Flocknote

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great Independence Day holiday enjoying the weather (even though it was hot!), relaxing a little, and enjoying your freedoms, especially your religious freedoms. Today is the memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and companions who were martyred for their faith by the Chinese government over a 300 year period from 1648 to 1930. Even to this day, many do not have the freedom to worship as they are persecuted, tortured, and martyred by their government just for being a Christian. Praise be to Jesus Christ that we have the freedom to worship!

Attached are the parish summaries for both parishes regarding the Real Presence, Real Future parish survey. Each parish took their own surveys, and each parish has their own summaries. If you look at both, it is interesting to see just how similar the parishes are. In a nutshell, both parishes are strong in core beliefs of our faith, and both need help in sharing the faith with others.

I would like to thank our Key Parish Leaders for this initiative who for the past few months have gone through the results of the parish survey, working on deciphering the results, and putting together this parish summary report. At Our Lady of Lourdes, the key parish leaders are Deacon Nick Klear, Chris Spiese, Paula Boulanger, Ann Hood, and Donna Lamb. At Immaculate Conception, the key parish leaders are Deacon Mike Hood, Danita Podach, Louis Wrasman, Patty Warner, and Stacey Stacklin. Special thanks go to Steve Johnson for being the parish Primary Point of Contact who did most of the legwork and the coordination of the meetings. The key parish leaders and the parish councils will continue to work in the coming months to help us as parishes to better minister to the needs of the parish and surrounding community. We will ask for parishioner involvement and input at those times. However, anyone is free to reach out to me or any of the key parish leaders now for questions, concerns, or input.

As we hear in the news, the Delta variant of Covid-19 is now causing a spike or a new wave in coronavirus cases. Health officials are strongly asking people to be vaccinated as it seems to be the one of the best protections against Covid. Not all can receive the vaccination, but if possible, I also ask you to do so. Fr. Jeffrey, Deacon Mike Hood, Deacon Nick Klear, and I have all been fully vaccinated. Certainly, we are thankful that Hardin County is on the lower end of cases, but we still want to be protected in the times that we travel outside the area and in case the number of new cases start to arise locally.

Bishop Brennan wanted me to extend his gratitude to both parishes for exceeding their BAA goal. Any pledges over the goal amount comes back to the parish in full as long as all pledges are fulfilled by next summer. As of this week, ICC will have almost $6,000 coming back to the parish and OLL will have over $3,000. Thank you for your participation!

Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortion. It is critically important for Catholics to send a strong message to Congress right now as it moves to impose taxpayer-funded abortion. The Hyde Amendment has protected Americans from funding abortion for 45 years. It’s credited with saving the lives of over 2.4 million children to date. Powerful members of Congress want to take away this law that both Democrats and Republicans have supported for nearly half a century. Without it, billions of taxpayer dollars could go to abortion. Catholics are urged to sign a USCCB’s petition at www.notaxpayerabortion.com.

Quo Vadis Retreat: Attention all Catholic young men entering 9^th–12^th grade. Do you know where your life is going? The Lord Jesus has a great plan for you! You are invited to attend the Quo VadisRetreat, spending time with other young men discerning God’s call. Quo Vadis is led by priests and seminarians of the Diocese of Columbus and is supported by the Office of Vocations. Quo Vadis will be held July 25-28. The cost of the retreat is $40. For more information or to register, visit http://www.seekholiness.com/quo-vadis/ or contact seminarian Michael Haemmerle at columbusquovadis@gmail.com.

Repeat info:

Confessions at ICC

We are once again offering confessions at ICC 30 minutes before each weekend Mass, both at Saturday and Sunday Masses.

DMI (Disciple Maker Index)

The following is a diocesan announcement regarding the Real Presence, Real Future initiative (which is the overall initiative that includes the parish surveys):

Real Presence, Real Future - Summer Q&A Sessions

Join CLI and Diocesan leaders to learn more about the Real Presence, Real Future initiative at Information Sessions throughout the summer. Each session will be similar consisting of an overview of the Real Presence, Real Future initiative, and the opportunity for your questions and comments. We want to hear from you! What are you hearing about RPRF? What is it? Why are we doing this?

Virtual Sessions from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.