ALL SET FOR SUNDAY

The readings for the 13th Sunday of the Year can be found here.

The readings for the 14th Sunday of the Year can be found here.

Our readings for these two Sundays of the Year remind us that we need to turn to Jesus in faith.  If we really believe that He can heal us, we need to get closer to Him.  If we really believe He has power, we need to make an effort to get close to Him.  It is not enough to know about Him—we have to know Him.  It’s not enough to hear about Him from someone else; we have to set aside all that we think we know about Him and actually encounter Him.  What do you need to do in order to allow Him to work more deeply in your life?

NEWS FROM THE PEWS

Welcome Ben Lockwood!  We are happy to welcome Ben Lockwood to our ministry team.  Ben has been with us since the end of May as an intern with our music ministries.  Ben will be working in our Evangelization ministries with our youth as well as assisting with Worship ministries as the liturgy assistant.  Ben graduated from Wartburg this Spring and originally hails from Anoka, Minnesota.  Please welcome Ben to Saint Pius X.

Centering our community on the Eucharist.  We are going to be spending this next year centering ourselves on the Eucharistic Lord.  In a very real and tangible way, we started doing this by moving the tabernacle into the sanctuary under the crucifix.  When you come into the church through the baptistry, you see the altar and the tabernacle quite clearly.  The Eucharist is the source and the summit of our Christian lives, and we will spend the year building on the work of the Eucharistic revival in our nation to implement Pope Saint Pius X’s vision of having a deeper love and reverence for the Eucharistic Lord.

Happy Fourth of July!  If you are in Urbandale for the holiday, please check out the Fourth of July festivities in town.  A huge part of this is the parade on Independence Day.  Saint Pius is proud to have a float in the parade.  You are welcome to join us walking with the float.  There will be a Flocknote with more information coming soon.

Summer is truly upon us.  Our ministry team members are taking vacations, going to conferences and spending time with family and friends.  Please be patient with us as it might take a bit longer than normal for us to return messages.  Father Daniel will be taking his annual vacation to go home to Ghana later this month.  He will return in August—please don’t worry about that!  Please pray for his, all our ministry team members’, safe travels.

A final thought about change… We must do things differently.  This might involve physically moving things or moving things on websites or processes we’ve done.  I fully recognize that not everyone appreciates or desires change as it is by its very nature destabilizing.  As a Church, we simply cannot keep doing everything as we have.  We are living through the change of an age which requires us to think, act and respond differently.  Many of the attitudes and structures we have depended upon no longer are the norm.  Our goal is not change for its own sake but change for Jesus’ sake!  Keep praying with us and for us that we might share the Gospel with others in new and bold ways.  Please be patient with us through this time of change.