23 March 2020

March 23, 2020 | Monday Memo

Bishop’s message

Thank you to our many parishes who provided the Mass online this weekend. We have some listed on our website. From what I am seeing and hearing, people are most grateful for this opportunity to participate in the Church’s liturgy, even if our “production quality” isn’t of Emmy Award standards. Instead, they are grateful to be connected to their local community. That’s a “spiritual quality” worthy of the highest honor! However, if you have production experience you’d like to share, please email our Communication team at communication@diojeffcity.org and they can share best practices in a blog.

To reiterate, the suspension of public Masses includes no celebration of the Mass in private homes. The only location for private Masses should be in the parish church or chapel, and in accord with our published protocols. Please prevent anyone from walking in during the private Mass. Furthermore, there is to be no distribution of Holy Communion outside of Mass, including outdoors, whether in small gatherings or in vehicles. The only exception is for last rites. This is for everyone’s health and safety.

The Chrism Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, April 2, with a minimum of ministers. It will be posted as a video-on-demand at approximately 5:30 pm, April 2, at www.diojeffcity.org. Holy oils will be distributed through the deans at a later date.

If the ban on public gatherings continues into Holy Week, diocesan staff are working on being able to post videos of Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies on our website at approximately 7 pm each day. Parishes should consider livestreaming Palm Sunday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses, if at all possible.

If you intend to come to the Chancery office in person, you must have an appointment in advance with the person you intend to meet. Please note the Chancery will be screening all guests with a health questionnaire and temperature check. This is for the safety of all.

A message to the employees of the diocese

Gala Wolfmeier, benefits coordinator for the diocese, has provided information to pastors, parish life collaborators, principals and bookkeepers about the PayCor system and benefits information. Please contact her at gwolfmeier@diojeffcity.org if you are in one of these groups and have not received the information.

Resources

All of our resources can be found at www.diojeffcity.org/public-health. Most are in Spanish and English. They include:

Remember, the most reliable source of information is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many people’s lives are being disrupted by the coronavirus and our attempts to stop its rapid spread. In this season of Lent, let us increase our prayers, fasting and almsgiving, so that God’s great compassion and love may be a source of hope and consolation for all.

Better Together Pastoral Planning process

The Diocesan Pastoral Council met last Saturday and asked that the timeline for the discernment of parish pastoral plans be kept as much as possible. Small groups may meet virtually through video or tele-conferencing and submit discernment reports online, which will be forwarded to their proper pastor. The DPC also recommends a fifth week of discernment be added after the completion of the small group session on Parishes as Centers of Mercy. The fifth week would be used to assess the proposals the group has already made, and to highlight the more important two-four proposals they recommend. The deadline for small group submissions to parish councils is May 1; the deadline for parish pastoral plans being submitted to the chancery is July 1. Please contact LeAnn Korsmeyer if you have questions.

To share in emails, social media, and websites

Please share this important message about continuing our financial contributions to our parishes.

Bishop’s Prayer intention for March

Bishop’s Prayer intention for April

PLEASE PROMOTE THIS IN YOUR DIGITAL MEDIA:
Applications for the 2020-2021 Simon Scholarship and Warack Scholarship are being accepted through March 31, 2020. Applications can be acquired through the pastor or parish life collaborator or may be downloaded at diojeffcity.org/scholarships.

The registration deadline for the Sixth Grade Vocation Day has been extended to April 3. We will reassess the event at that time. Registration details can be found at www.diojeffcity.org/sixth-grade.

Father Jerry Kaimann is inviting priests, parish collaborators, deacons and chancery staff to a Mass and dinner celebrating his 50^th anniversary of ordination on Sunday, April 26 at 3 pm at Immaculate Conception Church in Brookfield. Those who are attending are kindly asked to reply by April 15 by email (jkai@mcmsys.com), calling 660-376-3239 or online at https://forms.gle/DpRjJBgJVjQynAG17.

The Retrouvaille Program is for married couples facing difficult challenges in their relationship. A Christian marriage program, Catholic in origin, for couples of all faiths or no faith background, it is primarily a practical program to improve communication, build stronger marriages, and help couples reconnect. Presenters are not trained marriage counselors, but couples sharing their personal stories of marital struggles and the tools they used to rediscover their love. The next session is May 29 in Kansas City, KS. For more information and registration go to: https://www.helpourmarriage.org/

Employment opportunities

There are several openings in our Catholic schools. Please promote these openings.

St. Stanislaus Church in Wardsville is seeking a director of Religious Education to oversee the religious and spiritual formation of youth and adults. This will entail scheduling Parish School of Religion Classes, as well as sacramental preparation and events. For more information, to receive a complete job description and / or application please email ststansec@socket.net.

St. Thomas More Newman Center in Columbia is seeking a part-time Campus Ministry Office Assistant to provide administrative, secretarial, and clerical support to the Campus Ministry Team as they minister to the college students. An ideal candidate will have attention to detail, work management and prioritizing skills, organizational skills, flexibility, and reliability. For more information or the complete job description, email joann@comonewman.org.

Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri is seeking an AmeriCorps Member to join our Food & Nutrition Services Team. The Member will work directly with our leadership to research, conceptualize, develop, and implement a comprehensive food and nutrition services program, including a client choice food pantry and nutrition education programming. To learn more, including application instructions, visit: https://cccnmo.diojeffcity.org/about-us/careers/

Parishioner update form

Parishes are asked to use this form to send any updates of their parishioners: address changes, marriages, divorces, death, etc.

Parishes are asked to publish in their bulletins the need for relief parents at St. Nicholas Academy. You can find the listing here.
Please consider posting this helpful information for your parishioners on how to identify email and text scams.
In the interest of time and accuracy, The Catholic Missourian has moved to a simple online process for submitting events for the Things to Do page. To have an event considered for publication in Things to Do and in the diocesan online events calendar, go to diojeffcity.org/event-listing and follow the directions. The process is straightforward and user-friendly. Events submitted for display advertising will be automatically included in Things to Do, as will items that have been previously submitted.

Please feel free to disseminate the information in this Special Edition of the “Monday Morning Memo” to a broader audience, such as parishioners and school families! Is there someone else who should receive this Weekly Memo? Please encourage them to sign up here!

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