blog – Saint Ann Catholic Church

St. Ann Virtual Bulletin – 3rd Sunday of Easter – April 18, 2021

St. Ann Catholic Church – Virtual Bulletin

3rd Sunday of Easter – April 18, 2021

St. Ann Church – 2116 E First Ave Spokane WA 99202

Phone: 509 535-3031 Email: info@stannsspokane.org

Raise the Roof – New Wines for April

There are new wines for April in the St. Ann Wine Shop. See the flyer below to read more about each of the new wines, or go to the wine shop here: https://www.rimacrafts.com/ You can pay for your order online using paypal or in person when you pick up your order. This month you can contact Mark with any questions – his number is on the flyer below. Thank you for supporting St Ann!

58^th Anniversary of the World Day of Prayer For Vocations – April 25

The purpose of World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to publicly fulfill the Lord’s instruction to, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2). As a climax to a prayer that is continually offered throughout the Church, it affirms the primacy of faith and grace in all that concerns vocations to the priesthood and to the consecrated life. While appreciating all vocations, the Church concentrates its attention this day on vocations to the ordained ministries (priesthood and diaconate), consecrated lifenin all its forms (male and female religious life, societies of apostolic life, consecrated virginity), secular institutes in their diversity of services and membership, and to the missionary life.

Virtual Discussion Group – Tuesdays at 1:30 PM

Craig’s Lenten discussion group will continue meeting through the Easter Season, on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM, Craig has emailed out new reading materials to the group to use during the Easter Season. An email with the Zoom link will be sent out to the group each week before Tuesday morning. Contact the parish office if you have any questions.

Craig’s Corner – Reflections

Craig will continue writing a weekly reflection during the Easter season, which will be posted on our website and emailed to the parish email list each week. Here is the link to Craig’s reflection for this week: https://wp.me/p91S6R-16l

Taize Prayer Service – Thursdays at 4:15

St. Ann parishioners are invited to join a Taize prayer service, held every Thursday on Zoom at 4:15 PM. If you are interested in joining this prayer service, contact Shonna at bartletts@gonzaga.edu.

Sign up Link for Saturday & Sunday Masses in April

Please use the link below to sign up to attend Saturday & Sunday Masses at St. Ann for the month of April. Please be sure to check the date of the Mass you are signing up for so you sign up for the Mass you want to attend! We also ask that you sign up at least an hour before the Mass. If you are willing to be a reader at Mass, please write “reader” in the comments when you sign up. Thank you!

April Masses: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ABAA22A5FF2-stannmass

The link is also available on the home page of the Parish website!

**Important ** Information about Mass during Covid

Reminder: We require everyone – including children over 2 – to wear a mask during Mass, and maintain social distancing. (One household per pew!) We ask that parishioners enter by the front doors only so that staff can check you in and keep an accurate count. Hand sanitizer is also provided for use upon entry and before communion. If you need assistance signing up, or with deleting a sign up, please call or email the parish office.

Also – because we have a beautiful old church, we do not have a state of the art ventilation system. After consulting with experts, we have determined that in order to keep parishioners safe, we must keep the doors open during Mass for ventilation. When the weather is cold outside, it can get quite chilly in the church, so please dress appropriately if you choose to attend Mass. Thank you for helping to keep everyone safe!

Prayer Service on Zoom – Sunday at 11:00 AM

We will continue to offer the Prayer service on Zoom for those members of our community who are unable to attend Mass, so that we can continue to gather together in prayer. The link for the Zoom prayer service is emailed out through the parish email list on Saturday.

Eastertide Zoom Prayer Services – Readers & Musicians List:

Date	Reader	Reader	Musicians

April 18	Pierrette W	John W.	Dave & Sue
April 25	Gary M.	Jean L.	Michelle
May 2	Pierrette W.	Janet S.	Dave & Sue
May 9	John B.	Val C.	Michelle
May 16	Gary M.	Jean L.	Dave & Sue
May 23	Pierrette W.	Mark W.	Michelle

Prayer Requests

Please pray for these community members in need of our support or healing:

Nancy J.	Crystal M.	Dianne F. & Family
Janet S.	Sunny B.	Susan L.
Estella L.	Andy T.	Darren S.
Roberta B’s family	Jake S’s family	Bob & Shonna B’s family
Craig B’s family	Michelle M.	Georgie W.
Kerry M & family	Fr. Tom C.	Izzy H.

Please remember our recently departed and pray for their grieving families and friends:

Paul B.	Fr. Jim D.	Miguel R.
Claudia K.	Nancy R.	Fr. Robert F.
J. Kenneth K.	Ron P.	Hal T.
Sr. Linda H’s nephew	Roberta (Bobby) B.	Kalvin
Betty B.	Walter B.	Judy M.

Franciscan Corner

For Francis, Easter was a vibrant reality that gave light and hope and even energy for his daily journey with Christ to the Father. He teaches us that the real saints (the Easter saints) are the quite human, quite natural people in whom, through the Easter purification and transformation, what is human appears afresh in its total originality and beauty. (Pope Benedict XVI) Claim that Easter energy for yourself in your daily journey with Christ. Live like an “Easter saint!“

(Thank you to Sr. Joanne for sharing these Franciscan reflections with us.)

Upcoming Important Dates & Parish Events

Sunday, April 18 – Zoom prayer service – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, April 20 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM
Wednesday, April 21 – Social Justice Ministry meeting – 6:30 PM
Saturday, April 24 – Parish Council meeting
Sunday, April 25 – Zoom prayer service – 11:00 AM
Sunday, April 25 – World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Tuesday, April 27 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM

Zoom links for prayer services are emailed to the parish email list. Zoom links for meetings and discussion groups will be emailed to members of the group only.

Office Hours

The Pastoral Team is primarily working from home at this time, but are checking messages and emails remotely, and will work limited office hours.

CRAIG & ERIN are working from home, due to health concerns. Craig can be reached at craig.bartmess@stannsspokane.org and Erin can be reached at Erin@stannsspokane.org

ELIZABETH is usually in the office:

Monday 12 Noon – 3:00 PM

Wednesday 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM

and works from home Monday – Thursday. If you need to come in to the office, call first, or email Elizabeth at info@stannsspokane.org

JOLIE, our Director of Religious Education, can be contacted at Jolie@stannsspokane.org (or by text) if you have any questions about liturgies or the Youth & Family Ministries Program.

DIANNE, our Director of Grounds and Maintenance, can be contacted at Dianne@stannsspokane.org

FATHER PATRICK is available by appointment. He can be contacted by email at barazap@gonzaga.edu Please contact the parish office if you would like to schedule an appointment, to ensure it is on his calendar.

Please note that during Mass is not always the best time to contact the staff about parish issues. If you have more than a quick question, please schedule another time to talk with someone on the pastoral team so that we can give you our full attention. Thank you!

Mass Times

Saturday Mass is at 4:00 PM

Sunday Mass is at 9:00 AM

Please sign up to attend Mass online, using the link on the homepage of our website.

Due to restrictions, Father Patrick is unable to hear Confession at this time.

Zoom Prayer Service is at 11:00 AM on Sunday

(Link is sent out to our parish email list on Saturday.)

Online Giving Now Available With Tithe.ly

You can donate using the direct link here: https://tithe.ly/give?c=2044739

The direct link can also be easily found on our website on the Contact and Giving page. https://stanncommunityblog.wordpress.com/contact/

February Collection Totals:

February General Collection: $8,505.67

January Neighborhood Collection; $494.74

January Building/Roof Fund Donations: $691.18

Parish Registration & Communication

If you would like to register as a parishioner of St. Ann, or would like to be added to our parish email list to receive news and links to Zoom services, please contact Elizabeth in the parish office, or fill out a registration card at Mass.

Thank You For Your Support!
Thank you for your generous support! If you would like to send in a donation, our mailing address is: 2116 E 1st Ave Spokane WA 99202
Or you can donate online with Tithe.ly (see link above)

Craig’s Corner – Reflection for the 2nd Week of Easter

Craig’s Thoughts for the Second Week of Easter

Gentle reader,

What if the gardener that Mary Magdalene spoke to outside the tomb really was the gardener? What if the stranger walking with the two disciples to Emmaus really was a stranger on the road? What if the man grilling fish on the seashore, really was just a stranger grilling fish on the seashore. How would that change our understanding of the Resurrection. Jesus told his disciples over and over again that they would find Him in the person standing right next to them. He told them that they would find Him in the stranger and the poor and the most vulnerable that they encountered. That whatever they did to the least of their brothers and sisters they did to Him.

When we hear these resurrection stories we often ask how come people who knew Jesus intimately. Who walked with him and lived with him for 3 years could fail to recognize Him. Perhaps the question ought to be how come we, who were warned where to expect our Lord fail to recognize Him?

The resurrection is a tricky business. As several scripture scholars have noted, resurrection is not about resuscitation. It’s not about reanimating a corpse. The resurrection ushers in a whole new dimension to reality. A dimension that is no longer limited to space or time. The resurrected Christ moves from place to place in the blink of an eye. He walks through walls. He transcends our concepts of gender, race, time, culture, and even history. All the things that limit our lives. That wound us and make us incapable of understanding each other are transcended by the resurrected Christ. No wonder his friends and even close relations no longer recognize Him. Would you recognize someone who was no longer limited by gender. Not someone who incorporates both genders but someone who goes beyond gender. Would you recognize someone who is no longer limited by race? Not someone who blends together so called racial features (skin tone, hair color, shape of nose or eyes) but someone who goes beyond the limitation of race. I’m not implying that Jesus becomes genderless or raceless. Not less than but rather more than. And not a disembodied spirit. Resurrection is about body but a new kind of body, a new kind of reality.

What does resurrection mean? Certainly it means that Jesus is the fulfillment of what God originally intended for His creation. He is what Adam and Eve were originally meant to be. As Paul says He is the firstborn of a new creation. And He is a fulfillment of God’s promised kindom. As the book of Revelation says He is the first inhabitant of a New Jerusalem.

Again note, we’re not told that God’s creation will be destroyed and only a heavenly realm of disembodied spirits will be the end result. Rather the resurrection implies the creation instead of being destroyed will reach a new wholeness. Will fulfill the promise of God’s purpose from the beginning.

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. If He so loves this world He didn’t give His Son to destroy it but to heal it.

St. Ann Virtual Bulletin – 2nd Sunday of Easter – April 11, 2021

St. Ann Catholic Church – Virtual Bulletin

2nd Sunday of Easter – April 11, 2021

St. Ann Church – 2116 E First Ave Spokane WA 99202

Phone: 509 535-3031 Email: info@stannsspokane.org

Holy Week – Thank you’s!

A huge thank you to Jolie for all the work she does to bring us wonderful liturgies both in person and on Zoom – we so appreciate all the hard work she put in to make this a meaningful and prayerful Lent and Easter season for our community. A big thank you to all of our musicians – in Church and on Zoom – for adding to our prayer with their music throughout Holy Week. Thanks also to Shonna for pitching in to help with some of the Holy Week Zoom services so that Jolie could focus on services in the church, and to all those who volunteered to be readers at the many services. And of course thank you to Father Patrick for being willing to add extra Masses so that all who wanted to attend could do so. A big thank you to Adan and Sr. Ana for keeping our church clean for our community so that we can gather together safely. Thanks to the generous St. Ann parishioners who offered to contribute items to the Sunday Lunch Easter meal, as well. Our community is truly blessed.

Virtual Discussion Group – Tuesdays at 1:30 PM

Craig’s Lenten discussion group will continue meeting through the Easter Season, on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM, Craig will send new reading materials out to the group to use during the Easter Season. An email with the Zoom link will be sent out to the group each week before Tuesday morning. Contact the parish office if you have any questions.

Craig’s Corner – Reflections

Craig will continue writing a weekly reflection during the Easter season, which will be posted on our website and emailed to the parish email list each week. The staff is taking this week off, so there will not be a reflection this week.

Upcoming Important Dates

Sunday, April 11 – Zoom prayer service 11:00 AM
Monday, April 12 – Parish office open
Tuesday, April 13 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM on Zoom
Sunday, April 18 – Zoom prayer service – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, April 20 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM on Zoom
Wednesday, April 21 – Social Justice Ministry meeting – 6:30 PM on Zoom
Saturday, April 24 – Parish Council meeting on Zoom
Sunday, April 25 – Zoom prayer service – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, April 27 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM on Zoom

Zoom links for prayer services are emailed to the parish email list. Zoom links for meetings and discussion groups will be emailed to members of the group only.

Raise the Roof – New Wines for April

There are new wines for April in the St. Ann Wine Shop. See the flyer below to read more about each of the new wines. You can order the wines here: https://www.rimacrafts.com/ You can pay for your order using paypal or in person when you pick up your order. Thank you for supporting St Ann!

Taize Prayer Service – Thursdays at 4:15

St. Ann parishioners are invited to join a Taize prayer service, held every Thursday on Zoom at 4:15 PM. If you are interested in joining this prayer service, contact Shonna at bartletts@gonzaga.edu.

Sign up Link for Saturday & Sunday Masses in April

April Masses: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ABAA22A5FF2-stannmass

The links are also available on the home page of the parish website!

**Important ** Information about Mass during Covid

Prayer Service on Zoom – Sunday at 11:00 AM

Prayer Requests

Please pray for these community members in need of our support or healing:

Nancy J.	Crystal M.	Dianne F. & Family
Janet S.	Sunny B.	Susan L.
Estella L.	Andy T.	Darren S.
Roberta B’s family	Jake S’s family	Bob & Shonna B’s family
Craig B’s family	Michelle M.	Georgie W.
Kerry M & family	Fr. Tom C.	Izzy H.

Please remember our recently departed and pray for their grieving families and friends:

Paul B.	Fr. Jim D.	Miguel R.
Claudia K.	Nancy R.	Fr. Robert F.
J. Kenneth K.	Ron P.	Hal T.
Sr. Linda H’s nephew	Roberta (Bobby) B.	Kalvin
Betty B.	Walter B.	Judy M.

Franciscan Corner

Easter: life after death. Thank God, there is RESURRECTION! Look around, look at the new life that is emerging: spring is here, bulbs are bringing forth flowers, vaccine shots are easing lockdowns, ashes are being swept away, new relationships are forming or deepening or being healed. All because Jesus is risen from the dead and lives among us. What is new in you? Recognize the transformation that is happening and enthusiastically embrace it! Join in the dance of the Lord’s jubilation!!

(Thank you to Sr. Joanne for sharing these Franciscan reflections with us.)

Office Hours

The Pastoral Team is primarily working from home at this time, but are checking messages and emails remotely, and will work limited office hours.

CRAIG & ERIN are working from home, due to health concerns. Craig can be reached at craig.bartmess@stannsspokane.org and Erin can be reached at Erin@stannsspokane.org

ELIZABETH is usually in the office:

Monday 12 Noon – 3:00 PM

Wednesday 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM

and works from home Monday – Thursday. If you need to come in to the office, call first, or email Elizabeth at info@stannsspokane.org

JOLIE, our Director of Religious Education, can be contacted at Jolie@stannsspokane.org (or by text) if you have any questions about liturgies or the Youth & Family Ministries Program.

DIANNE, our Director of Grounds and Maintenance, can be contacted at Dianne@stannsspokane.org

Mass Times

Saturday Mass is at 4:00 PM

Sunday Mass is at 9:00 AM

Please sign up to attend Mass online, using the link on the homepage of our website.

Due to restrictions, Father Patrick is unable to hear Confession at this time.

Zoom Prayer Service is at 11:00 AM on Sunday

(Link is sent out to our parish email list on Saturday.)

Online Giving Now Available With Tithe.ly

You can donate using the direct link here: https://tithe.ly/give?c=2044739

The direct link can also be easily found on our website on the Contact and Giving page. https://stanncommunityblog.wordpress.com/contact/

January Collection Totals:

January General Collection: $16,870.97

January Neighborhood Collection; $1,999.83

January Building/Roof Fund Donations: $5,239.36

Parish Registration & Communication

If you would like to register as a parishioner of St. Ann, or would like to be added to one or both of our parish email lists, please contact Elizabeth in the parish office.

St. Ann Virtual Bulletin – Easter Sunday – April 4, 2021

St. Ann Catholic Church – Virtual Bulletin

Easter Sunday – April 4, 2021

St. Ann Church – 2116 E First Ave Spokane WA 99202

Phone: 509 535-3031 Email: info@stannsspokane.org

Holy Week Services

Holy Thursday – 6:00 PM in the Church & 7:30 PM on Zoom (For the Zoom service, have a bowl and towel ready.)
Good Friday – 6:00 PM in the Church & 7:30 PM on Zoom (Bring a cross from home to hold, instead of the veneration of the Cross at Mass.)
Holy Saturday – Easter Vigil at 8:00 PM in the Church (This will be a simple service, the length of a regular Mass.)
Easter Sunday – There will be two Masses – at 9:00 AM and at 11:00 AM
Easter Sunday Zoom – 11:00 AM – there will be a livestream Zoom of the Mass

Please sign up online for the Holy week services. We ask that you sign up to attend only one of the Easter services to make sure there is plenty of room for all who wish to attend.

Easter Lilies

The church will be decorated simply for Easter this year, but if you would like to donate Easter Lilies to decorate the church, please drop them off at the church at one of the Holy Week services. Thank you!

Thank you’s!

A huge thank you to Jolie for all the work she does to bring us wonderful liturgies both in person and on Zoom – we so appreciate all the hard work she put in to make this a meaningful and prayerful Lent and Easter season for our community. A big thank you to all of our musicians – in Church and on Zoom – for adding to our prayer with their music throughout Holy Week. Thanks also to Shonna for pitching in to help with some of the Holy Week Zoom services so that Jolie could focus on services in the church, and to all those who volunteered to be readers at the many services. And a big thank you to Adan and Sr. Ana for keeping our church clean for our community so that we could gather together safely. Thanks to the generous St. Ann parishioners who offered to contribute items to the Sunday Lunch Easter meal, as well. Our community is truly blessed.

Virtual Discussion Group – Tuesdays at 1:30 PM

Craig’s Lenten discussion group will continue meeting through the Easter Season, on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM, however the group will not be meeting on April 6^th. After using the “Again & Again daily devotional during Lent, the group will discuss new materials for the Easter Season. (Craig will send these new readings out to the group.) An email with the Zoom link will be sent out to the group each week before Tuesday morning. Contact the parish office if you have any questions.

Craig’s Corner – Reflections

Craig will continue writing a weekly reflection during Lent, which will be posted on our website and emailed to the parish email list each week. Here is a link to “Craig’s Corner” reflection post for this week. https://wp.me/p91S6R-15w Craig will not be posting a reflection next week, as the staff is taking the week after Easter off.

Raise the Roof – New Wines for April

Upcoming Important Dates

Holy Thursday – April 1 – 6:00 PM Mass & 7:30 PM Zoom

Good Friday – April 2 – 6:00 PM Mass & 7:30 PM Zoom
Holy Saturday – April 3 – Easter Vigil at 8:00 PM
Easter Sunday – April 4 – Masses at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM
April 5- April 9 – Parish Offices are closed – No Discussion Group this week
Sunday, April 13 – Zoom prayer service 11:00 AM
Monday, April 12 – Parish office open
Tuesday, April 13 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM
Sunday, April 18 – Zoom prayer service – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, April 20 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM
Wednesday, April 21 – Social Justice Ministry meeting – 6:30 PM
Saturday, April 24 – Parish Council meeting
Tuesday, April 27 – Craig’s Discussion Group – 1:30 PM

Zoom links for prayer services are emailed to the parish email list. Zoom links for meetings and discussion groups will be emailed to members of the group only.

Taize Prayer Service – Thursdays at 4:15

St. Ann parishioners are invited to join a Taize prayer service, held every Thursday on Zoom at 4:15 PM. If you are interested in joining this prayer service, contact Shonna at bartletts@gonzaga.edu.

Salt & Light for Triduum & Easter

Download a pdf of the Easter issue of the Catholic Charities Salt & Light bulletin below:

Salt & Light bulletin Triduum & Easter 2021 Download

Sign up Link for Saturday & Sunday Masses in April

Please use the link below to sign up to attend Saturday & Sunday Masses at St. Ann for the month of April, including Holy Week. Please be sure to check the date of the Mass you are signing up for so you sign up for the Mass you want to attend! We also ask that you sign up at least an hour before the Mass. If you are willing to be a reader at Mass, please write “reader” in the comments when you sign up. Thank you!

Holy Week & April Masses: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ABAA22A5FF2-stannmass

The links are also available on the home page of the parish website!

**Important ** Information about Mass during Covid

Prayer Service on Zoom – Sunday at 11:00 AM

Zoom Reader Schedule for Holy Week:

Holy Thursday	Joan M.	Andy L.	Janet S.	Pierrette W.	Terri W.
Good Friday	Bob B.	John W.	Kerry M.	Gary M.	Jean L.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for these community members in need of our support or healing:

Nancy J.	Crystal M.	Dianne F. & Family
Janet S.	Sunny B.	Susan L.
Estella L.	Andy T.	Darren S.
Roberta B’s family	Jake S’s family	Bob & Shonna B’s family
Craig B’s family	Michelle M.	Georgie W.
Kerry M & family

Please remember our recently departed and pray for their grieving families and friends:

Paul B.	Fr. Jim D.	Miguel R.
Claudia K.	Nancy R.	Fr. Robert F.
J. Kenneth K.	Ron P.	Hal T.
Sr. Linda H’s nephew	Roberta (Bobby) B.	Kalvin
Betty B.	Walter B.	Judy M.

Franciscan Corner

For St. Francis, the spiritual Easter was not a one-time event, but a journey, a process. Like St. Paul, Francis could declare: All I want to know is Christ and the power flowing from His Resurrection! This knowledge and power enabled Francis to take the Cross-road which leads to glory. Let us cry out with St Francis: ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS CHRIST AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION! We are an Easter people. Let’s celebrate!! Happy Easter!!

(Thank you to Sr. Joanne for sharing these Franciscan reflections with us.)

Office Hours

The Pastoral Team is primarily working from home at this time, but are checking messages and emails remotely, and will work limited office hours.

CRAIG & ERIN are working from home, due to health concerns. Craig can be reached at craig.bartmess@stannsspokane.org and Erin can be reached at Erin@stannsspokane.org

ELIZABETH is usually in the office:

Monday 12 Noon – 3:00 PM

Wednesday 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM

and works from home Monday – Thursday. If you need to come in to the office, call first, or email Elizabeth at info@stannsspokane.org

JOLIE, our Director of Religious Education, can be contacted at Jolie@stannsspokane.org (or by text) if you have any questions about liturgies or the Youth & Family Ministries Program.

DIANNE, our Director of Grounds and Maintenance, can be contacted at Dianne@stannsspokane.org

Mass Times

Saturday Mass is at 3:00 PM, until March 20 when it changes to 4:00 PM

Sunday Mass is at 9:00 AM

Please sign up to attend Mass online, using the link on the homepage of our website.

Due to restrictions, Father Patrick is unable to hear Confession at this time.

Zoom Prayer Service is at 11:00 AM on Sunday

(Link is sent out to our parish email list on Saturday.)

Online Giving Now Available With Tithe.ly

You can donate using the direct link here: https://tithe.ly/give?c=2044739

The direct link can also be easily found on our website on the Contact and Giving page. https://stanncommunityblog.wordpress.com/contact/

January Collection Totals:

January General Collection: $16,870.97

January Neighborhood Collection; $1,999.83

January Building/Roof Fund Donations: $5,239.36

Parish Registration & Communication

If you would like to register as a parishioner of St. Ann, or would like to be added to our parish email list, please contact Elizabeth in the parish office.

Craig’s Corner – Reflection for Easter.

Craig’s thoughts for Easter

Gentle reader,

We have reached the end of our Lenten journey. Forty days of fast, prayer, and soul searching. All culminating in a week of processions, meaningful meals, and agony and death. The week ends in what seems to be ultimate defeat, despair, and hopelessness. How often in our own lives have we experienced these same emotions. Everything seems black, bleak, no hope left. Hopefully not often, yet there comes times for all of us when we sink to a kind of overwhelmed hopelessness. For the young, for those suffering from depression or melancholia, for those who live in abusive situations; maybe these feelings come more often than we would want. And they are harder to deal with in those situations. The young have no experience to show them differently, those suffering from depression and melancholia are often having to overcome a chemical imbalance in their bodies, those in abusive situations often can see no way out. And in all of these cases, what is needed is an outside person or persons to intervene and help.

Easter offers a ray of hope for those in despair. When the day ends on Good Friday it seems there is no place left to go. Yet when the sun rises on Easter Sunday, the Son has also arisen. Despair turns to hallelujah. And the joy of Easter season is fifty days long, or rather it’s all year long, but we choose to celebrate it for fifty days just to show that it’s more important than Lent. Christians should be a people of joy and celebration ready to dance in the streets. Not somber, dour, killjoys ready to shake a finger at everybody else. We are to be a sign that joy, life, and celebration is God’s ultimate plan for his creation. She did not bring us into being and hold us in being so that we can wallow in misery and regret. Nor did she call us in our baptism to be the world’s ethical police. Always trying to force others to live like we think they ought to live. The book of Revelations ends not with everybody going to heaven. But instead with creation being made anew. A New Jerusalem, and a New kindom where people live together with all of creation in harmony and joy. We need to be that sign for those who are in despair, those who struggle everyday with the bleakness of life. We’re not going to convince them by preaching to them about all they’ve done wrong, on the contrary we’ll just make them even more depressed. But if they can see in our lives that slight but irreparable shimmer of hope. We can show them through our lives that even the blackest times are not endless. Share your joy, share your hope share your hallelujah!

Roll away the stone, see the glory of God

Craig

St. Ann Virtual Bulletin – Palm Sunday – March 28, 2021

St. Ann Catholic Church – Virtual Bulletin

Palm Sunday – March 28, 2021

St. Ann Church – 2116 E First Ave Spokane WA 99202

Phone: 509 535-3031 Email: info@stannsspokane.org

Palm Sunday & Holy Week Services

Palm Saturday & Sunday Masses – Saturday at 4:00 PM & Sunday at 9:00 AM – The service will begin in the church.
Palm Sunday – Zoom Service at 1:30 PM ** Note Time Change for this week **
Holy Thursday – 6:00 PM in the Church & 7:30 PM on Zoom (For the Zoom service, have a bowl and towel ready.)
Good Friday – 6:00 PM in the Church & 7:30 PM on Zoom (For the service in the church, bring a cross from home to hold, in place of the veneration of the Cross.)
Holy Saturday – Easter Vigil at 8:00 PM in the Church (This will be a simple service, the length of a regular Mass.)
Easter Sunday – There will be two Masses – at 9:00 AM and at 11:00 AM
Easter Sunday Zoom – 11:00 AM – there will be a livestream Zoom of the Mass

Please sign up online for the Holy week services. We ask that you sign up to attend only one of the Easter services to make sure there is plenty of room for all who wish to attend.

Sunday Lunch Easter Meal – Donations Needed

St. Ann is being asked to contribute 90 rolls and 90 pats of butter, as well as one gallon of milk, for the Sunday Lunch Program’s Easter Meal on April 4^th. These items need to be delivered to the Parish Hall by the evening of Friday, April 2^nd. Please contact the parish office if you are able to donate any of these items and are able to drop them off at Mass or during office hours. Thank you!

Lenten Reflections

The St. Ann Lay Preaching team are giving reflections during our Zoom services during Lent. We will post copies of these reflections on our website each week. A few of the lay reflections will also be given at Mass, but when they are not we will provide printed copies to parishioners. Here is Pat’s reflection for the 5th Sunday of Lent. https://wp.me/p91S6R-14P

Virtual Discussion Group – Tuesdays at 1:30 PM

Craig’s Lenten discussion group will continue meeting through the Easter Season, on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM, however the group will not meet on April 6^th. The group is using the Again & Again daily devotional for Lent, and new materials for the Easter Season. (Craig will email these new readings out to the group.) An email with the Zoom link will be sent out to the group each week by Tuesday morning. Contact the parish office if you have any questions.

Craig’s Corner – Reflections

Virtual Stations of the Cross – Fridays during Lent

The Social Justice Ministry is leading Virtual Stations of the Cross services on Zoom on Fridays at 7:00 PM for Lent. These services have been very prayerful so far. There is one service remaining if you would like to join us on Friday, March 26. The Zoom link will be emailed out to the parish email list. All are welcome!

Upcoming Important Dates

Friday, March 26 – Stations of the Cross at 7:00 PM on Zoom
Saturday, March 27 – Parish Council Meeting
March 27 & 28 – Palm Sunday Masses – Saturday at 4:00 PM & Sunday at 9:00 AM
March 28 – Palm Sunday Zoom at 1:30 PM ** Note Time Change **
Tuesday, March 30 – Craig’s Virtual Discussion Group on Zoom at 1:30 PM
Holy Thursday – April 1 – 6:00 PM Mass & 7:30 PM Zoom
Good Friday – April 2 – 6:00 PM service in the church & 7:30 PM Zoom
Holy Saturday – April 3 – Easter Vigil at 8:00 PM
Easter Sunday – April 4 – Masses at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM
April 5- April 9 – Parish Offices are closed – No Discussion Group this week

Zoom links for prayer services are emailed to the parish email list. Zoom links for meetings and discussion groups will be emailed to members of the group only.

Taize Prayer Service – Thursdays at 4:15

St. Ann parishioners are invited to join a Taize prayer service, held every Thursday on Zoom at 4:15 PM. If you are interested in joining this prayer service, contact Shonna at bartletts@gonzaga.edu.

Raise the Roof – Wines for March Still Available!

There are still 4 different wines available in the St. Ann wine shop for the month of March. You can order wine at the online wine shop, and pay using paypal or pay in person when you pick up your order. See the flyer below for more information about these 4 wines. Here is the link to the St. Ann Wine Shop! https://www.rimacrafts.com/ Thank you for supporting St. Ann’s Raise the Roof fundraiser!

Sign up Links for Saturday & Sunday Masses in March & April

Please use the links below to sign up to attend Saturday & Sunday Masses at St. Ann for the months of March & April. Please be sure to check the date of the Mass you are signing up for so you sign up for the Mass you want to attend! We also ask that you sign up at least an hour before the Mass. If you are willing to be a reader at Mass, please write “reader” in the comments when you sign up. Thank you!

March: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ABAA22A5FF2-stann9

Holy Week & April Masses: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ABAA22A5FF2-stannmass

The links are also available on the home page of the parish website!

**Important ** Information about Mass during Covid

Prayer Service on Zoom – Sunday at 11:00 AM

During Lent, our theme will be Again & Again, and a daily devotional with the theme will be available to all parishioners. We will have Lay reflections during the Lenten Zoom services. These reflections will also be read at Mass and posted on our website so that our whole community can share in these reflections, together in spirit.

Reader Schedules for Holy Week- Coming Soon!

Prayer Requests

Please pray for these community members in need of our support or healing:

Nancy J.	Crystal M.	Dianne F. & Family
Janet S.	Sunny B.	Susan L.
Estella L.	Andy T.	Darren S.
Roberta B’s family	Jake S’s family	Bob & Shonna B’s family
Craig B’s family	Michelle M.	Georgie W.
Kerry M & family

Please remember our recently departed and pray for their grieving families and friends:

Paul B.	Fr. Jim D.	Miguel R.
Claudia K.	Nancy R.	Fr. Robert F.
J. Kenneth K.	Ron P.	Hal T.
Sr. Linda H’s nephew	Roberta (Bobby) B.	Kalvin
Betty B.	Walter B.	Judy M.

Franciscan Corner

Francis of Assis was a man of prayer. A man of deep faith. A man of hope. A man of love. In faith, he leaned on God to show him the way. In hope, he reached out to God in the darkness of the caves, in the times of uncertainty. In love, he rested in the heart of God when day was done and he entered into the quiet. Are we people of faith, people of hope, people of love? Can you see yourself leaning on God, or reaching out to God, or resting in the heart of God? Imagine yourself leaning, reaching and resting. What does that image invoke in you? Sit with the feeling and let God be God for you this week.

(Thank you to Sr. Joanne for sharing these Franciscan reflections with us.)

Office Hours

The Pastoral Team is primarily working from home at this time, but are checking messages and emails remotely, and will work limited office hours.

** The Parish Offices will be closed the week of April 5^th – 9^th **

CRAIG & ERIN are working from home, due to health concerns. Craig can be reached at craig.bartmess@stannsspokane.org and Erin can be reached at Erin@stannsspokane.org

ELIZABETH is usually in the office:

Monday 12 Noon – 3:00 PM

Wednesday 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM

and works from home Monday – Thursday. If you need to come in to the office, call first, or email Elizabeth at info@stannsspokane.org

JOLIE, our Director of Religious Education, can be contacted at Jolie@stannsspokane.org (or by text) if you have any questions about liturgies or the Youth & Family Ministries Program.

DIANNE, our Director of Grounds and Maintenance, can be contacted at Dianne@stannsspokane.org

Mass Times

Saturday Mass is at 4:00 PM

Sunday Mass is at 9:00 AM

Please sign up to attend Mass online, using the link on the homepage of our website.

Due to restrictions, Father Patrick is unable to hear Confession at this time.

Zoom Prayer Service is at 11:00 AM on Sunday

(Link is sent out to our parish email list on Saturday.)

Online Giving Now Available With Tithe.ly

You can donate using the direct link here: https://tithe.ly/give?c=2044739

The direct link can also be easily found on our website on the Contact and Giving page. https://stanncommunityblog.wordpress.com/contact/

January Collection Totals:

January General Collection: $16,870.97

January Neighborhood Collection; $1,999.83

January Building/Roof Fund Donations: $5,239.36

Parish Registration & Communication

If you would like to register as a parishioner of St. Ann, or would like to be added to our parish email list, please contact Elizabeth in the parish office.

Craig’s Corner – Reflection for Palm Sunday

Craig’s Reflection for Palm Sunday

Gentle reader,

Sunday is Palm Sunday. We begin the week in a triumphant protest march, we quickly move to a farewell dinner that somehow at the same time is a promise for the future. We move to the depths of despair in death and agony, and then move to the unimaginable and impossible glory of final victory in Resurrection. If you attend the different celebrations, you will hear several homilies and reflections, so I’m going to choose to talk about something else though not entirely different. Instead of the events of Holy Week, I want to go back to the Old Testament and the first commandment, In many ways I think it is the main and in some ways the only commandment. Our inability to understand or follow this commandment is the reason all the events of Holy Week took place.

In the Jerusalem translation of the Bible in the book of Exodus this reads as follows,

“You shall have no gods except me. 4 “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God.”

In the book of Deuteronomy we hear similar words,

“Take great care what you do, therefore: since you saw no shape on that day at Horeb when Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire, 16 see that you do not act perversely, making yourselves a carved image in the shape of anything at all: whether it be in the likeness of man or of a woman, 17 or of any beast on the earth, or of any bird that flies in the heavens, 18 or of any reptile that crawls on the ground, or of any fish in the waters under the earth. 19 When you raise your eyes to heaven, when you see the sun, the moon, the stars, all the array of heaven, do not be tempted to worship them and serve them. Yahweh your God has allotted them to all the peoples under heaven, 20 but as for you, Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be a people all his own, as you still are today.”

Now God has hinted at this commandment when he revealed his name to Moses in the book of Exodus,

“But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I Am who I Am. This,” he added, “is what you must say to the sons of Israel: ‘I Am has sent me to you.”

There has been a lot of debate on what this name means. Is it some sort of metaphysical statement about God existing outside of time? And there are other interpretations I have heard. But on the face value I think it can be understood simply as it’s none of your business. Or maybe you can never understand. In other words God is too big for us to grasp or be confined to our images and ideas. And isn’t that the point of the first commandment? I think we get lost in the words “carved images”. Then we think this commandment is only for primitive people who carve idols out of stone and doesn’t apply to us. But we carve all kinds of idols out of the stone of our hearts. We make money, power, prestige the center and goal of our lives. We have carved an image and worshiped it. What is worse by far is when we decide that God looks like us, thinks like us, and acts like us. A Great deal of the political turmoil of the last year was caused by people who assumed that they knew who God was and what he wanted them to do. They hadn’t caught on to the fact that they can’t capture God in a carved image. In case you think I’m just talking about –conservatives or fundamentalist, liberals do the same thing. We know what’s best for the rest of the world and by God they’re going to act like we think they ought to. Have we failed to notice that God almost never forces anyone to act in any particular way. Our God leads by attraction not by force. Our God acts with the slow dance of Grace instead of rushing to force others into his ideal. She is a nurturing mother not a demanding father. Or a loving Papa and not a scolding Mama.

When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the crowd has its own expectations. They want a Messiah who will force the Romans out. When the disciples gather for dinner they can’t accept a Jesus who would act as a slave washing their feet. And ultimately a savior who saves by hanging on a cross is a contradiction to all our ways of thinking God should act. Because we think we want a God who will act and not just attract. A God who so loves us, that he refuses to interfere even when we crucify his beloved Son, doesn’t appeal to us.

A God we have carved in our own hearts just wouldn’t act that way.

The events of this coming week are a test of our ability to let go of our prejudice, our preconceptions, and our need for a God who would act like we act. Can we let go and let God be.

Father not my will but yours be done.

Craig

Lenten Reflection – 5th Sunday of Lent

The St. Ann Lay Preaching team have been giving reflections during our Zoom services, and some Masses, during Lent. Here is Pat’s reflection for the 5th Sunday of Lent:

Lenten Refection for the 5th Sunday of Lent

We Are Not Ever Getting Back to “normal” – And We Shouldn’t

“Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.

We have been hearing one question over and over for a year. “When are we getting back to ‘normal’?” – as if “normal” was a place we used to live, a country we left in our childhood, a house we grew up in. We ask this question with a sense of longing, a nostalgia for a time already clouded over in our memory with foggy and rose-colored glasses. We hanker to get back to “normal” even though we didn’t think of that now misty time as “normal” when we were in the middle of it. Back then it was just ordinary, or even boring, and often difficult, unsettling, or troubling. We certainly didn’t think of it as anything special, certainly not anything we would miss if it was taken away. But now we log to get back to ”normal” as if it was our lost homeland.

But, of course, we are not going back to “normal” – at least not if “normal” means back where we were before COVID or the rest of 2020 happened. We’re not going back to that “normal” because we can’t and because we shouldn’t. As Jesus instructs us in John’s Gospel today, unless a grain of wheat dies and is put in the ground it never gives life or becomes what it’s supposed to be. If we cling to the present or recent past, if we refuse to let go and let God, if we refuse to die and be reborn, we never grow.

First, we are not going back to ”normal” after COVID, or after everything that happened in the last year, because the world is always changing – and it is often changing because the old “normal” wasn’t really working – at least not for the long haul, or for everyone. We can’t go back to the old normal because normal broke down and threw us into this crisis or moment. The past is not a country we can visit. It is a shrinking image in the rearview mirror – and nostalgia for the past is a kind of madness – a fantasy that cannot be achieved.

Second, we are not going back to ”normal” because the past year has revealed some very ugly things about the old “normal” – some things we can’t “un-see” no matter how we try (and God knows lots of us are trying very hard to forget what we have seen this year). In so many ways the past year has shown us that our old “normal” was unsustainable, unjust, and out of touch with reality – that our “normal” ways of running the planet, the country and the Church were just not working- and were hurting one hell of a lot of people.

Third, we are not going back to “normal” because we are changed and different, and we can’t go back into the past any more than we should move back into our childhood bedroom (though many have had to do that in tough economic times) and our parents shouldn’t treat us like teenagers any more. We are not going back to the old normal because we are thinking, believing, feeling and acting differently.

Lots of us hanker for the past and grieve the losses that change and growth have brought. And it makes sense to want to recover from losses or rebuild after catastrophes. But we cannot go back – and we shouldn’t. We have to die to the past if we are going to live in the present and give birth to the future.

COVID was not a Blip – But a Sign of What’s to Come. We are not going to get back to ”normal” after COVID because this pandemic is almost certainly not a singular, unrepeatable event from which we can recover and return to yesteryear. If anything, it is the first of a number of events that are changing our world, and it is a warning of how serious these changes may be and of how poorly we have been and might still respond to them.

In the years and decades ahead other global challenges and catastrophes will knock us down and move us into a very different future – indeed they are already doing so. COVID is both a part and a harbinger of a series of unsettling changes that have already begun, and that we have too long ignored. And it is a reminder that we need to pay attention to the warnings we have already received about pandemics, rising seas, fires, storms and mass migrations – and a reminder that we do not always respond well to crises and that burying our heads in the sand and clinging to the past is a recipe for failure.

There is no point pretending we are ever getting back to a pre-COVID normal. We are entering a new, different, and unfolding ”normal”– and this unsettling and frightening “normal” is largely the result of our failure to acknowledge and change what was wrong with the old “normal.” We are in the trouble we’re in now and headed for worse trouble to come because we have tried so desperately to cling to our gas-guzzling and then fracking “normal” when so many were warning us it wasn’t working. And – unbelievably – so many of us still think we can go back to the old “normal” even as the seas rise, the fires burn, the storms rage and the refugees pour across our borders.

Our Global Pre-COVID ”normal” Wasn’t Sustainable. We are not going back to pre-COVID ”normal” because our “normal” arrangements of power & wealth and our patterns of consumption and disposal were not sustainable. We are not getting back to ”normal” because for a long time we have been exploiting and injuring our Mother and Sister Earth faster than She can repair and replenish Herself. We are not getting back to ”normal” because in our old familiar ”normal” we have long been stripping the soil from our land, emptying our oceans of their fishes, cutting down all our forests, and filling our skies with greenhouse gases. We are not getting back to normal, because in our old ”normal” we were not taking enough care of things, we weren’t investing enough in the futures of our children and grandchildren, we weren’t spending enough to preserve and protect our roads and bridges, our supply of clean water, safe power. The old normal, where “coal was king,” where we chanted “drill, baby, drill!” where fracking was our salvation – was a house on fire, and we cannot go back into a burning building.

Our National ”normal” was Unjust & Racist. We also cannot go back to the old normal in this country because the past year has uncovered how unjust, racist and corrupt it is. For over four years lots of Americans have been expressing their longing for an old “normal” when minorities and immigrants were effectively excluded from the American dream, and acting out a terror of a future where whites are no longer the ensconced and powerful majority. But we cannot go back to that old ”normal” in the US – the normal of Jim Crow segregation or mass incarceration, redlining, voter suppression, Confederate monuments, police shootings or environmental injustice because so many more of us have finally seen how unjust, racist and corrupt the underbelly of the old “normal” actually was. Once you’ve seen how the sausage is made, there no re-ordering that dish.

COVID pulled back the veil on racial and economic injustice in our society, showing us in stark relief just how separate, unequal and unjust our nation is – how underpaid, unprotected and expendable our essential workers are – and how often they are women, immigrants and people of color. COVID showed us just how different the lives, health outcomes, and prospects are for the rich and poor in this country, how much harder life is for women, people of color and immigrants, and how indifferent so many of us and our politicians are to the sufferings of others. COVID showed us who had to go to work, who got to stay home, who was doing our daycare, taking care of our elderly, who had health coverage and who didn’t, who got unemployment and who didn’t, who could escape from the cities to their vacation homes and who was living in one house with three generations of workers who had to take public transportation. COVD showed us we weren’t one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. COVID also showed us how little our politicians cared about our safety, and how millions of us thought it was too much trouble to wear a mask or wash our hands.
- And then the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others rubbed our faces in the rot and bias of our criminal justice system, and the massive explosion of the Black Lives Matter Movement showed us one more time the embedded and longstanding institutional racism permeating our society, baked into our employment structures, our housing costs, our health care availability, our educational structures, and – of course – our protection of voting rights. Instead of living in a country where Black Lives Matter we live in a nation where it matters a lot if you’re Black or White – and where it’s a lot worse if you’re Black.
- Then the political campaign, election and its aftermath forced us to see the hypocrisy and corruption of the old “normal.” We saw countless politicians bemoaning the imaginary crisis of voter fraud while doing everything in their power to suppress the vote of the poor and people of color. We saw people forced to stand in lines for hours in the middle of a pandemic just to cast a vote, we saw the number of polling stations in poorer neighborhoods slashed, politicians and government officials opposing mail-in ballots and cutting the post office’s funds for delivering ballots, all to make sure the poor and people of color could not vote. And then when they did vote in massive numbers and win by nearly 8 million ballots – we witnessed outrageous and shameless lies about the results, every kind of false claim, slander and libel uttered against anyone who wouldn’t repeat the lies, dozens of spurious cases taken to court, and – when all else failed – senators, representatives, a president and a treasonous mob trying to overturn the electoral results by fraud or force. After all of that, there is no way to overlook the corruption and injustice of the old political “normal.” We cannot go back to that.

And Our Catholic ”normal” is Sexist & Bigoted. And we are not going back to the old “normal” because we’re different now. Because we’ve grown and changed and are not returning to our childhood homes. So when the Churches do open again after COVID we cannot go back to the old ”normal” there either. The Vatican wants us to go back to an old homophobic “normal,” where those of us in the pews silently consent to Roman pronouncements that gay marriages are sinful and don’t in any way resemble the holy sacrament of marriage. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wants priests and bishops in Germany and Belgium to stop thinking about blessing gay unions and go back to the old “normal” where everyone knew homosexual acts of love are “intrinsically disordered.” And the US Catholic Bishops want us all to return to an old “normal” where we oppose the Equality Act and let religious groups discriminate against gays and transgender people in the name of God and freedom of religion. Even after Pope Francis asked publicly what right he had to judge homosexuals and suggested that gays have a right and need for some form of legal union, our church hierarchy want us to go back to the old “normal” where our Church can’t offer a simple blessing for the unions of our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. Well we cannot go back to that “normal.”

Of course, many of us always want to return to normal, and we often have great sadness, fear and anger about losing the old ”normal”– especially if that arrangement protected our (usually unacknowledged) privilege and advantage. We have a universal fear of loss that keeps us holding on to the status quo. But our fear of the loss of our normal gas guzzling way of life has brought about the present crisis, and our nostalgia for that fossil fuel way of life is tearing our world apart. So too, our nostalgia for white privilege and dominance is a racist cancer that has been inflicting pain for over 400 years, and we need to let go of the old white supremacist “normal.” And the nostalgia of our Catholic hierarchy for time when those of us in the pews sheepishly agreed to treat women and gays and transgender folks like outcasts is a sickness. Knowing what we know today about our LGBQT friends and relatives and coworkers and fellow believers – we cannot go back with our bishops and church leaders into a “normal” that is sexist and homophobic. We do not know where we are going in the future – but it is not there.

Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that we need to die in order to be reborn. And he tells us that anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. Clinging to the past and hoping to return to an old, unsustainable, unjust and out of touch “normal” is a refusal to let go and let God. We are not ever going back to the old normal – and we never should.

St Ann Virtual Bulletin – 5th Sunday of Lent – March 21, 2021

St. Ann Catholic Church – Virtual Bulletin

5^th Sunday of Lent – March 21, 2021

St. Ann Church – 2116 E First Ave Spokane WA 99202

Phone: 509 535-3031 Email: info@stannsspokane.org

Saturday Mass Time Change to 4:00 PM

Since we switched to Daylight Savings Time last weekend, this also means that on Saturday, March 20, our Saturday Mass time will change to 4:00 PM. We will continue at this time until the time change in the Fall.

Lenten Reflections

The St. Ann Lay Preaching team are giving reflections during our Zoom services during Lent. We will post copies of these reflections on our website each week. A few of the lay reflections will also be given at Mass, but when they are not we will provide printed copies to parishioners. Here is Dianne’s reflection for the 4th Sunday of Lent. https://wp.me/p91S6R-147

Palm Sunday & Holy Week Services

Plans for our Holy Week services are being finalized and the sign up link will be available soon! Thank you to all the parishioners who have volunteered to be readers at these services on Zoom and in the church.

Virtual Discussion Group – Tuesdays at 1:30 PM

Craig’s Lenten discussion group will continue meeting through the Easter Season, on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM. The group will be using the Again & Again daily devotional for Lent; the group will be using new materials for the Easter Season. An email with the Zoom link will be sent out to the group each week. Contact the parish office if you have any questions.

Craig’s Corner – Reflections

Virtual Stations of the Cross – Fridays during Lent

The Social Justice Ministry is leading Virtual Stations of the Cross services for Lent. The services are held on Zoom at 7:00 PM each Friday during Lent. These services have been very prayerful so far. There are two services remaining if you would like to join us. Zoom link will be emailed out to the parish email list. All are welcome!

Upcoming Important Dates

Friday, March 19 – Litany of St. Joseph with Bishop Daly – 12:00 PM @ http://www.dioceseofspokane.org/joseph
Friday, March 19 – Stations of the Cross at 7:00 PM on Zoom
Saturday, March 20 – Mass Time for Saturdays changes to 4:00 PM
Sunday, March 21 – Reconciliation service at 10:30, after the 9:00 AM Mass
Sunday, March 21 – Zoom Prayer service at 11:00 AM (Reconciliation theme)
Tuesday, March 23 – Craig’s Lenten discussion group at 1:30 PM on Zoom
Friday, March 26 – Stations of the Cross at 7:00 PM on Zoom
Saturday & Sunday – March 27 & 28 – Palm Sunday Masses

Zoom links for meetings and discussion groups will be emailed to the group only; Zoom links for prayer services are emailed to the parish email list.

Reconciliation Service

There will be a Reconciliation service on Sunday, March 21^st at 10:30 AM, after the 9:00 AM Mass. Sign up is available online for this service on the March sign up link. All are welcome. (Due to restrictions, Father Patrick is unable to hear individual confession.) For those unable to attend the in person service, there will be a reconciliation element to the Sunday Zoom Prayer service on the 21^st.

Oscar Romero Discussion with St. Aloysius – March 24 at 11:00 AM

Members of St. Ann parish are invited to join St.Aloysius for a Zoom event hosted by St Aloysius to celebrate St. Oscar Romero on the 41st anniversary of his death. The Zoom gathering will be on Wednesday, March 24, from 11:00 AM – 12 noon. To participate, please email Rita at rwaldref@dioceseofspokane.org before Monday, March 22nd to get the video and Zoom links. You may watch one or both of two videos that will be discussed at the Zoom gathering. More info about this event is on the flyer below!

Taize Prayer Service – Thursdays at 4:15

St. Ann parishioners are invited to join a Taize prayer service, held every Thursday on Zoom at 4:15 PM. If you are interested in joining this prayer service, contact Shonna at bartletts@gonzaga.edu.

Raise the Roof – New Wines for March

There are four new wines available in the St. Ann wine shop for the month of March. You can order wine at the online wine shop, and pay using paypal or pay in person when you pick up your order. See the flyer below for more information about these new wines. Here is the link to the St. Ann Wine Shop! https://www.rimacrafts.com/ Thank you for supporting St. Ann’s Raise the Roof fundraiser!

Sign up Link for Saturday & Sunday Masses in March

Please use the link below to sign up to attend Saturday & Sunday Masses at St. Ann for the month of March. Please be sure to check the date of the Mass you are signing up for so you sign up for the Mass you want to attend! We also ask that you sign up at least an hour before the Mass. If you are willing to be a reader at Mass, please write “reader” in the comments when you sign up. Thank you!

March: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ABAA22A5FF2-stann9

The link is also available on the home page of the parish website!

**Important ** Information about Mass during Covid

Prayer Service on Zoom – Sunday at 11:00 AM

Readers for Zoom Services for Lent

3-21-21 — Pierrette W. — Sean H. — Reflection by…. Pat M.

Reader Schedules for Holy Week- Coming Soon!

Prayer Requests

Please pray for these community members in need of our support or healing:

Nancy J.	Crystal M.	Dianne F. & Family
Janet S.	Sunny B.	Susan L.
Estella L.	Andy T.	Darren S.
Roberta B’s family	Jake S’s family	Bob & Shonna B’s family
Craig B’s family	Michelle M.	Georgie W.
Kerry M & family

Please remember our recently departed and pray for their grieving families and friends:

Paul B.	Fr. Jim D.	Miguel R.
Claudia K.	Nancy R.	Fr. Robert F.
J. Kenneth K.	Ron P.	Hal T.
Sr. Linda H’s nephew	Roberta (Bobby) B.	Kalvin
Betty B.	Walter B.	Judy M.

Franciscan Corner

Perseverance and Ingenuity. Qualities we may all strive for. We need to preserve in our spiritual life. That’s why we “practice” our faith. Sometimes it may take ingenuity to practice our faith—this past year has certainly taught us that. Who would have thought we would be attending Sunday liturgy using Youtube? Well, you may know that “Perseverance” and “ Ingenuity” are the rover and the helicopter that the U.S. sent to Mars last month. Francis of Assisi gazed upon the stars and upon the planets. Pope Francis said “How wonderful would it be, even as we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters who orbit around us.”(Fratelli Tutti 31) Francis of Assisi lived this many years ago. He called everyone and everything “brother” and “sister” and treated them as such. This week can we rediscover the needs of our brothers and sisters who orbit around us?

(Thank you to Sr. Joanne for sharing these Franciscan reflections with us.)

Office Hours

The Pastoral Team is primarily working from home at this time, but are checking messages and emails remotely, and will work limited office hours.

CRAIG & ERIN are working from home, due to health concerns. Craig can be reached at craig.bartmess@stannsspokane.org and Erin can be reached at Erin@stannsspokane.org

ELIZABETH is usually in the office:

Monday 12 Noon – 3:00 PM

Wednesday 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM

and works from home Monday – Thursday. If you need to come in to the office, call first, or email Elizabeth at info@stannsspokane.org

JOLIE, our Director of Religious Education, can be contacted at Jolie@stannsspokane.org (or by text) if you have any questions about liturgies or the Youth & Family Ministries Program.

DIANNE, our Director of Grounds and Maintenance, can be contacted at Dianne@stannsspokane.org

** Please note that during Mass is not always the best time to contact the staff about parish office issues. If you have more than a quick question, please schedule another time to talk with someone on the pastoral team so that we can give you our full attention. Thank you!

Mass Times

Saturday Mass is at 4:00 PM

Sunday Mass is at 9:00 AM

Please sign up to attend Mass online, using the link on the homepage of our website.

Due to restrictions, Father Patrick is unable to hear Confession at this time.

Zoom Prayer Service is at 11:00 AM on Sunday

(Link is sent out to our parish email list on Saturday.)

Online Giving Now Available With Tithe.ly

You can donate using the direct link here: https://tithe.ly/give?c=2044739

The direct link can also be easily found on our website on the Contact and Giving page. https://stanncommunityblog.wordpress.com/contact/

January Collection Totals:

January General Collection: $16,870.97

January Neighborhood Collection; $1,999.83

January Building/Roof Fund Donations: $5,239.36

Parish Registration & Communication

If you would like to register as a parishioner of St. Ann, or would like to be added to our parish email list, please contact Elizabeth in the parish office.

Craig’s Corner – Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Lent

Craig’s Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Lent

Gentle reader,

Several of you have asked me about recent press releases pertaining to church teaching. So I’m going to share with you an email that I sent as a response to one of these concerns. There are more than one issue that people struggle with. This is about one of them but I could have given the same response to others.

Thank you for your concerns. Over the years I’ve read many press releases about statements from the church that I disagree with. I have later learned that some of them weren’t accurate and that some of them didn’t actually say what they appeared to say. And that some of them did say exactly what they appeared to say. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to go elsewhere. I can give you my reasons for staying.

First as something of an amateur church historian, I can tell you any number of statements by Popes, bishops and councils that leaders in our church today would cringe to hear repeated. Statements that defended slavery, statements about women and their roles in the world, even a papal bull that granted European nations the right to go to Africa and the Americas. Enslave their people, steal their land and goods. Their very lives. Anyone who would deny that the church has made mistakes in the past, simply doesn’t understand history. Given all that, the church has changed on all of those issues. Slowly ever so slowly but as mentioned in the Lenten devotional, a poem by Rev. Sarah Are said “the Spirit slows her dance when we stand at the edge of Truth.” God’s awesome Grace is revealed. Pope Francis has made many statements about the dignity and the need for respect for lesbian, gay, transsexual and other marginalized vulnerable people.

I am going to attach a link to a statement by Father Martin, S.J. and a link to a statement released by Cardinal Cupich, the former Bishop of Spokane.

Many years ago, my spiritual director, a Providence Sister, encouraged me to continue to study for the diaconate even though I had some serious concerns about not only the diaconate but also the way the Church treated women in ministry and other ethical issues. She simply stated that if people who thought like me all left the church, then it would never change. And it does change led by the spirit”s dance. It is the spirit who is infallible. We believe that when we gather together, even two or three, Jesus is present in our midst. Then when we share and listen we can discern the Spirits dance. It does slow as Grace is revealed because truth cannot be forced down people’s throats. First we have to see and believe then we need to share and teach and finally others will come to also share and believe.

One final thought, it is the church’s mission to bless the sinful, the broken hearted, those with broken lives. No one could be baptized if they weren’t a sinner first. No one could receive absolution without first acknowledging brokenness, and the very symbol of Eucharist is body broken, blood poured out for the other. St Paul said that Jesus became sin for us. In other words Jesus became broken so that our brokenness could be healed. I hope this has been helpful, hang in there. Blessings for you and yours.

Link to Cardinal Cupich statement:

https://www.archchicago.org/en/statement/-/article/2021/03/15/statement-of-cardinal-blase-j-cupich-archbishop-of-chicago-on-same-sex-unions?fbclid=IwAR04kVU1PMjPFzXR5jmY86uP0hBWZlc_wZA9FvH4RV1WGmBfgIDLawTeDw4

Link to Father Martin statement:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=279562410196526&id=100044283077147

Very truly I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.

Craig