SAINT MARY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 203 Fourth St. · Aurora, Indiana 47001 · www.mystmarys.com

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception

Welcome in God’s Name! Through our loving and praying family may you find friendship, peace and serenity in this, God’s house. If you are a visitor interested in joining our parish or the Catholic Faith, please call our parish office for information. If you are returning after being away . . . Welcome Home!

Third Sunday of April

April 25 & 26, 2020

Parish Mission

We, the people in the area served by St. Mary of the

Immaculate Conception Parish, Aurora, Indiana, called

to faith and salvation in Jesus Christ in the Roman

Catholic tradition, strive to live the Gospel by

worshipping God in word and sacrament, learning,

teaching, and sharing our faith with those in our parish

and beyond by serving human needs. We commit

ourselves to stewardship through the generous and

responsible use of our spiritual, physical, and material

resources for today’s and tomorrow’s needs.

Holy Mass – Schedule Saturday 5:00 pm Sunday 8:00 am Wednesday 8:30 am Friday 8:30 am

Office Hours Monday thru Friday from 9:00 AM until Noon

Regular Mass & Office schedule will resume until further notice!!

St. Vincent de Paul Society (812) 926-1637 Pregnancy Care Center (812) 537-4357

Reverend Ben Syberg, Pastor Email: frsyberg@sls-apps.org

St. Mary’s Office: (812) 926-0060

St. Lawrence’s Office: (812) 537-3992

After Hours Emergencies: (812) 537-1297

Anna Townsend, Secretary/C.R.E. – parish.office@mystmarys.com Tony Vincent, Facilities & Maintenance Jim Waldon, Director of Music jim.waldon@mystmarys.com Mollie Leibecke, Bookkeeper mollie.leibecke@mystmarys.com

St. Mary’s School – (812) 926-1558 fax (812) 926-2590 Bob Brookbank, Principal brookbank.science@mystmarys.com Ann Hutchinson,School Secretary ann.hutchinson@mystmarys.com

As office hours may vary, please call ahead to find out the hours of availability.

Pastoral Council Members Greg Ramsey - Chairman (812) 438-3109 Gr.ramsey@comcast.net Randy Tyler – Co-chair (812) 584-3024 Soleman3@comcast.net Patty Lohmiller – Secretary (513) 646-8094 patti@lohmillercontracting.com Lyndsay Hays (812) 907-0312 Lyndsay_81@yahoo.com Kathy Simon (513) 405-6268 Kathys1008@gmail.com Beth Hyde (812) 584-5894 Pizzabeth@msn.com Rick Schuler (859) 512-1985 Rick.schuler@fastsigns.com Julie Strasemeier (812) 744-4495 Strase80@gmail.com George Schewe (513) 312-7104 gjschewe@gmail.com Jonathon Andrews jonathonpandrews@gmail.com (513) 256-5758 Sara Dennis iuschwa@hotmail.com

Finance Committee Mark Neff, Chairperson markneff52@hotmail.com (812) 926-3192

School Commission Beth Legge, Chairperson (812) 537-4525 beth@mccabesflowers.com

Homebound Ministry: Eucharistic Ministers are available to bring Holy Communion to the homebound. Mrs. Emily Beckman (812) 926-2417

Anointing of the Sick: Call anytime (812-926-0060 or 812-537-3992) or see Fr. Ben. Given at home, nursing home, hospital or at church.

Knights of Columbus (812) 584-4498 Bill Ullrich, Grand Knight billullrich@comcast.net

St. Mary Prayer List *Aloisia Mattl, *Louis Hill, Jr., *Vernon Myers; *Jodi Jerger, *Travis Miller, *Becky Meyer Clark, *Christina Nelms, Gary Manford, Tim Heller, Neil Selley, Caroline Seaver, *Brenda Murr, ,*Marilyn “Jane” Borth, Hayle Brashears, Jared Hodgkins, Stefanie Veale, Nate Groh, Michael Renner, Larry Hagan, McKayla Schmits, Kelly, Gary Wainscott, Ruth Kern, Colton Mattingly, Agnes Kelnhofer, Tinker Walston, Ron Brunner, Payton Maurice, Kate Grossmann, Joan Fuch, Karen Kistner, Mark Chase, Velinda Seaver, Rose Donk, B&L Dunseth, Jessica McKittrick, Kristie Bockhorst Gilb,*Candi Elsen, Barb MCMurray, Chris Strautman, *Mary Leyendecker, Rebecca Oelker, Debbie Walker Russell, Dottie Fedroff, Judy Edwards, Brenda O’Neal.

Please remember our Troops and their families in your prayers.

St. Mary’s Parish Collection Information April 18 & 19, 2020

Collection (Env. & loose checks) 5,885.00 Envelopes 38 Collection (Credit Cards) 1,081.00 Loose Checks 4 St. Vincent de Paul 75.00 Credit Cards 11 School 185.00

EASTER FLOWER DECORATIONS

EASTER DECORATION THANKS: We are grateful to everyone who contributed to our Easter flower collection and to Rita Armbruster who helped Jim decorate the church. You can enjoy a view of the interior of St. Mary's if you go to the following link: https://youtu.be/55SpLl-7l7w.

Our Deepest Condolences to the family of Eugene W. “Army” Armbruster who passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2020, at the age of 90. Eugene and his wife Pat, have been a faithful member of St. Mary’s. A private graveside service will be held at Riverside Cemetery with Fr. Ben Syberg officiating. Our sincere prayers for Pat, their children and grandchildren. May God bless and comfort them in this time of sorrow.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

A Message from Fr. Ben:

I hear that you all have found great entertainment through the quarantine. Some are devouring books, others Netflix and Disney plus. Some are cleaning every inch of their house. Bathrooms sparkle, gardens and lawns have never been so loved. A handful of you cook devotedly (and I have been a gracious beneficiary!) It’s lovely. It’s good for us - to stay busy. Well that’s you all - “How about you, Father Ben? What have you been up to these days?” Uh well, I’m learning about Vietnam. Go figure!

Unlike many of my personal history tours, the Vietnam war is not exactly ancient. What I might read in a text or watch in a documentary is a far cry from those of you who lived through it, that turbulent time, let alone those men among us who fought in it. If what I write doesn’t jive with your experience, you let me know. I love to learn.

No interest here in diving into the politics or ramifications of the war, but I want to make a point based on one simple illustration. At various points of the Vietnam war, at times increasing and at others easing off, the US used its awesome air firepower to bomb the North Vietnamese without mercy. No bombing campaign in history can compare - in fact the US dropped more tonnage of air bombs and napalm in Vietnam then in World War II. The strategy made sense. Crush the Communist ability to operate its forces and spare the US from sending in more troops on the ground. But this did not ultimately prove successful.

First, despite this ferocious air assault, war minds agree that the US actually could have bombed even more! And more impactfully. Second, and perhaps more significant, the devastation reigned on the Vietminh didn’t change the fact that they never had much to begin with. When you don’t have much, you don’t need much. It was easy to resupply and rebuild, over and over again. North Vietnam had a poor army in a poor country, but their constant replenishment (via China and the Soviet Union) sustained their fight. All that US air power could not change that. To put it another way, all the US firepower could never take away North Vietnam’s foundation.

These days I’ve been thinking a lot about the word foundation. Psalm 11 says: Foundations once destroyed, what can the just do? If our foundation goes, scripture says, then we are in trouble. Right now our foundations are being tested. They’re being hammered from above. Our personal foundations - do I pray, do I exercise, do I live a balanced and generous life? We need these, but the quarantine rocks us. Do I love my spouse and my family like I thought I did? (Some of you are finding this an absolute yes! But for some being at home together all the time is just tough, it’s true). What about our Church: will people lose faith, will people come back, how strong was the American church before all this, are our schools and parishes able to weather the storm? And for sure, how could we not think of our nation. The unity of society, our sense of common cause, as well as truth, liberty and justice: at this moment it’s all in the crucible. If the foundation holds, our nation and our church can come back from this. If you and I are personally strong and committed to all God asks of us, you and I, as well as families and marriages can come back stronger. But if the foundation is destroyed, what can we do?

Let us examine another foundation, in this holy season of Easter. These days are devoted to the very beginning of the spread of the faith, flowing from the earliest moment of Jesus’ Resurrection. This is the source and the foundation of our faith, that He is Risen. That death could not contain Him. And that foundation is firm. Whatever else is going on in the world, the Resurrection will never go away. In that we can always trust. So friends keep praying, stay focused and committed as best you can. Let our foundations be strong, let us live in hope. That we might be like the wise man of which Jesus tells us: Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. (Mt. 7.24).

St. Mary’s Mass Online: You can access Fr. Ben Syberg’s online Mass in our website @ www.mystmarys.com,

youtube and Facebook.

Let us Pray: O Mary, you shine always on our way as sign of our safety and hope.

We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who at the foot of the Cross bound yourself to the suffering of Jesus, keeping strong in your faith.

O Salvation of the Roman People, you know what we need and we are sure that you will provide it for us just as at Cana of Galilee the joy and feasting could return after that moment of trial.

Mother of Divine Love, help us, to conform ourselves to the will of the Father and to do what Jesus tells us, He who took upon Himself our sufferings and is marked by our sorrows and so lead us, toward the

Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen

The following is courtesy of Loyola grad student and Jesuit scholastic Christopher Holownia:

Solidarity Prayer for a Pandemic May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable. May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between

preserving their health or making their rent. May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who

have no options. May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no place to go.

May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.

The Word This Week

(Source: https://www.salfordliturgy.org.uk/easter3a.htm)

During the Season of Easter, we walk with the Risen Lord, enjoying his appearing to his disciples. Today’s gospel is one of the loveliest accounts of his appearing - and one especially important for the reader. Jesus appears and teaches the two disciples, by

reference to the Scriptures, the meaning of his death. This is very close to the way in which the neophytes (newly baptised) would continue to be taught, through hearing the scriptures, during Easter. The reader should take to herself or himself the words of the Gospel Acclamation: Lord Jesus, explain the scriptures to us. Make our hearts burn within us as you talk to us.