Dear friends,
Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. This feast marks the end of the Christmas season, and you can now put away the Christmas decorations. Congratulations to those who persevered by ignoring the secular dictates of how Christmas should be celebrated as opposed to the ways in which the Church would have us savor and rejoice in the spirit of Christmas.
Beginning on Monday, 10 January 2022, we enter the First Week in Ordinary Time of the liturgical year. “Ordinary Time is not very ordinary at all. Ordinary Time, the celebration of Sunday, is the identifying mark of the Christian community which comes together, remembering that on this first day of the week the Lord of Life was raised up and creation came at last to completion. Sunday as a day of play and worship is a sacrament of redeemed time. How we live Sunday proclaims to the world what we believe about redeemed time now and forever” (St Andrew Bible Missal).
I take this moment to thank all of you for your extraordinary enthusiasm toward our Campaign 2.0, and I ask that you continue to pray for the workers involved with this project.
Please mark your calendars with the following dates:
Sunday, 16 January 2022, is the celebration of the 4th Anniversary of the Dedication of Our Church. During the 11 a.m. Mass, we will honor Misty Huff, our business manager, with the Spirit of Holy Cross Award for her dedication to her ministry and to our parish. We will celebrate this event with a luncheon in the hall. We will be blessed to have with us Julianne Wallace, Director of Apostolic Mission and Charism for the Congregation of Holy Cross, to mark this special occasion. Julianne is the resource person to help us move forward in both the mission and charism of the Holy Cross family. We will also be joined by Fr. John DeRiso, Director of Vocations for the Province of the Brothers and Priests of Holy Cross, USA.
Monday, 17 January 2022, Fr. John DeRiso will give a presentation in the church at 7 p.m. I cordially invite all of you to come and benefit from this time together in anticipation of the Feast of Fr. Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, which falls on Thursday, 20 January.
Sunday, 23 January 2022, is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, also celebrated as the Sunday of the Word (Bible Sunday). I wish to take this time to congratulate all who joined me in listening to The Bible in a Year podcast which ran from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021. We will be distributing certificates to all who accomplished this great feat. I am very proud of the more than 500 people of our parish who joined me in this mission, completing 365+ episodes of the Bible and listening to more than 9,000 minutes of God’s Word being spoken to them. By so doing, they have greatly enriched their souls, allowing God to transform them. This was truly a life-changing journey for those who remained faithful. As you make your New Year’s resolutions, I urge to please consider joining The Bible in a Year podcast sponsored by Ascension Press and hosted by Fr. Mike Schmitz by going to www.ascensionpress.com.
Better still, go to St. John’s website, www.stjohnviera.org, and click on the place indicated under the photo of Fr. Mike. You might also consider joining The Great Adventure - The Bible Timeline study beginning on 20 January at our parish. It is a great way to further understand the Bible.
Friday, 28 January 2022, is yet another day for celebrating our 4th Anniversary. St. John’s will be hosting a special concert by King’s Cadence Men’s Gospel Quartet at 7 p.m. in the church. Please bring your family and friends.
Sunday, 29 January 2022: The Diocese has assigned Fr. Selvaraj from India to be our annual Mission Co-Op speaker during all Masses again this year, giving us the opportunity to share in the life of those in need.
Sunday, 29 January 2022: We will also celebrate the Knights of Columbus on this day as they prepare and serve a pancake breakfast for us after the 7:15 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and 11:00 a.m. Masses. We thank the brother Knights for their service, and I invite more of our men to consider joining the Knights to bring the light of Christ to our community.
Wishing each of our families a very happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!
May celebration of the Baptism of the Lord remind us of our own baptism and the tremendous gift of belonging to God’s family!
With love, Fr. John