By Fr. Paul Shovelain

For the second week in a row, I want to share a fishing highlight with you! Here is a link to our Litany in Time of Need from Monday that I prayed on a secret lake with my nieces and nephews. We caught a Sunfish and a big Northern while live streaming which was very fun!

Join us this Saturday, January 9th at 6 pm in our main parking lot for our Live Nativity. Once again I will be bringing animals from my sister’s dairy farm. New this year we will also have sheep. The event will be broadcast on FM 91.7 and you will participate in your cars or you can join us live on Facebook. See the info below for the details.

I was happy to learn this past week that the governor is allowing 50% capacity in churches now. That allows us to have a few more people in our church, but due to the social distancing, we can only seat between 250-325 people in the church. We have had a fairly regular average weekend attendance of about 900 people with the largest Mass being the 10:30 am. If you are looking for a smaller weekend Mass, I encourage you to attend the 4:30 pm on Saturday or 8:30 am on Sunday. Our smallest weekday Mass continues to be the 5:30 pm on Wednesdays. Thank you for wearing your mask and continuing to follow our protocols.

This coming week we will be resuming more in-person events at the parish. They continue to be modified as we take precautions to maintain your physical safety. Your spiritual health is essential to us and we will continue to adapt as we want to help you live in relationship with Jesus Christ. Please watch the parish website and the bulletin for the most updated information.

You will see a new face online and in-person this week as we welcome Seminarian Marty Longsdorf to our parish for 2 weeks. He is from St. Peter’s in Forest Lake and will be joining me for the various events happening around SJB. Even in what you would think are slower times, we are still very active here sharing the love of Christ! This weekend we have a Funeral and Wedding on Saturday as well as three Baptisms on Sunday, in addition to our regular weekend schedule and Journey to the Inn! Together, united in the Holy Spirit, may we shine as a bright light here in New BRIGHTon and beyond!