December 23, 2021
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. John’s,
Merry Christmas! On behalf of the staff of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and School, I wish you a very Merry Christmas! As we enter into the Christmas season we are given hope as Christ becomes present to us! He has come to live with us and support us. He has come to redeem us and save us from our sins. He invites us to live with Him and love Him. Since we have no morning Mass on Christmas Eve, we will be doing an hour of Adoration in our beautifully decorated Church starting at 8:00 am. I invite you to come and pray before the Lord present in the Eucharist. I realize this has not been advertised, but the Holy Spirit put it on my heart to offer it and so I am. We will conclude with Benediction at 9:00 am.
We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with you! Please note that some of our Masses are live-streamed and so if you are sick, please stay home and join us virtually. See the schedule below. For those who are high risk or prefer more precautions, please note that we will have social distancing available in the pie sections at the 6:00 pm Mass on Christmas Eve and 8:30 am Mass on Christmas day. Also, at 6:00 pm Mass on Christmas Eve and 8:30 am Mass on Christmas day, the ministers of Holy Communion will be wearing facemasks and other ministers are highly encouraged to wear masks. We will also have socially distanced seating available in St. Joseph’s Hall and the chairs in the back of Church at all Masses.
Please note that there is no 4:30 pm Mass on Saturday, Christmas day. Masses to fulfill your Sunday obligation are at 8:30 am, 10:30 am, and 5:30 pm this Sunday.
Thank you very much for the many Christmas cards, gifts, and kind notes. I am so honored and grateful to serve at SJB. Know that I will miss you dearly during my sabbatical. I will be praying for you in my daily prayers throughout my sabbatical.
I have one more fish picture to share with you for the year! I was able to get out ice fishing this past week and caught some nice Sunfish with my nephew (see the pic below).
Also, I wanted to share with you the picture from February 18, 2009 with Pope Benedict that I spoke about this past Sunday. (I’m the young seminarian on the left; right behind the American flag.)
My prayer for you in this Christmas season and during my sabbatical will be the Psalm, “May the Lord turn His face toward you and graciously fill you with His blessings.” Merry Christmas!
As the Father loves me, so I also love you,
Father Paul Shovelain
Pastor