The weekday Mass schedule:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:05 p.m.
 
 The weekend Mass schedule:
Saturday evening (vigil Mass) at 5:30 p.m.

 Beginning June 6, Sunday Masses will be at 8:30am & 11:00am

CONFESSIONS
Saturdays 4:00—5:00pm  Held inside the church vestible area in the Pieta Room, please enter the church through the  south handicapped door.  

The parish office hours of M-F 10:00am-2:00pm.

Do not come to Mass is you are particularly vulnerable! There is only so much we can do to alleviate the risk. Please wear a mask if you are coming. You may be the one who is asymptomatic!

PUBLIC MASSES RETURN TO SAINT BENEDICT PARISH

Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

(2 Cor. 11:18, 21-30; Mt. 6:19-23)

The homeless have it rough.  Not only because of the constant preoccupation with where the next meal is coming from or questions about where one will sleep that night, but also with the concern about how to protect whatever small collection of possessions they might have preserved from the time when they had a roof over their heads.  In conversations I’ve had with the homeless it often comes up that they’ve been victimized by robbers.  It’s hard to keep watch over your things when you have to sleep.  Imagine the devastation upon awakening and discovering that while you did so, someone made off with what little you had left.  That is so demoralizing as to beggar the imagination if it’s never been your experience.

Enter Jesus’ teaching on treasure.  Your treasure is where your heart is.  That much is certain.  But to consider that our treasure is in heaven seems to make too little room for the reality some people face:  it’s hard to think of treasure in heaven when you don’t have enough right here on earth to live a life in keeping with your human dignity.  Jesus must have been talking to people who had a surplus.  That’s most of us.  One of my favorite events in the course of the year is the big “yard sale” put on by a neighboring parish.  It’s a chance for me to divest myself of things that have somehow accumulated without me thinking too much about them.  And then, they become a burden and I feel like I need to do something about them.  There’s nothing there that would help a person on the street, unfortunately.  Just useless results of the impulse to buy something.  Where is my treasure in all that?  A good question to ponder, and then to act, to make a change

The St. Benedict Soup Kitchen is in operation Monday through Friday 11:30am-12:30pm at the corner of 9th & Walnut Streets. All are welcome!
 To inquire about voluteering in the Soup Kitchen please call            812-232-8421. 

Masses for St. Benedict Church are on the YouTube Channel (search St Benedict Catholic Church Terre Haute, IN OR click on the YouTube icon below.

"Houston, we have a problem." Do you remember that phrase? It comes from the story about Apollo 13, launched in 1970, which suffered an explosion while on the way to the moon that crippled it and set off an unprecedented effort to bring its three astronauts back to earth safely. The drama that unfolded was captured in the 1995 movie that starred Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton as the astronauts Lovell, Swigert, and Haise.
I'm a little sketchy on the original event, but I did see the movie and remember one scene to this day. Mission Control was working on how to restart the systems so that re-entry into the earth's atmosphere would not end up with the space capsule simply disintegrating in the heat caused by contact with earth's atmosphere. One of the engineers on the ground stopped everyone in their tracks when he proclaimed that they had to switch on systems in such a way that the strength of the electric current did not exceed 12 amps. That took a lot of thought and figuring before they came up with an order of switching things on that would work
I see us in a similar situation. Clearly, we are moving toward a post-pandemic reality, but there are still dangers lurking which can scuttle the whole project if we are not careful. For one thing, as of Thursday, two-thirds of the residents of Vigo county over the age of 18 had not been fully vaccinated. As much as those of us who have been are grateful, it would be folly for us to project our experience on the population as a whole. We are not that far along yet. So, due care needs to be given which acknowledges the actual state of the question and resists the temptation to jump ahead to what will be the case in a few months.
At the meeting of the pastoral leaders of the Archdiocese which took place this past week, Archbishop Thompson counseled us priests and parish life coordinators to encourage our parishioners to attentively practice two virtues, patience and charity: Patience because we are not there yet, even though we are moving in a positive direction; and charity because not everyone moves at the same pace. Some members of the parish are by nature more hesitant and will need more time to accommodate themselves to whatever changes are being made. Some parishioners may ultimately opt out of getting vaccinated altogether, but they will still need to feel comfortable coming to Mass by not being placed in a position which takes away the option not to participate in some aspect of the liturgy or another. For the time being, for example, we will continue to offer one another a sign of peace that does not involve making physical contact.
At that meeting of the pastoral leaders the Archdiocesan Office of Worship distributed an updated list of Liturgical Considerations which I and the parish staff will work on adapting to St. Ben's circumstances. Some changes will likely be put into place before the end of the Easter season. Others will take a bit more time. We want to do things right, and not end up with unintended consequences that could be detrimental to some of our members.
For the time being, Archbishop Thompson has emphasized the impor-tance of wearing a mask while in church. That's job #1, as he calls it. He does allow for an exception to be made when reading or leading prayer. Also, the general dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days remains in place until further notice.
To be honest with you, it seems to me that the increased attendance at our Masses over the course of the last several weeks would indicate that people are operating on the basis of an interior obligation, and a desire to be at Mass, more than being compelled to by the church's legal structures. That's a good thing! We want to accommodate that interest as much as possible and build on it going forward.
So, stay tuned! Changes are afoot. But be patient, too. The situation is a bit more complex than you may realize. We will try to manage it well without dragging our feet, but without violating people's need to feel safe when they come to church. We don't want to lose anybody, for any reason.

Province of Indianapolis
Extension of Dispensation
19 October 2020
While commending our pastors and pastoral life coordinators who have gone to great lengths to assure safe worship spaces in our churches, given the continued increase of Covid-19 cases in our state, the Indiana bishops hereby extend the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation beyond 1 November 2020 until further notice.  The Indiana bishops will continue to monitor the situation to determine when it might be advisable to modify or lift the dispensation. 

Young adults we want to hear from you! If you’re between the ages of 18-39, we’d love to know what you’re looking for from your parish community. Now that things are opening up, we are enhancing our ministry with young adults and we want to hear your thoughts and ideas. Would you please take a quick survey – only 5 short questions – and let us know what you’d like to see here at St. Ben’s? Click on the link below or go to our parish website to find the survey. Thank you!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RKLQQ9L

Announcements for the Week of
June 20th - 26th
 

Young Adults We Want to Hear from You!

If you are between the ages of 18-39, we'd love to know what you're looking for from your parish community. You will receive a short survey next week in your inbox. Please take just 2 minutes to respond to the quick 5 questions. If you do not receive an email, you'll find the survey link on our parish website. Thanks for helping us enhance our ministry with young adults!

Welcome Back Parties!

To celebrate our return to worshipping together at Mass and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, three Welcome Back Parties are being planned for St. Ben's. The first party will take place outdoors on Saturday, July 24 immediately after 5:30 Mass. Two more parties will be held on Sunday, September 12, one after 8:30 Mass and one after 11:00 Mass. All parties will take place on the St. Ben's campus. More details will be coming soon, but mark your calendars and plan to attend one, two, or better yet, all three! of our Welcome Back Parties!

Theology Uncorked

Young adults, please join other young adults from throughout the deanery for a delicious free meal, free beverages and good conversation, immediately following our 5:30 Mass on June 19, at St. Joe's, 113 S. 5th Street, in the Gregorian Room. After the meal there will be panel discussion on racism.

Religious Education Registration Now Open

Registration for Religious Education for the coming school year is now open. All children aged 4 through grade 8 are encouraged to register. Visit the parish website to complete your registration. Classes begin Sunday August 29th with a parent meeting included on that first day.

Cross Bearers Wanted

Another detail of restoring our pre-pandemic liturgy is to have the cross lead the opening procession. If you would like to volunteer to carry the cross in the processions or need more information, please talk to Father Martin or Kathy. You do not need to wear server robes to do this.

Capital Prize Raffle

The capital prize drawing will be held on Wednesday, June 30th. There's still enough time to purchase your ticket. A total of $14,000 in prizes still remain to be given away.

Father's Day Cards

Father's Day is next Sunday. Cards for living and deceased fathers are at the north and south side doors of church.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Bens,
St. Bens’ Capital Prize ticket sales is currently our only major fund raiser to fill in the financial gap left in our income budget due, in part, to continued pandemic related expenses and the cancelation of our Community Festival again this year. As in the past, St. Bens’ Capital Prize ticket sales will help reduce this deficit when the income is added to this year’s fiscal financials at the end June 30, 2021.

We are passed our breakeven in ticket sales but we still need your help. Each additional ticket sale contributes to the profit side, due to your efforts. We have found, in the past, many people just need to be asked to buy a ticket as they know the history of St. Bens’ many ministries, our beautiful parish campus, and St. Bens’ Soup Kitchen mission.

THANK YOU if you’ve already purchased your Capital Prize ticket(s). Remember, all future ticket sales contribute directly to our income and closing the gap we are currently experiencing in our budget. Our Capital Prize drawings will be held on June 30, 2021. Drawings will be for $1,500, $2,500 and the grand prize of $10,000!

To make it easy, we’ve attached an entry form on St. Bens’ web page www.stbenedictth.org for your use and will continue to have an entry form in the bulletin. Again, thanks to all who have already purchased your ticket(s) and thanks, in advance, to all who might do so in the next few weeks. GOOD LUCK in the June 30 drawing!

St.Benedict Capital Prize Raffle Form 

The 2021 Wabash Valley Rubber Duck Regatta will be taking place on July 4. Adopted yellow rubber ducks will race down the Wabash River with the winner receiving $10,000 and the chance at a $1,000,000 bonus prize! All proceeds benefit Catholic Charities Terre Haute. 

Adopt your ducks today by stopping by the Catholic Charities Office at 1801 Poplar or print an adoption for here: https://www.duckrace.com/.../WVRDR-Online-AdoptionFlyer.pdf

Check out their website for more information and additional adoption locations: www.wabashvalleyrubberduckregatta.com