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Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Tomorrow, May 30th, is Pentecost Sunday, the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. God sent the Holy Spirit among us to renew the Face of the Earth. Pentecost, therefore, is about renewal, about transformation, about new life, and about the new creation.
Humanity has been redeemed by Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection. Because of that redemption, man is once again reconciled with God. We have been forgiven and saved from eternal suffering. We have been made new, and from that new humanity, we rebuild ourselves. The Holy Spirit is then sent to us by God to guide humanity in the rebuilding process.
The Holy Spirit brought with Him gifts that we may use in our efforts of rebuilding: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. These gifts are given to us during our Baptism and they are strengthened at Confirmation. The Holy Spirit subsists and exists with us in the here and now. He guides us in our daily lives, protects us in our daily struggles, and delivers us from harm that may befall us. We turn to him, especially in these troubled times.
It is my prayer, this Pentecost Sunday, that the families of our parish may experience the joy and the power of the Holy Spirit. May He renew our lives, as individuals, as families, and as a parish community. May He protect us and shield us in the midst of the pandemic the world is facing right now. Let us keep praying. Do not dismay or much more despair. Rather, keep holding on to our faith and to one another. With the Holy Spirit, we can do this just like the apostles who overcame their fears and preached throughourt the whole world with great courage even to the point of death.
United in great faith, we will have our second ‘In-Car Parking Lot Mass’ this Sunday at St. Ann's at 9:30am. I invite once again those who are comfortable to attend the Mass to please come. As always, bring your masks and your devices to watch and join us as we do the LIVE-streamed Mass inside the church through "youtube" (https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCHYfsolDzqvHG5RUQGNa9fw/ featured). I was advised by our techy group that our outside loudspeaker is still not working properly. Thus, we shall all be dependent on individual's devises to be able to join us. Our apologies. I was also advised that the best way to connect to our live-streamed Mass is to use your own subscription than wi-fi.
Please come a bit early to ensure a parking spot as we do not have a sign up policy. Kindly refer to specific guidelines below and check also our parking diagram for your entrance and exit as some areas will be off limits/closed.
We will continue to celebrate Parking Lot Masses every Sunday until we are able to safely use the indoors of our Church for public gathering. I thank all the volunteers who stepped up to make our public Masses happen. Good job guys.
At our Pentecost Sunday Mass, let us pray for the more than 100,000 people from the US and over 350,000 in the world who passed away due to Covid-19. May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace! As I have announced last week, on June 17, Wednesday, at 2pm, Bishop David M. O'Connell will celebrate a Diocesan Memorial Mass for ALL the faithful departed of the Diocese who passed away for ANY cause (not simply Covid-19) during this pandemic period when churches were closed and could not have individual Masses of Christian Burial. So, please call the parish office to inform us of the names of your deceased loved ones at 609.882.6491 ext 101/111; or email us at (https://www.churchofsaintann.net/).
When on website, look for the button 'Contact Us' on top of the logo.
In this Newsletter, I send you aids to make your Sunday holy; useful prayer guides, homily, and readings for Pentecost Sunday and selected articles. I also send you some parish updates, announcements, informations and links to keep you updated and guided and most especially connected to our parish family.
Just a heads-up - the Knights of Columbus of St. Ann would like to do a food donation project that would be given to our local and regular recipients like New Beginnings Food Pantry, Mt. Carmel Guild, Home Front, Better Community Housing, and Catholic Charities. Please find below the list of needed food items that you could geneorusly and charitably donate. We will gladly receive them when you come to Parking Lot Mass (not tomorrow) but next Sunday (June 7 - Trinity Sunday).
I wish to express my deepest thanks to those who have donated and continue to give their help to the needy. Thank you for helping us help others. My sincerest thanks too to those who continue to put our parish church in their thoughts and hearts by giving us their generous stewardship contributions especially at these trying times. God bless you all.
As always, now that some restrictions are being eased, I urge you to please be extra vigilant and cautious. Be safe and well!
God Loves You!