Bishop Olmsted, in his wisdom and concern for souls and bodies, has suspended all public liturgies until the threat of the Corona Virus has made it prudently possible to gather again. Let us pray that Our Lord will destroy this threat, heal his people, and save the souls of those who have died!
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please remember the following people in your prayers: Estella Biedenbender, Ken Bosak, Julie Carlin, Fletes Family: Alicia, Frankie, Layla, Lupita & Veronica, Victoria Flores, Larry Goodwin, Holly Garlow, Michelle Grana, Virginia Harrington, Jeanne Hart, Michael Hefferon, Rob Hooper, Chris Johnson, Ken Kokason, Patricia Kurczak, Irene Lehman, Elizabeth & John Mallas, Dylan Mancia, Toni Martin, Marg Mauro, Juan Gabriel Martinez, Pedro Medina, Mina family: Mila, Diana, Rev. John & Mike, Shannon O’Neill, Tanya Petach, Casandra Porch, Diane Romano, Paul Saucedo, Kathleen Savko, Robert Stamer, Leanne Steuer, Mary Washko, Dina & Matthew Wiggins, Karole Woods, Carmen Zambrano, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Fr. Chris Zugger and all those who
serve in the Armed Forces.
WEEKLY DEPOSIT
Tithe: $1,391.00; Candles: $58.25; Coffee Social: $35.00; Reimbursement: $390; Flowers: $50.00
TOTAL: $1,824.25 / ATTENDANCE – 53
UPCOMING
This year’s Eparchial appeal is in full swing. Extra flyers are in the back of the church. Thank you for your generosity!
Parish Updates
- As was announced in the email last week, Bishop Olmsted has suspended all public liturgies to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus. This suspension will be reconsidered before Great and Holy Week.
- Other emails sent this past week gave information about praying at home, available Holy Mysteries, visiting the parish, livestreams of private liturgies, online parish communication, and the availability of online giving. Please let Father Michael know if you didn’t get these emails or need to be added to the parish list.
Being Byzantine Catholic during the Corona Virus Pandemic
We are, for at least a few weeks, without public participation in the Divine Liturgy. “Liturgy” means a “public work” or some action of people in a society. When we add “Divine” in front of it, we are identifying that the one doing this “work” is now God Himself. In the Divine Liturgy, we “anamnesis” (“remember”) the events of Christ’s Life-giving death and resurrection. “Remember” here means the opposite of “dismember.” When something is dismembered, it is loses its cohesiveness and unity. When it is remembered, it becomes present again in a complete and authentic way. When Christ commands “Do this in remembrance of me” when referring to the consecration of His Body and Blood, he means that His whole Self, Body and Blood, will be presented to us at the Divine Liturgy. This is His Work. Father Michael will be celebrating this Divine Liturgy for all of us, even though we will not all be physically present, every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Feast day. It is important that we continue to “keep holy” the Christian Sabbath (Sunday) even though we can’t all attend the Divine Liturgy. We can do this by: Being present and self-giving to those we are quarantined with, those we are helping, and even those we encounter on social media. We can read the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures and spend time contemplating this “good news” and discussing it with those in our community. We can spend extra time in prayer, praying the Jesus Prayer, the psalms, or just sitting silently with our minds on our loving Lord. Let us look forward to, and be watchful for the unique ways that Our Lord is going to be working in our lives and church, and let us find creative ways of responding to His Working. And let us make sure that we are always praying for each other.