In other words, my oversight in this process is to establish a manner of operation designed not for me personally, but for my successors about three years from now. The reality is that priests my age (70 plus) have functional and canonical “expiration dates.” “Beacons” is a creative structuring for where we are going; not for where we have been.
Review of Mass Schedules
There are “five Phases” of the implementation of Beacons of Light. Family C-4 (comprised of Sacred Heart and St. Ann) has been designated a “one priest/pastor region.” It is almost certain that this will become the reality by July 1, 2023. This means that there is no assisting priest envisioned. In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati no one priest is canonically permitted to celebrate more than three Masses on any one day. At present we have two Sunday morning precept Masses at St. Ann and three Sunday morning precept Masses at Sacred Heart. Five Masses may not be celebrated by any one priest. Also every precept Mass at any parish must adhere to “space utilization requirements.” We have a declining Sunday attendance based on St. Ann and Sacred Heart’s October Count numbers. At least three of the five existing Sunday Masses are not well enough attended to meet these utilization requirements.
After we have the data from the survey currently taking place, we will empanel an ad hoc utilization committee representing St. Ann and Sacred Heart in order to study, discuss, and reconcile our Sunday numbers with Archdiocesan utilization requirements. In the meantime, please remind parishioners that their presence each week at either St. Ann or Sacred Heart will result in a tremendous impact on the recommendations that the ad hoc committee will be required to bring to the Archdiocese.
Re-introduction of Precious Blood at Communion
I may have been too quick to announce that we have distributors lined up for two cups at “all three Sunday morning Masses at Sacred Heart.” So far we have not been able to schedule cups for the 8:00 a.m. We will keep trying.
For the time being we only have distributors for the cup at the 11:00 a.m. Mass at St. Ann. Again, we can only do this to the degree we have enough Eucharistic ministers willing to do cups at the various precept Masses.
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:
The transfiguration reveals the Divinity of Jesus to Peter, James, and John, but the recounting of the story after Jesus death and resurrection, provides the context for the position of the Son of God in salvation history. The Prophets and the Law are the “heart and soul” of Judaism. Jesus reveals the “love of God and the way to eternal salvation. The Jewish Law is represented by Moses. Prophecy is represented by Elijah. Each reveal something of God to the Jews. Jesus is the culmination of both because Jesus is God incarnate (communicated in the flesh).
NEXT WEEK Third Sunday in Lent
Ex 17:3-7
Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
Jn 4:5-42
Theme: The Woman at the Well