Dear parishioners,
It might seem strange to think about it at the end of January, but Ash Wednesday is only a month away! As usual, the approach of Lent means the approach of a busy parish calendar. I will provide more information in a few weeks regarding Days of Grace, Stations of the Cross, Fish Fries, Holy Week, etc. As of now, we will be able to do Lent and Holy Week as we normally do; I will let you know if that changes.
The beginning of Lent also means that the Sacrament of Confirmation is not far away for our 7th and 8th grade parishioners. Our young parishioners receive this sacrament every-other year in the Spring, and we always go to the Cathedral in Toledo, where we join with other parishes of our diocese for the conferral of the sacrament. However, we recently received a memo from Bishop Thomas explaining that, given the continuance of the COVID-19 virus, he has decided that the most prudent course of action is to cancel the large group Confirmation Masses at the Cathedral this year. He has therefore asked that the Confirmation Masses happen at each individual parish. While I do not have all of the details ironed out at the time of writing this article, I will be sure to update everyone very soon with all of the information regarding the Confirmation Mass that will be happening at our parish. Please continue to pray for our Confirmation students as they prepare to receive this sacrament!
Our Catholic Chat group will be undergoing a change in format starting this week. Up to now, Catholic Chat featured a different topic at each gathering with various presenters. However, we have decided to go in a different direction in order to simplify preparation and encourage participation. Moving forward, I will facilitate the Catholic Chat meetings by presenting a roundup of the previous month’s Catholic current events. While I cannot promise that the limited time of our gatherings will allow us to cover every detail of events in the Catholic world, it will be a good chance to stay current on the bigger events across the world. Hopefully, this format will spark lively discussion and therefore result in, well… a good Catholic chat, with Father! Please join us! We will be gathering at 7:00 P.M. on the first Tuesday of every month, starting this Tuesday, February 1. As of now, we will be gathering only virtually, via Zoom. The details can be found in the present bulletin. If you have any questions or are not sure how to use Zoom, please feel free to call the parish office.
Looking ahead, the feast of Corpus Christi, on which we celebrate the tremendous gift of the Eucharist, occurs on Sunday, June 19 this year. I am happy to announce that I am hoping to follow the traditional custom of having a Eucharistic procession that day immediately following the 10:30 Mass. While I will provide more details in the future, this will entail a lot of volunteers in order to do it well. The procession will leave from the Paulding church immediately following Mass and will go through some of the streets until we return to the church, where we will have benediction. Following benediction, we will have some light refreshments, outside if possible. Although this feast day happens to coincide with Fathers Day this year, and many will have plans, I warmly invite and encourage all to join us for this procession as we give thanks to Christ himself, who gave us his body and blood to be the source of our strength as we make our pilgrimage through this life.
Blessings to you all!
Fr. Ammanniti
