SSJ's PRE-K/12 FAITH FORMATION CLASSES BEGIN THIS WEEKEND!
INFORMATION, ZOOM LINKS, DATES / TIMES BELOW!
FRIDAY FUN POLL: You can only pick one for the rest of your life ...
Pizza
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Coffee
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Ice Cream
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FR. PAT'S FRIDAY VIDEO
Fr. Pat talks about tonight's visit by Galveston-Houston Archbishop Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, who will preside over the SSJ confirmation Mass at 6 p.m. The Mass was originally scheduled for the spring before its pandemic-related postponement. Fr. Pat remains hopeful that, slowly but surely, things are returning to normal at the church and in society, though safety protocols remain in place. Click video to watch.
ZOOM LINKS FOR THIS WEEKEND'S FAITH FORMATION CLASSES AT SSJ
Classes for 2020-2021 Faith Formation begin this weekend via Zoom. Below are the meeting links for you to connect to as religious education gets under way for another year. Faith Formation classes are for all grades, pre-kindergarten-12. Students can attend either sesson listed below and can come whether registered or not. Time will be set aside during each Zoom session for a Parent Q&A session.
SATURDAY Faith Formation, 10 a.m.
Meeting ID: 895 2965 3331
SUNDAY Faith Formation, 3 p.m.
Meeting ID: 851 4757 4432
ST. VINCENT de PAUL PANTRY NEEDS THIS WEEK
Needed items for the St. Vincent dePaul pantry this week: Canned chili, cornbread mix, toothbrushes, small hotel toiletries.
SSJ BLOOD DRIVE CANCELLED
Sts. Simon and Jude’s Blood Drive, originally scheduled for November 15, has been cancelled, however an urgent need for blood continues and organizers of the blood drive encourage you to make an appointment with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, 3091 College Park, Drive in The Woodlands. Call 936-321-8440 to make an appointment today or go to Giveblood.org, login or create an account, go to Donate Now, Choose location and appointment time. (Masks are required and appointment times are appropriately spaced for safety protocol reasons). When donating, make sure and give Sts. Simon & Jude’s sponsor number: 3814. For more info, contact Gretchen Hartley Duffy, ghartley06@gmail.com, (713)899-4854, SSJ Blood Drive Coordinator
MUSIC MESSAGE FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
FROM SSJ MUSIC MINISTER DONNA FINNEY
Good morning!
This week, we’ve been reviewing the readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Monday, we started off the week with the Entrance Antiphon and a song, and Tuesday, we examined the first reading from Ezekiel (18:25-28) and shared four versions of “Let Your Justice Roll.” On Wednesday, we listened to five psalms, and I asked you to pick your favorite musical version for “Psalm 25: Remember Your Mercies, O Lord.” We’ll reveal the results at the end of the week. Yesterday, we reviewed the second reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians 2:1-11 or 2:1-5 and listened to a song about the reading.
For today, we’ll review the gospel reading for Sunday:
The gospel according to Matthew 21:28-32: "Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: 'What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, 'but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will? They answered, 'The first.' Jesus said to them, 'Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.”
Song of the Day
“God of Justice” by Tim Hughes from the Album Happy Day- Live Worship London. Licensed to YouTube by [Merlin] Absolute Label Services (on behalf of Survivor Records).
Lyrics:
God of justice, Savior to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served.
Jesus, You have called us. / Freely we've received
Now freely we will give. / We must go live to feed the
hungry
hungry
Stand beside the broken. / We must go stepping forward
Keep us from just singing. / Move us into action.
We must go / to act justly every day
Loving mercy in every way.
Walking humbly before You, God.
You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received. / Now freely we will give
Fill us up and send us out / Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out, Lord.
Prayer of the Day, inspired by the above reading and song: “Lord, we know you are a ‘God of justice, and Savior to [us] all.’ You ‘came to rescue the weak and the poor,’ and save the sinners from their sinful ways. Lord, that we may not be stubborn like the chief priests and elders who would not change their beliefs. Jesus, teach us to be humble like You, and Holy Spirit, guide us to lead others to a change of heart, that they might believe in You and Your Holy Word. ‘Walking humbly before You, God, You have shown us what You require. Freely we’ve received. Fill us up and send us out, Lord. Fill us up and send us out.’ Jesus, we trust and believe in You. Amen.”
Hope you have a blessed and fun Friday!
Donna
SUNDAY BULLETIN FOR WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER 27
"GROWING TOGETHER, GOING FORTH" SCHEDULE
Sept. 18: Opening Mass of "Growing Together, Going Forth: 40 Days of Apostleship," / Family Connect Zoom event after Mass.
Sept. 20: Faith Formation/Small Community Drive-By for supplies.
Sept. 26 & 27 First Faith Formation Sessions
Sept. 28: Small Communities kick-off, “Why Catholic: How We Pray”
Oct. 2 & 3 Healing Mass/All-night Adoration/First Saturday
Oct. 4: 39th Anniversary, Dedication of Church
Oct. 10: Women’s Metanoia Mission, Our Lady of Fatima Celebration
Oct. 16: Family Council Connect Event
Oct. 18: Come & Learn Online
Oct. 24-25: Faith Formation Session, Townhall
Oct. 24 & 25: Sunday Celebration of Feast Day.
Oct. 28: Wednesday Celebration of Feast Day Wednesday Evening Mass
** On the First Friday of each month — except when otherwise noted — there will be a Healing Mass at 7 p.m. There will be no 8:30 a.m. Mass on First Fridays.
DAILY READINGS: Read, watch
CONFESSIONS
Fr. Pat and Fr. K are now hearing confessions in the church Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. (before and after the Noon mass, no appointment necessary) and Saturdays at 4p.m., before the 5 p.m. Mass. Confessions will continued to be offered by appointment. Confessions by appointment will be heard outside.
FACE MASKS REQUIRED MUST BE PERSONALLY SUPPLIED
SSJ parishioners are reminded to bring their own face masks when attending any function at Sts. Simon and Jude. The wearing of face masks is required at all Masses, funerals or any other event at the church.
ONLINE CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
A list of online resources to answer questions about COVID-19:
The Woodlands' Township COVID-19 Information
Texas Dept of Human Services, Coronavirus information
Coronavirus and The Church
Centers for Disease Control, Coronavirus
CDC, Coronovirus: What to do if you are sick
Montgomery County Food Bank, COVID 19 Updates
Helping Churches Serve Local Schools
How the Stimulus Bill Affects Churches/ Nonprofits
Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management
Harris County Office of Emergency Management
ONLINE SSJ RESOURCES
VIRTUAL SSJ gives you a jump-off page to all our livestreams and videos at Facebook,and YouTube. Click for VIRTUAL SSJ.
ARCHIVES: If you miss any of our daily Flocknote messages, much of the information is archived at our website, here ...
YOUTH MINISTRY LINKS: Facebook:/SSJ Youth Ministry ... InstaGram: SSJYouth ... Twitter: YouthSs
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ITEMS
SSJ HELPING HURRICANE LAURA VICTIMS
Dear Parishioners: Our neighbors in Lake Charles, Louisiana, suffered a horrific hurricane last week as Laura shut down the city and other parts of the region. Those who were here for Harvey know how difficult it is after a storm like this. We are working with the Lake Charles Diocese and Catholic Charities to help with relief and supplies. Volunteers will be taking donations at the SSJ Hospitality Room (Rm. 1). Your help is appreciated. We hope to be able to drive these supplies to Lake Charles by Saturday. To see the list of needs, click on the "SSJ Helping Hurricane Laura Victims" document in this email.
RESPECT LIFE MONTH
October is Respect Life month and October 4 has been designated Respect Life Sunday. The SSJ Pro-Life Ministry is sponsoring a parish wide financial fund-raiser to benefit Loving Choice, our local Catholic pregnancy center. The fund-raiser and observance begins on Respect Life Sunday, October 4, and continues through the month of October. Financial donations may be made at any time via the website loving-choice.org or by mailing a check to Loving Choice, 4008 Louetta Road #178,Spring, TX 77388. — Joan Prochaska, SSJ Pro-Life Ministry.
FORMED SIGN-UP
Log onto: https://formed.org/signup
In the "Find Your Parish" window, enter Sts. Simon & Jude; our parish and address should appear highlighted. Click on it, and then click NEXT. Create an account (name, email), then click SIGN UP. You will be taken to formed.org/browse
LINK TO NATIONAL PEACE DAY PRESENTATION
More than 60 people attended a Zoom presentation featuring several interfaith speakers from The Woodlands and elsewhere on Monday, designated the International Day of Peace by the United Nations. If you missed the speakers' talks, you can access them here.
Prayers for our Country
Eternal Father, source of love, by your Holy Spirit you move human hearts so that enemies may speak to each other again, adversaries join hands, hatred is overcome by love, revenge gives way to forgiveness, and discord is changed to mutual respect. Grant us, through the action of the Spirit, the grace to contribute, together with all people of good will, to the fulfillment of your Son's will: "That they may all be one!" With faith, we ask you for the divine gift of unity. Give us enough love and courage
to seek to overcome disunity, whether it is friction in our families, tensions in our neighborhood, disagreements at work, in our parish, or among different religious groups. Help us to enter into honest and respectful dialogue. Keep us from being indifferent. Soften our hearts. Open our ears. Help us to listen with close attention to the other person, sharing in the pain caused by their wounds. Help us to build bridges rather than walls. Make us instruments of your peace. We humbly pray to you: allow us, your children, to live in solidarity with all people and so to honor you, who are the Father of us all. We ask these things through Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
to seek to overcome disunity, whether it is friction in our families, tensions in our neighborhood, disagreements at work, in our parish, or among different religious groups. Help us to enter into honest and respectful dialogue. Keep us from being indifferent. Soften our hearts. Open our ears. Help us to listen with close attention to the other person, sharing in the pain caused by their wounds. Help us to build bridges rather than walls. Make us instruments of your peace. We humbly pray to you: allow us, your children, to live in solidarity with all people and so to honor you, who are the Father of us all. We ask these things through Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.