Please Note:  Recently Fr. Tharp did two Sunday’s in a row at Sacred Heart.  On October 6, Fr. Tharp will have Sunday Morning Masses at St. Ann and then again on October 13, Fr. Tharp will have Masses at St. Ann for the commitment ceremonies for Confirmation.  Fr. Tharp will have Sunday morning Masses at Sacred Heart on October 20.  Fr. Schmitz will be at Sacred Heart on October 6 and 13.

October Count

Throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati every parish will count Mass attendance and report for the month to the Archdiocese.  This count is then used by the Archdiocese for future planning. 

Rectory Restoration Drive

Please note the thermometer in the vestibule showing the progress of the in house drive to pay for the movement of the parish offices to the old rectory.  We are at less than $10,000 and we need at least $100,000 to make it happen.  Since we cannot afford the cost to repair the HVAC and windows in the old convent to keep the parish offices there, we are in desperate need to either make the move to the old rectory or trim back on parish office services.  (You cannot ask parish employees and volunteers to work in the winter when there is no heat.)  The Parish Committee that has offered this solution is known as the “Buildings for the Future Committee” since it assesses what and how many buildings we need for the future.  Please consider helping the parish in this first step to facility management efficiency.

Youth Ministry Initiative

Volunteers from St. Ann and Sacred Heart are seeking to restart a Youth Ministry directed to junior high students, but also inclusive of high school age youth.  The program will consist of recreational activities, worship activities, and faith formation.  The program has been approved by the parish councils of both St. Ann and Sacred Heart and will conform to all Virtus requirements.  See the bulletin for further information.

Job posting: One Employment position open at Sacred Heart

There are three full-time (forty hour per week) janitor/maintenance employment positions at Sacred Heart, supervised by our Maintenance Supervisor; and one of these three janitorial positions has recently come open.   We plan on hiring one person who is physically capable of significant physical cleaning, strenuous snow removal, and general janitorial and maintenance work on the 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. shift.  Please see the job description listed elsewhere in this bulletin or on the Sacred Heart parish website.  I am including this notice in St. Ann Bulletin as well as I want to include the entire pastoral region in the notice.

Parishioners in Hospital

Please remember that hospitals are NOT permitted under HIPAA to give any patient information to churches.  I will only know a person is in the hospital if the patient or the patient’s designee calls me.  Scheduled Masses and programs I must conduct often make it difficult for me to come immediately, but I will try to respond to any emergency anointing requests even if it means coming late at night.  This can be even more difficult if the hospital or facility is more than twenty miles away.  Therefore, please call me as soon as you recognize the need.  Please do not wait until the last minute to call me.

Reflection on Scripture for Respect Life Sunday

We have heard it said that in our world today, “Perception is reality.”  The scriptures chosen by the Church for this twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time inform us that for followers of Christ, “Faith determines reality.”  Our perceptions are formed by an amalgamation of empirical data acquired through our senses, organized and understood through the prism of our pre-conceived notions.  Faith in contrast is the gift of being able to see through the eyes of God. 

As we celebrate this Sunday designated as “Respect Life Sunday,” we challenge the secular world to put on the glasses of faith and see the reflection of God in all human life. 

Next Weekend: Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kgs 5:14-17

2 Tm 2:8-13

Luke 17:11-19

Theme:  The ten lepers.