St. Michael the Archangel Pastorate
Sacred Heart, Remington
Sts. Peter & Paul, Goodland
St. Augustine, Rensselaer
Friday Flocknote
May 13th, 2022
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. – Acts 2:42
We recently mailed out copies of our Pastorate Vision Plan to everyone in our database, if you have not received a hard copy in the mail, we have some copies in the parish office and the document is available on our website: www.stmichaelpastorate.org Our document is the product of a lot of conversations and input from many people throughout the pastorate over the last year, and it is designed with a three-year outlook to help guide our decisions as we continue to take strides, together, growing in our faith closer to Christ every day.
Our Pastorate Vision Plan was already in its final draft and approval stages when we had our 2023 Global Synod listening sessions in February and March. We had three different sessions, two pastorate sessions, and a youth session with a total of 60 people attending all together. Here is a thematic summary of our Synod town halls and I believe you can see a very strong correlation to these meetings and the goals contained in our Pastorate Vision Plan.
Where does the Holy Spirit point out the true and beautiful things in your life?
The Mass, Church, prayer and Sacraments; Family; Outreach/Volunteer; Faith Sharing & Formation of Small Groups; Strong Catholic School.
What are your hopes and dreams for our pastorate and for the Church?
Grow - our school enrollment, Mass attendance, understanding into the depth of the Catholic Faith.
Return - young families to church/community, fallen away Catholics, people who have left due to heartache due to Uniting in Heart and COVID.
Outreach - to divorced persons, to marginalized persons, to the lukewarm and to our community to welcome visitors.
What are your worries for our pastorate and for the Church?
Financial stability given the aging demographics of the parishes, future is a large percentage of Senior Citizens; a demographic cliff; number of priests and overloading them and burn out; Mass attendance decline over the years, especially the lack of young people and families; school attendance will not keep up with financial demands; that our enrollment is becoming more and more non-Catholic; overall decline in Faith and laxity in morals; society norms bleeding into expectations in Church and teachings; confusion on moral and social issues from top down: Papal speeches, USCCB statements, local statements and dogma; the Church will be viewed as too rigid in a society that is too loose; multi-generationally lukewarm faith and multiple generations failure to educate children in the Faith; people resistant to any change; lack of engagement of Sts. Peter and Paul parishioners in the pastorate; small towns on the fringe of the diocese will be forgotten about and numbers of people and priests continue to decline, losing parish identity within the pastorate.
What is going well?
Communication, especially, Flocknote, Email, Bulletin, social media, text messages; New programs (Formed.org, The Search, Bible Timeline); Religious Education a priority, True Faith being presented in classrooms and in homilies on Sundays; More confession times; Great Catholic School; Superb pastorate staff; Men’s and Women’s parish and fraternal groups; Financial strength of parishes.
Where is your faith being nourished?
Mass, especially in the reception of the Eucharist and in homilies; Sacraments, especially Baptisms and confessions; Small groups: especially Formed.org, Bible Study, The Search; Volunteering and serving in the community.
What brings you joy as a person of Faith?
Receiving the Eucharist; Going to Confession; Witnessing Baptisms; Family coming together to pray together; Sharing Faith within our community of faith and in our broader community.
These were merely the synthesis of our many conversations, summarized to fit into this space. I believe this is helpful insight, as we look to capitalize and grow off of our successes, we also look to continue to respond to the worries that remain in the hearts and minds of all the members of our pastorate as we continue to work, together, towards the goal of Eternal Salvation with God in heaven.
The success of our Pastorate Vision Plan requires the time, talent and sacrifices of everyone in the pastorate to help us bring these goals to a reality. Please consider in what ways you can help our pastorate in achieving our goals!
God Bless,
Fr. Bennett
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – Have Mercy On Us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary – Pray For Us
Sts. Joseph, Michael, Peter, Paul and Augustine – Pray For Us
Congratulations to our pastorate students that received their First Holy Communion
on Saturday, May 7th!
Thanks to all our wonderful catechists for another amazing year! These people give of their time, sharing the faith with the future of our parishes. This is such an important ministry!
Thank you!
St. Augustine catechists include Angie Dobson, Maureen Deno, Cathy Hanna, Ava Kosiba, Jack and Jana Drone, Nicole Cain, Savanah Steinke, Teresa Manis, Christy Fleming, and Sid Dobson.
Sacred Heart/ Sts. Peter and Paul catechists include Jeff Demerly, Amanda Alberts, Morgan Gretencord, Rachel Neidlinger, Andy Federer, and Matt Hall.
Masses for the Rogation Days
in our Pastorate
Monday, May 23, 2022 – 6:30am CT/ 7:30am ET
at Sacred Heart Fulcher Center, Remington
field blessings after Mass
Tuesday, May 24, 2022 – 6:30am CT/ 7:30am ET
at Sts. Peter and Paul, Goodland
field blessings after Mass
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 – 6:30am CT/ 7:30am ET
at St. Augustine, Rensselaer
field blessings after Mass
(There will be no other scheduled Masses these days)
Join us for special Rogation Masses on May 23, 24 and 25; these are days of prayer set aside in the Church calendar to pray for God’s blessing during the planting season in the spring. These are related to the Ember days of Fall at harvest time. These always fall the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, Rogation Days are “Days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to appease God's anger at man's transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest.”
Like the Ember Days of Fall, Rogation Days were removed from the mandatory liturgical calendar when it was revised in 1969; however, parishes in farming communities, like ours, are encouraged to continue to celebrate them.
Mass Intentions
One of the traditions of the Catholic Church is to pray for the deceased. If you are interested in scheduling a mass intention, please contact Natalia in the pastorate office at 219-866-5351 or nbrady@parish.dol-in.org
Please note: Currently, all Masses at Sts. Peter and Paul through the end of 2022 are filled. Weekday Masses are available at St. Augustine for your loved ones. Please wait to send 2023 intention requests. We will publicize when the calendar becomes available for 2023 intentions.
Thank you to those who have turned in your census forms! Just a reminder to please turn in your forms if you haven't already.
Census forms are available below if needed.
St. Augustine School celebrated the
Crowning of Mary and Mother’s Day
by having muffins with Mom!
Pastorate Baptism Prep Class
On Wednesday, May 18th from 6:00-8:00pm CT/7:00-9:00pm ET we will have a Baptism Prep class at St. Augustine Rectory. If you or someone you know needs to be baptized, please contact Sarah Hall shall@parish.dol-in.org or (219) 866-5351.
Sts Peter & Paul and Sacred Heart Graduation Breakfast
Please join us on Sunday, May 22nd for graduation Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul's and celebration breakfast at the Fulcher Center afterward to honor our Tri-County and Benton Central seniors. Seniors are Verania DelReal, Isak Glotzbach, Zach Benner, Korbin Lawson, and Brynn Warren.
Herman Nagel Server Awards
A few years back, a group of St. Augustine parishioners created a program to honor and reward our servers that have continued to serve mass throughout their entire high school career. These awards are known as the Herman Nagel Server Awards in recognition of Herman Nagel who served St. Augustine Parish his entire life. Our goal is to provide each qualifying recipient with a cash award up to $500 at the graduation mass in early June. If you are interested in helping support this program, please contact Cheryl Hillan (869-3384) or Marty Park (863-1768). Checks need to be made out the Herman Nagel Scholarship Fund. Your financial support is greatly appreciated.
World Youth Day 2023
Jessica Wade, Interim Manager of Evangelization & Witness Young Adult Ministry Liaison, is trying to organize a group of young adults to go to Portugal for World Youth Day 2023. The cost is approximately $4,200 and the diocese would need 15 people to sign up in order to form our own group. Please inform Jessica (jwade@dol-in-org) if you or your young adult children are interested.
Thank you so much for your cards, messages and concerns regarding my recent surgery. It went well and my overall health has greatly improved. I will continue Immunotherapy treatments for several more months and be routinely monitored. Your prayers have been a blessing, I truly appreciate them.
Leslie Christopher
Project Rachel
“It’s normal to grieve a pregnancy loss, including the loss of a child by abortion. It can form a hole in one’s heart, a hole so deep that sometimes it seems nothing can fill the emptiness.”
Join us for "Arise," our diocesan young adult retreat June 10-12, 2022 at the St. Joseph Retreat & Conference Center in Tipton, IN! The weekend will include talks, prayer, sacraments, music, conversation, meals, and relaxation. The retreat is open to all young adults ages 18-39. We will begin at 7pm ET on Friday and end at 12pm ET on Sunday.
Regular Registration: $100 by May 18
Late Registration: $125 by June 1
The registration cost includes hostel-style rooms with bunk beds. You may choose to upgrade to a private single room for an additional $85. You may choose to upgrade to a private married room for an additional $35/person.
If you have questions, or may be in need of financial assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to Jessica Wade at jwade@dol-in.org.
Regular Registration: $100 by May 18
Late Registration: $125 by June 1
The registration cost includes hostel-style rooms with bunk beds. You may choose to upgrade to a private single room for an additional $85. You may choose to upgrade to a private married room for an additional $35/person.
If you have questions, or may be in need of financial assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to Jessica Wade at jwade@dol-in.org.
Will you join Catholics across the United States today? Let's ask Our Lady of Fatima to intercede on behalf of the unborn. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked us to keep five special intentions in mind: https://www.usccb.org/news/2022/faithful-invited-fast-and-pray-rosary-friday-midst-tensions-over-leaked-draft-supreme
