July 17, 2020
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
This letter comes to you with my hope and prayer that you are all safe and healthy. I also want to thank all of you for your prayers and support during these especially trying times. Let us continue to hold one another in prayer and to place our trust in the Lord. God will never abandon us.
I hope that you have been able to pray with us on our live-streamed Mass. If you have not, I would encourage you to go to our website, stjohnbap.org and join us on Sundays at 10:00. We are also in the process of installing permanent live-streaming equipment in the church with the help from a generous $5000.00 grant from the Center for Congregations. So now, even when the pandemic abates, we will be able to continue to live-stream Sunday Mass, funerals, the weekly Mass for our school children, and other services.
We have been averaging about 60 to 70 people each Sunday at the 10:00 Mass. Although we encourage you to register to attend that Mass, we have been able to take walk-ins, as we can still seat 30 to 40 more people. As soon as soon as the numbers warrant we will open for another Mass, most likely at 4:30 on Saturdays at St Adalbert’s.
We have also brought back the 7:00AM Mass on Monday-Friday. Confession is now available after Mass in the Centennial Room.
As of this writing, we are planning to open our school in August and start our faith formation program in September.
Finally, I want to thank all of you for your generous financial support to St John/St Adalbert. Without that financial assistance and prayers, we would not be the faith family we are today. The money you’ve given to us will not only allow us to keep the lights on and eventually open all our doors once more. It will also allow us to offer financial assistance to those in need, keep tuition sustainable for the families of our school, and help us continue to provide numerous resources to members of our community. We are so grateful for your contributions.
Together we can make a difference in the lives of our own members and in the lives of those we have yet to meet. Together we are one in the Body of Christ.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark Peres