St. Jude Parish Mission

St. Jude Newsletter A quarterly newsletter dedicated to nurturing the growth and community of St. Jude Parish St. Jude Parish Mission Oct. Dec. 2016 Oct. 23-25, 7-8pm

St. Jude Parish Mission Oct. 23-25, 7-8pm by Fr. Jake Runyon This year, our parish mission is going to focus on God s gift of mercy. This is a great topic since we are still in the Year of Mercy that Pope Francis began last fall. But, our mission is going to look at mercy from a unique perspective, we are going to explore the teachings of some of the Fathers of our Catholic faith. The Fathers of the Church is a term that normally classifies the great teachers of our Catholic faith from the first 7 centuries after the Resurrection. We will listen to the thoughts from three Church Fathers: St. Athanasius, St. Augustine, and St. Leo the Great. Our presenter for the Mission, John Sehorn, Ph.D., is an expert in the theology of the early Church. And, he is a terrific presenter who will help us all to understand these great theologians. St. Athanasius was the bishop of Alexandria. During his time, the Arian heresy was threatening the faith in God. Athanasius defended our belief in the Holy Trinity. St. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo, in North Africa. Known as the greatest theologian in the history of the Church, St. Augustine was the first to grapple with a number of important issues. He has a unique take on mercy, as mercy had a profound impact on his life during John Sehorn, Ph.D. presenter Children s program for K-Grade 5 Childcare available *Reception each evening Sunday ~ St. Athanasius God s mercy in creation and the Incarnation Monday ~ St. Augustine Knowing oneself through God s mercy Tuesday ~ St. Leo the Great Bringing God s mercy to others his conversion experience. St. Leo the Great was an important and influential Pope. He led Rome during a dangerous time. But, he was also an inspiring teacher of the faith, who promoted a proper understanding of the full humanity and full divinity of Christ. These great theologians will come alive during our mission. We will be able to grow in our love of God through their helpful guidance. Our parish mission will be a great way for us to grow in our Catholic faith, which has always been Founded on Mercy. Respect Life Committee Life The Respect Life Committee of St. Jude helps the parish focus on greater respect for all life, the unborn, those with disabilities, and the elderly. Our mission is to show each person the love of Christ. As uniquely created individuals, we each have unique gifts which we are called to use to share Christ s love. We are continually given opportunities to do so in our interactions with the cashier at the grocery store, our spouses, children, friends and even the people we encounter in traffic. ach of these moments is valuable beyond our realization. We may never know how much a simple gesture of compassion may affect someone s life. *There is a list of Respect Life vents on the back page. 2

St. Jude Youth Make Pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2016 by Vickie Lortie This July, four St. Jude teens and our Youth Ministry Coordinator traveled to Poland for World Youth Day (WYD). Anna Getty, Caroline and Gina Obergfell, Joshua Wolfe and Vickie Lortie left Fort Wayne on July 21 and returned greater for the experience on early in the morning on Aug. 2nd. The preparing for this pilgrimage started much earlier than July, however. The teens began to raise money on their own almost a year in advance. The five pilgrims began spiritually preparing on Oct. 7th, 2015 by attending the story of Faustina at the USF Performing Arts Ctr. at the opening of the year of Mercy. ach month prior to the trip, the teens of St. Jude, St. Charles, and some from St. Patrick and St. Vincent would gather to watch videos on Polish history, discuss books on the lives of Polish saints, learn about Polish culture, and pray in preparation for this grand pilgrimage. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend was represented at WYD by about 140 participants. Bishop Rhoades and the diocesan priests that went lead the group in Holy Mass almost every day. Many of our seminarians and several of the Sisters of St. Francis from Mishawaka attended also. There were teens (those 16-18), their chaperones, and young adults (19-35) from around the diocese that prayed, learned, and grew closer to Christ on this trip. Prior to the start of WYD, the group visited St. Stanislaus Kostka's Church, the church of Bl. Jerzy Popieluszko, Jasna Gora monastery, the home of the Black Madonna, Wadowice, the birthplace of St. Pope John Paul II, Auschwitz, the Divine Mercy Center and home of St. Faustina. As WYD began, the group attended the Opening Ceremonies and welcomed Papa Fancesco and got pretty close to him! We attended a night of adoration led by Bishop Robert Barron with 18,000 others silently adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. There was a night of out door stations with about 3/4 of a million people and Pope Francis. The culmination of the trip was the day all pilgrims walked to the vigil sight about 10 miles from our hotel carrying all of our gear for World Youth Day 2016 Presentation by the Teens and their Chaperone Saturday Nov. 5th 6:30-7:30 Church Basement Come and learn about the wonderful pilgrimage that our youth took this summer. Learn about the history of Poland, Polish saints, Papa Francesco, World Youth Day, and the details of traveling with hundreds of thousands of teens from around the world. an all night campout. That evening we prayed together as a group with 2.2 million others in an open field, all giving adoration to our heavenly father. The next morning even more people joined us as we gathered together for Holy Mass. The 10 mile walk back to the hotel was grueling; heat, wind, rain, lightning, and even some hail! PILGRIMAG! The seeds planted on this pilgrimage will be producing fruit long into the future. Thank you to all that made that trip possible for us! 3

O C T O B R Grief workshop and Mass of Remembrance Saturday, Nov. 5-8:15am Mass - Workshop from 9am noon by Mary Pohlman Middle School Youth Ministry (C.H.A.O.S.) presents: All Saint's Carnival Saturday, Oct. 29th 6:30-8pm All children ages 0 through 3rd grade are invited to come dressed as their favorite saint (or other costume) to play games, win prizes, and learn about the Holy Saints. Our 6-8th grade students (dresses as saints, also) will be reinventing games that incorporate the lives of the saints. Costumes should NOT be worn to the 5pm Mass. Parents should accompany their children to the carnival. Seniors on the Move Our Seniors had a great outing on a warm, sunny September day to eat at the Back 40 Restaurant in Decatur followed by a walking and driving tour of this year s Decatur Sculpture Tour. We re back on the road at 2pm on Wednesday, October 12 for wine tasting at the Country Heritage Winery near Avilla, after which we ll head to Moose Lake just down the road to browse in their shops and have dinner. In early November we are looking into tickets for the play, The Wizard of Oz at the University of St. Francis. If you are interested in that, please watch the bulletin for final details or call the parish office (484-6609). Also in November, Fr. Bob D Souza will share with us his experience of being in Rome for the canonization of St (Mother) Teresa of Kolkata. A simple lunch will be served in the church basement at noon on Friday, Nov. 9, followed by Fr. Bob s talk. These activities are open to any seniors or anyone who likes spending time with seniors. Details can be found each month in the Sunday bulletin or you can always call the Parish Office if you have questions. We d love to welcome anyone to join us and anyone to share an idea for an activity. very year near the Feast of All Souls, the Social Action Committee offers a Grief Workshop for the entire St. Jude Parish community. The loss of a loved one is very difficult. Coming together to celebrate Mass and then attend the grief workshop can be a very positive step in dealing with your grief. We gather together to share our stories, to learn about the grief process, and then learn some concrete, positive ways to deal with our loss. We close each workshop with a lovely candle lighting service. This year, Dar Richardson, a local grief counselor, will be our speaker. She brings a wealth of knowledge and counseling experience. If you have lost a loved one or know someone that has, please plan to join us on Saturday, November 5 for the 8:15 Mass in church, followed by the workshop from 9 noon in the Parish Center. Call the Parish Office at 484-6609 with any questions. Fall Leaf Raking Our youth group teens (grades 6-12) and parents will be raking leaves for our parishioners in need this fall. If you, or someone you know, needs help with leaf collection at your home this fall, please contact Vickie Lortie, youth ministry coordinator to get your name on the list for leaf raking. Parents and adults are needed to drive teens to various homes, supply blowers and rakes, and chaperone. Please contact Vickie at 484-6609 soon to offer help. N O V M B R 4

The Giving Tree St. Jude Advent Reconciliation Service Thursday, Dec. 15, 7:00 p.m. D C By Lois Jozwiak The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, the Giving Tree will be placed in the back of church and will be filled with tags identifying needs of parishioners. After Masses on that weekend, parishioners will select a tag from the Giving Tree and purchase the requested item(s) to be returned December 3 rd and 4 th. On December 4 following the 11:00 A.M. Mass, parishioners will assist in moving and sorting of the gifts and in delivery of gifts to the home bound or the nursing homes. We are always in great need of parishioners willing to deliver gifts to the home bound and the nursing homes. Over the years, a number of individuals and families have found this very rewarding. Some have even developed friendships with the recipients. ach year since 1992 the parish has provided Christmas gifts for families needing support. It grew to include parishioners in Nursing Homes, Assisted Living facilities, and home bound. More recently tags were added for assistance with utilities, gasoline, and groceries which are distributed throughout the calendar year. very year the parish receives thank you notes from the recipients after Christmas expressing their gratitude for the Christmas provided for them or their family. Some of the notes are written by the children thanking for the toys they wanted so badly and received! Some notes are from adults thankful that their families were provided for at a time when they were struggling. Other notes are written by parishioners who are confined to their homes and are just thankful for being remembered by the parish. Please help us provide a gift for a fellow parishioner by selecting a tag, purchasing the desired gift, wrapping it, and returning it on or before the date on the tag. We have many loyal, dedicated volunteers who return year after year to assist with the project for whom we are extremely grateful; however, we are always in need of volunteers to help sort the gifts or to deliver the gifts to a homebound or nursing home parishioner. Please consider volunteering. If you are interested, please contact the parish office at 484-6609. Parents Day Out Saturday, Dec. 17 Junior High Youth Group will be providing a FR babysitting service for the parents of children ages 0-5th grade. There will be games, crafts, movies, coloring, story-telling and lunch. The day will begin at 10:00 am and run until 4:00 pm. M B R The parish is most grateful to Bernie and Lois Jozwiak who started the Giving Tree project at St. Jude, helping hundreds of families and individuals. They are now passing on the reins after 24 years of coordinating this ministry. 5

A D V N T A N D C H R I S T M A S A T S T. J U D First Sunday of Advent Mass Sat., Nov. 26 5:00 p.m. Sun., Nov. 27 7:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. Food Collection, all Masses --Begin Year A of the Sunday Lectionary, the year of St. Matthew-- Advent evening of Prayer and Singing Nov. 29 6:30 p.m. (following the Mass) A time to STOP and center our lives toward the Advent season with prayers and simple melodies. -- Dec. 6, St. Nicholas, bishop Second Sunday of Advent Mass Sat., Dec. 3 5:00 p.m. Sun., Dec. 4 7:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. Return Giving Tree Gifts, all Masses Immaculate Conception Mass Thurs., Dec. 8 6:30, 8:15, 10:00 a.m. 6:30 p.m. Holy Day of Obligation Anointing of the Sick Sun., Dec. 11 12:15 p.m. Third Sunday of Advent Mass Sat., Dec. 10 5:00 p.m. Sun., Dec. 11 7:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. St. Jude Catholic Church Advent evening of Prayer and Singing Tuesday, November 29, 6:30 p.m. --Dec. 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron of the Americas and of Mexico --Dec. 13, St. Lucy, virgin, martyr Parish Reconciliation Service Thur., Dec. 15 7:00 p.m. Fourth Sunday of Advent Mass Sat., Dec. 17 5:00 p.m. Sun., Dec. 18 7:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. Set up manger scene Noon Vigil Mass of Christmas Sat., Dec. 24 4:30 p.m. Children s Choir Sat., Dec. 24 7:00 p.m. Youth Choir Sat., Dec. 24 10:00 p.m. Chancel choir, organ, piano, orchestra. Music begins at 9:30 p.m. Christmas Mass during the day (one Mass only) Sun., Dec. 25 10:00 a.m. Mon., Dec. 26, St. Stephen, first martyr --Tue., Dec. 27, St. John the vangelist --Fri., Dec. 30, Feast of the Holy Family Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and World Day of Prayer for Peace Sat., Dec. 31 5:00 p.m. Sun., Jan. 1-7:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. The piphany of the Lord Sat., Jan. 7 5:00 p.m. Sun., Jan. 8-7:00, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. Blessing of chalk An evening of prayer and meditative singing --Mon., Jan. 9, The Baptism of the Lord Immaculate Conception, Christmas, New Year and every Sunday are Holy days of obligation. 6

by John Offerle A Look Inside the Numbers If you look at only the Total Income less Total xpenses, you would say we did pretty well this year. But if you look at the Total xpenditures against the Total Income, you will see that we actually spent about $30,000 more than we took in. The Building/Property Improvements are actually items that we paid for but the Diocese has us record them as assets that we depreciate out over a set number of years (it s an accounting thing). These Building/Property Improvements items last year included a new central air conditioning unit for the present convent, the final on the HVAC control system in church, and the start of the new carpet, tile, etc. work in church. More about this in a future article. So let s take a little peak inside the numbers. First of all you can see where our Offertory Income actually increased from the year before. That is good news but unfortunately through the first three months this year we are running quite a bit behind last year to the tune of almost $10,500 and almost $21,300 behind this year s budget since we were anticipating that the income would increase this year. For Bequests/Donations and Other they dropped because last year, if you recall, we had a couple of large bequests that came in and a couple of other larger donations to cover some items that needed replacement. The School Income was up almost entirely due to an increase in tuition. Looking at Church xpenses, we notice that the only category that really increased was the Personnel one. This was due to increases in salary, personnel turnover, and going back to a full time secretary. The Maintenance category was down because we had to Actual Actual July 1, 2015- July 1, 2014- June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 Church Income: Offertory 1,367,144 1,353,203 Bequests/Donations 81,310 631,554 Other 44,351 193,631 Sub-total 1,492,805 2,178,388 School Income: Tuition/fees/etc. 1,955,511 1,760,774 Total Income 3,448,316 3,939,162 Church xpenses: Personnel 520,525 495,075 Maintenance 117,513 185,887 Utilities 45,833 54,501 Other 241,470 277,488 Sub-total 925,341 1,012,951 School xpenses: Personnel 2,072,995 1,987,026 Maintenance 137,950 119,173 Utilities 58,306 66,174 Other 234,810 203,030 Sub-total 2,504,061 2,375,403 Total xpenses 3,429,402 3,388,354 Building/Property Improvements 48,127 339,942 Total xpenditures 3,477,529 3,728,296 repair the steeple, which was largely covered by insurance. The Utilities one was down because of our mild winter. Most of the reason the Other was down because the year before we had the expense of the Our Sunday Visitor Stewardship program. On the School xpenses side, the Personnel expenses were up mainly because of salary increases and the related expenses. The Maintenance one was higher because of more items we repaired in the school. Like the church one, utilities were less for the school due to our mild winter. Finally, the Other was up since we were using money towards updating our math books this year, for funding a large part of the 8 th grade trip, and for subsidizing HASA so they wouldn t need to host a big fundraiser every year. So that is the yearly financial report in a nutshell. We are doing some things pretty well but we need to continue to attempt to keep our expenses down while relying on the generosity of our parishioners to keep St. Jude Catholic Parish strong in a financial sense. Thanks for all you do! Important FT change date On Monday, Sept. 22, our new lectronic Funds Transfer system through OSV was up and running. Here is what everyone who currently uses FT will need to do: 1. Log onto your Vanco account (link is on the website), go to "Summary" and look at "My Scheduled Transactions". Click "Delete" next to "My Scheduled Transactions". Please note, that you cannot cancel a transaction within 2 days of the transaction date. If you have never accessed Vanco before you can call John Offerle at the parish office to have him delete your Vanco FT. 2. Click on the OSV contribution link on the website and follow the directions to set-up your lectronic Funds Transfer. The process should be very simple. Please call John Offerle at 484-6609 if you have any questions or need help setting this up. 7

-mail address: hcisz@comcast.net Web site: www.stjudefw.org The deadline for the next issue is Dec.10th, 2015 St. Jude Parish The Grapevine 2130 Pemberton Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46805 God s Agenda Written by an Adorer from the St. Jude Adoration Chapel Soon after I made a commitment to spend one hour a week in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, I made preparations. Armed with my favorite rosary, some spiritual reading and a list of people who needed prayer, I was confident that I would make the very best of this precious hour. It didn't take long, however, until I realized that God had His own plans for our time together! After just a few weeks, I became very aware that I needed to have some transition time time to leave the busy world behind and time to soak in the sacred peace of the Adoration Chapel. I set aside my rosary and books and just let my body, mind and soul relax in the presence of my Savior. I tried to open myself to the Holy Spirit and let Him lead the way. Now, after many months, I am a bit wiser. ach week I feel anticipation as I open the chapel door. What's on God's agenda for today? I never know. I just know that it will be a special time, wherever He takes me. October is October is To celebrate life we at St. Jude are involved in several events: Oct. 22 and 23, 2016 United Prayer for Life Praying in St. Jude Adoration Chapel from 8 AM to 8 PM for Life Issues. November 12, 2016 January 21, 2017 January 27, 2017 Life Defender s Workshop Saturday from 9 AM to 11 AM at St. Vincent De Paul Parish. (Cost is $5.00) For adults to learn to better defend life issues. Allen County March for Life Rally University of St. Francis at Noon followed by the march. National March for Life in Washington, DC If you can t go you can watch on WTN or listen on Redeemer Radio. Please support life & consider joining us for these events! To find out more about St. Jude Respect Life committee, or if you feel called to join, please contact the parish of-