Fr. George Darling, Pastor

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Saturdays at 3:30 pm or by appointment.

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Parish registration of six months is required.

Preparation session required. Contact the parish office for details.

SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY Contact the parish office a minimum of six

months prior to the preferred wedding date. Marriage preparation sessions are required.

PASTORAL COUNCIL Scott Ware, Chair. Liz Connell Jim Fochtman Kelly Garbacik Doug Graves Jeremy Reed Kathy Schwartz Mark Steiner Donna Wrona

FINANCE COUNCIL Jim Wila, Chair.

Jim Frey, Vice Chair. Tim Callery

Tammy Chartier Bob Dean

Barb Lawrence Deb Schmalzel Terry Staskey

Steve Stoddard

PARISHIONER MEMBERSHIP New members are always welcome to our Parish. Parishioner status is maintained by registration in the parish, active participation in weekend liturgies and full participation in the parish stewardship program. All family members 18 years and older should be individually registered with the parish. Parish membership and participation is required of those desiring the Sacraments of Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation and Matrimony.

OFFICE HOURS: Monday - Friday, 8:30am–4:00pm

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE Weekday Mass:

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 8:30am Wednesday: 10:30am

Weekend Mass: Saturday: 4:30pm

Sunday: 9:00am & 11:00am

2275 Diamond Avenue NE Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 Telephone: (616) 447-7554 (616) 447-7629 Fax: (616) 447-7548 E-Mail: church@bsacrament.net www.bsacrament.net ASA telephone: 616-447-2997

Blessed Sacrament Parish

BLESSED SACRAMENT CHURCH PAGE 2 GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

BY GEORGE….

Sat, May 23 VIGIL: THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD **No Mass** Sun, May 24 THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD **No Mass** **No Mass** Mon, May 25 EASTER WEEKDAY **No Mass** Tues, May 26 ST. PHILIP NERI, PRIEST **No Mass** Wed, May 27 EASTER WEEKDAY **No Mass** Thurs, May 28 EASTER WEEKDAY **No Mass** Fri, May 29 EASTER WEEKDAY

**No Mass** Sat, May 30 VIGIL: PENTECOST 4:30 pm Fr. Dennis Morrow Sun, May 31 PENTECOST 9:00 am Parish Family 11:00 am Parish Family

PASTORAL TEAM Father George E. Darling, Pastor…..…father@bsacrament.net

Darrell Beckwith, Business Manager ....dbeckwith@bsacrament.net

Lori Borek, Parish Secretary…………church@bsacrament.net

Jody DeGraw, Dir of Religious Education ….jdegraw@bsacrament.net Vicki Glynn, Religious Ed. Asst….…...vglynn@bsacrament.net

Marie LeMire, Ministry to the Sick & Elderly ….mlemire@bsacrament.net

Michael Debri, Principal ASA….……………..mdebri@asagr.org

Masses for the Week

STEWARDSHIP - Week of May 16 & 17

Week 47/53 Adult Envelopes (59 used) $6,100.00 Automatic Envelopes (67 used) 6,056.00 Youth 33.00 Loose Stewardship 0.00

Total Stewardship this week $12,189.00

YTD $626,740.66 Budget YTD $662,519.23 Last YTD $662,992.72

5% Tithe this week $609.45 YTD Tithe $31,337.03

Once again I would like to thank all of you who have been sending in your parish contribution envelopes to the Parish Office and who have returned your pledge cards for the Catholic Services Appeal. Please remember that every little bit helps, so thanks again. On the following page of this bulletin you will find a letter to you from Bishop Walkowiak announcing that he has given permission for parishes to begin the celebration of public Masses once again beginning on Friday, May 29. The present stay at home order from the Governor of Mich-igan expires on May 28. I am told that even if that stay at home order is extended the Bishop still grants the permis-sion for the celebration of public Masses to resume. So it appears that we will once again have the opportunity to come together next weekend for Mass. As I wrote in this article last week some changes will be made in the way that we do things once we resume gathering. The reception of Holy Communion will be differ-ent as I mentioned last week. Everyone two years old and older must be wearing a face mask. We will not be passing the basket for the collection such that we don't pass Covid-19 as we hand the basket from person to person. People are not to congregate in the narthex of the church before or after Mass such that we can keep a six foot social distance from one another. (If you wish to speak with people or a person not from your household before or after Mass simp-ly do it outside where there is more space - not in the nar-thex). We will be asking you to sit in church in such a way as to be six feet away from people who do not share your household. For instance, you would not sit directly behind someone in the pew in front of you but rather if they are sitting at the end of the pew you would sit in the middle of the pew behind them, not directly behind them, and vice versa. The number of people at a given Mass is not sup-posed to exceed 25% of the capacity of the church. Feel free to bring your own hand sanitizer with you. People will come up to Holy Communion one pew at a time so that we don't have people standing in a line in the aisle less than six feet from another person. These and other directives will be simply common sense to most of us so remember if we are not responsible in our behaviors then we may invite Covid-19 into our homes through our recklessness. The Bishop has granted a dispensation to attend Sunday Mass for everyone through June 30. I suggest you be very liberal in taking the benefit of that dispensation. If you are high risk for Covid-19, i.e, over the age of 60 with pre-existing health conditions then my instruction would be STAY AT HOME. For those of you who are older and in a weaker condition of walking with a walker for instance, my instruction would be STAY AT HOME. If you have a little one who is touching everything and then putting his or her hands into his or her mouth STAY AT HOME. In the big picture of the next 10 or 20 or 40 or 70 years of one's life if our absence from Mass extends for another month or two until things settle down will that really matter? Howev-er, if we try to be heroic and thereby contract Covid-19, given the unknown nature of the illness and the present lack of treatment I would conclude that that will really mat-ter in the lives of individuals and families. God has gifted us as human beings with intelligence. I suggest we all use it as we come back together to remember God's grace. Isn’t it a great time to be alive?

Sacred Scripture Readings for the Week of May 24, 2020 Sunday The Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-13; Mt 28:16-20 Monday Acts 19:1-8; Ps 68:2-5acd, 6-7b; Jn 16:29-33 Tuesday St. Philip Neri, Priest Acts 20:17-27; Ps 68:10-11, 20-21; Jn 17:1-11a Wednesday Acts 20:28-38; Ps 68:29-30, 33-36a, 35bc-36b; Jn

17:11b-10 Thursday Acts 22:30, 23:6-11; Ps 16:1-2a, 5, 7-11; Jn 17:20-26 Friday Acts 25:13b-21; Ps 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20b; Jn 21:15-19 Saturday Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Ps 11:4-5; 7; Jn 21:20-25 Sunday PENTECOST Acts 2:1-11; ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7,

12-13; Jn 20:19-23

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD PAGE 3 May 24, 2020

May 19, 2020 Dear Friends in Christ, It is with great joy that I write to you today to announce a date for resuming public Masses and liturgies in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Beginning Friday, May 29 parishes may resume these celebrations if they are prepared. I have considered the advice of doctors in West Michigan, public health officials, and the Diocesan staff in making decisions throughout this pandemic. I am grateful for their insight and consultation. These past few months have required significant sacrifice. I am grateful to our pastors and their parish staffs who kept our churches open and worked to support the faithful through this time. Through it all, we have continued to bear witness to Jesus Christ through new methods of evangelization and outreach, through the sacraments, and prayer. I thank you for your patience and for showing your love of neighbor during this pandemic. This crisis has provided us a golden opportunity to freshen up our “yes” to God and to enrich the Domestic Church through our time together. Reopening will proceed carefully and in phases. The diocese has provided detailed guidance to our pastors. The logistics for how these directives will be implemented will be different for each parish. Please watch your parish website or social media for up to date information, or call the parish office. All Catholics within the territory of the Diocese of Grand Rapids are granted a dispensation from their obligation of attending Sunday Mass through June 30. We recommend people stay at home if they are considered vulnerable due to age (over 60) or underlying health conditions. If you are sick, please stay home. Though the dispensation remains, our obligation to keep holy the Lord’s Day is of utmost importance to our continued faith life. Mass will continue to be televised at 10 a.m. Sunday on FOX 17 and livestreamed on the diocesan website (grdiocese.org) and Facebook page (Diocese of Grand Rapids). Please approach this reopening phase with patience and caution. We want the reopening to be successful so that we do not have to suspend public Masses again. The risks of COVID-19 remain and we must follow these regulations to safeguard the health of everyone in our community. Please continue to check the diocesan website: http://bit.ly/GRdioceseCOVID19Updates and social media for the latest information on our COVID- 19 response.

Let us pray for each other, for the sick and deceased, for their families, and for all frontline workers and officials who are working to protect us and restore our communities to good health. We entrust these prayers to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes, patroness of those who suffer illness. Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Reverend David J. Walkowiak Bishop of Grand Rapids

DIOCESE OF GRAND RAPIDS

Office of the Bishop