Dear Parish Family,
Congratulations to all our graduates! Whether they are from St. John Elementary, JCMS, Lumen Christi, or one of the public schools, I commend all our students on reaching this milestone in their lives. Many blessings upon your future! I look forward to celebrating with some of you this week at this week’s graduation Masses and individually at your open houses in these summer months.
Thank you again for all your various expressions of sympathy and condolences on the passing of my mother, Lolita. They have kept pouring in, and they lift up a heavy, but very hopeful heart. As Jesus reminds us in this past Wednesday’s Gospel reading, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a God of the living, not the dead. We confidently hope that our loved ones who go before us truly live on, and we look forward to our reunion in our God who is Love.
St. John Cemetery
Speaking of remembering our loved ones, I want to apologize for the state of the cemetery grounds this past Memorial Day and over the last month. There most certainly was neglect that should have been avoided, and we are taking steps to ensure the proper maintenance of these sacred grounds. The diocesan audit from last July revealed significant financial issues that we are striving to remedy. While the funds for future maintenance had been severely compromised over the last decade, we do not want that shortage to affect the high quality of the upkeep that you have known. I have asked Ben Dandrow who now overlooks the cemetery to provide an explanation in next week’s bulletin.
Corpus Christi Procession
Please come join the Jackson Catholic community to honor and adore our Lord in the Eucharist at this year’s Corpus Christi Procession! The clergy of the Jackson vicariate have chosen the procession at St. Joseph Oratory to be our official Jackson-wide Corpus Christi Procession that involves all the parishes in the region. See you later today at 2:00 p.m.!
Serving at Holy Mass
Our parish now has seven weekend Masses with the addition of our 5:00 p.m. Sunday evening Mass! Please consider serving in some capacity, whether it is as a greeter, musician, reader, server or usher. Maybe you are a family with teens or young children? With our new scheduling, Jeromy can coordinate it so that once every month or two, everyone in the family can take part in a ministry at the same Mass. Please call or email Jeromy at jeromy@stjohnjackson.org to inquire about the ways you can serve once or twice a month.
A Second Shot
Finally, with my mother’s passing occurring at the beginning of when I originally was going to take a vacation and then my annual retreat, I will try to take June 30 and the first ten days of July for both of those. I won’t be trying to go to Scotland again, however, where I had free accommodations at a monastery and rectory planned in return for relieving a priest’s weekend duties. That 10-year ordination anniversary celebration will have to wait until next year!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Chas