St. Benedict Church

 As of May 26 Mass will be offered Monday through Friday at 12:05.   It is open to the public, with restrictions. 
The Mass schedule for this coming weekend is 5:30 on Saturday evening and at 8:00 and 11:30 on Sunday morning. 
We will move back to our normal Sunday Mass schedule once we have some practice at sanitizing the church between the Masses and no better how much time is needed to do so.

PUBLIC MASSES RETURN TO SAINT BENEDICT PARISH

The effects of the Corona virus continue to ripple outward.  Based on the fact that our soup kitchen is staffed totally by volunteers, the majority of whom are retired, we have seen a reduction in the number of people who have any business getting out of their homes in times like these.  That has led to a significant lack of personnel to provide the soup kitchen lunch everyday Monday through Friday.  In view of that, effective May 18th, the soup kitchen will serve lunch four days per week for the time being:  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday.
We consider our soup kitchen to be an essential service to the poor of our area, but we can only do what we can do and hope that God and people of good will will provide the rest.  Thanks to all our volunteers, especially those whose hearts are in the right place but who know that prudence dictates that they stay put at home!

Weekday Reflections – Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter – May 29, 2020

I don’t know of anyone who would want to be subjected to Roman justice.  When you think of gladiators and people being thrown to the lions the brutality of the Roman culture is repulsive.  And yet, in order for an empire to work, there has to be some sort of organization.  Otherwise, the whole thing will fall apart.  Roman law had a philosophical basis that is on display in today’s first reading, and that basis is part of the heritage of Western civilization. 
 
The procurator Festus (who was a successor in the position that Pontius Pilate had held) puts succinctly the legal principle that we still hold to today:  “…It is not Roman practice to hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusers and had the opportunity to defend himself against their charge.”  Regardless of what the Jewish authorities might have had in mind for Paul, the Roman official, for once, adheres to sound legal practice, and acts on behalf of Paul and his rights.
 
This turns out to be the means by which God will make good on the promise he made about Paul at the beginning of his journey as a Christian disciple and missionary.  Earlier in Acts, when the Christians of Damascus express concern about whether the newly converted Paul can be trusted, God’s response is: “Go, for he is the instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. (Acts 9:15)
 
There is a basic reality of organization in the world that keeps culture, any culture running.  One of the benefits of Christianity is that it can enter into a culture, find what is good there, and build on it.  That means getting to know and understand the system and making use of it.  That should be an encouragement to all who work in administration and related services.  In one sense the procurator Festus was just doing his job, but as it was designed to be done.  He was neutral about the matters of religion that being dealt with.  They were not the purview of his court.  But because of how he handled the matter God’s will for Paul and the proclamation of the Gospel could go forward.  God makes use of all the tools at his disposal, even at times the bureaucracy of a pagan empire, to advance his plan.  What tools lie at our disposal that can be put to use for the sake of the gospel?

In addition to a reflection on the readings of the day, I am going to be sending out these additional comments as we move off of square one and work toward opening up toward a more regular exercise of our Christian communal life together.  That movement has a lot of moving parts and not all of them are in place, not by a long shot.  So, as we move forward, I’d like to highlight various elements of what navigating through these dangerous waters will look like so that we can increase our chances of success and avoid the necessity of going back to square one and starting over.
Please see documents below from Fr. Martin Day:
https://www.archindy.org/worship/coronavirus2020-reopening.html

Survey link for parishioners of St Benedict Church-please click here to take the parish survey about resuming masses. 

PUBLIC MASSES RETURN TO SAINT BENEDICT PARISH
May 23, 2000:  An essential step in the life of our community
May 22, 2020- Slowly but surely, step-by-step…
May 21, 2020-Making use of all the resources available
May 20, 2020-Singing while masked
May 19, 2020-We have a date:  First Mass open to the public set for Tuesday, May 26th
May 18, 2000:  Gathering for Worship in the COVID-19 Era
May 16, 2020-A New Model for Forming Community?
May 15, 2020-Some wrinkles in the process to reopen churches
May 14, 2020-Building Community in the Wake of COVID-19
May 13, 2020-Perserverence
May 12, 2020-An Emerging Need
May 11, 2020-Remembering All our Options
May 9, 2020-Following the Plan
May 8, 2020-Where to Begin?
May 7, 2020-The Calculated Risk
May 6, 2020-A Correction to a Common Misconception

Many have been asking for a good prayer to pray during the time when, watching Mass on TV or on the internet, we would be going to communion if we were in church.  A search on the internet would turn up many options for making a "spiritual communion."  Archbishop Thompson has just published his version of this long-standing practice and so I pass it along to you for your use if you so desire:

A spiritual communion

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for your children as we deal with the serious challenges to our health and well-being as individuals, families and communities. Inspire us with your courage and steadfast faith. Show us the way to your Son, Jesus and intercede for us before the Throne of Grace. Amen.

The parish office will operate with limited office hours of M-F 10:00am-2:00pm.

In an effort to stay connected we are providing ways to read Fr. Martin's weekend homily, links to on-line streaming Masses in the Archdiocese, link to our weekly bulletin, Religious Educatiuon Curriculum and current information from CDC regarding the Coronavirus.

Click on each link:

St. Benedict Church Virtual Mass

Homilies

Streaming Masses

Bulletins

Pray from home

Religious Education Curriculum

CDC