St. Thomas More Catholic Parish

210 Haddow Close, Edmonton, AB, T6R 2P3

Office: 780 434 -6313 Rectory: 780-434-9483, Pastor’s Cell: (emergency only) 780-907-7782

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Weekend Mass Times Weekday Mass Times Saturday 5:00 pm Monday 6:00 pm Sunday 8:00 am Tuesday 6:00 pm 10:00 am Wednesday 9:00 am 12:00 pm Thursday 9:00 am 5:00 pm Friday 9:00 am Saturday 9:00 am

Sacrament of Confession One hour before all morning and evening weekday Masses

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Tuesday 5:00 pm First Friday 9:30 am - 3 pm

Please Contact the Parish Office for information about:

Pastoral Care

Sacrament of the Sick: any day at any hour

Regular pastoral visits can be arranged for the homebound

(pastoral1.stm@caedm.ca)

Baptism

See Baptismal brochure in stand or look on website

Parents & godparents are required to take preparation

classes (pastoral.stm@caedm.ca)

Marriages

Schedule an appointment before you book any other

facilities (pastoral.stm@caedm.ca)

An approved pre-marriage course is required

A minimum of 4 months of notice is required

First Reconciliation and First Communion

For baptized children 7 years of age and older

Preparation classes are required

(pastoral1.stm@caedm.ca)

See green sacrament brochure for details

Confirmation

For those 11 years (& older) by Confirmation date

Registrations for Confirmation 2020 Program start in May

(pastoral1.stm@caedm.ca)

RCIA and RCIC (Adapted for Children 8-15 yrs.)

For those who wish to learn more about the Catholic faith

or who wish to become Catholic.

Classes start each fall (pastoral.stm@caedm.ca)

Parish Staff:

Pastoral Associate: Christina Faitakis

Pastoral Assistant: Shannon Van Soest

Music Coordinator: Johanna Dietrich

Interim Bookkeeper: Joey Kolinsky

Custodian: Marian Ragac

Pastor: Fr. Mitchell Fidyka Permanent Deacons: Randy Abele, Chris Ashdown

Office Hours: Monday – Friday 9 am – 4 pm

Closed 12 pm – 1 pm

Website: https://stm.caedm.ca

Email: communications.stm@caedm.ca

The Ascension of the Lord May 24, 2020

Next Sunday Readings Acts 2:1-11, Psalm 104

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13, John 20:19-23

“Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!”

Jesus is not going to go away. After twenty centuries, all those who thought the Christian phenomenon

was a fad have been disproved. Those who thought that crucifying Jesus would put an end to the matter

were mistaken. Those who believed killing eyewitnesses would stop the story from spreading

miscalculated. Jesus is not going away.

The reason Jesus is still here is because of the Church. It doesn’t mean that the Church has always done

an excellent job of presenting the Gospel to the world. Some huge miscalculations were made over the

years. But Jesus commissioned those first disciples to baptize, teach, and unleash His Spirit wherever

they went. And that Spirit has kept the Church alive, though humans and their institutions have done

everything possible at times to unhinge it.

Jesus is not going away, because you and I are here. We accept the Gospel as true for our lives and for

the world. We embrace our baptism and learn all we can about our faith. We teach these truths to the next

generation in our words and in our witness. And sometimes we let the Holy Spirit blow through our lives

and into our world.

Jesus said He would be with us always, and He meant it.

A short video entitled The

Ascension of The Lord is fitting

for this week’s formed.org

suggestion. Jesus returned to the

Father, not to leave us but to lead us to heaven. The great

paradox is because he has ascended, he is able to remain with

us in a profound new way. Online access available here:

formed.org.

Our Offerings - May 17

Regular Sunday Collection: $5,125.00 Together We Serve: $925.00

————————————————————— Please consider on-line giving if you are not able to drop off donation envelopes:

Mon. May 25 † Maria Pham

Tues. May 26 † Charles Sequeira

† Oghenetega Djebah

Wed. May 27

Diebah Family

† Leonard Douziech

Thurs. May 28 † Peter Tran

† Ryan Petruk

Fri. May 29 † Oscar Martinez

Geri Devlin

Sat. May 30 5pm online

† Keira Yufei Jin

† Varghese Edayanthrathu

Linda Sorenson

Sun. May 31

PENTACOST

Shirley Hoger-Jankuta

† Joe Francese

† Mary Prescesky

Kevin Carr & Family

Plan for Reinstatement of Masses in Alberta

The Catholic Bishops of Alberta remain committed to the

gradual reinstatement of public celebrations of the Mass and

welcome the recent release of the Guidance for Places of

Public Worship document as part of the provincial

government’s relaunch strategy.

The task force is drafting for the Bishops a set of directives

for the gradual reintroduction of Masses in public. No date

will be set for the resumption of public liturgies in our

Catholic churches and institutions until the Bishops are

satisfied that their own directives can be fully and properly

implemented. Any announcement of the date for gradual

reintroduction will be made at least 5 days before the first

scheduled Mass. For more detail please refer to the

Archdiocese website:

AB Bishops Update

Richard W. Smith

Archbishop of Edmonton

Parishioners are encouraged to participate remotely in the

celebration of the Eucharist:

On TV: Salt+Light TV, Vision TV, Shaw Channel 51

(1pm, daily Mass from Toronto)

Online: Daily TV Mass , EWTN

The Archdiocese will livestream Sunday mass at 10:30am

from St. Joseph’s Basilica (grandinmedia.ca/livestream)

The Basilica Sunday Mass is also available on Telus

Optik TV Channel 876, and will continue being

broadcast for the duration of the ban on public

celebrations.

To support the Knights of Columbus and

purchase grocery cards contact:

Ken Shivak at kshivak@shaw.ca or

phone: 780-434-0632

Thank-you for your continuing support!

Confirmation 2020 - Registration

Confirmation classes are tentatively scheduled to

take place September - November of 2020 and are

designed for all students who will be in Grade 7 –

12 in Fall 2020. Registration forms are available

online at:

https://stm.caedm.ca/confirmation

Drop in registration during regular office hours: Monday to

Friday, 9am - 4pm (office is closed between 12pm - 1pm).

Completed registration packages can be mailed to the office:

St. Thomas More Catholic Parish 210 Haddow Close

Edmonton, AB T6R 2P3 ——————————————————————

For more information call the office at 780-434-6313 ext. 222

or email: pastoral1.stm@caedm.ca

Registration deadline: June 26th

St. Thomas More Parish: Family of Schools Contact Information School Name Grades Phone # Principal

Archbishop Joseph MacNeil K-9 780-471-4218 George Antonakis

Monsignor Fee Otterson K-9 780-430-8015 Marie Whelan

Monsignor William Irwin K-6 780-430-1121 Lynnette Anderson

Mother Margaret Mary 10-12 780-988-2279 Dean Rootsaert

St. Boniface K-6 780-434-0294 Leana Perri

St. John XXIII K-9 780-469-2451 Michael Kovacs

St. Mary K-6 780-988-6577 Marcel Evaristo

St. Monica Pre-school 780-436-7888 Chris Hodgins

St. Stanislaus K-6 780-434-0295 Nella Funaro

St. Thomas Aquinas K-9 780 409-2604 Danita Power

St. Teresa K-6 780-437-6022 Julieta Zelada

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Sacrament of First Holy Communion

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our

grade 2 and 3 students were unable to

celebrate the Sacraments after Easter as

planned. First Communion workbooks

that were to be distributed to all students are available for

pickup through the child’s school (the 10

Edmonton Catholic Schools served by

St. Thomas More Parish); please make

arrangements through the school to pick

up. All other students can pick up their

workbooks from the Parish office during

regular office hours. We look forward to

celebrating the Sacraments in September.

Watch the bulletin for details!

World Communications Day - May 24, 2020

Pope Francis’ message for this World Communication Day is

on storytelling. “From childhood we hunger for stories…

The Bible is thus the great love story between God and

humanity.” He prays for us:

“O Mary, woman and mother, you wove the divine Word in

your womb, you recounted by your life the magnificent works

of God… Help us build stories of peace, stories that point to

the future. And show us the way to live them together.”

World Day of Prayer for the Church in China

Pope Benedict XVI declared May 24th as the World Day of

Prayer for the Church in China in 2008. The Catholic Church

in China dates back to the 13th century but has been in a

complex troubled state under communist rule

since the mid 1900’s. Together, let us pray:

Our Lady of Shesan, ora pro nobis!

Our Lady, Help of Christians, ora pro nobis!

Veni Sancte Spiritus:

Pentecost Retreat and Novena

This May 23-31, join Catholic clergy and

youth ministry veterans for an online retreat

as we prepare for Pentecost. This retreat

will include livestreamed Masses, talks, Holy Hours,

discussions, and a special episode of 'Left Footers' – all

designed to prepare us to celebrate the coming of the Holy

Spirit.

In response to Pope Leo XIII's request in 1897 that we do so,

we'll also pray an online novena (nine days of prayer) as "...a

powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely

needed by every Christian."

This online retreat, brought to you by the Vocations office of

the Archdiocese of Edmonton, is open to any young person

(teenager or young adult) who'd like to enrich their spiritual

life, start or enhance their habits of prayer, and become the

saints God created them to be. It is free of charge, and you

can learn more about it – and register for it at this link:

Pentecost Retreat and Novena