St. Benedict Church

ASSUMPTION FEAST DAY MASS, Aug. 15. 10:00am 

Effective Monday, June 29^th the weekday Mass schedule with be:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:05 p.m.
 
Effective Saturday, July 4^th the weekend Mass schedule will be:
Saturday evening (vigil Mass) at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.
 
This schedule will be in effect until further notice.

CONFESSIONS
Saturdays 4:00—5:00pm  (outside by the south handicapped door of church.  Look for the blue and white   canopy between the church and the friary.)

Just a reminder about our new weekend Mass schedule. We will have one Mass on Sunday, at 10:00 a.m. The Saturday schedule is as usual: Confessions from 4:00 to 5:00 and Mass at 5:30.
The events of the last few weeks have reminded us that the corona virus remains hidden to a great degree. People may be coming to church who have been infected but don't know it because they are asymptomatic. They can still infect others, though. 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

The St. Benedict Soup Kitchen is in operation Monday through Friday 11:30am-12:30pm for To-Go Lunches, all are welcome!
 To inquire about voluteering in the Soup Kitchen please call            812-243-0873. 

Weekday Reflections - Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe - Aug. 14, 2020
(Ez. 16:1-5, 59-63; Mt. 19:3-12)
Ezekiel lays out God's rationale for allowing the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem and send the people of Judah into exile. It's a means of winning her back to fidelity to the covenant, broken and broken again over the course of the relationship. Now, the guilty party will have to feel the full brunt of what life is like without the covenant's protection-they will be exposed to the fate of having to go it alone, to realize all they had lost, all that their infidelity had cost them.

But there is a motive behind God's action that is hidden from view at first. He intends to honor his end of the bargain by reestablishing the covenant, making it anew even though it had been broken, and to do that he needs for the people to come to realize how gratuitous it all is and how undeserving of such faithfulness they all are. That will be their shame: to have to accept God's love in full awareness that they have done nothing to deserve it-quite the opposite, but God chooses to begin with them again.

Does that sort of approach work? I have heard stories, often in the confessional, of that sort of dynamic playing out in the life of a person, the hitting of rock bottom only to be saved by a power greater than they are and for no discernible reason other than because he did not want them to perish, but to live. Going forward the key then becomes remembering and committing ourselves to not going down that street again, but to live from the gratitude for the new beginning that has been offered.

It is a challenge to put ourselves, in our minds, in the position of being the recipient of such great love. When have we gotten such a second (or third) chance? When have we noticed that some behavior of ours was so irresponsible that it could have been the end right then and there, only it wasn't? What do we with do with those sorts of experiences? Do they hold any weight in our memory? Do they guide us on our way further down the road? Or do we harbor the belief, the expectation maybe, that we are deserving of God's love? That we've never done anything stupid or anything we knew better than to do? The latter attitude will not get us to where we want to go. The former, though painful, honors the truth and leads to life.

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. 

June 1, 2020-Initial reflection on the resumption of public Masses at St. Ben’s
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

“While commending our pastors and parish life coordinators who have gone to great lengths to assure safe worship spaces in our churches, due to the increase in the COVID-19 cases in our state, the Indiana bishops have decided to extend the dispensation from the obligation of Sunday Mass attendance beyond August 15 until November 1, 2020, unless further developments determine otherwise.”

Dear Friends,
There are many ways of counting the year: calendar year, fiscal year, school year, etc. I believe that the life of the parish is most affected by that third way. The opening of the new school year, even in the best of times, brings many changes: a new location perhaps, new routines, an indication that the seasons are changing once again.
We had many hopes that the beginning of this new school year would be accompanied by progress in confronting the upheaval that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought. We do know more about the disease than we did in March, but the hard-won early progress seems to have dissipated and we are faced with a great deal of uncertainty as the season changes. The parish staff, to a person, is showing the signs of dealing with everything that a prudent response to pandemic requires. Fatigue and anxiety are no strangers to us, and I am sure that is true for everyone. It would be nice to be able to speak with some certainty about what you can expect, regarding religious education, Mass times, seating limitations, the lessening of mask requirements, etc., but so many questions are still up in the air. We do seem to have arrived at a fairly stable way of celebrating the Eucharist, even if on simpler terms, and it has been good to be able to hold first communion, funerals, weddings, and even a few confirmations in church again. What we would normally be doing at this time of year, though, is still largely on hold and it appears that it will remain that way for some time yet. That is discouraging, to say the least. And yet, it is the hand w have been dealt, and we will try to play it out without losing our serenity and sense of humor.
News about the development of a vaccine has been generally positive and that can be a reminder that the current situation will not be permanent. We will try to respond to the needs of the parish as best we can, knowing that significant limitations are still the order of the day. Thank you for your forbearance in such difficult times. I appreciate all the affirmation that has been offered to keep up the good work, and all the efforts staff and volunteers are making to do as much as we can while exercising prudent judgment.
Let's continue to pray for one another, especially for those who are anxious about their health, living situation, economic prospects, or any of the other stressors in life that threaten us. We cannot forget to praise God for all the good He is doing, but we can pray for a speedy development of a good vaccine!
Yours in Christ,

Fr. Martin
 

Lord Jesus, as you were about to lay down your life for us, you prayed to the Father:

"I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us …”

Today, as we are faced once again with the division and strife caused by the sin of racism,

we join our voices to your voice, and we pray:

That all of us be one—

All nations and races,

Young and old, near and far.

That all of us feel as one—

Loved, not feared. Safe, not insecure.

Valued, not scorned. Uplifted, not beaten down.

That all of us work as one—

Not to tear down, but to build up.

Not only to stop violence, but also to promote peace.

Not only to restore order, but also to ensure justice.

Not to favor few, but to defend the dignity and rights of all.

May we all be one.

May we all recognize each other as one family, as sons and daughters of God.

May we be united, here on this earth, and may our bonds of charity and love lead us to the eternal life.

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