Parish Update from Fr. Sebastian

Dear Parish Family,

 

This Sunday we celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.  Please join us for Mass and ask God to help us to feel the power of His continued protection and love as we continue to face the challenges of the COVID pandemic.  

 

On behalf of Fr. John, Fr. Bernie our Deacons, and myself I want to thank all those who worked so hard to prepare the Church for the reopening Masses last weekend.  It was great to see so many of you after these many weeks.  We had just over 1,200 people attend last weekend and we look forward to welcoming more and more of you back each week as things continue to improve.  

 

Please remember to sign up for the Masses scheduled for the weekend of May 23^rd and 24^th.  The sign up truly helps us to be prepared for each Mass and ensures the safety of all those attending.   The link to the sign up is below.

 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0945aca92da57-sunday

 

We ask that you continue to enter the Church through the main doors at the front entrance and follow the proper social distancing guidelines.

 

Main Church Sunday Mass Schedule

 

English: Saturday Vigil 5:30p.m. Sunday, 8:00a.m., 10:00a.m., noon and 5:00p.m.                                                                                                                                                                       

Spanish: Saturday Vigil 7:30p.m.

Traditional Latin Mass, Sunday, 2:00p.m.

Albanian: 6:30p.m.

 

Main Church Daily Mass

 

English: 8:00a.m. and noon Monday-Friday

English: 8:00a.m Saturday (no noon Mass on Saturdays)

Spanish: 7:00p.m. Thursdays

Friday, May 22^nd 7:00p.m. Mass in Portuguese

 

Live Streaming Masses

 

I want to thank Fr. Bernie for the beautiful live stream Mass he celebrated last Saturday evening from the Cody Center Chapel.   Fr. Bernie will continue to preside at a 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass live streamed from the Cody Center until further notice.  Below is a link to last Saturday’s Mass.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=537&v=0KAhIoqbGT0&feature=emb_logo

 

The 10:00a.m. Mass at the Main Church will continue to be live steamed until further notice.  Please visit our web page on Sunday mornings to view the Mass.

 

https://stjosephsjax.org/

 

 

Masks

 

The Bishop’s Office provided additional information yesterday regarding the wearing of masks during the celebration of the Mass.  Per the instruction of the Bishop’s Office the faithful attending the Mass must wear masks or suitable face covering at all times other than at the moment of consuming Holy Communion is required.

I have instructed our volunteers who will be monitoring the doors to enforce this directive.  We will not allow anyone into Mass who does not have a mask.  We greatly appreciate your support of this Diocesan policy.

 

Eucharistic Congress 2021

 

It is with great joy and excitement that I am able to share with you that Bishop Estevez has asked our Parish to once again host the Eucharistic Congress in June of 2021.  Many of you attend the very first Congress which took place at St. Joseph’s.   The Congress has grown in great size since its inception and we will look to use our entire Parish and School Campus to accommodate this growth.  I ask that you pray for the success of this event and for all those involved in the planning.  I look forward to keeping you posted with more information as it comes forth.  Patrick Kinnare our Parish Administrator will serve as the lead for the Parish on this exciting endeavor. 

 

Capital Campaign

 

This past week we received several new pledges to our Campaign brining our new pledge total to $5,075,588.  I am incredibly grateful for all those who have continued to honor the pledges they made and for the very positive feedback we have received about the work completed so far.  This week our new bell system is being installed at the Main Church.  Be sure to keep your ears open this weekend at Mass! 

 

Volunteers

 

We are looking for volunteers to help sanitize the Church between Masses.  If this is something you would like to assist with, please call Pat Abshire at (904) 955-9580.  With enough help this essential task will only take a small bit of time.

 

 

Yours Sincerely in Christ,

 

Fr. Sebastian