We say goodbye today to Anne Marie Bartlett who is leaving St. John's to take a supervisory position with Cornerstone Advocacy Services. Anne Marie has served here for seven years as Pastoral Minister and Social Justice Coordinator. In this position, she has brought the compassionate presence of Christ to those in our parish who are sick, grieving, or in need of healing for spirit or body. She has been a tremendous help to us priests in connecting us with those who are dying and those who need the sacraments of healing. 
      Anne Marie has also helped all of us to carry out the social mission of the Church through her organizing skills and educational articles and presentations. We will certainly miss her, and we wish her all the best in her new position with Cornerstone.
I hope you can stop by St. Joseph Hall today after the 9:30 a.m. Mass to thank Anne Marie and wish her well.  We are in the process of determining how best to assure that all of the many ministries Anne Marie was involved in can continue to be of service to others. 

      If you are an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion here at St. John's, either for Sunday or weekday Masses, or if you bring Communion to the sick or homebound, you should have recently received a letter from Archbishop Flynn. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion serve at the request of the pastor and are recommended by him to be appointed by the Archbishop.  The appointment is for a three-year period, and it is for assistance at St. John's Parish and to our homebound parishioners. When you go to other parishes, you would need the permission of the local pastor to serve on a temporary basis. 
      The "ordinary" ministers of Holy Communion are bishops, priests, and deacons. Others can be appointed to assist in the distribution of Communion when the need arises. It is a great privilege to distribute this Sacrament to God's people and a duty not to be taken lightly. I encourage those who received the Archbishop's letter to note his reference to Pope Paul VI's instructions in giving permission for Extraordinary Ministers - that such persons "should cultivate devotion to the Holy Eucharist and be examples to the other faithful by a life of piety and reverence for this Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar."
      We will have a commissioning ceremony at all weekend Masses on November 3/4. Ministers of Holy Communion will be asked simply to stand in their places after the homily for the commissioning. I am very grateful to all who have so generously offered to help in this ministry. You help bring the Real Presence of Christ to our parishioners. If you are an Eucharistic Minister and you did not receive a letter from the Archbishop, please call our Worship Director, Jay Hunstiger, at (651) 633-8333, ext. 1212.   

Last Sunday, I was in Nashville, Tennessee, where I attended the Solemn Profession of 11 Women Religious as Dominican Sisters. It was a wonderful experience to see these women promise to live the
evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience for the rest of their lives.

The Nashville Dominicans are a teaching order and carry out the Dominican charism of preaching the Truth by teaching children, from kindergarten through college age. In addition to the 11 sisters who made perpetual vows, 13 young women just finished their postulancy year and began the novitiate. These new sisters received the habit for the first time and were given a new name by Mother Ann Marie, O.P. One of them, Sister Amelia, I knew some years ago before she was baptized.  She was searching for God and came to me seeking direction. She entered the RCIA process at the Cathedral where she was baptized by Archbishop Flynn. Then, after some years of discernment, she entered Religious Life. I was so impressed to see her profound joy and happiness in her generous response to this vocational call. Please pray for all young women in our Church that they may discover God's call to them, whatever it may be, and respond generously to that call. 

This week, Monday through Wednesday, I will be attending the annual conference of the International Federation of Priests at Broom Tree Conference Center in Irene, South Dakota. The featured speaker will be Sister Renée Mirkes, OSF, Ph.D.  Sister serves as director of the Center for NaProEthics in Omaha, Nebraska. Her talks are entitled, "The Ethics of Infertility Treatment: An Upbeat Update" and "Embryo Ethics & Embryonic Stem Cell Research." I'm looking forward to some good information on these current issues in Christian ethics.

BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME. Please meet in the Rectory Driveway on Wednesday, August 8, at 6:00 p.m. to build St. John's float for the Stockyard Days Parade.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS, junior high and up, to hand out candy and Fallfest flyers next to St. John's float at the Stockyard Days Parade on Thursday, August 9, at 6:00 p.m. Please call Maurice, (651) 633-8333, ext. 1224. By the way, did I mention that there will be free candy...

PLEASE REMEMBER that the entire St. John's campus will be closed and locked at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 9, due to the Stockyard Parade activities.