Dear parish family members,
Someone asked me last week about the “changes” that are taking
place since I arrived here at Immaculate Conception. I smiled and I said, “What
changes?” The person responded and said “Like how you set the cups on the altar
and you make us stand at different times.” I said, “Those are adjustments.
Change is when you leave your home and all that is familiar to you and
move to a new town, live in a new house and learn a thousand new names. That’s
change. The other little stuff is simply adjustments.” We both had a good laugh
about that! So yes, there are some changes and more will come, but in the big
picture, the “changes” are simply adjustments - fine tuning and “tweaking” what
is already good and in place.
Among some of the recent “adjustments” are the following:
§
Morning mass is now celebrated with the Priest Presider facing the west, or towards the front of the
church. We do all our funerals, weddings, Sunday liturgies, etc. facing this
way, so it makes sense to do morning mass and prayer sitting in the main body
of the church. So the second ambo (podium), which was not used at Sunday mass,
has been removed from the sanctuary. One ambo is all that the rubrics call for.
§
Beginning August 15, the Feast of the Assumption
of Mary into Heaven, our Holy Day mass schedule will be as follows: morning at
§
Our lectors had a workshop last week and we
decided on the following: one lector, holding the Gospel book, processes into
the church with the priest and deacon. The Gospel book is placed on the altar;
the Gospel book is placed on a special table after the gospel is read, to give
the Word of God proper respect.
I will keep you posted as future adjustments take place.
Sister Betty Hunter, a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, has
been on our parish staff for 10 years. Sister Betty faithfully visited our sick
in the hospitals and at home. After all these years of faithful and dedicated
service, Sister will retire from her ministry here at Immaculate Conception on
August 15. As a way of saying thank you to her we will give her a special
blessing at the
Our parish community extends sympathy to Pat Schorr
and her family at the death of Laura Maiorano, Pat’s
sister, who was buried from the
I am grateful to the following men who have given their time and
talent to paint some rooms in the rectory: Guy Zaengle,
Dan Cafarelli, Pete Sheridan, Charlie King, and Ed Grega. They have been a great help to me and I am most
grateful.
Have a good week!
Fr. Jerry