The weekday Mass schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 12:05 p.m. in the church
 
 The weekend Mass schedule:
Saturday evening (vigil Mass) at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday Masses at 8:30am & 11:00am

CONFESSIONS
Saturdays 4:00—5:00pm  in the church confessionals beginning      July 24th, 2021

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

Wednesday of the 17^th Week in Ordinary Time

(Ex. 34-29-35; Mt. 13:44-46)

Would “a pearl of great price” describe the way you look at your relationship with God?  When I stop and give that some thought I have to admit that such is not an image that I would use.  It’s only when I give myself the chance to think long term that the value of my “pearl” comes into greater focus.  For one thing I would have to admit that it has saved my life, pure and simple, and since I value my life greatly I must value the pearl that has saved it just as much.  Because I want to know the truth of things, I value the pearl for its ability to enlighten me and put things in proper perspective.  I hate being on the wrong foot and possessing a means to discover where to take the next step is something I could not put a price on.  A third quality of the pearl of great price which keeps me coming back to it is that it’s value is never exhausted.  I mentioned this in a homily lately that I am still amazed at the Word of Life communicated in the Scriptures opens up constantly new interpretations that simply amaze me that I did not see them before.  I could not leave out the reality of the Holy Spirit, who has acted quite openly in my presence and even within me.  I am witness to events which cannot be adequately understood in any other way than that the Holy Spirit had worked and I and those others involved had paid attention and responded appropriately.

There is more to be said if I were to try to adequately assess the value of the pearl of great price that has been given to me.  I cannot do justice to it.  Even if my life does not reflect that reality very well—no one has told me how radiant I look—that’s really what’s going on with me, just so you know.
 

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. 

Thank you to all who supported the St. Benedict Church Capital Prize Raffle this year. We are happy to announce the following winners!
$10,000 Ashley Rader
$2,500 Dean Dawson
$1,500 Megan Mascari

Thanks to everyone's efforts to make it anothe successful year!