Dear Friends,
We have been truly blessed on numerous fronts. I have no doubt that the hand of the Lord is animating us. Thanks to your unstinting support and never- ending encouragement. On Saturday, the 2 February, 2019, on the feast of the Presentation of our Lord, we had carved a niche for ourselves by creating such a phenomenal courtyard dedicated to our Lady of Sorrows, patron of the Congregation of Holy Cross. It was truly a blessing. One of our parishioners Mark Majcher who has had a stroke, captured it succinctly saying: “it is a place of comfort and calming peace”. Yes indeed it will be a place for prayer, peace and relaxation. I had already noticed our Faith Formation teachers bringing their children to pray in front of the Pieta. What a fabulous gesture.
Today we celebrate the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time and the scriptures
invite us to reflect on how God in His own strange ways chooses the people for His mission. We see this strangeness in God’s ways when most of the people He chooses are not anywhere near where we would gauge them to be. Most of them are very unlikely materials. But what is never to be forgotten is that once they have encountered the Lord, life takes on a different tune and the ones called bring out their best talents to serve the Lord. Isaiah realized that he was a man of unclean lips living among the people of unclean lips but he encounters the grace of God and then a great reversal takes place. We may consider ourselves like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul or Peter who felt that they were the unlikely persons but then it is God who makes of them great champions to bring His message to the world. Maybe God is calling us to be bearers of His good news. How about you? Or better still how about we do our part: Pray for Vocations. Each household of St. John’s has the potential to pray for vocations. As our Lord Jesus said: Ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to work in His vineyard (Luke 10:2). God’s kingdom can only advance when our own young men and women say yes to grace.
This makes a perfect segue for me to talk about what we can do in terms of praying for vocations. What was formerly known as The Elijah Cup, will henceforth be named St. John’s Vocation Cup. This is to simplify the name and make it our own. The purpose of this ministry is to help our families to pray for vocations to the Priesthood, the Religious Life and the Diaconate. The family that takes the cup home will be presented with the Chalice Box that will contain the Chalice, a video, Journal Box and a prayer card that will have the Prayer for Vocations. I will request every family to fill in a sign up card that will be placed in the pews. All I ask of you, is to furnish your preference and give your contact information. Then the Vocation Ministry Coordinator will call or email you to see when you can possibly take the vocation cup home to pray. The family will be presented with the cup on the weekend Mass they have chosen. Once a family takes home the cup they are invited to place the cup in a prominent place in the house and gather around it and pray. You may be at liberty to pray for however long using some of the church approved prayers such as readings from the Holy Bible, Rosary, Litanies, and Divine Mercy Chaplet etc. The family will be required to bring the box back to the church office on Friday by Noon so as to allow time for the Ministry Coordinator to clean the cup and fill the box with the necessary items for the next family. A new email has been created for this purpose: stjohnscup@stjohnviera.org
I take this opportunity to thank Nancy Hasting who has been single handedly coordinating this very vital ministry for the last 5 years. She rightly deserves a break. Thank You Nancy for your passionate service to this ministry. I am happy to introduce Debbie Corvaia as the new coordinator of St. John’s Vocation Cup Ministry. Debbie comes with a vast range of experiences from her previous parish. Welcome Debbie and thank you for shouldering this important ministry.
With this in view we will resume the prayers on the First Sunday of Lent, 10th March 2019. The first family that has been waiting eagerly is Janet and Noble Cook. Congrats Cooks and thanks for your passion to pray for vocations.
I am so happy to welcome Deacon Pat and Ellen Mongan back to our community. Deacon Pat Mongan served our parish for about 2 years and had to go back to Georgia to attend to some family needs and have come back to our wonderful family at St. John’s. The Mongans have been blessed with 8 children. Deacon Pat is a retired Physician. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon for Savannah Diocese in 2008 and has served at several parishes. Because of his background in teaching a course on “Pastoral Care of the Sick, Dying and Grieving” to the Diaconal candidates and from his experience as a physician and a Deacon I have asked him to head the Bereavement Ministry. He will also help with various other ministries in our parish. Welcome back Deacon Pat and Ellen Mongan.
Have a Blessed Week! With love,
Fr. John