Scammers continue to contact our parishioners by text, email, and Facebook Messenger.  Please ignore any messages coming to you from Fr. Jim for Fr. Bauer. Our priests will contact you by phone if they need to talk to you about anything. Call the parish office to let them know if you have received one of these messages.

Scammers are impersonating priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, asking parishioners to respond to an urgent request via email or text for cash or to buy iTunes or other gift cards for cancer patients. Please notify the parish and do not respond to these requests. When requests from Father Jim or Fr. Bauer are urgent, the parish office will call you.

Scammers pose as priests in texts/email, ask parishioners for gift cards, cash

Beginning August 23rd, Friday Masses at St. Charles will be at 1:00 pm while school is in session. When there is no school, Mass will be held at 9:00 am. Please watch the weekly Liturgy schedule in the bulletin to keep up to date on changes.  As a reminder, when the schools close due to inclement weather, all events (including daily Mass) are cancelled for the day.

In a continuing effort to be as transparent as possible, Bishop Walkowiak has taken time to create a video message for the faithful of the Diocese of Grand Rapids ahead of the worldwide meeting of bishops at the Vatican. The worldwide meeting, which will gather presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world to discuss the clergy sexual abuse scandal and our global response as a Catholic Church will take place from Feb. 21 – 24. The video addresses the meeting and some of the frequently asked questions he has received from parishioners.

If you would like to read the document Fr. Bauer mentions in his talk click on this link:

https://www.yakimadiocese.org/pdf/SingToTheLord.pdf

More and more people are realizing that the world doesn’t have all the answers.  Younger people are looking for truth and substance.  We have the richness of our Catholic faith to share will all people who are searching.  

RCIA – Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults is a process that does not require any commitment to come and search for truth and ask questions.  We have several new people beginning their journey and others who are continuing their journey.  For more information contact Molly Scoby at 754-4194 ext. 131 or dre@saintscjm.com .  We will begin weekly sessions using Symbolon: Knowing the Faith which is presented by trusted and compelling teachers and filmed around the world with stunning cinematography.  Symbolon:Knowing the Faith explains the essentials of the Catholic Faith in a way that will inform our minds and inspire our hearts. We meet every Monday at 6:30 p.m. at St. Charles in McKinney Hall.  

Our parish has purchased FORMED for you!  FORMED is a revolutionary digital platform that gives you 24/7 access to video-based study programs, feature films, audio presentations, and eBooks from the Church’s foremost presenters. To sign up for FORMED go to the top of this page and click on Faith Formation tab.  Then click on Formed from the drop down menu.  Go to the Introduction tab  for the directions and the parish access code. Once you are registered, you will be directed to a link that is emailed to you.  Enjoy using this amazing tool!  Join in with the parish being FORMED and conversations by Passing it On.

What if you could help bring peace to the world, would you want to do it?  Do you believe our world needs help? Do you believe that you can help?

Maybe you answered, “Yes!” to the first two questions, but you were unsure of the belief that you can be part of the solution.  We can’t do it on our own, but together we can!  However, it does start with us. Fr. Aaron Ferris will take us back in time to 1917 to share the message of Fatima, the impact it had at the time, and its continued urgency and relevance for us–100 years later. Fr. Ferris will guide us in how to open our hearts to the call of the message and how to gain peace in our hearts and our homes. More peaceful people and families make a more peaceful world!

“One person with a belief is equal in force to ninety-nine people whom merely have an interest.  Do we really believe in what our Lady is asking of us?  Are we convinced of its importance, or are we merely interested in it?”  from Fatima For Today by Father Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

Weren’t able to make it to the talk by Fr. Aaron Ferris? We can help! Fr. Ferris’ talk is available to watch online. Click on this link to view the video.